In which order should we see the Parks?

[lp199]

Hello!

Our first family visit to WDW is coming up in June! We will be arriving the 7th and leaving the 17th. I have base tickets for nine days starting on the 8th and could really use some help on how to choose which park to go to on each day. The only thing set in stone right now is Thursday the 11th in MK as I have signed us up for EMM. I am actually hoping that they decide to do DAH MK for one of the days that we'll be there as I would sign up for that instead, but I'll have to wait and see what happens with that. I also don't think that we will be doing emh in an effort to avoid extra crowds.

Any advice is much appreciated!

 

[Unvoiced_Apollo]

Honestly I like to start with MK if I can and it's not a weekend day. That said I visited DHS on my last visit first only because I really wanted to test out using EMH (this was before RotR opened so DHS still had morning EMH). It worked really well for the morning ones. Used it for all the rides I didn't have a FP for in each respective park (MK not withstanding as I had EMM instead and visited 3 times so no use for EMH then).

 

[gharter]

I don't think it really matters where you start. Often, we will start at the park closest to where we are staying.
What makes more difference in the order is if you plan to do EMH or not. If you do, that dictates the days and order. If not,then its wide open.
You won't be there during any party nights so don't have to worry about those.

 

[DrummerBoy523]

We usually do MK, then HS/AK/EP, then finish with MK.

We have 6 park days this year and are doing the following:
MK, HS, Sleep in Day and do afternoon EP, HS, AK, MK.

My boys are 13 & 17, still love Disney but Epcot aint their thing, so we are going to do a TT and maybe grab some lunch and leave. Pretty boring park for teenage boys.

 

[Marc D]

We always prefer to start with MK if we arrive early enough in the day. Nothing feels WDW quite like passing main gate and walking down Main Street. If we show up later, we’ll hit Epcot to grab a dinner in Germany and just wander in World Showcase.

With such a long trip, make sure to take a day off somewhere, either to enjoy your resort, resort hop or visit Disney Springs.

 

[fly girl]

First family visit, hands down MK. That is quintessential Disney.

If it wasn't your first visit then I would say anything goes, but first visit, no doubt MK. JMHO.

 

[PaladinButters]

We never start with MK. It’s a long flight with a time change that means by the time we get in the parks arrival day they have been open for some hours. 100% more magic to take everyone to MK for rope drop the next day. Less chaotic first view of the castle, that first rush of a walk down Main Street, and they get the welcome show to kick things off!

 

[pooh2001]

thank you for the advice

 

[buzznina]

We have a tradition of starting and ending at MK. But if I had to give advice, I would go based on the FP's

 

[disneydreamer1980]

We start and end each trip with MK. Whatever order in between is dictated by our ADRs and FPs

 

[Disneyfan754321]

If the park has a party that night, its generally a good day to go to the park that day because there are less people. Having so many days at the park is a great advantage because you dont have to be there there 12 hours to get your time in.
Also i dont know if you have water park days... I put them in for rest days on the third day because you can take it easy.
My boys are not big fans of Epcot, so we dont spend much time there. One day... sometimes half a day.
More than one day at MK

 

[DisneyRobin]

We always start at the MK and usually end there, too - especially if we’re staying at a MK resort and flying home that day. You may want to see how much extra park hoppers would be. It may not be that much since you’re staying for over a week. Then you have flexibility and can split your days and not get stuck in one park all day. Sometimes it’s fun to start at one park, rest at the hotel and then go out for the night at another park. Other times, you may want to start in the park that has the early opening for resort guests and then leave when it gets crowded and go to another park. Where are you staying?

 

[disneylover102]

A few things:
1. MK is a great place to start
2. MK is a great place to end
3. If you want to go on Rise of the Resistance at HS you may want multiple days to have multiple chances to get a boarding group
4. EMH barely ever seem to affect crowds that much in my experience
5. If you’re staying on site go to AK and HS later in the trip because you’ll have a better chance of getting FP+ for things like Flight of Passage and Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run. In June the Ratatouille rise may be open at Epcot and if it has FP, those will go quick.
6. If going to a DAH event, you don’t have to do the same park on your ticket (so you could go to Epcot 9-6:30 and then get on the monorail and go to MK with your DAH ticket 7-12 or whenever DAH ends)
7. Remember longer park hours doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good idea to go to that park that day. We’ve learned this the hard way.

Hope this helps!

 

[ZephyrHawk]

Hello! We'll be visiting at the same time this year.

It's not really about any particular order, and with 10 days you should have enough time to experience all of the first-timer necessities. I base our park order primarily on crowd calendar projections. I never do MK on a weekend, nor would I do DHS on a weekend for the foreseeable future. A lot is also based on where I'm planning to eat. For example, if I have a resevration for Storybook Dining at Artists Point I would probably try and go to MK that day, for the simple reason that the Wilderness Lodge is easiest to access from MK in the event we are running behind schedule. You may not have advance dining reservations though yet, and you should look into them if you plan to have some sit down meals.

 

[Grant Parkins]

I typically plan where/when to go based on predicted crowd levels. But I think I prefer ending with MK if possible

 

[travelbel]

We have a tradition of starting and ending at MK. But if I had to give advice, I would go based on the FP's

Us too!

 

[BrianL]

First visit? Start with MK. It kind of sets the tone. Watch the welcome show at the castle and let it all sink in. Other parks may seem strange without the context that MK provides, or at least I think so.

 

[MarkS2112]

Hello!

Our first family visit to WDW is coming up in June! We will be arriving the 7th and leaving the 17th. I have base tickets for nine days starting on the 8th and could really use some help on how to choose which park to go to on each day. The only thing set in stone right now is Thursday the 11th in MK as I have signed us up for EMM. I am actually hoping that they decide to do DAH MK for one of the days that we'll be there as I would sign up for that instead, but I'll have to wait and see what happens with that. I also don't think that we will be doing emh in an effort to avoid extra crowds.

Any advice is much appreciated!

Depends on arrival time when you have adrs and when you fp are. If you are getting in and just have half a day then Epcot or AK. Not HS on arrival because you need to be in at park opening for ROR. Also depends on what park has extra magic hours. We usually end at MK with space mountain as last ride. This year was HS because we had ME at 5 from CBR so had Skyliner. Typically we do 3 day MK, 2-3 day HS now, 1.5 day at AK and Epcot. Epcot has allot of construction so 1 day is plenty there. Everyone has different preferences so that would drive what you want. Enjoy!

 

[saraheliz]

The last few trips we have started and ended at MK, BUT we've gone the evening of our arrival day. It's so inexpensive to add a day that we typically land early-mid afternoon and then do a quick dinner/3 FP rides at MK and off to bed before the fireworks start. That way we can hit another park running the next day without feeling like we haven't seen the castle yet (and there's less "can't sleep" anticipation that first night). We usually do the MK fireworks the last night. Sprinkled in there are at least 2 Epcot days, and at least 1 day at AK and HS, with a variety pack of early mornings straight through till dinner-is, early mornings with a long afternoon break and back for the evening, and later morning starts.

 

[Lovetherodent]

Odd ones out, I guess. We start with Epcot, especially if the h is with us. He wants to walk around the world showcase.