Magic Kingdom First or Last

[Mrs.Paws]

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!

 

[boilerpicc]

Ditto everyone else on the first and last. As for resort hopping, we used to do that all the time when I was a kid. It's kind of fun to leave one resort and come back to a different one. If you do decide to resort hop, bell services will transfer your luggage for you. Someone in your family will probably need to go over to the new resort in the morning to check you in. Back in the day, park tickets were tethered to your room key, so we had to get the new ones to get in the park on hotel transfer day. I'm guessing it will be the same with Magic Bands.

The two resorts you are looking at are both awesome. However, I actually prefer the Beach Club with little kids. The location can't be beat for people with strollers, if you don't mind a little walking. We would walk to Epcot, walk or take the boat to DHS (no stroller collapsing required), and walk through Epcot to catch the Monorail to get to the MK (park hopper pass required). The only time I had to worry about collapsing the stroller is when we went to the AK. At the Wilderness Lodge, you will have to take a bus everywhere except the MK. There is a boat option to the MK.

 

[odmichael]

I usually plan for the 1st day because you have the
most energy and it's the longest park to go through.


TIP! Your best bet of enjoyment is to plan which parks to go to last-minute (As long as you have a park hopper) for 2 reasons.

1. You will have the most accurate list of Park Hours just prior to the trip. To get the most out of the parks you'll want to go to them on the days they are open the longest.

2. WEATHER! If there are thunder storms, some rides close. I recommend hollywood studios on a rainy day because most things are indoors. Magic Kingdom has some outdoor stuff that can close due to weather. So if you know you're going to get a longer lighting storm (than just passing showers), you may want to reconsider the order of the parks.

I recommend you make dining reservations at the parks early. If you have a park hopper, you can always switch parks so no worries. You can take the monorail between Magic Kingdom and Epcot which makes Dining between the 2 parks more convenient.

 

[Dwarful]

I'd vote for YC/BC or Boardwalk and wouldn't bother with the resort hopping this trip...with the magic bands and linking everything it just seems like a hassle that I wouldn't bother with for such a short time. You have 6 nights so will you go to the parks every day or are you going to try to do some off site things as well? If you only have four days I'd pony up the money and get hoppers. Then I would start at MK and end at MK. On another day I would start at AK, go back for a break and then go to HS. there isn't as much for the little ones at those parks ride wise. But they do have the Playhouse Disney, LM, TSMM and a lot of character interactions at HS. For little ones both of those parks could be half day parks. That leaves you with another full day at Epcot...which has some fun things for little ones and a fourth day at MK.

Enjoy and have fun!

 

[Roakor]

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!

BOTH! Every time we have gone we have went to MK the first day and back again the last day of our trip. Normally the last day we went later in the day and caught the parade/fireworks (or Hallowen party).

As to switching hotels, why? It seems the time it takes to pack up and move would make switching not worth the trouble, especially with kids.

 

[ToTBellHop]

 

[smk]

Always first and last, always.