Who doesn't go to Magic Kingdom on their first day?

[Satchmo128]

We haven't gone to MK on our first day on any of our trips. Usually AK is our first park. MK is usually day 3 or 4.

 

[curemyreed]

DH and I are going without the kids. I am arriving 2 days before DH as Momma reeeeeeeeeeally needs a break. DH and kids do not like Fantasmic enough to want to wait the time required for "good" seats. So I am taking advantage of my time alone by getting to Fantasmic obnoxiously early and sitting in my awesome seat while eating dinner and enjoying a good book to kill time until the show starts. The next day I am going to meander my way through AK enjoying the trails and animals that we never slow down to see while "commando-ing" it. I get relaxed just thinking about those two days.

 

[JillianMarie]

I much rather have MK be my last park than my first. While walking in and seeing the castle is great, having Wishes as my last memory means more to me. I pretty much base my park selection on 1) crowd calendars 2) when I can get a reservation at Tusker House.

 

[momof2n2]

We go by hours/shows/crowd calendars. MK is often not our first park.

 

[Sparkly]

We did MK first this year- and it was the worst day of the trip. Super crowded, super hot and we didn't have a good time at all. Next year, we'll do offsite shopping in the morning then DHS for the afternoon/early evening then 1900 Park Fare for dinner (& hopefully Disney will extend MK hours so we can watch Wishes from the Poly beach after!) on our first full day. Arrival evening will just be eating dinner and watching a movie on the beach at our resort

We're not doing a full day at MK until the 14th, our 3rd day of the trip. Then an evening after Chef Mickeys until midnight with a EMH on our last full day.

 

[Dallas_Lady]

Ditto what most have said. We rarely hit MK first. It takes our family a day or so to get our "Disney Legs" and I like to lead up to MK. We usually do Epcot or AK first, those parks are the most laid back for us.

 

[amg35]

Last two trips were at Beach Club and then Yacht Club respectively, so Spaceship Earth as our first ride is the order of the (arrival) day.

If all holds true for our next trip, we will be at Beach Club again and will once again make Spaceship Earth our first ride!

But I can't promise we won't meander over to the Magic Kingdom at night.

 

[maybegoofy]

First day animal kingdom and last DHS then the long ride home

 

[dramadrew]

I read this strategy for the first time today just before looking at this thread. I never thought about waiting to do Magic Kingdom later (save the best for last). It will be my husband's first time so I really wanted Magic Kingdom as his first park experience -- he does as well. I have a preliminary schedule mapped out, but it will depend on flight times, reservations bookings, and further information.

TUESDAY: Hope to get an early AM flight. Go to MK. This will be short introduction to the park where we may just look around, meet some characters, attempt a ride of two. Hop over to Epcot early evening, dinner there, and see Illuminations.

WEDNESDAY: Full day at the Magic Kingdom. Debating on either breakfast or lunch at Crystal Palace. The electrical parade will not be featured (or at least stated as of now) that night, so we will return the next evening.

THURSDAY: Do Epcot for most of the day. Hopefully we'll see some things, or do a ride or two on Tuesday evening. Return to MK in evening, dinner at Be Our Guest restaurant, and watch the Electrical Parade. Depending if we stayed the night before to watch the fireworks, we'll either stay to see them for first time, skip them, or maybe catch some remaining rides during that time.

FRIDAY: Animal Kingdom (I love animals so saving this may be beneficial). Dinner at Sanaa.

SATURDAY: HS and stay for Fantasmic. Hopefully concentrating on two smaller parks later in the week will give us a breather before conquering Universal during the weekend.

SUNDAY: Breakfast at 1900 Park Fare & IOA

MONDAY: USF

TUESDAY: Return home.

 

[GatorMommy2007]

We ended up at EPCOT because we arrived late in the evening and they were open the latest. It truly didn't feel like we were "there" because we hadn't been to MK first!

 

[katt789]

We alwaya do DTD or a character meal on arrival day, as weget in too latw for much else.

As for MK first Sometimes I do it, sometimes I dont! It depends on park hours, crowd calanders, etc. the last few trips ive done dhs first and mk 2nd and its worked fantastically!

 

[Kristibo42]

We hit MK the first day no matter what. We always have the hopper passes so even we only hit MK for a little while. As my DISNEY buddy always said 'It's not DISNEY until you see the "CASTLE". My brother-in-law and my DISNEY buddy died in January he was our Disney expert. Planned all of our trips. Now I'm doing it with a great TA.

 

[disneyerin]

We decide where to visit based purely on crowd predictions.

same....




December 16th here we come!!

 

[pouncingpluto]

We go by crowd predictions, too, though I probably wouldn't save MK for dead last. Especially since, with a toddler, we end up going to MK several times over the course of the week-- often just after her afternoon nap.

 

[pixarfan1]

We always go to dtd on arrival day. As far as our first park day it is usually Magic Kingdom. It's kind of like going home after you have been gone for a while for us.

 

[DisneyFan2013]

I'm going to Epcot the first day of my trip because I'll be arriving late in the afternoon and I want to see Illuminations that night. I would've chosen MK for the first night but there's no parade on my arrival night so I'm going to MK the following night so I can see the parade and Wishes.

 

[tinkerbella16]

Epcot has always been our traditional first park every trip. This year will be the same. I like having a fresh start and going to MK the first full day when we are all well-rested. It makes for a more magical day getting there before opening and getting a lot of the rides in before midday. We are exhausted the first day after waking up at 3am and getting on the first flight out. We love the first flight out so we can get on property in the morning.

This time instead of heading straight to Epcot after we check-in, we are going to explore the resort and swim and hope our room is ready during that time. Freshen up later and head out to Epcot and hit up our FP+ rides before dinner at Teppan Edo. The next morning it is extra morning magic hours at MK... so it should work out perfectly for us!

 

[MacClemsons]

I check crowd predictions and chose my park based on that now. On first trip with kids we saved MK and did EP first. Had read that after MK, kids would be disappointed with other parks. I think that's true. Even now after 12 trips, kids like MK best.

 

[Idreamofmickey]

Always do Magic Kingdom arrival day (even if just for a few hours) and last full day before we leave (
so wishes is my last memory)

 

[riopooh]

we have been doing alot of shorter visits lately and I for budgetting I always start out thinking it isn't worth it to buy the hopper option - but I love to start and finish at MK - so hop we must!