In what order do you do things in the Magic Kingdom?

[Jessie]

Whether that be getting food, fast pass, the order of rides you go on. It's been a long time since I've been and we're going in 33 days. It'll be my first time going with my kids and their first time ever at the parks. So, I'm curious what your preferred path(s) are for MK.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

The first day of our trip always starts in the MK. We get something to eat at Casey's, and then head back to Fantasyland. When we go first thing in the AM, we still start in Fantasyland, and then head over to Frontierland for DH to go on Splash and BTM. A trip (or two or three) through the Haunted Mansion is also a must!

We usually then end up in Tomorrowland, where we get DH a FP for Space Mountain (if needed), DD and I do the PeopleMover and then we all go on Buzz.

We always plan a couple of days for MK, so if the line is too crazy long for something, we're lucky that we can skip it and come back to it the next day.

[SBETigg]

We always go to MK on arrival after check in. Usually around 10 or 11 a.m. first day. We head for Pirates of the Caribbean and ride. Then off to Splash and Thunder Mt. and Fastpass one, ride the other depending on times (almost always end up FP Splash Mt. and walk on to BTMRR). Then to Haunted Mansion and head back to grab a bite to eat at Casey's or Pecos Bill, then ride Pirates, Big Thunder again and Splash Mt. with the Fastpass usually right before we're ready to head back to our hotel if our room is ready. If there's time in there, we'll do Jungle Cruise and cross over to Tomorrowland and ride Space Mt. too, but if not we'll return and start at Space Mountain next time (usually on a different day- we'll head to Epcot for our first evening).

Fantasyland, we eventually end up crossing into from one side or the other (never straight through to there) and we do what we can depending on time, or miss things if the lines are long. We're not big fans of Fantasyland. If there's one land we might skip altogether, it's Fantasyland. We never do skip- we usually find a good time to ride things there at some point. But it's never a priority.

[floridamom]

With young kids, we always went straight back to Fantasyland upon our am arrival. If you get there at or soon after park opening, you can usually ride every ride there by 11 am. Our kids were satisfied that they had hit all their favorites by then and everything later in the day was gravy. By that time, the kids are usually ready for a snack and/or lunch. We don't really love any of the counter service options at MK, but depending on which land we're headed to next, we'll either go to Cosmic Rays or Columbia Harbor House.

As our girls have gotten older, we have added the dimension of one parent heading over to Tomorrowland for Space Mountain fastpasses while the other takes the kids to start the Fantasyland rounds. When we are able to get a new fastpass, it's usually Splash Mountain. If you're not into parades, that can be a good time to do character greetings. We usually try to plan at least one character meal so the kids can get their face time in without spending extra time in lines.

[caryrae]

The only thing we do the same each time is go to the Main Street bakery 1st thing in the morning and check out the shops on Main Street on the way out, otherwise we will start left of castle or go right however we feel, then just hit the rides as we walk. Maybe on a future trip we will go through the castle first to check out the new Fantasyland.

[crltkcagle]

If its our first day in MK we go straight for POC. Other than that we just kind of run behind my husband who is collecting fast passes! LOL

[joonyer]

First: Splash Mountain
Last: Splash MountaIn

Everything else in between, including Wishes!

[beezyboo10]

It probably won't matter because of the time of the year you are going but we always go left. By the time we make to fantasy land and TL most resort guests have gone back to the hotel for a nap. THen it gets busy again around the time of the parade and fire works.

[texas211]

We always have (even when I was a kid) to now as an adult, go left to right. Take my Motrin, then start to walk up mainstreet, go up to the Castle, then hard left to Adventureland. Though if your kids are under 10, you might go to Fantasyland first. Walking through the castle the first time, is an awesome experience.

But we go to Adventureland. Fire up some good times on the iconic rides like Jungle Cruise, Tiki Room and POTC, with Tiki last if possible for some nice AC (though being from Tx can delay that for a lil bit).

Frontierland. If the kids are big enough, fast pass Splash and hit Thunder Mountain. About then we grab some food at the Frontierland food court else, the Liberty Tree if we want some full service. Then either HM or Splash, followed by Hall of Presidents, though I wanted to skip it since 2008, might go back in 2012. Then FANTASYLAND. About now is a good time for my 2nd dose of Motrin. Grab your next fastpass for either Peter Pan or Winnie Pooh, ride as many as you can before the fastpass, then grab the 2nd fastpass for the other ride and grab a snack, and maybe poke around to Tomorrowland (if you did Peter Pan then Pooh like we do). Tomorrowland, Laugh Factory, Transit Authority (good for a break) and the Speedways are must for the kids, as is Buzz. Skip Lilo/Stitch if your kids are under 10, scare easy, or don't like poorly created and executed attractions.

I go to WDW with spreadsheets and notebooks, so i come prepared. Also, CAMELBAKS, life savers. Buy them. Better yet, a Geigerrig which pressurizes the water so you can shoot it out. Trust me, buy 1 or 10.

[darthmacho]

Our first day tradition is to start with an 8AM breakfast at Crystal Palace, and when we're done, get right into the park as everyone is getting through the turnstiles. We've been going right to Fantasyland and starting with Dumbo, but I'm curious if my kids will want to start next time with their favorite ride, Splash Mountain. Only time will tell.

[Bucs300]

Well I guess I'm opposite of everyone else because I tend to always go right to left and start with Tomorrowland lol. But if you're getting there early in the morning around the time the park opens I would definitely suggest doing the mountains first before they get to awful crowded since they tend to always have the longest lines in the park.

[Tink#64]

Well I'm not sure how old your kids are, but when ours where little, we always started MK day 1 in Fantasyland - Dumbo 1st becuz of the long lines that form quickly! We'd do all of fantasyland first, move on to Tomorrow land, then Liberty Square, after lunch we'd pretty much shop Main Street on our way out. Day 2 of MK would start with Frontierland & then Adventureland, then we'd fill in with any repeats that we wanted & anything we may have missed. Both days begin at park opening.

Now that our DS's are both teens, we begin with Tomorrowland, then onto Fantasyland...

We always do the major attractions in the early AM, lunch around 11'ish & after that the park is pretty packed. Then we do the attractions that are larger capacity, shows etc, and then shop our way out of park around 2 - 3. We head back to the resort for our break & a few hours downtime, maybe pool or just rest in the A/C before heading out for our evening park of choice!

[Mousemates]

get Space mtn fast pass for later use
ride space mtn without fastpass
Buzz Lightyear,
Peter Pan,
Dumbo - if the line hasn't built yet...yep I'm a 40+ year old man that still loves Dumbo and the great pictures you can get early in the morning from it)
Snow White
Pooh
Get fast pass for Splash (if fast pass times allow)
Ride Big Thunder
Ride Splash

Then we ease up on the accelerator and just cruise the rest of the day, riding what we want when we want-- generally using fast passes to double or triple up on the rides we most enjoy. There are some things we save for the heat of the day due to their length and their offer of air conditioning...they are HOP, Philharmagic, HM, and IASW. There are also some rides we save for night because we enjoy them more...namely AstroOrbiter, and Jungle Cruise (i love the leaping elephants, and they only perform at night...lol)

[Tygger7]

I guess I've developed an unspoken ritual for our first day...my DH doesn't question and I've gotten him into the routine too:

Magic Kingdom first. Head right to Tomorrowland, ride Buzz, ride Space Mountain, ride the PeopleMover. Go to the Haunted Mansion, hit the Columbia Harbor House for lunch, then BTMRR and Splash Mountain. Then shopping on Main Street.

To be honest, I'm a little stressed about our next trip in December as we'll be "messing with the order" a bit. We're still going to hit MK and rope drop and do as much as we can, but we have a 2pm reservation at Biergarten for the Candlelight Processional package. I should probably just skip MK and go straight to Epcot, but I'm convinced that the earth will probably tilt off its axis if I deviate too much. We should still be able to get as far as the Hanted Mansion, so hopefully the force will remain in balance.

[Disney Doll]

We always start in Fantasyland because that section get just packed by early afternoon. Other than that we have no real strategy and just play it by ear.

[dizneydeb22]

We always start in Fantasyland because that section get just packed by early afternoon. Other than that we have no real strategy and just play it by ear.

I always think of the picture of Fantasyland in the Unofficial Guide...at 9am , at 11am and then at 1pm. Fantasyland first for us!!

[Jpxv]

We usually get a fast pass for either splash or thunder mountain and then wait in line for the other one.

[epceddie]

We like to schedule an 8:05 a.m. reservation at the Crystal Palace at least one morning during our trips. We love walking up Main Street with only a few people in the park. I've gotten photos of the castle and looking back toward the train station with nobody in them!
After breakfast, we head to the rope drop for Tomorrowland. We always start by riding Buzz Lightyear (I hit the 999,999 score on our last trip for the first time) six or seven times with no wait. Then, we go on Carousel of Progress, which is always a highlight for my wife, and after that we go on the people mover a couple of times.
From there, we loop back to the train station on Main Street and ride all the way around the park before finally getting off at Frontierland. We always look forward to Pirates of the Caribbean and then we head over to the Hall of Presidents and the Haunted Mansion. We're not big on Fantasyland, so we usually head back to the train station near Splash Mountain and ride back to Main Street, grab a couple of chairs, and do some people watching and leave to head back to our resort after the afternoon parade. It's always a great day. We leave tired and happy!

[Minnie_Mouse]

We usually head over to frontierland, and ride BTMR and Splash M. These rides are must do's! Then head over to HM. After that, we would walk over to Tomorrowland. Get a fastpass for Space M, if needed, then go and ride it. Then check out the laugh floor. ride Space M, then book it back over to frontierland and ride BTMR and Splash M again. get a quick lunch at Pinocchio's Haus in fantasyland, then do what we missed for the rest of the day. oh! and of course, Wishes.

[Daisy'sMom]

About ten years ago we took my inlaws over for a long weekend. As soon as we got there, we were headed for space mountain (because of the kids) and my FIL had a fit. I thought he was going to thow a tantrum because we did not start at POTC. Needless to say, we changed direction and started with the pirates. We had pouty kids but a happy old man