What Are Your First Day Tradtions ?

[Magic_Kingdom]

On the very first day we always arrive around 4 in the afternoon and by the time we get our key and find our villa etc there's not much to do so we normally just get a McDonald or Burger King for tea, chill out at the villa, have an earlyish night so we're up and ready to go to the Magic Kingdom the next day

 

[Curoly06]

Our first full day HAS to be at the MK! It just doesn't feel like Disney until I see that castle!

 

[princesskayla]

We check in, eat at Chef Mickey's, then head to MK and sing "Walking Down Main Street, USA" walking/skipping down Main Street while wearing our mathcing family outfits. Yes, we are THAT family!

 

[RK13]

First and last day are always MK.

Arrive early for rope drop, video the family as we walk down Main St, then its off to the races. Usually ride Buzz first.

Last day at MK it ride our favorites as many times as we can.

 

[ditsypixie]

After driving down and checking in, we head over to DTD for shopping and our dinner is always Raglan Road. Our very first ride the next morning is Nemo. And it is our very last ride before we leave too. Nothing says happiness and tears at the same time like riding the "clam-mobiles."

 

[Emmer]

Our first day/arrival day tradition has always been hit DTD for lunch (we drive at least halfway the previous night) and then to MK. For our trip next week our tradition may change a bit depending on the weather in New Orleans. I am in a Mardi Gras parade on Saturday night and have been praying to the Disney Weather gods that we don't have rain. If we ride Saturday night then our tradition will be upheld. If not our arrivial day will be super long since we will be driving 9 hours that day and I will be on little sleep with my parade moving to Sunday night. If that happens it will be check in and straight to MK with the rest of the Yats from the region.

I always had it in my head that our last day would be at MK as well but that one usually doesn't hold. We usually go to the park we enjoyed the most during the trip. Since this trip is for my son's birthday we will let him pick where we go.

But the first day will definately be at the MK.

Happy Mardi Gras!!!

 

[Rgonzalez79]

We always hit DTD on the first day, then hit up the first park bright and early the next morning. I feel like DTD gets us nice and warmed up for an all out Disney blitz the next day, plus you can get some shopping out of the way. My DD loves the T Rex restaurant so I'm sure she'd love it if that became our traditional first day dinner spot but we normally hit up Giradelli's for some kind of frozen chocolate concoction and then whatever is least crowded for dinner after walking around for a few hours.

 

[Cee]

We check-in, walk around the resort to get the "lay of the land", head to DTD and Pleasure Island to enjoy a Daulkey Duo and a beer flight at Raglan Road, walk around DTD for awhile, head back to the resort to pick up some sundries to take back to the room and by then it's late enough that we can call it a night and get some good sleep so we can enjoy our first full day in Disney!

That was quite a run-on sentence!

 

[pink5683]

We usually try to get one of the first flights of the morning, so our first day traditions have become having lunch at our resort after checking in, and then usually we head for AK because we can get a lot in during one long afternoon there. Also, because it closes earlier than the other parks, it is a good excuse for us to make it an "early" night, and head back to our hotel after dinner to explore the resort and rest up for the next day.

 

[mommyrosa2]

We always hit DTD for some lunch at Wolfgang Puck Express. We'll walk around a bit, head back to the resort and try to hit one of the parks at night.

 

[GAGirlInVA]

When we went with kids we hit Epcot (we didn't have park hoppers and figured they would want a FULL day in MK.)

When we go as a couple, we always go to DTD, eat at Wolfgang's, do a little shopping and then go from there.

The first day ALWAYS includes a lap on the monorail.

 

[NewYorkRedNeck]

As soon as I arrive I head off to MK and ride Pirates..

 

[Pangela]

On our arrival day we unpack and take a walk around the resort. This year we will have a longer drive in on check in day so DH will nap and DD and I will go down to the pool for a couple hours. Then we head to DTD to check out the ornaments for this year and WPE for dinner. We try to go to bed early on arrival day since we are up bright and early for rope drop at MK the next day.

On our last day when we flew we would take a late flight and spend the morning usually in Epcot since we stay at BC. This year we are driving and will leave by 6am. So our last full day will be spent at MK with dinner at O’hanas.

 

[YankeePrincess]

This is probably going to sound stupid but, my husband and I always end up buying a ton of t-shirts. Instead of packing shirts for vacation we just pack shorts, jeans, etc. and no shirts. Then when we get to Disney we head to DTD and buy our shirts to wear for the week.

 

[KimK2006]

We always have dinner at Chef Mickey's. Great way to kick off the trip!

 

[scrappinannie]

On arrival day we eat at Chef Mickey's (subject to change since I'm about over paying $80-$130 for ONE MEAL) and then head back to our resort to swim, unpack, and just get a lay of the land.

Our first and last full days are spent at MK. I don't know, something about MK is just so Disney to me and I love to start and end our Disney vacation with a trip to MK. It's also nice to break our MK time into 2 days, as we can then enjoy a nice character or sit down meal during the afternoon parade (off peak often means lower prices) and then just hit up the parade on our 2nd day there. Same goes for Wishes. Then we don't necessarily have to stress if we miss it one night. We know we can just see it the next night we're there.

We also plan one full day to enjoy our resort. Last time we stayed at POR and we could have easily spent 2 or 3 days just enjoying the resort. The pools, the restaurants, the boat to DTD, carriage rides, all so fun.

 

[mel&me]

Depends on when we arrive. if its early enough, might start in another park but always eat dinner in epcot. If we arrive late, DTD and somewhere for cocktails.

 

[Thumper_Man]

We usually don't arrive into Orlando until early evening. We stay at a timeshare off-site but our first night we'll drive to the Swan & Dolphin to eat at Shula's. Don't know how this became a tradition but it has. Probably more so because we know we can afford at the beginning of the trip more so than towards the end. After we'll hit DTD for a little shopping and then head back to our resort for a good night's sleep to hit the theme parks bright and early. We don't have a particular theme park we hit first, but MK is always the last theme park before we head home.

 

[Roo Girl]

We always hit Earl of Sandwich as soon as we can. Then we finish out the day at EPCOT.

We always finish at EPCOT too... We try to make Soarin our last stop, but this time it was Maelstrom. No regrets! I love going back, back, over the falls.

 

[hill242]

Last Day: Roller Coaster tour! Check out of room and load up our stuff in the car, but leave it in the parking lot. We then hike it over to AK for Everest, Hollywood Studios for Rock n Roller, Epcot for Test Track, and MK for Space Mtn (and Thunder Mtn if we have time).

We drive home (6 hours) so it's easier for us to fit this all in on our last day. The big reason we buy Park Hopper. On our last trip, malfunctions with a ride and then severe weather threw us off, though. I vow to make it up this time!