Can you review my itinerary, please?

[klwa]

We've never done MK first with ours, and on our upcoming trip, it'll actually be the 4th day before we get there. (We're going to AK first, DHS 2nd, Legoland 3rd & then MK.) It's never bothered our kids to wait to see the castle park. They're just too happy to be at Disney doing everything else.

[KrisM]

We've done some talking. None of the kids seem to care where we go when. They understand we'll go to all the parks and are good with that. So, I think we'll keep the order the same at this point.

I had DD watch YouTube for the sing a long and she was meh on it. Good chance we'll just skip it.

I'll leave Epcot on arrival day, but if we miss it, that's okay. We can watch Illuminations another night.

I'm still not sure what departure flight to pick, but am leaning towards the later one around 6:30pm. It'll be a long day and probably a rough day on Monday, but the 2pm means we get nothing in the morning and that seems disappointing.

[emily_gracesmama]

Lol I am an adult and I fully need to go to the MK our first full day. I totally agree that MK is Disney!! But if it's a crowded day even a little time there is good and then you can alway return on a less crowded day. This is the first trip I ever really followed the crowd calendars and I did feel it made a difference in wait times even though it's supposed to be a slower season now.

[hellokitty]

If your kids have never been to WDW, I think that the order of the parks won't matter that much, since they have never been there before and don't have a preference. Now, I'm not saying that AFTER they try all of the parks, they won't have their favorites. My kids like epcot and MK the most, so basically, on our return trips, I make sure one of those are on our first park day. Have fun!

[KrisM]

If your kids have never been to WDW, I think that the order of the parks won't matter that much, since they have never been there before and don't have a preference. Now, I'm not saying that AFTER they try all of the parks, they won't have their favorites. My kids like epcot and MK the most, so basically, on our return trips, I make sure one of those are on our first park day. Have fun!

I'm glad to hear this. I think my kids might be weird, too. We told them in July that we are going in April. While 2 of them are excited, it's not been any issue of being bugged about 'when do we go' or anything. I showed them pictures of the parks, watched some YouTube, etc and asked if they care what order we go in and they all thought shorter lines was good. DD wants to see princesses, DS1 wants to ride rides, DS2 wants to see Disney Jr. I think we'll be fine with not doing MK first.

[SnuggleBuggles]

My kids were far less excited about it than me. I don't think it's a big deal at all where you start.

[megs4413]

I'm glad to hear this. I think my kids might be weird, too. We told them in July that we are going in April. While 2 of them are excited, it's not been any issue of being bugged about 'when do we go' or anything. I showed them pictures of the parks, watched some YouTube, etc and asked if they care what order we go in and they all thought shorter lines was good. DD wants to see princesses, DS1 wants to ride rides, DS2 wants to see Disney Jr. I think we'll be fine with not doing MK first.

FWIW, we never do MK first. Neither of my kids consider it their favorite. DD likes AK and DS likes EPCOT best. when they were little, DHS was their favorite. I like the nostalgia of MK, but it's not my favorite either. I do like fantasyland, though.

[Indianamom2]

I just got back from Disney on Sunday. A word about the crowd calendars: They were mostly wrong for us. We went at the lowest crowd time there is and still waited in line far more than we have in the past at "low" times. Our theory: People have been using the crowd calendars/line apps and it's affecting the crowd levels to make it less accurate. We could be totally wrong, but that was our impression, fwiw.

I think your plan sounds nice overall. Disney can absolutely run you ragged if you let it (we did). Your plan sounds perfectly reasonable to me.

And to Beth (I think) who had the reservations at the California Grill....I know they've made some changes recently, but the filet there was AMAZING. Of course, it's been several years since we last ate there (without kids, although it would have been fine with a bit older kids too). It's a great place to watch the MK fireworks if you can time it right.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Low crowds predicted= less staffing and fewer cars/ ride vessels running...more wait? Our local amusement park has really long rides on some non crowded days bc of those reasons. They will only have one roller coaster car running which means a longer wait, for example. Not as many food workers staffed too.

[KrisM]

I just got back from Disney on Sunday. A word about the crowd calendars: They were mostly wrong for us. We went at the lowest crowd time there is and still waited in line far more than we have in the past at "low" times. Our theory: People have been using the crowd calendars/line apps and it's affecting the crowd levels to make it less accurate. We could be totally wrong, but that was our impression, fwiw.

I think your plan sounds nice overall. Disney can absolutely run you ragged if you let it (we did). Your plan sounds perfectly reasonable to me.

And to Beth (I think) who had the reservations at the California Grill....I know they've made some changes recently, but the filet there was AMAZING. Of course, it's been several years since we last ate there (without kids, although it would have been fine with a bit older kids too). It's a great place to watch the MK fireworks if you can time it right.

By wrong crowds, do you mean just time of year, or parks during your stay? Like if it said MK was the best park and Epcot the worst, you thought it was backwards?