Doing the parks in order

[Buttercup]

I know some people are real "sticklers" for checking crowd levels and there are plenty of calendars out there online that tell you which day of the week is better to visit the Magic Kingdom vs. Epcot or whatever. But am I the only one who never pays attention to those?

It's kind-of a ritual.
I HAVE TO go to Magic Kingdom our first day at the parks.
Our second day is ALWAYS Epcot.
After that, it's a toss-up between HS & AK. Then we round out the week again hopping around and finishing at Magic Kingdom.

A few years ago we went to Animal Kingdom the first day and it just threw me off. LOL I kept feeling like "I shouldn't be here yet!" :mickey:

So do you have to do the parks in a certain order each time? Or do you go by what the crowd calendars say? (eg. if you arrive on a Monday, you'll just go to the park that is predicted to be least crowded on Mondays)

[Zippy 1]

Always Magic Kingdom on our first and last day. The other parks no particular order. But I have to start at MK

[Caroleh]

We don't pay attention to anything. We usually play everything by ear. The first day is always where the first bus we get at our resort takes us..most of the time it is MK. I do admit I do like seeing Cinderella's castle to set the trip off.

[VWL Mom]

I am one of those that needs to walk down Main St on day 1. The sights and sounds of MK let me know I'm back.

I do watch the crowd calendars when making our must do in park ADR's just to rule out the most crowded. Other than that we just wing it.

[ANG]

We always do MK first, then either Epcot or HS. We don't do AK every time but when we do it's always last. And then finally MK again!

[azcavalier]

It all depends on the Extra Magic Hour schedule and who is with us. If we have new people with us, especially with little kids, then we really try to hit the MK first.

[Auntie B]

For us it is MK on day 1, Epcot day 2, HS day 3, AK day 4 with lots of hopping back to MK and Epcot. It just doesn't feel right if I don't get to walk down Main Street USA first! I love hitting the evening EMH at MK too. Nothing quite as amazing as MK all lit up! And then our last day will be Epcot in the AM and MK in the PM.

[DizNut42]

Generally we hit HS first as DD's really like to ride TOT first. Sometimes it is whatever bus comes first.

[Janmac]

It all depends on the Extra Magic Hour schedule and who is with us. If we have new people with us, especially with little kids, then we really try to hit the MK first.

Ditto on the EMH schedule. We avoid the early EMH days and if MK is doing early EMH on our first full day, we go somewhere else. But we don't pay any attention to crowd levels.

We do Epcot every evening, so morning parks are MK, AK or the Studios.

If we're bringing newbies - who typically think that 4 days is plenty - we usually skip one park (AK or DHS depending on the newbie's interests) and do two MK mornings.

Jan

[MOJoe]

If you are a park hopper, like my family, then it doesn't matter so much. You can always leave and head somewhere else. But if you don't hop, then you should know the EMH schedule, and probably check a crowd calendar as well.
That said, the Studios has been our first stop the last few trips.

[roses]

Magic Kingdom is a must on the first day - after that, it doesn't matter and is mostly based on EMH

[etibbetts]

We typically always do the MK on our first day. We get park hoppers and tend to do one park in the am and a different one in the pm. The rest is determined by the park hours.

[bruin1344]

It all depends on the Extra Magic Hour schedule and who is with us. If we have new people with us, especially with little kids, then we really try to hit the MK first.

I agree on the EMH. I avoid any parks with EMH unless I plan to utilize the EMH. The parks get crowded on those days. MK or Epcot tend to be my first parks I visit.

[minnie-mouse]

We never pay attention to the crowd levels either. I like to plan MK first then Epcot too.

[nqi2]

I also think it depends on the time of year and weather patterns for us.

However we usually go to Ak first because we typically only spend a 1/2 day there and then bounce over to either MK or Epcot in the afternoon.

WE hop a lot though because we prefer to eat most of our meals in Epcot places for the vast difference in choices of cuisine.

[RavsRuleDisney!]

We usually do the MK thing first day as it is like a tradition at this point but we do check EMH's and the like to avoid serious crowds as we normally go during a busy time of the year.

My DW takes great joy in planning (and re-planning and re-re-planning!!) our trips, matching up what park we are in and where we are dining on a particular day - but life being as it is nothing ever goes quite to plan so there is always last minute "winging it" going on....gotta love it!!!! :mickey:

[darthmacho]

I understand what you mean. While I have had many different itineraries for WDW, I always start and finish with the Magic Kingdom. I learned that on our second trip when we started with Epcot and ended with DHS, and it just didn't feel quite right. Along with that tradition, we always spend our arrival day exploring our resort, and then after a night's sleep to recover from the travel, we take in a full day of MK that begins with a breakfast at Crystal Palace.

[Quadstriker]

I'm a Main Street day one kind of guy. After that it doesn't matter.

[Roger's #1 Fan]

For us, the magic begins as we walk through the tunnel under the train station and see the castle. MK is always first on our list. After that, we go opposite the EMH schedule to avoid crowds. Don't know what will happen once that goes away....

[minnie04]

Magic Kingdom is a given.:mickey: For my family it's always been up to the kids and the group we are in. Since we are always in big groups, they would usually plan the night before where they all wanted to go the next day. It always worked out great!!

It's funny I still call them all "the kids" and they are all teenagers and young adults ..lol man time sure does fly :(

The only thing we ever really check is the weather and always avoid the SUMMER!!

[crltkcagle]

The only must we have is MK on our last day! :wave::wave:

[Kairi_7378]

We have started all of our trips at Epcot on arrival day. Sometimes we go to MK on the first evening but usually we save our first sight of the castle for our first day at park opening.

[1DisneyNut]

It is almost always Magic Kingdom the first day for us but I make a complete itinerary months before our trip (well my daughter helps now as she is a bit OCD too). As operational hours and extra magic hours are finalized in the month or two leading up to our trip, we review the itinerary and make adjustments if necessary. Once we get there, there is no indecision or bickering over which park on which day. We look at our itinerary and off we go.

[Fangorn]

Never bothered with any of the crowd calendars, never will.

For us, coming from the West Coast, we can't get there until around 5pm at best. That makes park schedules our initial criteria. Which usually means we get to our hotel and then head off to Epcot for some sort of dinner and Illuminations. Although a time or two we've arrived on a day with evening EMH at MK, so we've headed there the night we get in.

Other than that, we pretty much wing it. There are, of course, factors that come into play for us. If we have an ADR for someplace special - and those are few - that will have an impact. We also have the situation where our son and his wife are both entertainment CMs, so we try to catch their shows as much as possible. But at best, they get a schedule 2 weeks out. Typically, our son's schedule will change at the last minute, so flexibility is key for us, and Park Hoppers (or APs) are a must.

Also, we don't do Disney commando-style. We don't have to ride everything. Just being in a park is a wonderful thing.

Steve

[Nut4DW]

EE is our favorite ride so we usually will head over to AK first - then since it closes earlier than the other parks, we can get in a second park on our first day. Typically we will go to EPCOT because I just love illuminations - cannot see it enough while we are there. Since we have started staying at Wilderness Lodge, I will book a late afternoon or evening flight and we will spend the morning of our final day at MK - there is something about saying goodbye that requires me to see the castle just before we leave.....

[Gator]

I could never do the Animal Kingdom first. My parents came out to join us a few years back and that was their first park. I'm sure they were thinking "Disney World aint all that magical." That said, only on our first trip did we hit the MK first. Every trip since then has either had Epcot or DHS first. I'm not sure why, but it always rolls out that way.

[indytraveler]

It depends on how many days we are there. First day could be any one of them.

But, I prefer my last day to be at the MK. Its always sad to turn around and look at the castle for the last time before walking away.

[SandmanGStefani24]

I always do either AK or the Studios as my "opening act" for each trip. I usually don't go to those every trip, so one of them gets things started, and then MK is next, and Epcot is my headliner/closer. Since it's my favorite I always end my trips there.

[snowflakegirl]

I used to insist on doing the parks in order. First day at Magic Kingdom, second Epcot, third HS, fourth AK. I've loosened up on that, but I still spend my first afternoon (we usually get to DW mid morning on our arrival day) at MK most trips and we usually end our trips with a day at Epcot.

[TheVBs]

First day has to be MK for us. :mickey: After that we usually do Epcot, AK, HS, a water park, then repeat most of the parks. Usually we'll do MK 3 times instead of doing HS twice. We will take EMH and other scheduled things into consideration, but MK first day is a must and we're not too bothered after that.

[buzznwoodysmom]

We don't always do the parks in the same order, but more often than not MK is our first park. And if we are just doing each park once during a trip we often leave epcot (a family favorite) for last.

[Awesome_guy]

Not getting to Magic Kingdom (or the Magic Kingdom layout park at any of the Disney resorts) the first day always just makes me itch to get there... so I generally try to get there either first or at least, that day.

No use counting down to getting there and missing out on the fun of where you're at. It's Magic Kingdom where I feel like I'm "at Disney" though.

Outside of that I'm swayed by EMH, showtimes, convenience, meals and all of that. A good friend always has to end his trips with Peter Pan and I kind of like the idea of having a finale to the trip.

[Dickson Thunder]

As far as full days go, Animal Kingdom since it opened has been our first full day, Epcot next, Studios after that and then the last two days at the MK. If we arrive early enough on our travel day we have pretty much rotated between MK and EP for an afternoon visit.

[lawgirl]

I've never really looked at that schedule. Lately, we've been doing several short trips a year, and usually planning around a party at the MK, and then Epcot for the second full day. That way we get to go more, and I've really enjoyed our scheduling like that.

This time (April) we are going to AK and Epcot. I haven't checked to see if the day we'll be there is supposed to be "crowded" or the best days to go...its just we are going based on our schedule and when our "park" day is going to be.

[Airblue1]

Plan by proximity and ADR's