Arrival day ritual/routine?

[Jennasis]

How do you kick off your WDW vacation when you arrive? Head straight to MK? Explore the resort? Swim? Dinner at V&A? Do you do the same thing every trip and would your trip be incomplete or weird without your arrival ritual?

 

[mamato3girls]

We have always just explored the resort, gotten dinner and relaxed. We drive from North Carolina to Disney so we've just always enjoyed lounging around. This year we have decided we want to kick off our vacation right away so we will head to Magic Kingdom, I have a dinner reservation for BOG and we will at least stay to see the fireworks that night.

 

[monkistan]

Usually I'll arrive in the late morning/early afternoon, head to the hotel, check in, drop off any bags that I need to. Then, depending on the time, I'll eat lunch at the hotel or head straight to EPCOT for lunch, and spend the remainder of the day there.

For some reason, EPCOT is always my first park. And my first EPCOT day is a partial day on arrival.

Often this will include dinner at the San Angel Inn. It's pretty there.

 

[Jennasis]

We have always just explored the resort, gotten dinner and relaxed. We drive from North Carolina to Disney so we've just always enjoyed lounging around. This year we have decided we want to kick off our vacation right away so we will head to Magic Kingdom, I have a dinner reservation for BOG and we will at least stay to see the fireworks that night.

No way! We drive from NC too (just west of Winston-Salem). We like to do the same...arrive around 4ish then have dinner someplace awesome and explore the resort.

 

[GoOfyInDisNEy]

We always fly in from indianapolis. We unpack and then head to Epcot. We usually don't arrive at the park until 5-6. We walk around. Grab a bite and a drink, ride a few rides and watch illuminations.

 

[mamato3girls]

No way! We drive from NC too (just west of Winston-Salem). We like to do the same...arrive around 4ish then have dinner someplace awesome and explore the resort.

Well we are neighbors because we are in Winston Salem and actually grew up about 30 minutes of Winston Salem.

This is our first year even attempting a park on check in day but our kids tend to nap a lot on the drive down and we figured even if we just got dinner in and saw the fireworks then we would be happy. It may end up being a complete disaster but we shall see.

 

[rpk1951]

we usually arrive around noon and gp to Epcot for several hours. Our last day is usually at Epcot for several hours. No reason other than it is close to where we stay.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

Back when my husband and I were dating, we went with a group of friends for our first trip together (we had both been before). The first park we went to was Hollywood Studios (my favorite). When we went back for our honeymoon, my husband wanted to try out Animal Kingdom because he had never been there before. He knew it was easily my least favorite park so he thought going on a short day would be good. Turned out that my husband disliked it as much as I did and we ended back up at Hollywood Studios. Since then, Hollywood Studios was always the first park we would visit. Then, last year we took a huge family trip and didn't make it to Hollywood Studios until our third day. It just felt odd, so when we went earlier this year, Hollywood Studios was our first stop, again. We are heading back next month and are breaking with tradition again. We are getting in pretty late so we decided to just book reservations at Tony's and watch the Main Street Electrical Parade on our first day. Hollywood Studios will be our park for our first full day. I'm hoping it doesn't feel off again.

 

[Seaton]

I like to go to DTD and chill out for the evening and start fresh the next day at the MK.

 

[disneylovin24]

Check in then head to wal mart to stock up on essentials for the week. Then just unpack and relax around the resort.

 

[jenjersnap]

We used to do Chef Mickeys for dinner on arrival night then started doing Beaches & Cream instead, then usually a swim and stroll around. Now that B&C is taking ADRs we will be on the hunt for a new ritual first night dinner location.

 

[bauer1168]

Normally arrive at the resort around 5/6 pm so will just head to DTD, get something to eat at House Of a Blues and bit of shopping. Get an early night so can hit the parks at RD next day

 

[DisneyBliss7]

The past three times we have had reservations or went to a park...Next time I just want to arrive and relax around the resort, swim and get dinner

 

[lcj19]

We explore the resort for a bit and then head to DTD for dinner and exploring

 

[WendyLou]

We always do HS on arrival day and kinda ease our way into Disney then hit MK bright and early the next morning.

 

[angielavon]

After an early check-in, we explore the resort, have an early lunch, and relax around the pool. We always have dinner at Raglan Road and have a late night at DTD. On the second day, we sleep in, have an early lunch at Beaches and Cream and walk over to Epcot and hit the World Showcase shortly after it opens at 11:00.

 

[DisneyChristmas]

How do you kick off your WDW vacation when you arrive? Head straight to MK? Explore the resort? Swim? Dinner at V&A? Do you do the same thing every trip and would your trip be incomplete or weird without your arrival ritual?

We explore the room/resort and then have lunch at Big River Brew. Then we often head for EPCOT.

 

[vital]

After driving in from Mississippi we usually check in and explore the resort. This time we are staying at AKV in a Savanna View studio so I know we'll do more resort stuff . Our tradition is to hit HS at RD and ride RNR. Nothing says "you're on vacation now" quite like 0-60 in 2.8 seconds!!!!!!!

 

[kmb584]

99.9% of the time we head to MK for a bit of park time and dinner, which is 99.9% of the time at CP. If we happen to have a late flight or are delayed and thus get in later than expected we'll settle into and have dinner at our resort.

 

[Stefecatzz]

Nothing says "you're on vacation now" quite like 0-60 in 2.8 seconds!!!!!!!

I Love it!

I'm surprised there aren't more posts about starting out at MK..Epcot seems to be the park of choice.

We live in S FL & usually head up there around 11am. I've made a habit out of taking a few weekdays to go instead of just a weekend. It works out pretty well b/c we leave & head straight to AK or HS depending on what we decide on the way up. We somehow Always end the night at Epcot, no matter which park we start out at.