1st park I visit.

[tjstrike]

I was trying to think of how I could celebrate my 500th post so I figured I'd do a poll since everybody loves polls. This is an easy one, you arrive at Disney Saturday morning and check in but your room won't be ready till sometime in the afternoon, what do you do ?

[homeschool mom]

Family tradition dictates we head straight to MK after we have checked in. No matter how old our kids get or how many trips we have taken, everyone agrees we begin and end the trip at MK. :mickey:

[spoiledraf]

The Magic Kingdom is where it all started and that's always where we start. We have actually planned to go to other parks first, but when we arrive the Castle always pulls us in!

[Alaska Disney Fan]

We always go to Downtown Disney to start our adventure. We would rather wait until we can wake up in the morning and spend a full day at Magic Kingdom. :mickey:

[ANG]

DD if I don't have a park ticket for that day. But MK if I Can go to a park.

[indytraveler]

It's something about the castle and the MK is where the magic starts. Gotta head there first.

[chefmickey3]

I say it depends on where you are staying. We have always run for the MK. We seem to always walk in to a parade or something on Main Street which is a little disappointing not to be able to walk down the middle of Main St. But this year we are staying at Beach Club so we are going to start in EPCOT and do MK the second day when we are fresh. We plan to do a few favorites and then some WS and have ADR at Via Napoli to end the night. Looking forward to a change!

[ImagiAsh]

As per our family tradition, we always go to MK on our first FULL day. If we arrive at noon on a Saturday or so, we will do EPCOT and then start Sunday off at MK. I think the tradition lies in the fact that we want breakfast at the Main Street Bakery on our first full day. :mickey:

[Georgesgirl1]

Our family tradition is to spend the first afternoon we are in the World touring the monorail resorts. Since we drive, we never get there early enough in the day to justify the use of a ticket. We eat diner at one of the resorts, ride the monorail, ride the boats, watch Wishes and the Electrical Water Parade. We have done this since I was little and DH and I are keeping the tradition going with our kids.

[bringbackhorizons]

THe day we check in we always just grab something to eat and fall into bed after a 9 hour flight, but on our first full day we always head to MK.

[MstngDrvnDsnyLvr]

It all depends on who is with me and what our whim is at the time we are heading to the buses.

We've been known to start at the MK like everyone else. We are most probably going to start our next visit at Epcot per DD's request. Again - all on the whim of the majority as we head to the buses.

[TinkerbellT421]

We always stay at the Boardwalk (or the Beach Club), so seeing Epcot is our favorite AND a hop skip and a jump from either of those resorts, we usually visit there on the first day, then sometimes take the monorail to MK or something like that. But usually Epcot is the first park we step foot in.

[BugeyedMuggy]

Epcot is ours. A glass of wine in France is a must.

[ransam]

i always start at Magic Kingdom, and end w/ Magic Kingdom.
However, if I arrive too late and i have done that before, i usually will go to downtown Disney just to walk around and soak in the atmosphere.

[BayLaker25]

I picked Epcot but it kind of depends on where we are staying and what's the closest park. Epcot is my favorite park so I love going there first. The thing I like to do on the first day is go Soarin' and Test Track (when it's open of course) then head over to world showcase take a walk through the countries, grab something good to eat from anyone of the countries and grab a beer. It makes me feel like I'm finally in WDW and relaxed.

[Tinkerbella16]

Epcot has always been our tradition to visit first as soon as we got there. We always arrive early and very rarely is the room ready so we shoot right over to Epcot and I immediately feel like I'm "home". :mickey:

[darthmacho]

I voted Other. Our tradition is to explore the home resort on check-in day, which is easy enough to do even if the room isn't ready yet, especially if Magical Express is taking care of your luggage or you have a rental car. We usually start by getting something to eat at the resort's cafeteria, then get into our room, and then look around before using the pool and getting to bed early. We don't hit a park until the first full day, which is always the Magic Kingdom. If we were to hit a park it would likely be MK, but we only did it once to get on Big Thunder Mountain before it closed for refurbishment the next day.

[Dopey's Girl]

I'm an Epcot girl...that is always my first choice. We don't usually do Future World, but rather wander aimlessly around World Showcase soaking in the sun, and enjoying a :marg:. 3 days from right now I will be there. Can't wait!

[Tink#64]

We always go to Downtown Disney to start our adventure. We would rather wait until we can wake up in the morning and spend a full day at Magic Kingdom. :mickey:

:ditto: This is our tradition every trip! DTD is great for arrival day, allows us some Disney fun & magic, saves time for the pool, unpacking & settling in to begin our first day in the park rested & ready to go! But our park days begin & end with the MK! :mickey:

[steamboat willy]

We leave NC early a.m. For a 10 hour drive. Arrive a little after noon and hoping our room is ready. Get all my pain over at one time by un-packing the vehicle and tossing bags on the beds. Grab lunch from our Resort Food Court and hopefully eat out by the pool. Then we're off for our 1st Monorail Loop around the World. Do a bit of Monorail Resort exploring before catching a spot to watch the EWP and WISHES! :fworks:
FIRST full day is always The Magic Kingdom. Your not there until you walk under the train station, hear the clang clang clang of the bell and the sound of that steam train whistle. Then it's down Main Street to see our favorite Castle. Now we have arrived!

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

We usually arrive late afternoon. Our tradition is to unpack and then head to Downtown Disney. We eat dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express then shop in World of Disney and the Christmas store...

[biodtl]

MK is always the first and last park we visit!

[DisneyorBust]

EPCOT for me!
There is something special about Epcot, if I had to pick you'll find me there!

[Kairi_7378]

Our traditional first park is Epcot. Mostly as a gift to DH for putting up with me as I plan... but I love Epcot almost as much as he does.

[MrPeetrie]

We always save Magic Kingdom for first full day on property. I say, go to Epcot. Browse around the World Showcase. Nosh on some food. See Illuminations. Shop at MouseGear on way out. Great way to start a trip!

[dizneydeb22]

If we arrive early enough, we hit MK...if we arrive late, such as the case of our trip in August, we go to DTD, enjoy a drink and for my husband, cigar!

[caryrae]

We always do Downtown Disney on the 1st day. We like to go there and just stroll around after traveling. We will also just explore the place we are staying too.

[Disney5+2]

Several trips ago we had a very early flight out of Boston. We got to our resort, checked in and headed right to AK. It was smaller then and we could do and see a lot in a few hours. We weren't tempted to stay too long since the park closes early. We went back to the hotel, got something to eat, had a swim and then crashed! Since then AK has become our first day park.

[DizneyFreak2002]

I usually get the worst park out of the way first.. DHS...

[finaldynasty]

I love Epcot...we wait for our second day at the parks to go to MK. I have no idea why..it is just the way it works out. We would never visit AK or DHS first. It is just something about Epcot and MK to kick off a trip.

[CosmicRay]

When DH and I went before kids, it was always Epcot. Then over the past years, we have taken other friends and families with us and they want to hit MK first, so that's where we go. But if it's my choice, Epcot always first! It's much more relaxing to start of the hustle and bustle of the trip.

[DizneyFreak2002]

I love Epcot...we wait for our second day at the parks to go to MK. I have no idea why..it is just the way it works out. We would never visit AK or DHS first. It is just something about Epcot and MK to kick off a trip.

I get the junk out of the way first (DHS), then save the best for last... :)

[LudwigVonDrake]

99.9% of the time I head over to the Magic Kingdom. The only time I didn't was the first year Everest opened and I really wanted to ride it :mickey:

[goofy-4-disney]

I had to vote for "Other". I did this because our travel times vary for each trip. If we arrive in the afternoon we usually would just head to DTD for the evening and then start our tickets the next day. If we're lucky enough to get into WDW in the morning we'll usually start off at Epcot or MK, depending on what we want to do. If it was me traveling alone, I'd have a hard time deciding to hit MK or Epcot first, regardless of what time I would get there.

[Ms. Mode]

Family tradition dictates we head straight to MK after we have checked in. No matter how old our kids get or how many trips we have taken, everyone agrees we begin and end the trip at MK. :mickey:

Ditto!

[mom2morgan]

So it's always BEEN Magic Kingdom, but this upcoming trip, we're actually doing Animal Kingdom first! 2 reasons - less exhausting on a travel day, and because we've always left it till the end when everyone is tired and grumpy and has sore feet...so we've never really taken our time with it. :cloud9:

[joonyer]

We always drive to WDW, and no matter what time we arrive, Unless it's after park closing, it's our tradition to head to MK immediately after checking in. On our last day, after checking out, we always visit DTD one last time for a sundae from Ghirardelli's.

[Fastpasssteve]

The last few trips, we have checked-in (late morning) and headed to EPCOT for lunch...usually at the Biergarten in Germany.

But...it is assumed that, at some point later in the day, we will enter the gates at the Magic Kingdom and feel the deep sense of peaceful excitement that I only feel there. I love EPCOT, and spend a lot of time there each trip, but I understand that the MK is the heart and soul of WDW. The MK is the battery pack that makes all the Parks and Resorts run. :magic:

[AmyCasanova]

Always Magic Kingdom.

If there's a new ride, then I may or may not walk over to another park, but it's almost always the big MK first. (:

[DisneyFr33k]

We always hit AK first since it only takes half a day to cover it all. Then we go back to our resort and settle in our room, grab a bite to eat, swim etc. :mickey:

[buzznwoodysmom]

I voted for other. It's our family tradition to check in and head to our resort pool. We usually grab CS lunch and eat at the pool, let the kids (and us) swim the day away. When our room is ready we get settled in, then head for Ohana's for dinner and our first trip on the monorail. Usually end the night watching Wishes on the beach at the Poly then back to our resort for a good night sleep to be ready for our first park day.

[disneydeb]

We usually settle in to our resort, swim, then Hoop de Do or DTD.

other

[Mackflava99]

While my heart says MK, I thought practically, because i wasnt sure how many days the trip will contain-
I say DHS - because you could get alot of it done and not have to return another day?
or get most of the big rides done then finish in another 1/2 day.

P.S. we have this happen alot and most times we end up going to the pool :)

[LandFan]

Epcot, I think :D It's just a great place to unwind after traveling. Save all of the Mouse Magic at MK for the following morning.

[MaterializedHaunt]

For me I really enjoy flying down, then DME over and swinging right into Epcot for a relaxed evening. I feel as though going right into MK is just too much rush rush for a first day especially after a plane trip. Although I do think the perfect ride for a first ride on property is Philharmagic. I typically hit Epcot first but this year will be MK actually and we will see how it goes... Philharmagic is first stop!

- MaterializedHaunt :hmghost:

[Cinderelley]

Due to our long flight and time change, we get in too late to go to a park, so we hit downtown disney. If I were to arrive as you said, it would be MK.

[Tigerinvestigator]

I don't really have a traditional first day park, but since we are usually at the WDW Dolphin it is just easier to walk to Epcot until the room is ready. So I voted Epcot.

[Gator]

We don't have much tradition on which park we hit firts. It really depends on when we fly in. If our first day is a Saturday, we avoid MK. The main reason is that it's crazy busy there on Saturdays. I've been to all the other parks on a Saturday, and they're not nearly as crowded. So pick your #2 park and head there.

[AllDisney]

Our tradition has always been to see Fantasmic on our first day at WDW. Lately, since they don't always have the show daily, this has been a challenge. I voted for Hollywood Studios:mickey: