Stuff to do first night w/o tickets to parks?

[stormer]

Go to the Chip and Dale campfire.

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

We typically do Downtown Disney and eat at T-REX for dinner on arrival night.

 

[mcjaco]

DTD. Earl of Sandwich.

Enough said.

 

[DisneyDahling]

On our arrival day, we have WCC dinner ressies and then we are heading over to the Chip and Dale Campfire. I have never done that and I think it between the antics of WCC and a first-for-all of us moment at the campfire, it will be a great arrival day.

 

[ejdmomma]

Riding the monorail to the resorts is on my bucket list. We usually end up at DTD and our resort pool. The kiddos would rather do that than anything else I suggest! We have stayed at AOA and my kids love the main pool and splash pad. We meant to check out the other pools but never got around to it - so much to do, so little time!

 

[Jon84]

Last time we arrived around 2pm, so went to Universal Studios for the afternoon

 

[mmounsey]

We've done the Luau before (that was a crazy rush and it was during a freak ice storm, but otherwise it was great!)...and we used to go to DTD for dinner/dessert and light shopping, but lately, our favorite is to hang out at Boardwalk for the evening...greasy pizza, corn dogs, and desserts...and depending on the time...epcot fireworks...the boys love the entertainment and we love just relaxing and hanging out after a long day of driving.

We've had friends who have done mini-golf on their arrival days too...

I think another nice option would be splitsville if you aren't too tired...

 

[lindsmom]

One time we did Chef Mickey's for dinner. Another time we rode the monorail loop and ate at the Poly. Then finally a third time we spent the evening at DTD, dinner and window shopping. And relatively early night to bed.

 

[mickeymom22]

Explore AoA and even walk over to Pop Century. In the afternoon, Pop has fun activities in their lobby and outside...hula hoop contests and riding Big Wheels...Both resorts have great photo ops!

Make sure one of the parks is staying open late and then...

Take a bus over to Animal Kingdom around 4:00 (it usually closes around 5:00 or later...and then one to Animal Kingdom Lodge. Make ressies if you want or eat at their food court. Go to the animal observation stations. If it is dark enough get night vision goggles. They have a really cool fire pit area too.

Take a bus back to whichever park is open late and then a bus back to AoA.

Another favorite of mine is to be at the Polynesian at night. The little tiki torches are so cute! Stake out a spot on the beach and watch the MK fireworks!

 

[dtoren2033]

We are doing the same thing and have decided to make that first evening "resort time" followed by dinner at T-Rex in Downtown Disney.

 

[Pinkos]

We are doing this next time and am considering doing mickeys backyard BBQ. Should be easy to get u in the Disney mood with Mickey and the gang!

 

[canadiandisneymommy]

We are arriving at the Poly around dinner time for our upcoming trip in November. We're planning on just going around the monorail resorts to Pin Trade for the first time. Super excited!

 

[k-wa]

Favorite first nights have been Pirates and Pals Cruise, campfire with Chip and Dale at Fort Wilderness, or Fantasia Mini Golf.

 

[Sytrace]

Hello,
I would settle into the hotel and possibly have the kids swim for awhile before dinner. You can take a bus to DD but, just as a warning....the construction down there right now is pretty crazy. Traffic (both people and cars) are wall to wall and it will take quite awhile to get from point A to B.
They drop you off at the Marketplace end where the Earl of Sandwich shop is and the Once Upon a Toy shop. And of course Ghiradellis!
Then you can either walk to DDWS or take a nice boat ride to where you can find, Disneyquest, Splitsville, LaNouba and House of Blues

Splitsville is lots of fun with bowling and amazing food choices right at your lane. Weekdays before 4:00 pm bowling is $15.00 for 1.5 hours of lane time. After 4 it is $20.00. If you don't want to bowl, but still want to dine, there is a separate check in area for that. We have bowled and dined there and the food is really good. Good size portions for a decent price.

There is a new place that opened up called The Boathouse, right near Fultons and T Rex (and the Lego store) They have Aquacars which are really fun to watch in the lake. I am not sure of the price, but they are available to rent.

They have done ALOT of great things at Downtown Disney and it looks great, but it is very hot during the day, this is why it is good to stop at Ghiradellis and get some ice cream. lol

There is also Planet Hollywood and the AMC theaters, where you could dine and watch a movie at the same time if you wish.

Sorry, I am like an oversize kid in a candy store when it comes to all the options at Disney!
Perhaps, go with the flow and see how everyone feels after checking in? Hard to do when there is so much to do, but rested kids and parents are always going to have more fun than stressed out parents and cranky kiddos.

Tracey

 

[MHofeners]

how old are your kiddos? Boys, girls or both?

 

[DVCjj]

I'm looking for suggestions. We will be flying in and get to our resort (AoA) around 2-3 PM so I didn't see the purpose in getting tickets for that first night. But I would like to do something Disney related. I was thinking either Downtown Disney or Boardwalk. Any other ideas?

Keep in mind that you can always add a park day for $10. I was shocked to learn this but my daughter just did it. It's a real bargain if the park stays open late.

 

[Jafar30]

It's been awhile since I've been down there but the first day was always swimming at resort pool. Checking out the grounds and usually grabbing something to eat there

 

[bluezy]

I'm looking for suggestions. We will be flying in and get to our resort (AoA) around 2-3 PM so I didn't see the purpose in getting tickets for that first night. But I would like to do something Disney related. I was thinking either Downtown Disney or Boardwalk. Any other ideas?

How long is your trip? We find that first arrival day to be a great time to get in a few extra park hours in one of the parks that has tiered FP+ selections. Since it's only ~$10/person to add an extra day to tickets, we find it well worth the cost even if we only go to a park for a few hours. We typically arrive around noon and put our stuff in the room and grab some lunch at the resorts. Then we head to Epcot for a few hours. And FP+ makes this a much more relaxed time. Prior to FP+, we'd go to Epcot and see what FP's we could get and we usually ended up having to do a lot of criss-crossing the park. Now we schedule 3 FP+'s, use them, and then grab a small dinner at Sunshine Seasons and then head back to the resort for a little swimming and then get to bed early so we can get a good night's sleep and hit the ground running in the morning. This allows us to guarantee getting on both Test Track and Soarin' with FP's (one on our arrival day and the other one on our full day in Epcot). And it's also about the least expensive option while still doing something that takes up a few hours and doesn't require any rushing around. You can spend as much or as little time as you like at the park (assuming your FP's are back-to-back).

If you really don't want to add another park day (or have enough time scheduled in each park already), we've done the transportation crawl. We've taken a bus to Epcot and then taken the monorail to TTC and then taken the Ferry across to MK. Then we've taken the monorail again and gone to one of the resorts to eat dinner. Then back to MK to take a bus back to our resort where we've gone for a swim and then get to sleep early for our first full day in the parks.

 

[Mousemommy1]

Downtown Disney
Hoop de Doo Review (or a meal at any of the resorts)
Resort hopping
Watch Wishes from Poly beach
Enjoy your resort pool
Partake in movies at your resort

Lots of options!!

 

[scrapquitler]

I'm looking for suggestions. We will be flying in and get to our resort (AoA) around 2-3 PM so I didn't see the purpose in getting tickets for that first night. But I would like to do something Disney related. I was thinking either Downtown Disney or Boardwalk. Any other ideas?

I would add another day to our tickets (if you have a ticket that's longer than 5 days, it only costs about $10 per person to add another day). Since you'll be there by 2-3PM, you can do a lot of fun things in a park before it closes. We usually just pick a couple things to do on our first day if it's not a 'full' day, and always in MK.