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!"

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!!!!

[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. 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!!