Magic Kingdom First or Last

M

Mrs.Paws

New Member
I'm so excited we are finally going! Trip will be the first week in February. At the time of travel, our daughter will be almost five and our twins 22 months. We will be traveling with my parents and staying on property.

I'm trying to figure out hotels etc, but first . . . should we visit Magic Kingdom first or last? I'm worried our daughter will be let down if we go there first and then to the other parks.

Also, what do people think about switching resorts? A friend told me to stay at one of the Beach or Yacht Clubs while visiting Hollywood Studios and Epcot and then switching to maybe the Wilderness Lodge while we visit the Magic Kingdom. We will be staying six nights. Thanks for any help! I'm just starting and already feel behind!
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling

Member
I can tell you that you will spend the majority of your time at the Magic Kingdom. We took our son there when he was four and we as a family, enjoyed MK the best. If you can do it, I would recommend getting park hopper tickets that way you can jump back and forth to the parks you really like.

As far as where you are staying, I would say just choose one place and stick with it. Your trip will fly by! It seems like it would be a lot of hassle to pack all the kids up to go to another resort. Both hotels you are looking at are very nice. We just stayed at the WL and it was great because we could take the boat and the busses to MK. Staying at a hotel that uses the monorail is great, but it will cost you more.
 
Upvote 0
Weather_Lady

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
We always visit Magic Kingdom first and last, so that if the other parks feel like a letdown to anyone, we can assure them that we'll be returning to the MK.

Of course, we always have only a half-day to start with since we typically arrive mid-morning, so we begin with Adventureland and work our way through Frontierland and Liberty Square, saving the excitement of Fantasyland and Tomorrowland for a later, full-day visit.

If I only had four days to cover the four parks and no Parkhopper tickets, I would gladly sacrifice any of the other parks in order to have a second day at the MK, particularly with small children, as the MK not only has three times the number of attractions of the other parks, but offers exponentially more for young kids. AK and HS would be first on my chopping block, since both of them offer only a couple of "rides" suitable for young children -- the kids would mostly be relegated to watching shows, which can be tough if their attention span is limited. I'd decide which park to skip by asking which the kids are least "into," Toy Story/Muppets/Princesses as featured at HS, or Zoos/LionKing/Nemo, as featured at AK. If you have Parkhoppers or more than four full days to tour, however, you won't need to forego another park in order to "bookend" your vacation with the Magic Kingdom.

Also, switching resorts for park proximity reasons might save you 10-15 minutes per trip if you're driving, or it may save you nothing at all if you're depending on Disney's transportation. Split your stay if you want, but that shouldn't be determinative of which parks you can visit. We stayed at WL last time, and some days it took longer to get the Magic Kingdom than to Hollywood Studios (even though the bus ride to HS was about 20 minutes and the MK bus ride was more like 5), simply because of the order in which buses arrived, or the route to which they were assigned (e.g., stopping at Fort Wilderness before continuing to the MK).
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
belledream

belledream

Well-Known Member
For a 6 night trip, you could/should definitely be visiting MK more than once (unless not all of those days are being dedicated to WDW?)

MK nights are not to be missed, so if you could only choose first or last, definitely consider that you'll be able to stay late for parade/fireworks/seeing everything all lit up.

I wouldn't split stays between resorts for those reasons for a trip of this length. Disney transportation will find you a way to the other parks better than you may think. Don't stress about it :)
 
Upvote 0
MerMom1981

MerMom1981

Well-Known Member
My family visited WDW for the first time in Feb of '12. My daughter was almost 5 & my son was 2. Funny little world, isn't it?

Anyway, I planned our trip with the idea if saving MK for last. We did DHS on arrival day, Epcot, AK and THEN MK. The kids were excited and had fun in every park. But for me, it didn't really feel like we were at Disney until we walked through the castle. Something about seeing Wishes made me want to explore the other parks again too.

I also would not split your stay. It's more trouble than its worth with kids.
Park hopping may be too much for your boy. Unless you're staying in the Epcot area were two parks are really accessible.

Last thing, don't stress! It will be an amazing experience for your family! Even if nothing goes as planned, you'll be in Disney World!
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
Tinkerbella16

Tinkerbella16

Well-Known Member
Do it both! We always spend the most time at MK and Epcot. Epcot is always our arrival day park. We do MK on our first full day after much needed rest from the travel day. It has always worked out great this way. And we hit up MK multiple times... once for rope drop, MVMCP and other evenings when there is EMH.
 
Upvote 0
LowesChevy

LowesChevy

Well-Known Member
For our trip in January we are staying at the BWV for 5 days then ending the trip at the VGF. I am going to have to get to the Kingdom somehow in the first few days! I know it will just take a little longer to get there from that side of the World. Def have to be there a few times during a trip ;)
 
Upvote 0
Redsky89

Redsky89

Well-Known Member
I'd say Magic Kingdom last. You could spend two full days in that park and not come close to seeing everything. It's definitely the most "magical" park. As far as the resorts all I can say is I've never had a bad experience in any of them so its up to you on where to stay and when.
 
Upvote 0
disneyfirstLJ

disneyfirstLJ

Well-Known Member
When we went on our trip in February we did Magic Kingdom first, middle and last. We only went to Hollywood Studios once and went to Epcot three times. We skipped Animal Kingdom because my daughter loved Epcot. I wish we had purchased the park hopper so we could have done more then one park per day. You might want to think about that option. I would personally start my trip in Magic Kingdom.
 
Upvote 0
jencor

jencor

Active Member
You have to do it last without doubt. If you can do it first and other times, that is one park your kids will not get tired of. Sometimes we just do the last half of our last day there, but Magic Kingdom is the park we have to say good bye to until we meet again.
 
Upvote 0
FloridaTeacher

FloridaTeacher

Member
Both! When our boys were little, we started & ended there. Now, we only have the 17 year old still at home and we still start there.

Park hop. It's so worth it. Magic Kingdom is a favorite when they're little. Later, it'll probably be more about thrill rides. Enjoy every minute!
 
Upvote 0
Scott10

Scott10

Active Member
Another vote for first and last. We tried that strategy this year and it worked out great and we seemed to enjoy the visit so much better because on day one we knew we had that other day to see what we needed to see. :)
As for your stay, I would personally choose one place and stay with it. It is nice to unpack and make that resort your home for the duration of the stay and get to know the grounds and so forth. Best of luck and have a great trip!!!
 
Upvote 0
JIMINYCR

JIMINYCR

Well-Known Member
Count us in with the first and last crowd. It isnt a proper start to our Disney trip without setting foot first in MK. Stepping onto Main street and seeing the castle for the first time sets the trip in gear and we know its going to be a great day, followed by a great week. Then its MK on the last day to take our last rides, say goodbye and make a visit to the wishing well to make a wish that we return next year. That last visit to say bye is soooo sad.
 
Upvote 0
Baldy

Baldy

Well-Known Member
We spend our first full day and last full day at Magic Kingdom. We usually arrive midday and go to one of the other parks. We also save our last day for another park so that we can turn in early finish packing, and take one last evening swim. Our trips are usually 7 days in all. No park hopping or resort switching for us - we like to keep it simple.
 
Upvote 0

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom