What do you do the 1st day with little ones?

[2 Little Mermaids]

Hey Moms and Dads. Just wondering what you do the 1st day at WDW with little ones. Do you rest or hit the parks? Last time we went I planned it so that 1st day was a chill day since we had to be up at 3am to drive to the airport and fly to orlando. We got to the resort at 11am and had or room by 1pm. I was hoping they would nap, but that was a no go. In fact my 3 1/2 yr old at the time didn't go to sleep until 10pm. Should I try this again or start seeing the parks?

[golden6911]

When my kids were that age we had the same type of first day, up at 4am, at the resort by noon. My kids did not want to nap either. My husband took a nap while we went to the playground, then around 2:30 we went to the magic kingdom for awhile. We went on some of the less crowded rides in Adventureland, saw the parade etc. Then we made the mistake of trying to see the Hoop de Doo Revue that evening. Bad idea - the kids all but melted down. What I should have done was stay at the park an hour longer and then gone back to the hotel. If you don't have park tickets for the day, maybe try Downtown Disney, or the pool at the resort if it is hot enough. I just wouldn't plan any thing that you can't cancel, and play it by ear.

[LoveKermit]

We traveled similar with our then-7 month old. We got up closer to 5 AM and were at the Poly around noon. We had room issues but were able to get one that was ready around 12:30/1. DH is my biggest kid. I would have chilled and let DD nap. Nope, he was too excited. We went to Pecos Bills for lunch and hopped out of that in time for the afternoon parade. Did I mention it was August and HOT!?! We didn't survive the entire parade, DD wasn't so sure about it, was hot and tired, so back to the hotel.

But for DH instead of "Out of sight, out of mind," since we were at the Poly I think it was very much "In sight, in mind."

Ask your 4 yo how she feels maybe, or just wing it (I know, blasphemy on these pages). That's why we like the Hoppers and staying on property. Or make it more of a pool/DTD day instead of parks. Still feeling Disney without the exhaustion of the parks.

My $.02.

[bratmomma]

I have three kids ranging from 12 to 3 (when we get to WDW) and our first day is planned as resort exploring and DTD. I really want to go to DTD for the potato head display and the amount of time we spend there after that will be determined by the kids' abilities to behave and keep up. I don't want to overdo it before we even hit the parks. We plan to get up early on day two for a character breakfast and hit the park running!

I guess you could say our arrival day is a chill day.

[disny_luvr]

Our last trip was our first trip traveling with toddlers (two-year-old twins at the time). Our plane didn't arrive until around 4:00. We arrived at our resort around 6:00 and even though I was dying to go to the MK, we just stayed around our resort. We were at POP for only one night - our first night - and our boys loved walking around and looking at all the icons. We also ate a relaxing dinner and went to bed early. We awoke bright-and-early the next morning, moved over to CBR and hit the parks. I'm glad we had that first day to relax before we started going full-speed.

[ilandrazdsw]

We don't do parks on our first day. Even getting ot the parks by noon, it is like 1/2 a day wasted for us. We prefer to walk DTD and have a character meal then ride the monorail and watch the fireworks from one of the resorts or just call it an early night for an early strat in the morning. For us, it kind of gives a cushion just incase the flight is delayed or the kids (or us) need some extra travel rest rather than plan (and buy tickets for) a park and not get there. At least there is generally no penalty for missing a meal and/or we can try to call and cancel if we know we won't make it so another family can get have dinner.

[Lstar311]

Our first day we got to our resort around 2 or 3, had lunch in the food court and spent the evening in Magic Kindgom. My LO got to ride Dumbo, the Horseys (Merry Go Round) and Small World. He is a go go go kind of kid so the nap he got on the plane was enough for him to be able to enjoy the evening. I'd play it by ear and not really plan anything.