Got to MK last????

[naner]

Dh and I are going back and forth about this.

The daily plan I have right now involves going to the EMH at MK on Tuesday morning, taking a break Wednesday, MGM Thursday and leave Friday. I thought it was important to hit the EMH at MK so the kids (2 and 4 yo boys) can get some of the rides out of the way early.

DH wants to flip flop my plan and do MK on Thursday because he wants the MK to be the last thing they experience.

What do you think???

TIA,

 

[Princess Roo]

When will you be going? If it's a crowded time of the year, I think the EMH outweigh anything else.
In my opinion, children as young as yours will *love* both parks, so that it doesn't matter much about experiencing MK last, but I don't have a 4 year old yet, so I could be wrong!

 

[tw1nsmom]

I'm guessing you don't have hoppers. Correct me if I'm wrong. Have your children been to Disneyworld before? If they haven't, and they don't know too much about "the castle" it may be better to do Magic Kingdom last. It lets them experience the other park without comparing it to MK.

However, if they've been to Disney before or are super looking forward to the rides in the MK it might be better to do it first. My kids really want to ride Space Mountain (they're finally tall enough) the next time we go (they don't know we're going tomorrow!). If we went to other parks first all I'd hear is when are we going on Space Mountain. They would be looking forward to it so much they wouldn't fully enjoy the other parks. Only you know you're children.

In our case, we have hoppers and are going to MK for our first park and also our last park.

One other thing. If you're going during a busy time of year, and you don't have hoppers, you're going to want to avoid the EMH park. I know you think it's a big plus of staying onsite, but so does everyone else. Now that so many people don't have park hopper tickets, they tend to go to EMH and not leave. Then all the offsite guests come in and the place is completely packed. You would probably get more done by getting to the park at least 1/2 hour before opening on a regular day, heading straight to fantasyland for the kids rides and using fastpass as much as possible for the rest of the day.

 

[JJ&JSMOM]

We had this discussion also - to go to MK first or another park. And personally I can't imagine being at Disney and not going to MK on the first day. But if it works for your family do what you need to do.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I would never leave MK 'til last, in case someone got sick or something. If it's your MIP (most important park) too, I'd say do it early in the trip.

 

[disneymom3]

It looks to me like you must be going in April as I know MK doesn't have EMH in March. From what I am seeing on the calender on the WDW site, they also have MK EMH on Thursdays of the weeks that they have it on Tuesday. (Wow, that sounded convoluted.) Anyway, depending on your dates, you may not lose EMH by going on Thursday.

As far as the save it for last theory. That would not work for me. I have to go to MK first. However, I also think that people underrate the appeal of the other parks for little kids. When we went when DD was 3, Epcot was her favorite park. MGM was a nice break as there was not so much for her to see and be so submersed in. In fact, if you don't have hoppers, I wouldn't eeven do MGM, personally.

 

[beattyfamily]

We always begin AND end our trip at MK unless one of the days falls on a Saturday. (I could never live without the hopper for just this reason alone)

I would go with the EMH myself.

Good luck!

 

[naner]

We are going in May and as of right now without park hoppers. We keep going back and forth over whether to splurge on them.

 

[snomofinn]

Magic Kingdom has EMHs in March, were going next week and plan on using the evening hours on the 18th. Below is the schedule, so if your going in March, here's your hours.

March 2007
Morning Extra Magic Hours
Magic Kingdom® Park - March 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
Epcot® - March 6, 13, 20, 27
Disney-MGM Studios - March 3, 10, 17, 24, 31
Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park - March 5, 12, 19, 26

Evening Extra Magic Hours
Magic Kingdom® Park - March 4, 11, 18, 25
Epcot® - March 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
Disney-MGM Studios - March 5, 12, 19, 26
Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park - March 7, 14, 21, 28

 

[TJA]

If you get hoppers added to your passes, I'd recommend doing the EMH at MK on your first day, just as you planned, and then hopping over to MGM for the rest of the day/night. Then you can play your last day by ear and possibly hit MK again to go on the favorite rides. This way, the kids can experience MK as their first park and also their last park.

If you do not get hoppers, I agree with someone above not to save MK for the last day because what if it rains like crazy that day or else someone gets sick.

 

[emma'smom]

We've planned to go to MK first thing...just for a few hours....because we'll spen the whole time waiting until its time to go to MK if we don't just get it into our system on the first day.

 

[disneymom3]

We are going in May and as of right now without park hoppers. We keep going back and forth over whether to splurge on them.

When staying onsite and intending to use EMH, there is no way I would do it without hopping. Offsite, I have done non-hoppers, but we always do the park for EMH during EMH and then go elsewhere for the rest of the day. Gets tooo crowded otherwise.

 

[dougsmom98]

Depending on what the crowd prediction is, and if this is your first trip, I would personally do MK both days and forget about MGM. Your children are the perfect age for MK. That's just my opinion though. If you do both parks, I agree with going to MK first. On 3 out of the last 4 trips, at least one of my children have come down with a stomach virus. You would hate to miss MK. Also, if you don't get as much done as you want at MK you can go back the second day. If you get everything finished up, then go to MGM on Thursday.

 

[dfarner]

We are going in May and as of right now without park hoppers. We keep going back and forth over whether to splurge on them.

I would say if you can splurge to go for it! I don't know how we'd survive without our hoppers. Sometimes we don't change parks in a day, but it sure is nice to know that we can.

To OP, I see where you DH is coming from. I absolutely have to visit MK on our last day, but I agree w/ another poster that you don't want to wait until the last day in case something comes up. Can you maybe do a 1/2 day at MK on first day and then end up at MK, or vice versa? Decisions....decisions...

 

[jjj444]

This was one of the reasons we bought a hopper. We will begin and end our trip here. I don't think I could get my vacation started correctly unless I see that castle! We bought hoppers so we can go to MK on the last day to hit anything we missed. Good luck that is a tough decision!