Magic Kingdom LAST?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

[loveysbydesign]

Hi all, We leave on May 9 for our 1st family trip to WDW. I just picked up a copy of the Unofficial Guide to WDW 2005 for $3.99 at the Ollie's store near me. As I read through it I noticed it says to go to MK last!!! I'm afraid my kiddos (ages 6 and 3) would have a heartattack if we go there last!!!! it says the other parks will be a let down if we do MK first. Any advice on this subject is appreciated!

 

[dzorn]

We are not doing it until our third day. I just don't want to hear can we go on ___ now. But we plan on devoting 2 days to just MK and are having a character Dinner outside of the park before that so they can get a Princess fix.

Denise

 

[micknpluto]

We always do the MK first and last...I could go there everyday if I had the chance!!!

I can understand if you have kids that may be a little tough..

 

[wdwlvr629]

I have ALWAYS done MK first during every trip to WDW, my son knows this, so it is just expected. We also make sure it is the last park we attend each trip too. To him that is just what has always been, so it is never a let down. I can't imagine starting my trip with anything else, to me it is the most magical, so what better way to start a magical trip!

 

[justplaingoofy]

I understand the excitement of going to the castle first and wanting to see the looks on their faces....

However... If you go to the Magic Kingdom first where it is Character heaven, and alot of little kiddie things.. How interested do you think they will be at Epcot or MGM? (Animal Kingdom can be interesting with the animals)

A friend of mine took her little ones for the 1st time and went to MK first...she had to see the looks on their faces.... They did not want any part of Epcot & mgm.. All they wanted was to go back to the Magic Kingdom or to go back to the hotel for the pool.

I would do Epcot first, then MGM, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom

Thats just my opinion though...

 

[disneyaggie]

I always go the first day (usually the travel day so I just walk through casually) and I definitley set aside all of the last day for MK. I also try to park hop over to MK sometime during the week as well.

 

[Evil Queen]

Since we try to plan around the least amounts of folks in parks (and our plans are different each trip), we only once went to MK first, boys were 6 and 19. For youngest DS, he didn't like the others parks nearly as much, and did ask on several occasions to go back to MK or swimming (and we were staying off-site).

Even to this day, if youngest hears MK isn't first he'll be disappointed until we do get into the park that is planned on for the day. He doesn't ask for a return trip to MK while we are there anymore.

 

[investgirlmd]

This is our first trip and we are going to MK first, MGM, back to MK(my sister lives in FL and is meeting us for the day), Epcot and than AK. Not sure if this is the best plan but, again its my first time planning.

 

[phyllis1966]

I can definitely understand the thoughts behind this advice, and I love the UG, but all kids are different. We always go to the MK first, ever since DD's first trip at the age of 3 1/2. She never complained in the other parks (still doesn't at age 6 1/2), and we always try to find fun things to do wherever we are for that day (hey - it's WDW - there are fun things to do no matter where you are!). Since we're usually there for 7-8 days, we go back to the MK at least twice more, one of those times being our last day.

 

[MouseEarsJenny]

I love the Unofficial Guide, but that's the main piece of advice from them I completely ignore. Magic Kingdom is the first and last day for us. The kids loved the other parks, too, btw.

 

[loveysbydesign]

Thanks for all the great advice! I'm having a really difficult time trying to figure out where to go on what day. We arrive at 1:30 p.m. on Tues. the 9th and stay at WH til Mon. a.m. then we cruise on RCCL's Sovereign from Mon. 15th-Fri. 19th. Then we stay at Palms Suites Lakeside from Fri. til Mon. when we fly home. (It's our 10 yr. anniversary and we never had a honeymoon as the travel agency went bankrupt 2 wks. before we got married...so this is like the hm we never had!) My kids also want to go to SeaWorld. My son's 7th bday is on Sat. 13th so I'm sure he'll want to go to MK that day.
I had thought we'd go to the parks in this order:10th-MK, 11th-MGM, 12th-Epcot, 13th-MK, 14th-AK, 19th(day we get back to port from cruise)-MGM, 20th-SW, 21st(last day as we fly home in a.m. on 22nd)-MK.
My kids also want to go to Typhoon Lagoon but I don't know if we can fit it in! Since we are scheduled to arrive on the 9th at 1:30 p.m. I figure we will just hit the grocery store, check-in and hang at the pool at WH for the rest of the day. I'm afraid to plan to go to one of the parks the day we arrive since we probably won't get into the orlando area til at least 2:30 (after getting our lugggage and driving from the airport) I had originally only planned 1 day at MGM but since we'll be there during SW weekends I thought we could do 1 1/2 day...1 day before cruise and once again on the day we get back to port. Do you think this would work?

 

[drogerstn]

Since we try to plan around the least amounts of folks in parks (and our plans are different each trip), we only once went to MK first, boys were 6 and 19...

We do as Evil Queen says here. If crowd expectation (usually based on Extra Magic Hour patterns) is high for the MK on our 1st day, we will go somewhere else. (Crowds are probably not much of a factor early-middle May.)

We also take park opening/closing times into account before deciding on which park to go to. We try to fit MK in as soon as we can because we expect to go there at least twice during a visit.

 

[phoebusII]

We tried to do another park first once. DD was miserable and asked when we were going to see the real Disney World. So we learned to do MK first. The kids have been happier that way and they are no problem in the other parks.

 

[goofy4dis]

We have learned with our youngest (9) that it is hard for little children to understand
A) the logistics of hitting rides in order (based on relative distance, crowds, fastpasses, etc.)
B) the different rides being in different parks.

i think that it will help with the "can we go on------" if you explain this first.


also i don't think going to MK first is a big problem.

 

[justplaingoofy]

loveysbydesign- ideas from allearsnet.com you can type in birthday in Disney for the search... Here is what they recommend:

If you are at: Magic Kingdom- go to City Hall
Epcot, MGM, or Animal Kingdom- go to gues services
and tell them its his birthday. They will give him a pin to wear that says "its my birthday"... People will acknowledge it...

Also, they recommend telling your disney resort, and also dialing the operator on Disney resort and ask for Goofy's special Birthday message.

And while dining, tell your server

 

[knovak]

We went last year and we went the 2nd day. I must say after going to the MK - we went every day at sometime and I could never get them back to Epcot. (DD's were 5 and 2 then) We are going again in May as well and I hope to get in more of what we missed at the other parks, but I know we will be at the MK every day! They LOVE it there! I also know I will be riding Buzz a lot, my DD 3 LOVES the ride! Have fun and enjoy! There is nothing like seeing THE WORLD through your children's eyes!

 

[drogerstn]

What is "WH"?

EPCOT has evening EMH on May 12; MK has evening EMH on the 21st. If its not too big a deal, you may want to switch SW and MK on your last two days.

WDW EMH Schedule

 

[loveysbydesign]

What is "WH"?

Windsor Hills

 

[DISUNC]

Hi all, We leave on May 9 for our 1st family trip to WDW. I just picked up a copy of the Unofficial Guide to WDW 2005 for $3.99 at the Ollie's store near me. As I read through it I noticed it says to go to MK last!!! I'm afraid my kiddos (ages 6 and 3) would have a heartattack if we go there last!!!! it says the other parks will be a let down if we do MK first. Any advice on this subject is appreciated!

This same topic was brought up on another thread last week. Here are my thoughts...

Go to MK FIRST!!!!! Because that is excatly where your children think they are going and trust me they know a castle when they see it!!!! If the first thing they see is the EPCOT globe, THEN they will be disappointed

Some people say that then the other parks will be a disappointment. When you are 6 & 3....ALL OTHER PARKS ARE A DISAPPOINTMENT! Regardless of the order you went to them.

Besides, really how can you not go there first???? Its sort of like telling them on Christmas morning they can't open the Santa presents till later, cause they may be disappointed when Aunt Tootsie comes later in the day to give them her presents!

We ALWAYS go to MK the first night we get there, no matter what guide or book says..You just GOT TO!

 

[Disney Fool]

I may be a voice crying in the wilderness here, but here goes:
I believe that the idea that "Mk first, other parks afterward" is very outdated.
I have brought several (Lots and lots of families) children to DW over the years. Yes, they are in love with the MK, but they also found Epcot to be a blast! I've always taken them to the MK first!!! For little ones, when we went to Epcot, we were prepared to allow them time to splash in the dancing fountains (the ones that come up from the ground) They loved it! Now, Turtletalk with Crush is a must. Loved that. The kidcot stations--couldn't get them away from making their masks at each country. For older kids, all of the interactive stuff (including the dancing instructions) at Innoventions was great. Let's see, playing with the mechanical dog, Aibo; the character bus and show, the boat ride in Mexico, as well as the boat ride in Norway, the talking water fountain in Epcot, and now Soarin'.
There's more, just can't think right now. Anyway, the children never complained that they didn't like Epcot--they understood it to be a completely different experience with Disney thrown in--and they all loved it. I made it clear to them that Disneyworld is a great big park with several gates to get into special areas, and each day we'd get to taste something new. They were just as excited to go to Epcot and MGM, and AK to experience these new things as they were to go to the Magic Kingdom. Of course we went back several times to MK, so that they got to see it all. In fact, we jumped around a lot. Never had pouty, whiney kids who wanted to go back to MK. JMHO, but I think their attitude has a lot to do with how you present it to them.