Arrival Day

[tabithamarie4]

We were scheduled to land at 3pm. But now Southwest has changed our flight so now we will be landing before 10 am

What would you do on your arrival day? Head to a park for a half day? Just hang out at the resort?

 

[msmayor]

When my daughter and I did a three-night trip last fall, we landed (from different departure cities) around 9:30am and used this first day for Disney Springs.

We set up a lunchtime reservation at Wine Bar George and after picking up our car, headed to DS to shop and just enjoy our first day. We headed to our resort around 3pm to check in and get our room...then rode the Skyliner. A nice light evening stop for cocktails and small plates, then early to bed so we could hit the ground running on our first full day.

We got a lot of souvenir shopping done that first day and could then just focus on the parks.

 

[way2tyred]

I was actually about to ask this question myself! I know we want to go to a park (we do Disney Springs on our departure day), but I can't decide if we should start with Epcot or MK. One will be 1.5 days and the other will be 2 days. I was originally planning on Epcot World Showcase for our arrival day, but now I'm thinking maybe MK, since our other MK day we will also be attending MNSSHP.

 

[way2tyred]

We were scheduled to land at 3pm. But now Southwest has changed our flight so now we will be landing before 10 am

What would you do on your arrival day? Head to a park for a half day? Just hang out at the resort?

How many days will you be there?

 

[Mermaidtails1323]

When we've done this, we start with Epcot. Going to do the same this year! I can't not go to Disney once I arrive, especially if there's still a lot of day left!

 

[_19disnA]

Might depend on how much extra it would cost to add one more day to your park tickets. As I recall when we were there a few years ago, we also arrived mid-morning then had lunch @ Contemporary where we were staying. Went to MK in the afternoon since there was only a small difference in the price of the ticket for the added day. Not sure if that is still true. Flights can also be delayed due to bad weather or mechanical issues, so you may arrive later than originally planned and there is never a way to know that for sure prior to travel.

I would not make an ADR for lunch since you just never know when you will arrive and don't want to have to pay the no-show fee. There are plenty of places to eat lunch at every resort that do not require a reservation.

 

[larsonb74]

We were scheduled to land at 3pm. But now Southwest has changed our flight so now we will be landing before 10 am

What would you do on your arrival day? Head to a park for a half day? Just hang out at the resort?

Do you have annual passes or will you be purchasing day tickets. Time from airport to bell services and to the park you might be looking at a 1-2pm arrival time. If staying within walking distance to Epcot or Hollywood I would go.

 

[bluezy]

We drive to Disney and always arrive around 10:30 on a Sunday morning. We find it well worth the extra $25 to go from a 6-day to a 7-day ticket. We usually drop our stuff in the room and unpack a little, have lunch at the resort, and then head to EP for the afternoon/evening. On our last trip (first one with Genie+/ILL), we had 4 rides stacked before we even got to the park at around 2:00. We did 6 or 7 rides, had dinner, and we were back at the hotel by about 8:45 so we could finish unpacking and get a good nights sleep before doing rope drop at DHS the next morning. And the bonus was that since we got a bunch of rides in at EP on arrival day, we could sleep in on our 2nd EP day and get to the park around 10:00. I think it's well worth spending a few hours at a park on arrival day if you're going to arrive in the morning or very early afternoon. I'd keep it a casual pace and just enjoy hitting up a few rides and maybe a nice dinner.

We used to just hang out at the resort or go to DS on a arrival day because we didn't want to pay for another day on our tickets. We booked the Buy 4/Get 3 free deal (for hotel & tickets) back in 2009 which meant we had that extra day of admission and really enjoyed spending a few hours at EP on arrival day. Then I noticed that it would only cost us about $20 to add an extra day to our tickets on future trips and we've done that on every trip since 2009. It's a nice way to ease into vacation.

 

[EACarlson]

I don't ever plan on doing anything ticketed or important to me on arrival day. Too many issues that could cause stress that I'm not looking for while I'm on vacation. I would certainly head to Disney Springs or resort hop to check out some things. If you land on time at 10 am, it's going to be 11 before you get out of the airport and sometime between 11:30 and 1:30 when you actually make it to property. I'd rather have some relaxation time and then get to bed early for an early start the next day.

 

[woody5]

Depending on when you are traveling to Disney, if you are staying onsite you can go to a waterpark free of charge on your arrival day.

 

[Mle8308]

Depending on when you are traveling to Disney, if you are staying onsite you can go to a waterpark free of charge on your arrival day.

That doesn't start until 2025 and if they have airfare from SW already booked, it's most likely 2024. I do not believe SW has fights out for 2025 yet. Though I didn't check, so I could be wrong.

 

[Sweettears]

As the PP stated it totally depends on how many days you are staying. I usually stay 4 nights and visit the parks on arrival and departure days. Depending on your length of stay the added cost is not as significant

 

[Kooks and Bay Bay]

The only time I go to a park on my arrival day is if its necessary due to it being a very short trip.
And I never go on my departure day as it would be very anxiety inducing for me.

If I arrive early on arrival day I enjoy exploring the resort, going to Disney Springs, and having dinner at the resort and just be ready for an early morning.

 

[Minsc]

We always head straight to a park. If we arrive before our room is ready, we drop our bags at bell services for storage and then straight to a park. If our room is ready when we arrive, we just drop them at the room and then head to a park.

 

[jo-jo]

15 years ago, we'd get up at the 3 AM, get a 6:30 flight, and get to disney about 9. I can't be there and not go into a park for half a day. Make it an early night.

Now we catch a mid day flight and recover from traveling that evening.

 

[tabithamarie4]

How many days will you be there?

We will be going to the parks with a rest day in the middle (well....kind of a rest day, we are doing HS After Hours)

 

[tabithamarie4]

Might depend on how much extra it would cost to add one more day to your park tickets. As I recall when we were there a few years ago, we also arrived mid-morning then had lunch @ Contemporary where we were staying. Went to MK in the afternoon since there was only a small difference in the price of the ticket for the added day. Not sure if that is still true. Flights can also be delayed due to bad weather or mechanical issues, so you may arrive later than originally planned and there is never a way to know that for sure prior to travel.

I would not make an ADR for lunch since you just never know when you will arrive and don't want to have to pay the no-show fee. There are plenty of places to eat lunch at every resort that do not require a reservation.

I think it would only be $90 or so for all 4 of us to add an extra day. That's what got me thinking about adding a day - it's so cheap!

If our flight gets delayed, do you think Disney would let us switch back and get rid of 1 day of our tickets? I guess we could also use it on our departure day since Southwest also changed that flight so we aren't leaving until 6 (instead of 3)

 

[tabithamarie4]

Do you have annual passes or will you be purchasing day tickets. Time from airport to bell services and to the park you might be looking at a 1-2pm arrival time. If staying within walking distance to Epcot or Hollywood I would go.

We are buying day tickets. We are staying at Pop so we could easily get to Epcot or Hollywood.

 

[tabithamarie4]

We drive to Disney and always arrive around 10:30 on a Sunday morning. We find it well worth the extra $25 to go from a 6-day to a 7-day ticket. We usually drop our stuff in the room and unpack a little, have lunch at the resort, and then head to EP for the afternoon/evening. On our last trip (first one with Genie+/ILL), we had 4 rides stacked before we even got to the park at around 2:00. We did 6 or 7 rides, had dinner, and we were back at the hotel by about 8:45 so we could finish unpacking and get a good nights sleep before doing rope drop at DHS the next morning. And the bonus was that since we got a bunch of rides in at EP on arrival day, we could sleep in on our 2nd EP day and get to the park around 10:00. I think it's well worth spending a few hours at a park on arrival day if you're going to arrive in the morning or very early afternoon. I'd keep it a casual pace and just enjoy hitting up a few rides and maybe a nice dinner.

We used to just hang out at the resort or go to DS on a arrival day because we didn't want to pay for another day on our tickets. We booked the Buy 4/Get 3 free deal (for hotel & tickets) back in 2009 which meant we had that extra day of admission and really enjoyed spending a few hours at EP on arrival day. Then I noticed that it would only cost us about $20 to add an extra day to our tickets on future trips and we've done that on every trip since 2009. It's a nice way to ease into vacation.

I like this idea! Stacking LLs beforehand!

 

[Robber Baron]

We always schedule our flights to get to WDW as early in the day as we can. It's always before noon. We go to a park that day. Honestly, the parks are the only reason we're there.

We wouldn't be spending hundreds of dollars a night on these hotel rooms if they were out in the boonies in Oklahoma, we're there because of the theme parks.

Flying doesn't really tire us out a whole lot so we don't usually need to rest up after sitting on a plane for a couple hours.

We don't really need to 'settle in', or, get the 'lay of the land', or familiarize ourselves where the gift shop and food courts are.

We go to the resort and check in, if the rooms ready we put our bags in the room and go to a park. If the rooms not ready we have them hold our bags and we head to a park.