Chef Mickey's vs. Akershus for Breakfast day 1

[alyn]

I have an ADR at Chef Mickey's at 10:25 on our first day (Feb 13) My plan is breakfast then spend the day at the MK. However this is a Monday and I have read to expect high crowd levels at the MK on Monday's and Epcot is the better choice on a Monday. SO i just made an ADR for Akershus at 9:25 am this would mean we would spend our first day at Epcot not MK. Am I crazy to consider this? I am mainly concerned that my DD (6) will be very disappointed if we are not going to the MK on our first day. That being said I do think there is some wisdom in not going to the MK first and giving the other parks a chance before "bringing out the big guns".
This one change in my dining schedule will of course mean re-orging my entire itinerary. Maybe I am crazy and should leave well enough alone.
Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[BlackCat9Lives]

I have an ADR at Chef Mickey's at 10:25 on our first day (Feb 13) My plan is breakfast then spend the day at the MK. However this is a Monday and I have read to expect high crowd levels at the MK on Monday's and Epcot is the better choice on a Monday. SO i just made an ADR for Akershus at 9:25 am this would mean we would spend our first day at Epcot not MK. Am I crazy to consider this? I am mainly concerned that my DD (6) will be very disappointed if we are not going to the MK on our first day. That being said I do think there is some wisdom in not going to the MK first and giving the other parks a chance before "bringing out the big guns".
This one change in my dining schedule will of course mean re-orging my entire itinerary. Maybe I am crazy and should leave well enough alone.
Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks!

Chef Mickey's is at the Contemporary Resort and you do not need park tickets for this reservation, so you could keep your reservation for Chef Mickey's (if that's truely where you'd like to go) and choose any park you'd like based on crowd level.

I think its best to leave MK till the end that way my girls (age 5) leave with those memories fresh in their minds.

 

[jscottnc]

I am very much in the "rope drop" camp. Your reservation at Chef Mickey's would place you in MK around 12:30pm. Personally I would not blow park prime time on a sit-down meal. I usually schedule character meals outside a park for the day we leave (flying out early afternoon). The Akershus ADR time is not much better. On the other hand, given the time of year you are going, you can make either work If possible, I HIGHLY recommend a pre-park opening ADR (8:05am) if you can get it and your crew up in time.

 

[DEA]

We have a tradition on trips with our DDs to have Chef Mickey's on our arrival night for dinner, and our first full park day starts with the Princess Breakfast at Akershus. It front-loads the character meals and gets us off to a good start.

That being said, we usually stop in at MK for a bit on arrival day (after check-in and some pool time), and then do the full MK day later in the trip.

 

[Pakey]

I would not want my first day to be starting at MK around noon when crowds are at it's peak.

We recently took our grandchildren (our 22nd visit; their 2nd) and we did all 3parks before going to MK. I am a firm believer in following crowd calendars in order to minimize stress and it just happened that the best day for MK was the 4th day into our vacation. We also spent our last day at MK and the kids were fine with it.

 

[shannonstar]

I think starting in Epcot is perfect personally. Eat with the princesses, do some of the Kim Possible missions (my son still loves them), see Nemo, etc.
We find that if we start in MK it is the basis of comparison for the entire trip. Better to start with the park they are least likely to find enthralling. That being said, my son now ranks Epcot as his favorite park, though with the new Sorcerer's interaction at MK we may find that changing again.