We arrive in Orlando at 855 am on a Saturday. We are staying for a whole week and doing only Disney Parks. Our flight is only a two hour non stop. I figure when we get there we will pick up rental car and maybe get some groceries and either eat lunch in our room or out. Do you think we should head to a park this day? Or just hang at our hotel, swim, putt-putt? I would kinda hate to waste a day not going to a park and that's the main reason I booked the early flight. So, what do you recommend? I'm kinda thinking AK, but it will be my 5 y/o daughter's first trip so i want her to be SUPER excited about what we see first, so I wonder if it should be MK. But, then again, I may be able to knock out all of AK on the first day and then have 6 full days for the other three parks. So, what would you guys do?

There is nothing like walking down main-street and seeing the castel for the first time. Probably one of the greatest wow" moments ever. If you want to go for the big thrill, I would really suggest MK.

When I arrive in Orlando, usually in the early afternoon, my first visit is to Epcot, always. I couldn't stand to be in town and NOT hit one of the parks. It doesn't matter to me which one you to - but don't waste a day hanging out at your hotel. Do that later in the week, but right off the bat GO TO A PARK!!!

For our first trip in 2006 and for our upcoming 2nd trip, I was able to book early morning flights that had us in Orlando by 10am. We wanted to hit the parks, actually Magic Kingdorm, as soon as we are able.

One thing I recommend if you have a late morning arrival is to eat lunch at your resort counter-service location. I have learned from taking flights that land around 10 or 11 (first non-stop I can get) that if I don't eat before I hit a park, I'll 'forget' to eat and wonder about 3:00 why I'm getting a headache. Usually I haven't eaten much breakfast, either. Besides, the resort counter service usually aren't too crowded for early lunches, but the park locations are.

We always, always, always, always go to MK on the first day, even if only for a few hours, just to wash the "real" world from our bodies and immerse ourselves in the magic! It's a great way to start a vacation.

See, I've been thinking MK the first day, but I'm sad because it will be a shorter day! But, at the same time, I don't want to waste the first day's excitement on something other than the castle...lol. And, with it being a short day, hey we have 6/7 more that follow, right?

If you have lunch first you can hit MK and just get your bearings, choose a great spot for the parade so that can be ticked off the list then squeeze in a few of the rides with lower lines in the afternoon after the parade. Maybe takin in the Liberty Belle Riverboat and Tom Sawyer Island, TTTA and tour Toon Town. Recalling you have a young duaghter (?) I would personally steer clear of fantasyland mid afternoon as the lines for most things are likely to be awful but she'll want to ride stuff once there. I'd save that area for a rope drop start one day personally. Fantasyland can be cleared in an hour, easily, on an EMH morning.

FANTASTIC advice, Scoobydooby!

Oh, and maybe try to catch the castle show to get that checked off!

Animal Kingdom first, and here's why: If she hasn't seen any Disney park yet, any one of them is sure to wow her. And then, when she gets to the Magic Kingdom, it will wow her again.

On the other hand, if you take her to the Magic Kingdom first, some of the other parks might seem less thrilling.

I remember hearing about a survey someone took about people's Animal Kingdom opinions. People who visitied it before visiting the other parks rated their overall enjoyment much higher than those who had been to other parks first. Granted, I think this was before the addition of Everest and the Nemo musical, but I bet the general trend has remained the same, if not the degree.

So, what would you guys do?

I ALWAYS start in MK - i think it truly introduces the experience. . esepecially for a little girl. . how can get any more awesome than Cinderella's Castle! :P

'As far as AK - don't think its that small! :) I worked there for a while and you can easily spend a day there (which i suggest), there is so much to see and do. . .

I'd actually goto AK on a day that you can get there early (ish). . the animals are fabulous all day but by rule (i've worked with exotic animals most of my life). . . they are much more animated in the morning and by like 12pm, they are SLEEEEEEEEEPING and won't be moving around (aren't as fun for kids to watch).

Have a great time! :)

We arrive in Orlando at 855 am on a Saturday. We are staying for a whole week and doing only Disney Parks. Our flight is only a two hour non stop. I figure when we get there we will pick up rental car and maybe get some groceries and either eat lunch in our room or out. Do you think we should head to a park this day? Or just hang at our hotel, swim, putt-putt? I would kinda hate to waste a day not going to a park and that's the main reason I booked the early flight. So, what do you recommend? I'm kinda thinking AK, but it will be my 5 y/o daughter's first trip so i want her to be SUPER excited about what we see first, so I wonder if it should be MK. But, then again, I may be able to knock out all of AK on the first day and then have 6 full days for the other three parks. So, what would you guys do?

Why do you need to waste time shopping? If you do decide to do grocery shopping, you will probably spend a couple of hours finding your way around an unfamiliar area, and the hassles of dragging your family through the store and check out lines, when you are anxious to get going on your vacation. You probably need minimal groceries and supplies, and there are grocery delivery services who will shop for you, and drop your groceries off at your hotel, for a minimal charge. We have used www.gardengrocer.com, and found the service reliable and convenient. Go online, select your order, pay for it online, choose your delivery time, and you are done. They will drop your order off at Bell Services, if you are not in your room, and they pack any perishables well, to keep fresh. The last thing I want to do on vacation is waste time in a supermarket. We use Magical Express and Disney transportation, and don't even rent a car.

...but I'm sad because it will be a shorter day! But, at the same time, I don't want to waste the first day's excitement on something other than the castle..

Don't think of it as wasted time - think of it as more time in one of your favorite parks. As scooby suggested above, you can do all kinds of things in the afternoon and evening, and really get yourself into a Disney groove. When I visit the MK in the afternoon, I like to start out with the train, just to give me the lay of the land (and start that Disney groove to grooving!).

Animal Kingdom first, and here's why: If she hasn't seen any Disney park yet, any one of them is sure to wow her. And then, when she gets to the Magic Kingdom, it will wow her again.

On the other hand, if you take her to the Magic Kingdom first, some of the other parks might seem less thrilling.

I remember hearing about a survey someone took about people's Animal Kingdom opinions. People who visitied it before visiting the other parks rated their overall enjoyment much higher than those who had been to other parks first. Granted, I think this was before the addition of Everest and the Nemo musical, but I bet the general trend has remained the same, if not the degree.


See, that was kind of my thoughts almost exactly....hmmm...

Why do you need to waste time shopping? If you do decide to do grocery shopping, you will probably spend a couple of hours finding your way around an unfamiliar area, and the hassles of dragging your family through the store and check out lines, when you are anxious to get going on your vacation. You probably need minimal groceries and supplies, and there are grocery delivery services who will shop for you, and drop your groceries off at your hotel, for a minimal charge. We have used www.gardengrocer.com, and found the service reliable and convenient. Go online, select your order, pay for it online, choose your delivery time, and you are done. They will drop your order off at Bell Services, if you are not in your room, and they pack any perishables well, to keep fresh. The last thing I want to do on vacation is waste time in a supermarket. We use Magical Express and Disney transportation, and don't even rent a car.


We are staying in a timeshare so I need to find out if they will hold the groceries for us or get them if we are not in our room. And, I plan to check out the website, but was thinking about cold cuts and things like that and wondering if they will be exactly what I want.

Don't think of it as wasted time - think of it as more time in one of your favorite parks. As scooby suggested above, you can do all kinds of things in the afternoon and evening, and really get yourself into a Disney groove. When I visit the MK in the afternoon, I like to start out with the train, just to give me the lay of the land (and start that Disney groove to grooving!).

See, I def want to do the train at some point, with a 5 year old, do you think it should be one of the first things we should do so that she can kind of get an overview? I am sooo excited!

If you have lunch first you can hit MK and just get your bearings, choose a great spot for the parade so that can be ticked off the list then squeeze in a few of the rides with lower lines in the afternoon after the parade. Maybe takin in the Liberty Belle Riverboat and Tom Sawyer Island, TTTA and tour Toon Town. Recalling you have a young duaghter (?) I would personally steer clear of fantasyland mid afternoon as the lines for most things are likely to be awful but she'll want to ride stuff once there. I'd save that area for a rope drop start one day personally. Fantasyland can be cleared in an hour, easily, on an EMH morning.

Sooo many questions....

I'll check parade times, this also sounds like a good idea:) What is TTTA?

I'm assuming TTTA = TTA = Tomorrowland Transit Authority. AKA Peoplemover. What they changed into RocketRods at DL for a very very very short time.

we arrived the same time you did; by the time we got to the WL, checked in and sorted out it was 11.30. We jumped on a bus and were at the Animal Kingdom at midday. We got FPs for EE and then went and had lunch; we spent the afternoon going to Nemo, FoTLK, ITTBAB, two rides on EE, and the 4pm parade. We were back at the WL by 5pm. It was a fabulous afternoon and I would really recommend AK for a first day afternoon.

I personally would NOT recommend heading to the MK unless you can be there at opening; the lines grow really fast, FPs seemed to have really late return times by middday and the crowds were horrendous. On all the days we went to MK (and we went there the most), we were always there at park opening to take advantage of the slow start, collecting FPs for the evening, having lunch and then leaving the park and spending the afternoon by the pool or heading to one of the other parks. While it IS always nice to spend time on main street, I am guessing that a five year old doesn't want to shop, she is going to want to ride Winnie and Peter Pan - and I for one wouldn't go anywhere near them after lunch unless I had a FP from earlier in the day....

I wouldn't go to Epcot on my first trip, first day because its so big that I found we needed the psychological advantage of being there first thing, the first time we went. We did spend several afternoons at HS (we never made it there for ropedrop) and that was fine too, but it is probably not an ideal first park for a 5 year old as the really great attractions are a bit scary, and the shows are not really aimed at a little girl (except for the Little Mermaid maybe?).

enjoy your trip!

The question is which park do you want her to find most memorable? Most likely it will be that first park because the excitement of the trip is building up to that first moment, and at 5, she will remember this forever especially since its her first trip. My parents brought me to Disneyland for the first time when I was 2 or 3 and I don't remember anything yet it still did something because I still get chills everytime I go. So thats just a different perspective, most memorable vs. most convenient/time. Personally I think I would feel weird if I didnt go to MK first, I think it would be like starting a movie in the middle then watching the beginning later.

See, I def want to do the train at some point, with a 5 year old, do you think it should be one of the first things we should do so that she can kind of get an overview? I am sooo excited!

If you arrive at the MK at park opening, then no, you don't want to waste prime touring time on something like the train, which rarely has any kind of long line. But for your mid-morning arrival, the train is a really fun way to get excited about everything that you're about to see. I say go for it!

Thanks everyone:)

Our "first day" in my head is actually the first day that I will be waking up in Orlando, because at that point I am 100% Disney and not cranky or as tired from the flight. We will be arriving on a Monday this year in the middle of the morning, and since we are staying at an Epcot resort we decided to do Epcot in the afternoon/evening after hitting up the pool. Then Tuesday will be 100% Magic Kingdom from start to finish. Just my little ritual.

If you are staying offsite you might want to avoid the parks that have EMH in the evening that first day, as it might get crowded.

Hi Meisha, first I hope you and your Daughter have a great time....how could you not? First impressions are everything right? And I assume she is your little princess (at 5yrs old), so MK HAS to be the first stop. Think of it as doing all the "magical" things that you have to wait in line for that day,things that will make her eyes sparkle, then hit the park again for more of the rides! Make it a day she'll always remember.

What I would do first is to check and see if you could get a time for lunch/dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table (inside the castle) in MK. Then as soon as you go through the front gate, grab the first photopass guy you see and get her picture on Main St and in front of the castle. Check on getting her hair done at the bippitty boppitty boo boutique (she'll look like a princess). Take her to see the castle and maybe get her picture with a WDW princess and see their show.

Then I'd head over to Mickey's Tune Town and let her meet Mickey. From there you could catch the train and ride around to adventureland and catch splash, thunder, or my favorite POC. Or, after a long day, just head back to your place and rest up!

Between meeting Mickey and the princesses, seeing the castle and becoming a princess, I'd bet she'll have stars in her eyes and will tell HER daughter one day of the first time you took her to WDW.:fez:

Our "first day" in my head is actually the first day that I will be waking up in Orlando, because at that point I am 100% Disney and not cranky or as tired from the flight. We will be arriving on a Monday this year in the middle of the morning, and since we are staying at an Epcot resort we decided to do Epcot in the afternoon/evening after hitting up the pool. Then Tuesday will be 100% Magic Kingdom from start to finish. Just my little ritual.

If you are staying offsite you might want to avoid the parks that have EMH in the evening that first day, as it might get crowded.


TRUE. I need to check that. Thanks:)