Where do you start?

[Binkrin]

My FH and I will be going to WDW for the first time together in April. He has been there many more times than me and has always started at the Pirates of the Caribbean. At the time that we are going PoC will be closed for renovations and FH is beside himself. I told him that it was a sign that we should start our own Disney Traditions.

Now we will probably be going to the Animal Kingdom the first day since we will be staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Just curious, do you have a specific starting point?

 

[GarrettJD]

It really depends. Our first park is always the Magic Kingdom. As for our first ride-- it depends on if we arrive at opening or in the afternoon. In the morning, it's always Splash Mountain. If we arrive in the afternoon, it's Pirates.

 

[chrisp]

We have started at PoC on every one of our 18 trips!

 

[bubba73]

Where to start would depend on the park and what do you like to do. If it were me, I would head straight into AK (since that is where you said you were probably going to go to), and get a FP for Expedition Everest (unless the line is still small right then) then go back and get on the Safari. If EE is not something that you are inclined to do, go ahead and do the Lion king Show when you first walk in and then get in the Safari. Make sure you get that Safari in early as that is when the animals are more active. Besides, the lines for it shouldn't be too bad right now as everyone is so excited about EE, they will be going to that as soon as they can.

For me though, my favorite park is EPCOT. I have to get in there and get a FP for TT and then do Mission Space. When we are done with those, we head over to the Land and get a FP for Soarin and go do everything else we want to do. Even with it still being early, you will still have to wait a couple of hours before you will be able to get on Soarin but it is well worth it. Then, at your own pace, you can go see the countries.

 

[knebel22@frontiernet]

Not a ride, but we always start at the Main Street Bakery!

 

[BlindTyldak]

I'm going on my fifth visit in november, and every time I have started with Spaceship Earth in Epcot, as we often arrive in the late afternoon and there's no line. It's a great start to the vacation to be able to just walk right on your first ride!

 

[GarrettJD]

I'm going on my fifth visit in november, and every time I have started with Spaceship Earth in Epcot, as we often arrive in the late afternoon and there's no line. It's a great start to the vacation to be able to just walk right on your first ride!

Excellent idea. That's why if we go to the MK first and it's mid-afternoon, we usually hit Pirates first-- the wait is usually only 5-10 minutes around the time of the afternoon parade.

We use your Spaceship Earth technique also, but on the way out. Since we usually hit Epcot at opening, we hit Soarin'/Test Track/Space, then when we're ready to take an afternoon break around 2:00, there's no line for SE, so it's usally the last thing we ride before taking our break.

 

[Carnotaurus]

We always start in the Magic Kingdom -- even though EPCOT is our fave park. Twice, we've arrived during the afternoon parade, which was really magical.


Our big tradition is eating at Ohana after our first day.

 

[Glendamax]

I used to ALWAYS start at Magic Kingdom, but now I go to touringplans' website, find out which park has the shortest wait-times the day I arrive, and go there first. I must admit that it did seem strange going to Animal Kingdom first, and not going to Magic Kingdom untill day 3 or 4, but it worked out really well

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

We drive and get there about 4. So we will be starting a tradition and always start at Chef Mickey's. After a long drive, we pretty much want to have a bit of first night fun, then plop.

 

[stevelamb121]

Me and DW took the keys to KTTK tour in Dec, and I asked the question about the busiest rides in the MK... Our Guide (Mark) told me everyone tends to start at Tomorrowland and work anti-clockwise, so the best way to do MK is to start at Adventure land, and work clockwise, he advised that people going the 2 ways normally cross behind cinderella castle, and thats normally the busiest

 

[Binkrin]

We have started at PoC on every one of our 18 trips!

so what would you do if it wasn't an option?!?!

 

[honeybee30]

We always ride Buzz Lightyear first at MK or Spaceship Earth at Epcot, but we always start our WDW vacation at one of those two parks. They're our favorites!

 

[dopeyfordisneyworld]

We usually go toward the rides that will be the busiest!

Counting down.... only 4 more days left to go!!!!!!!!!!1

 

[iluvwdw_2002]

For some reason growing up, we always started with DTD. The last trip DH and I started there as well to carry on my family traditions.

However this year, DH was like "Let's start at EPCOT since it's our favorite". So, we are starting a new tradition between us.

Next time we may have kiddos, so then we can start a whole other tradition. Maybe it will be a 'start with Magic Kingdom' tradition.

 

[dischick4778]

We don't usually have a park we must start with. But within the parks we have rides that we start with. At MK we always go right to Splash and Thunder mountains first. FP for one and ride the other. At Epcot Test Track is first. AK is Tough to be a Bug. MGM is the Great Movie Ride.

 

[nigel-bigel]

Our first park is always Disney Studios, first ride is the Great Movie Ride.

However, at AK the first attraction we hit is the Lion King show.

In MK, the first ride is PoC.

And we always have the character breakfast at the Cape May Cafe on the day we leave. It's a great way to say goodbye!

 

[johnvree]

Our first attraction is always The Festival of the Lion King at DAK (at least on our last two trips). Something about that first song that screams, "YOU'RE IN DISNEY."

 

[Thinktinknpixiedust]

The very "first" thing that we do is go to Beaches and Creams for the Kitchen Sink. That is the official, "We are on vacation" signal. Then it is off to Magic Kingdom, honestly, for no reason in particular we wind up on Aladdins Magic Carpet ride... Instant gratification!

Good luck on finding a new tradition.