Which park would you do first?

[Conno]

We fly in from the UK - which is a 9-10 hour trip in total; and a 5 hour time shift.

On our first full day, we do HS. It's a smaller park, easier to navigate and get around and generally quieter than the others. Nice to finish off with Fantasmic too. Second day is always MK.

 

[bluejasmine]

I would def do MK, its always the first park for us bc its a classic its the epitome of Disney...

 

[PollyannaMom]

This:

...do an easy-going day at HS first, leave at a decent time and then get up early early the next morning and do a full day at MK when we can have a full day rest the next day.

and this:

...Generally speaking, I typically don’t like MK on a Monday. For any given week long trip, it’s a lot of folk’s “first full day,” and MK is often the popular choice. I much prefer MK on a Tuesday.

If I'm going for an extended trip, I actually like to do MK at the beginning and end, but for your exact situation, I would definitely do the shorter HS day first, a looooong day at MK (rope drop to fireworks) and then the rest day.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

OP, BTW, Tuesday 2/27 is an EMM (Early Morning Magic) morning from 7:45-9AM. If you don’t know what that is, see here:
The All Things “EMM” Thread – MK/Fantasyland Early Morning Magic FAQs & More

Not sure if that kind of paid event is in the budget for you, but given it’s your first time and you only have one MK day, it may be of interest.

Note, even if that kind of event isn’t your thing, it won’t impact crowds at MK that day so I still lean towards Tuesday as my vote for an MK day.

Have fun!

 

[mindeola]

MK is always a first day and last day of trip park for me. It is MAGIC! Just makes me so happy to be there. I did not do it first in May and I felt off the entire trip.

based on all you said about your family and only having two days in parks, I would probably go to MK on the second day though. I still love HS. The atmosphere there is joyous. Just makes me so happy!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I always visit the MK first and last. I'm not at WDW until I go to the Magic Kingdom. If I only had two park days I would MK last.

 

[DrankTheKool-Aid]

We went the end of February in 2016 when our kids were 4 and 7 and HS was their second favorite park behind MK. I know many people think of it as a short day but our kids also love Star Wars and the shows so it is a full day for us. If you wish for your kids to participate in Jedi Training you want to be there first thing in the morning and you will definitely not want to miss the Star Wars fireworks at night.

I would recommend HS on Monday. Even though it may be a full day, the park has a smaller footprint and several of the shows are longer in duration providing multiple opportunities to get off your feet. I would do MK on Tuesday because I would always recommend ending a Disney trip at MK...there’s just something extra magical about it that the other parks can’t quite live up to

 

[sdomino11]

I’m going to echo many PPs. We usually open and close a vacation with MK. But, we stay on property for about ten days. If I were in your exact position, I would 100% do HS first, then MK. HS will be fun and exciting but no park compares with MK. Save it for last and end on a high note!

 

[princessesrule]

It really depends on the age of kids too. When my kids were younger, MK was their favorite and we always did MK last on our trips because it left us feeling the magic. If you go to MK first and then other parks, your kids may be expecting the same kindof magic you get in MK and it doesn't happen.

 

[Jess_S]

Theoretically, my preference would be MK because it is the most Disney of the parks. But I always plan my week using crowd projections and MK is usually a bad pick early in the week because lots of people want to visit it first. For that reason, I've never actually visited MK first.

 

[Crystal824]

MK always MK.

 

[North of Mouse]

My son and husband are big into Star Wars though, so that is one of the biggest reasons we are going to HS. Plus both my kids really love shows and live theatre so I think it will be a good fit for us. My kiddos are 5 and 7.

With the additional information in this post, seems like the biggest interest for your family is HS. With this info, I would say that your family's interests lean toward being in this park the most, so probably a better fit for first day.

As for MK being busier on Mon. than Tues. - have been both days many times as we go frequently, and despite the 'crowd' indicators, have not found significant differences in either day. We always go on whichever day we like, having AP's or park hoppers, tend to end up there on lots of partial days anyway.

Like many others have said, MK 'screams' Disney to us, so we tend to go there first, and more than AK or HS. Epcot is our second choice.

 

[magical-me]

I always visit MK first and always on my last day. Something about seeing Cinderella’s castle feels so nostalgic

 

[kittyab]

I guess it depends on the ages of your group. If you have little ones, MK. Older, may prefer Epcot or HS. I would show your kids what each park offers and let them decide.

 

[saradela]

The first impresion is very important...For a first time MK

 

[TinkSassy]

We are also a start at MK and end at MK family. Even do this traveling solo. HS is great and I am a Star Wars fan, so I am not one that thinks this is just a few hours. It is a full day for us as we love SW and shows! However, there is nothing like walking it to MK that first morning and seeing the castle at the end of main street. For your first trip, rope drop and be there when Mickey opens the park from the Castle in the morning it is so magical and your kids are young enough still to really buy in.

HS is a full day with all the offering but it is a lot of shows - I would use HS as a day to help rest tired feet. The shows are longer and you will get a lot more sitting time than you will at MK.

My other thought is though you have lots of Star Wars - lots of that is meet and greet. You have only 4 rides at HS so it feels slow to kids though as an adult I feel rushed to get to my favorite shows. MK is a lot more action as you are going from ride to ride to ride with some shows mixed in. If you start with the action, they might be ready to slow down a bit the next day. Also, not knowing heights they might not be able to ride all of the HS rides as 3 are "thrill" rides.

 

[jaiminee krikit]

MK - first and last. I don't feel like I'm at WDW until I've seen Cinderella Castle. There have been several trips where it just doesn't work out to do MK the first day, and I don't like it. Once I'm on Main Street USA, I know I'm home.

 

[mdsouth]

MK. Iconic, special. Gives me the Disney feeling. So much to see and do. Is the most magical of all the parks- surpises around every corner.

Magic Kingdom because it's the "original" Disney. We are going next week and although we have park hoppers, we are starting and ending our trip with MK.

It really depends on the age of kids too. When my kids were younger, MK was their favorite and we always did MK last on our trips because it left us feeling the magic. If you go to MK first and then other parks, your kids may be expecting the same kindof magic you get in MK and it doesn't happen.

We are also a start at MK and end at MK family. Even do this traveling solo. HS is great and I am a Star Wars fan, so I am not one that thinks this is just a few hours. It is a full day for us as we love SW and shows! However, there is nothing like walking it to MK that first morning and seeing the castle at the end of main street. For your first trip, rope drop and be there when Mickey opens the park from the Castle in the morning it is so magical and your kids are young enough still to really buy in.

HS is a full day with all the offering but it is a lot of shows - I would use HS as a day to help rest tired feet. The shows are longer and you will get a lot more sitting time than you will at MK.

My other thought is though you have lots of Star Wars - lots of that is meet and greet. You have only 4 rides at HS so it feels slow to kids though as an adult I feel rushed to get to my favorite shows. MK is a lot more action as you are going from ride to ride to ride with some shows mixed in. If you start with the action, they might be ready to slow down a bit the next day. Also, not knowing heights they might not be able to ride all of the HS rides as 3 are "thrill" rides.

I, too, always start and end our trips at MK. It is different from the other parks. But as others have posted, since you have just two park days, it might make sense to start with HS and end at MK for all the same reasons as the quoted posts. HS will not match MK so in might make sense to start with it.

 

[Leelo]

We always do MK on the first and last. We do park hoppers so we may not spend the entire day at each one we just like to start and end with our favorite park even if its just fireworks on the last night!