First Day Which park?

[Grumpy56]

OK so I'm getting serious now. We arrive on Fri night Mar 22 and Sat will be our first day at a park. We know it will be packed at MK, but will it be that much worse than MGM? Originally I was thinking make a mad dash over to MK in the am and then head over to Epcot when it gets too crowded. Now I'm thinking maybe just skip MK that day altogether. We will have to get our Armed Forces Salute tickets that morning too, so that will slow us down. We will be there a week and were staying at the Polynesian so I know we will get to MK but will we be able to resist the temptation of MK? I guess if I thought it would be any better at another park I could talk the kids into holding off. Any input would be appreciated. THANKS!

 

[Pioneer Hall]

Get your tickets the night before at the hotel

 

[Grumpy56]

I thought we'd have to go to guest services at the park to get the free Armed Forces Salute ticket. Am I mistaken? It would be great if we could get our tickets the night before.

 

[Pioneer Hall]

You can probably get them at Guest Services at the lobby of the resort, since you can buy all other tickets there except AP. Try it the night before , the worst thing they can say is no.

 

[Grumpy56]

You've got a point! Thanks!

 

[2much2do]

Just a thought.....
We are getting annual passes, and since I know I will NEED to get them at one of the parks, we are actually going to head over to one right after we check in. We are planning on arriving at Disney early, but since we are driving, it could be kinda late. As long as the parks are open (Epcot usually stays open longest) we will check in quickly, and head over there just to get the passes. It will be MUCH, much better than wasting time in the AM to get them. We anticipate that the parks will be open til at least 7, so even if we are really late, we will go to the park and get the passes before check in if we have to. Getting passes in the morning, sucks!
Oh, on the topic of your question. I would try really really hard to hold off on MK. Sat at the Kingdom are usually crazy crowded. Even though seeing the castle will be so cool, how cool will it be to wait on hour long lines all day. Talk about a waste of time and money! I'd say try Animal Kingdom first or Epcot. Bigger hopefully less crowded!

 

[mslukie]

All of the cm have always told us that Sundays are the best days for the MK. Most people are either arriving or leaving for vacation. I'd hit a water park on Saturday as long as you have the whole week.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

I would agree with that tired kids make for a lousy day we learned to go to a water park have T then go to a park for a couple of hours that evening.

 

[Pan]

We had the same dilemma except we had vouchers for an annual pass that we had to exchange at one of the guest services windows. They would not do it at the resort at check in. To avoid standing in line the next am, we headed over to Epcot where the windows are open until 9pm. As it turns out there was hardly any line at the MK the next am(a Friday) at 8:30 am so we could of simply done it then. However you never know how crowded it will be, and it may be better to be safe than sorry. I personally would stick with your original plan of going to MK that am. Crowds are manageable the first 2 hrs. Eat lunch and then spend the rest of the day at Epcot.

 

[Tramp]

Originally posted by mslukie
All of the cm have always told us that Sundays are the best days for the MK. Most people are either arriving or leaving for vacation. I'd hit a water park on Saturday as long as you have the whole week.

...quite a few years back....we were told that Saturdays were the best days cuz most people arrive on vacation ....Sundays was a favorite of the local folks and added to the crowds.

...it's been our experience in the last few years during our Summer visits that Saturday morning is ok...not that crowded, but the crowds build very quickly as people arrive and are unbearable by afternoon...

...it would be nice to see some seasonal statistics or graphs on this subject...there are so many variables that influence crowds...and i wonder what impact the lack of "Surprise Mornings" will have on early morning attendance.

 

[Rdedeian]

I'm a MGM person Day One. Epcot is also a possibility. I personally have yet to go to AK so I don't know that park yet. I like to save MK for the middle of my trip and do two days there cause its the busiest park.

 

[Disneynutcase]

I purposefully do one of our family's least popular parks first--actually I'm not sure if "least popular" is the right term, perhaps the better term is "one that isn't MK."

Anyways, since we live on the West Coast and tend to go to Florida for family reunion-type vacations, we always somehow end up with large group from three time zones. And no one sleeps that well the first night--kids are too excited, so are some of the grown ups, and half the group is off schedule because 11:00 eastern is only 8:00 pacific.

So rather than waste our first day with tired grumpy travellers, we do a more mellow park for day one. This year we're going to AK first, hitting it as soon as it opens (half for sleep deprivation/torture sake and half to force everyone to be Eastern time zone oriented for the remaining days). We'll be heading to Dinorama rides first before the huge lines form--Primeval Whirl will be open!:sohappy:

After the kid rides at Dinorama, AK touring becomes a more casual--shows, animal trails and safari ride. Oh, we're also heading back to our rent-a-villa at mid-day to snooze, then we'll return to AK for the 4:00 parade.

I find that this orients us a bit more, gets a park that might be a "drag" later on in our vacation out of the way, and helps inspire a much better sleep for touring day 2--which this time will be MK (it's my youngest's 4th B-day and she insists that we're going on Dumbo and Pooh Bear for her birthday).

In 5 more weeks from today, we're on the airplane!