Hi Lauren,
Welcome to planDisney!
We are delighted to see you planning a visit to the Walt Disney World® Resort! I will first say that any theme park order would be good. It really depends on your family and your preferences. Having said that, let's talk about some considerations that might affect your choices!
First things first, consider the number of theme park ticket days you have. If you have fewer ticket days than days of the trip, go ahead and plan your resort/relaxation days. I always do at least one resort day around day three of our visit if we are staying for six to seven days. I do so because usually our travel day is tiring. So, we get there and do two full park days and then by day three everyone is ready for a break.
Also consider the dining locations you want to try. My family has favorite restaurants that are must-do experiences on each trip. Some of these are incredibly popular so we always make
advanced dining reservations. It's often easier to get a dining reservation for those really popular dining locations on a day later in our trip. So, for example,
Space 220 Lounge is one of our favorites and it is at EPCOT. When our
dining reservation booking window opened for our visit in December, the earliest I could get a reservation was the day before we leave. So, that is a day we will do EPCOT.
Now, let's talk about order of park visits. If we are considering the number of theme park ticket days you have, here is an example - if we have 4 Day Theme Park Tickets, I would start with EPCOT or Disney's Animal Kingdom because, for my family, those parks are a little less intensive than Magic Kingdom and Disney's Hollywood Studios. So, I might do EPCOT on the first day then Magic Kingdom, Disney's Animal Kingdom, and Disney's Hollywood Studios. Or, you could do Disney's Animal Kingdom on the first day, Magic Kingdom, Disney's Hollywood Studios, and then EPCOT on the last day. If you have 5 Day Theme Park Tickets, I suggest doing Magic Kingdom twice.
If you do have some popular dining locations that you want to experience, I will reiterate - just keep in mind that you may need to plan for those parks at the end of the trip. If you have 5 Day Theme Park Tickets (or more), just plan for a second day at a park later in the trip. For example, if we want to do Cinderella's Royal Table, I would plan a Magic Kingdom Day on day two and another day on day five or six. If you make your dining reservations at 60 days prior to arrival, you should know when you might need to add or shift a theme park day to accommodate a dining reservation.
Lauren, I hope I have not confused you! If you notice, I have not suggested Magic Kingdom on the first day. That's totally up to you. We have done Magic Kingdom first. So, you decide! If you do not have a theme park visit planned for arrival day, then you should be rested by the next day to fully enjoy all that Magic Kingdom has to offer!
Magic and memories,
Donyell