which park do you recommend first with a 3 yr old

[aimb5377]

Which park do you recommend first with a 3 yr old and an 9 yr old? We are going Aug 1-5 and we are just so excited but we are not sure what to do when?

 

[spoiltrotten12]

We normally hit Animal Kingdom on our first full day

 

[all4fun]

We usually base where we go first on what the historical attendance levels are and where the extra magic hours are happening that day. If you're staying off disney property, then you might choose to avoid park doing EMH as it will likely fill up faster.

From allearsnet.com
"During regular attendance periods, our parks tend to be the busiest on the following days:

* Magic Kingdom: Monday, Thursday, and Saturday
* Epcot: Tuesday and Friday
* Disney-MGM Studios: Sunday and Wednesday
* Disney's Animal Kingdom: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday"

Touringplans.com (Unofficial Guide to WDW site) also has a crowd level calendar you might want to check out.

hth!

 

[liamandcaili]

We check crowd levels too, but I agree that AK might be a good place to start. Last trip, we made the mistake of putting AK toward the end of the vacation, and DS6 and DD4 weren't as impressed as they would have been if we had done it closer to the beginning. They normally love zoos and animal parks too, but I think after all the excitement and stimulation, they couldn't just relax and enjoy AK. They did love the Lion King show though.

 

[aimb5377]

Thank you so much. Now maybe I will finally be able to write up some kind of agenda of where to go and what to do each day

 

[Ella's Mom]

I like to go to MK first, but it would make sense to put the least exciting parks first. After going to MK, they might not like being at a different park.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

For us, the trip hasn't started until we go see the castle and head to toontown and see Mickey!!!!!

But I know a lot of others disagree. My SIL is taking her DH and their DD2 for the first time this year and they are going to MGM 1st (DH wants to see the car show!!) and MK the second day. She fears that MK will ruin the other parks for her DD...

Do what is best for your family.

 

[lauritagoddess]

We went to MK the first day the last time. It seemed like a good way to start off with the real magic. For our trip in December, my DS has already asked to go to Epcot the first day which as it turned out was his favorite park by far.

 

[KelleyGirl]

Have your kids been to Disney before? We made Magic Kingdom our first stop on each of our children's first trips so they could see the castle. Okay, well, maybe we were more excited to show them the castle than they were to see it, but either way, it was a nice first day!

 

[aimb5377]

No my children nor my husband have neither been to WDW before. I was there several times as a child but do not remember much. Actually I think I am more excited than anyone in the family and of course my husband thinks I am crazy. He just doesn't understand the excitement yet. Hopefully it will kick in soon for him. We leave in 58 days (going to Daytona Beach a few days prior to Disney trip) My kids are somewhat excited. But we just want to make the most of our trip. And we don't have a lot of extra cash to spend while there. We have been saving for about 3 years now.

 

[LizAgna]

My DDs were 2 & 9 when we went in January and we started out at MK with breakfast at CRT. I don't think I could go to WDW without going there first...there's just something about walking down MainStreet toward the castle that tells me I'm there!!

No matter where you start I know you will have a great time!!