Why not MK first thing?

[onajourney]

We are going for just 5 days and were going to hit MK on the first day because it was the recommend least busy crowd day and again for a half day the last day for the same reason. MK is busier on the other 3 days of our trip. I have all ages so I know my older kids will enjoy Epcot and HS a lot. My 5yo will love MK the most and probably AK the next. What is the thinking behind not doing MK first thing in a trip? If it is a good enough reason, I can flip flop a couple days.

 

[iamtheclay]

I have also read that about saving MK until the end, but we are going there the first and last of six days. It seems to me the thinking is that if you start with the MK that somehow the other parks will not seem as impressive by comparison. We have not taken our kids before, but I think they will find things about AK, EP and HS that they will like just as well as MK.

You know your children and their interests best!

 

[BenA81]

For kids, MK is usually the best park and their favorite. So you'll hit the climax of your trip right at the beginning and the rest of your trip they'll be asking to go back to MK. So I've heard...

 

[BenA81]

Here is how we split our trip up:

Sun: AK and DHS
Mon: Epcot
Tues: DHS (AM), MVMCP at MK (PM)
Wed: (MK)
...
staying until saturday.

 

[ClarkCasey]

Guidebooks say the other parks won't look so good after kids have seen MK. The other parks don't have as many rides as MK.

 

[vicki_c]

If you're going by the crowd calendars (we do, but we use TGM) -- we go to the recommended parks no matter what order they fall in. Never seems to bother my kids no matter where we go first.

 

[Pjimmeyer]

We like to start and end with MK.

I think the other parks are mature enough now to stand on their own and have something for everybody. Still...I guess the reason we start with MK is because I can't wait. If you ask my wife she would most likely compare me to a 5yr old anyway. Personally I think that does a disservice to 5yr olds everywhere.

 

[Cinderellabride]

We got to MK the first day always. I don't care what crowd guides say. We go where we want to go. There is something about the magic of MK that we just need to do that first. We also don't just spend one day there though, and we usually hit it last too.

This time we are going for 8 days including arrival and departure, our departing flight got pushed way back so we actually have almost a whole day on our last day.

Our plan is:

Day 1: MK
Day 2: Epcot
Day 3: HS
Day 4: AK and MBBBQ
Day 5: HS in the AM and MK in the afternoon and MVMCP
Day 6: MK
Day 7: Epcot
Day 8: We will go where ever we want to but I would be very surprised if it didn't include MK

Go where you want to go when you want to go.

 

[sjreed]

We've been taking our kids every other year since they were 5 and 7 years old, they are now 16 and 18. It has never bothered them as to what order we do the parks in. They have different things that they love about all the parks.

 

[2Tiggies]

I would stick with the guide recommendations. Although MK is a younger child's favorite park, I dont believe it means they won't enjoy the others any less for it. My DD, now 7, has always loved Epcot as a "tie" favorite along with MK. The fact that your 5 year old has older siblings will also help with enthusiasm levels. Be enthusiatic about all the parks - I am sure they will all be caught up in the magic that each one has to offer and thoroughly enjoy it. Have fun.

 

[bmd1206]

We were planning on going to MK first but we decided to go to MK the same day we do the MVMCP (tue). I don't think it matters..

Our plan is:

Sun - Studios
Mon - AK w/ MK for spectromagic/wishes at night
Tue - MK w/ MVMCP
Wed - Epcot
Thu - MK

 

[btcrane]

We've been taking our kids every other year since they were 5 and 7 years old, they are now 16 and 18. It has never bothered them as to what order we do the parks in. They have different things that they love about all the parks.

This is our family, too. Every park has something to offer. Yes, we love MK but we also love Epcot and the others. We can't even pick a favorite park, we love them all!!! So we go by the guidebooks, which park is "recommended." My advice: go to Magic Kingdom first if you want. Have fun!!

 

[Planogirl]

I never really noticed DS being disappointed with any of the parks, maybe because there's a lot to do for young kids at all of them. He had his favorites in each park so starting with MK never was a big deal. Kids vary though.

 

[loobylou44]

We love to start with Mk because that is 'real' Disney. We have never felt the the other parks are a let down after Mk they are as good in their own ways.

 

[serrotak]

We will be there in February for 7 days and my plan right now is to actually go to all the other parks before MK. No particular reason, that is just how everything fell. I know my family will enjoy everything Disney has to offer. For us, this will be 1st (DD3), 2nd (DD7), 3rd (DS12) and 4th (ME) trip. However, this is my 1st trip trying to plan it out, instead of just winging it.

 

[brockash]

I know the theory is that the other parks won't "live up" MK, but we tried doing a different park on the first day once, and we'll never do it again. All we all wanted to do was be at MK, because really for us that is Disney. We like the other parks too and always visit all of them, but we'll never start our trip with any other park than MK. Having said that, we also always make MK also our last day and usually throw in another MK day in the middle somewhere. Good luck!

 

[TinkerbellinLouisian]

Going to MK FIRST is a family TRADITION....we ALWAYS go to MK first....

Gets us initiated into the whole WDW 'Mood'....

I would recommend you do what YOU want to do...what your family wants...and let the guidebooks just be...well ....a guide...but not the gospel...

Have a Magical Visit!

Mary

 

[ogreenlee]

This will be our longest trip at 8 days, but our plan is to hit MK first thing! I gotta have my cinnamon bun and capp on Main St to start off my week!!!

However, we will be going again for MVMCP the next night, and about 2 more times after that. So we figure as long as she knows that we'll be going again several times, we'll be good to go. We plan on really getting into each section of MK every time instead of running around trying to squeeze in everything. First day: MK - Fantasyland Last day: MK - Fantasyland

This time I want to spend more time at the front of MK, too. I feel like all that gets pushed aside. I'm willing to spend less time in the other parks except for Epcot, which is tied for favorite with me.

 

[Lily & Giny's Mom]

For our vacations we always go to the beach first for a week, then on to disney, and we do MK the last two days of our week there, as it is all of our favorite. We have always felt that if we went to disney first the kids now 5 & 8 would be to bored at the beach. Same as MK to the other parks. L&G's Dad.

 

[gr8leg8]

On our first visit (last Sept)
DD was most excited to see Animal Kingdom and it ended up being her favorite park.

So on our upcoming return it will be our first park day and we will return later in the week.

For me
our first visit was a whirlwind one day at each park before a four day cruise.
MK was our last park day (open til midnight that Saturday)
We made it to 11:30, but just barely.

MK felt like "home" to me. I enjoyed the other parks, especially Epcot, by MK fufilled the need for Disney Magic.

but...
I was exhausted from dragging DH & DD around for three days.
If I let them, they would spend an hour exploring a crack in the sidewalk

This time around we are going to MK early in the trip, on a touring plans reccommended day, and plan to return later in the week.