Which order would you do the parks -- 5 days

[Lalalyn]

We are going the first week of February and have the 2-6 as days we can go to the parks. Plan had been:

Monday: MK
Tuesday: DHS
Wednesday: Rest Day (maybe 10:50 ADR at Akerhaus and 3:15 Pirate League)
Thursday: AK
Friday: MK

But, it seems Monday is a Crowd Level 7 at MK with all other days being a 5 or 4. We could do AK Monday, but I'm wonder if DD (who is five) will get keep asking about MK. We've never been before so she has no reference. We are staying at the Poly so she'll like see the castle.

Worth moving things around? What order do you prefer with young kids?

 

[mzadell]

I have a mental block that keeps me from doing them out of opening date order. I know that results in not always picking the optimal crowd-levels, but it's just how I've always visited the parks. I'm now realizing this is not a helpful reply... Oh bother.

 

[DISNEYD14]

I personally would switch the first two Monday DHS and Tuesday MK
But I know it's hard not to do MK the first day.
After the past 4 visits, I'll never do MK on a Monday again, lol

 

[lillyshula]

If we are only going to be in each park for one day, I like to do Magic Kingdom in the middle. There is still so much for younger children to enjoy in each park that my girls never cared if we waited to go to the Magic Kingdom on our second or even third day at the parks. I started doing it this way because I was afraid they wouldn't enjoy the other parks as much if they were expecting them all to be like the Magic Kingdom.

We usually do something like:
HS--day one
MK--day two
AK--day three
EP--day four
This is not including any rest days, ADRs that would put us in a park, more than four days in parks, or days that we do split parks such as HS and AK in the same day or EP in the morning and MK for a late afternoon and evening.

 

[DisneyMom]

It's a tradition that we always do MK first - it's just not a Disney vacation for me until I walk down Main Street, hear the music, see the castle under the Florida blue sky - my smile grows, my steps lighten and my heart is happy!!

 

[ArwenMarie]

I would keep it if that is the order you like. I'm not sure there is that big of a difference between a 5 and a 7. Not saying there isn't any difference, but I think you will be fine and if you want to do MK the first day, then just do it.

Now if it was between a 5 and a 9, I would reconsider.

 

[Fratthouse]

I may be the only one, but we always do AK first. We usually go by the crowd calendars, and AK is usually a recommended park. Buuuuuut - we LOVE AK. Like really really love it. So it doesn't feel like a disappointment to start there.

 

[chelseabun76]

I think your plans look great, we love doing MK on our first and last days too No Epcot?

 

[tbia]

When are you arriving?

 

[ruthies12]

I personally would never take a rest day on a Wednesday, regardless of time of year, a Wednesday is going to be your least crowded day of the week and the best time to be at a park. Also because adding a 5th day to tickets is so cheap, even if you only do a half day at a park and then take a rest it will be worth it.

If this were my trip with a 5 year old girl I would do

Mon: Epcot with breakfast or lunch at Akershus
Tues: DHS maybe with breakfast or lunch at Hollywood and Vine
Wed: MK
Thurs: AK half day with half day rest
Fri: MK

If you can do the princess lunch on Mon and the Disney junior character lunch on Tues, that would really build up to a big day at MK, which on a Wednesday in February will be an awesome time to be there.

 

[minnie mum]

I don't like crowds. Period. So I prefer to follow the crowd calendar recommendations. Our kids were never bothered by waiting a couple of days before going to MK. Especially with such a short trip, I wouldn't want to miss out on riding a favourite ride because of higher crowds and longer lines, if I could avoid it by going to that park on a slower day.

 

[AngiTN]

We always do our parks in order based on recommended parks. Always, always, always. Did I say always? To the poster that asked if there is a difference between a 5 and a 7, you can bet your *** there is.
If you are there with crowd levels of 3 and you go to the red/non recommended park you will think you are there for an 8. And the opposite is true, in my experience (and I've done both). If you are there with levels of 8 and more and go to the green/most recommended park you can think you are there with a crowd level of 3.

 

[stinkpickle]

We always do our parks in order based on recommended parks. Always, always, always. Did I say always? To the poster that asked if there is a difference between a 5 and a 7, you can bet your *** there is.
If you are there with crowd levels of 3 and you go to the red/non recommended park you will think you are there for an 8. And the opposite is true, in my experience (and I've done both). If you are there with levels of 8 and more and go to the green/most recommended park you can think you are there with a crowd level of 3.

This! ^^^

 

[nooneshome]

Depends on what is important to you. Mostly I would go with whatever Josh recommends at Easy WDW.

 

[TXTransplant]

If staying on site, I would go to whichever park has morning EMHs. You are paying more to stay on site, and EMHs are one of the big perks. Particularly in MK, those morning hours up to about 11 am are going to be the least crowded and will allow you to ride the most attractions with the shortest lines. That extra hour in the morning can really make s big difference. I would also do AK on the day that it has PM EMHs. AK always closes earlier than the other parks, and it has been our experience that it really clears out on afternoons/evenings when there are EMHs. We typically did not take advantage of PM hours at the other three parks because we were always at the park for rope drop (regardless of what time the park opened) and my son was usually pooped by 8 or 9 in the evening.

One thing to remember about the recommended parks...IIRC, the groups that put together those recommendations do them for all guests, not just on-site guests. I believe at least one popular touring site specifically does NOT recommend the park with morning EMHs because that park will fill up with on-site guests and off-site guests end up at a disadvantage once the park opens for them. However, I can't imagine staying on-site and not taking advantage of all morning EMHs.

 

[AngiTN]

If staying on site, I would go to whichever park has morning EMHs. You are paying more to stay on site, and EMHs are one of the big perks. Particularly in MK, those morning hours up to about 11 am are going to be the least crowded and will allow you to ride the most attractions with the shortest lines. That extra hour in the morning can really make s big difference. I would also do AK on the day that it has PM EMHs. AK always closes earlier than the other parks, and it has been our experience that it really clears out on afternoons/evenings when there are EMHs. We typically did not take advantage of PM hours at the other three parks because we were always at the park for rope drop (regardless of what time the park opened) and my son was usually pooped by 8 or 9 in the evening. One thing to remember about the recommended parks...IIRC, the groups that put together those recommendations do them for all guests, not just on-site guests. I believe at least one popular touring site specifically does NOT recommend the park with morning EMHs because that park will fill up with on-site guests and off-site guests end up at a disadvantage once the park opens for them. However, I can't imagine staying on-site and not taking advantage of all morning EMHs.

In all our trips we've never taken advantage of EMH, especially not morning ones. Getting up for regular park opening is a chore, no way on earth to make anything earlier.
But by going with the green parks we have gotten everything done without needing to get up extra early.
For early birds EMH are nice, if it doesn't wipe you off your feet from being so tired

 

[practicallyperfect77]

I was recently on a trip with my niece (age 5) and nephews (twins - a month shy of 7). We were there 6 days and did the following: MK, HS, MK, AK, Epcot, MK. The kids had never been and this was likely a once and done trip for them unless the lottery is won. =) I was fairly certain before we left that MK and AK would be their faves....and they were. I actually let them decide what park they wanted to go to on our last day (but figured it wpuld be MK so had FPs already in place for that park). I can tell you that they really were more interested in the rides vs animals and shows. I have read other folks say to do MK last b/c if not other parks might be sort of a let down and I kind of feel that may have happened. However, at the same time, the kids just really wanted to meet Tigger, Pooh and Piglet so being able to start off the whole magic with breakfast at CP on Sunday was pretty amazing. I can't imagine waiting until later to do that.

I will say that I used Easywdw recommendations and stuck with them pretty well. I do think there is a difference b/t most recommended and least recommended. I've seen that on other trips.

 

[practicallyperfect77]

In all our trips we've never taken advantage of EMH, especially not morning ones. Getting up for regular park opening is a chore, no way on earth to make anything earlier.
But by going with the green parks we have gotten everything done without needing to get up extra early.
For early birds EMH are nice, if it doesn't wipe you off your feet from being so tired

Amen! On a trip with adults, I'll do morning EMH and late EMH with most recommended in between, but wasn't gonna put my niece and nephews to that test. I can see tho if kids are early risers anywah...go for it!

 

[Excited Fan]

When will the crowd calender for June 2015 be available?

 

[stinkpickle]

If staying on site, I would go to whichever park has morning EMHs. You are paying more to stay on site, and EMHs are one of the big perks. Particularly in MK, those morning hours up to about 11 am are going to be the least crowded and will allow you to ride the most attractions with the shortest lines. That extra hour in the morning can really make s big difference. I would also do AK on the day that it has PM EMHs. AK always closes earlier than the other parks, and it has been our experience that it really clears out on afternoons/evenings when there are EMHs. We typically did not take advantage of PM hours at the other three parks because we were always at the park for rope drop (regardless of what time the park opened) and my son was usually pooped by 8 or 9 in the evening.

One thing to remember about the recommended parks...IIRC, the groups that put together those recommendations do them for all guests, not just on-site guests. I believe at least one popular touring site specifically does NOT recommend the park with morning EMHs because that park will fill up with on-site guests and off-site guests end up at a disadvantage once the park opens for them. However, I can't imagine staying on-site and not taking advantage of all morning EMHs.

During the slow (relatively speaking) times of the year, mornings at recommended parks are just as good as morning EMH at non-recommended parks. Plus, they tend be less crowded later on in the morning and into the afternoon.