Help - Crowd Trackers say AVOID MK on first day

[mom2randj]

Hi, planning our first WDW trip and are arriving Sat. 10/22/2011 (staying 7 nights). Our plane arrives around 12:30 so I imagine we won't get settled into our resort until mid-afternoon. Wondering which park should we should visit first as this is our FIRST WDW trip. I have researced a couple of sites and both of them say to avoid MK that day. In fact both recommend visiting AK that day, however, they close at 5 pm so we wouldn't have any time there anyway.
What you recommend doing? visit MK anyway since it's our first trip? do Epcot or HS, or skip the parks altogether since we woud be getting their mid afternoon?

 

[Robo]

Hi, planning our first WDW trip and are arriving Sat. 10/22/2011 (staying 7 nights). Our plane arrives around 12:30 so I imagine we won't get settled into our resort until mid-afternoon. Wondering which park should we should visit first as this is our FIRST WDW trip. I have researced a couple of sites and both of them say to avoid MK that day. In fact both recommend visiting AK that day, however, they close at 5 pm so we wouldn't have any time there anyway.
What you recommend doing? visit MK anyway since it's our first trip? do Epcot or HS, or skip the parks altogether since we woud be getting their mid afternoon?

Visit Epcot.
Relax and stroll World Showcase.
See IllumiNations at 9PM.

The way ticket pricing works is that it will only cost you
the equivalent of $5.00 (plus tax) per ticket to visit a park that first evening.

 

[~*~Michelle~*~]

we don't ever do MK our first day. We usually save it for the end of our trip to have that memory when we leave I would do Epcot

 

[discorsner]

I think Robo's advice to visit Epcot and see Illuminations could be a really good idea but I know my family would personally go to MK despite the crowd tracker.

We like to MK on our first day and feel like we are really at Disney. For my family that means seeing the castle and the fireworks. For everyone it is probably a little different.

I have found that later in the day the crowds even out anyway so we use the recommendations to avoid busy parks in the morning but if we get there in the afternoon or decide to hop to a different park at night then I am not so tied to the recommendations.

It seems as by asking the question you probably want to go to MK first? If that is accurate I would go for it! I would plan on night one being getting into MK, feeling like you are at Disney, taking pics in front of castle, maybe one or two attractions to get your feet wet, and then get a spot for the parade and fireworks.

I would follow the recommended parks the rest of the trip. Good luck no matter what you choose! You will have a blast!

 

[tina.tina]

This is why we decided to go to MK on our arrival day for our family's first visit (leaving in 11 days):
1- Our kids sort of think Disney World IS the castle. By going there first they're going to see what they expect to see and won't be disappointed or asking a bunch of confused why aren't we there yet type of questions.
2- When I went to the Magic Kingdom for one day years ago when I was 17, my family & I all spent time staring around at everything. It took a while for us to finish staring at Main Street & the castle and we didn't look at everything of course. That takes a lot of valuable time and I wanted to allot extra time for it.
Which is also part of reason 3- We plan to hurry to Dumbo & Fantasyland the next morning at ropedrop and we won't be able to do that if we're staring at everything! So we're going to take that evening to get our bearings.

We've also got a dinner reservation at Chef Mickey's so they won't be looking for him the whole time we're there.

 

[twix123]

We will also be ariveing that day. We wont get to the resort until around 4 and we plan just to go to DTD or HS.
Epcot might crowded at WS since its a saturday during Food&Wine restivle.

 

[SmallWorld71]

I would either:

1) Go to Epcot as Robo suggested. IMO, it is the easiest park to arrive at mid-day. My kids love it as much as MK, but they have been a number of times. You can meet many characters at Epcot (including Mickey) if you think that would help make it seem more Disney.

2) Go to MK if you won't really feel like you aren't there until you have seen the castle. However, before you go, make sure the kids understand that you will likely not be riding the most popular rides that day. (Peter Pan, Dumbo, Splash Mountain etc... are likely to have very long lines.) Instead, visit some attractions with shorter waits. Maybe this would be a good night to see the light parade (if one is running that night) and check out Wishes.

We like to pick our parks by the best day, so we would go with option 1. But, there are lots of people who need to see MK first and I don't blame them for a minute.

 

[MHSweb79]

We always hit MK on our arrival day. It's a tradition!

We have the rest of our week to plan our itinerary around EMH, crowd levels, shows, parade schedules, etc. For us it's straight to the MK after checking into our resort on Day 1. We don't care how many rides or attractions we make in onto that day - it's just being there that counts.

 

[PrincessTaylorsMom]

We are arriving on 10/22 too and I was wondering the same thing. We are definitely one of those families that needs to see the castle to get into the feel of being at the world. So I thought I would try for a dinner ADR at LTT or Tony's and just walk around and soak up the magic, and not worry too much about rides.

Have fun!

 

[wings91]

Those crowd trackers say to avoid MK at least 5 days a week. End of October is a great time to go. Maybe MK will be a little busier than the other parks, but for a WDW first timer, I think MK first is a must do.

 

[LisaTC]

Well, I know I'd never hear the end of it if I didn't at least give my DD7 a chance to see MK her first day. That's what she thinks WDW is, too! We'll probably get in around 10-11. I'm still going, even though, I know it will be awful. I'm prepping her to just look around mostly. We are doing HDDR in the evening.

 

[LilyWDW]

I am going to have to disagree with Robo, sorry. 10/22/2011 is a Saturday during the Food and Wine festival. I would avoid World Showcase on this evening to stay away from the crowds. Weekends afternoon/evenings are one of the worse times to hit World Showcase when Food and Wine is going on.

Do you have full days already scheduled at each park? If so, I would go ahead and go to Magic Kingdom as long as you understand you may not get too much done that day due to crowds. I will actually be there that day, but only to do the Keys to the Kingdom Tour (then a break and dinner at Jiko!). As long as this will not be your only day/night at MK, I don't see anything wrong with it if that is what you want to do. Just know there will be crowds (Saturday at the MK is bad enough, add limited parade/firework showings due to MNSSHP).

Or, you can do like we always do... take the day and relax so we are ready to go for day one! A nice dinner at a resort or DTD is always a nice way to start your vacation.

 

[Liljam]

We always go to EPCOT our first day and seem to luck out getting a round (or two) in on most FW rides. We sometimes head over to WS and sometimes we hop to MK if I'm in need of see Main St. and the Castle. What I have learned to so is this - I still carry a park map with me even though I know my way and I mark off each ride we don't want to do right away. Then as we do a ride or attraction it gets marked off the map. We usually have everything wiped out in the first three days for all four parks with the exception of one or two shows. That allows us to go at a leisure pace the entire trip. We don't rush, but with the use of FPs and good times on rides, it works. Soooooo, what I say is, head straight to EPCOT, do what ya find the best times on and mark them off your list, take in the scenes and enjoy the buildings. THEN, head over to MK (if you have the hopper option) and check out the times on things like HM and POTC, and you really might find that you bang out some good rides right away. Then find a spot for WISHES, and head back to your room - that's how I think you end a perfect first night at WDW!

 

[DebbieB]

I arrived that Saturday last year. Epcot was very crowded with the Food & Wine Festival. I never saw so many people very drunk at WDW before. Someone threw up on the Mexico ride in the boat ahead of us. I would do Future World.

Your best days for MK are the days that have the party that night. People avoid it because of the early close plus no nighttime shows, so it's not crowded during the day.

 

[bjakmom]

I am in the airport returning from a wonderful spring break trip with DS. I will be returning in Oct with DGrD, too! I would also say Epcot if it were not a F&W Sat. I say try MK - it is open until 10 PM and will be relatively crowded, since it is one of the few nights MK is not closed for MNSSHP - so lots of folks will be going for Wishes and the Parade. However, we just went to MK on our first night last Tues and didn't get to the park until almost 5 PM. We did every major ride and the Fireworks dessert party by midnight. The only FPs we used were for Peter Pan and BTMRR. We were shocked that we got so much done in one night. Our longest lines were for Space (45 min) and Splash (40 min). So go figure, it was Spring Break and pretty crowded. We had planned to return to MK the following day, but since we did all the rides we wanted to, we slept in and then did another park. Whatever you decide - Enjoy!

 

[StEpHandMiKe<3Disney]

I would go to MK! We always go on our arrival day. The feeling you get when you see the castle in person is amazing!

 

[notfrostyjosh]

I would expect Disney to extend the operating hours to 9am - 12am at Magic Kingdom on that Saturday and you also want to note that Epcot is actually open from 9am to 10pm on that Saturday too with IllumiNations at 10pm. I would recommend Magic Kingdom on Saturday, especially if you want to get Wishes and Electrical Parade out of the way. That way you can return for a full day when the evening entertainment isn't scheduled and crowd levels are lower. You'll want to focus on the less popular attractions and use FASTPASS where available. Saturdays will be the busiest day of the month at the Magic Kingdom, but it's not going to be "insane" by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[homedad]

everyone has different opinion but first trip we avoided MK first day and went to EP. I think if you see MK first the other parks can be a letdown

 

[Tigger1]

It might be Mickeys halloween party night, which you would need a extra ticket for. How about hollywood Studios?

 

[LilyWDW]

It might be Mickeys halloween party night, which you would need a extra ticket for. How about hollywood Studios?

It isn't.

Here is the whole situation:
DHS has EMH
Epcot has Food and Wine Festival
AK closes early
MK has MSEP and Wishes (and it is Saturday)

So, really, it comes down to what the OP wants. The day is really a perfect storm and it will be hard to find a park that is not busy that will work for the OP.

Personally, I would stay away from Epcot before any other park. Saturdays at Epcot during Food and Wine can be insane. World Showcase would be unenjoyable to me.

AK closes too early to really make it worth it.

So we have DHS and MK. Personally, both are going to be busy (one of the few nonparty nights at MK and EMH at DHS), so I would just pick where my family WANTS to go. It seems that the OPs family wants to go to MK on their first night. I say GO FOR IT... as long as they understand it WILL be busy and you may not get a ton done that night. Go, soak in the magic, take some pictures, watch the parade and fireworks (get to your spots early), and just enjoy.

My second choice would be to skip the parks that night, have a nice dinner, walk around DTD, and get to bed early so you are ready to the next day.

Now, this advice is only if they have another less busy day at each park. This night should not be counted as a main tour day for any of the parks.

This is also just my opinion. I decided to break it down because I am in planning mode already since I am working on my October trip.