What do you do on arrival day?

[gracie1]

Hi Everyone. I am hoping that you can post kind of what your schedule is like in wdw. This is our first trip, and the day that we arrive we should be arriving by 1pm at the resort. Now there are extra magic hours that night till midnight. We are going for 11 nights (never been-arriving on a monday) and have 10 day parkhopper passes. Would you take the first day and do nothing or go to the park? At first I was going to go to dtd...and then get to bed early for the next day (although we probably won't sleep!) Or my other option was to go to magic kingdom and hit the emh (for the first three days there) and then take like saturday off as a rest day.
I personally would like to go everyday but think a rest day might be nice. If we feel like doing the parks then we can always buy an extra ticket if needed.

So I guess I am asking is what do you do on your first day of arrival and do you take a day to rest??

 

[BigMama]

Our first day after we check in, we usually go get something to eat. Check out the resort see where everything is. We either will go for a swim, walk around DTD, just unwind from traveling. When room is ready we get settled, get needed supplies from store, Eat again, then try to get a good nights sleep.We usually get up early have a good breakfast then start the day refreshed. Take a break in the afternoon, relax and enjoy the trip because it goes FAST!!!!

 

[TiggerD]

We always take the first flight in the morning and arrive at our resort around 10:30, so we check in, grab something to eat, change into our bathing suits and lounge around the pool and take a short nap. Once the room is ready, we unpack, take showers, and head out to dinner at one of the parks. By that time we are wiped out and we usually head back to resort and take a walk around even though we have stayed there many times, we like to walk it at night and then we head to bed for a good nights sleep. 56 days to go till we go again.

 

[Disney_Lover06]

We try and arrive around 12pm. Check into our hotel and spend some time at the pool. We go to downtown disney for dinner then head to the beach at the Polynesian Resort or the international gateway of ECOPT and watch the fireworks. Sometimes the CMs at the gateway let us in without a ticket! I love starting a Disney trip with a fireworks show!

 

[scard192]

We are arriving ~ 12:30PM and plan to check in at the resort, relax, try to give my 3 year old grand daughter a nap. We have ADR's at 1900PF for dinner and are going to try and take a ride on the Monorail to get to the GF. It's my grand daughters first trip to Disney, she loves the Princesses so we figured that dinner with Cinderella would be a great way to start the trip.

 

[hoffman17]

You can always head down to downtown disney. they have lots of cool shops to check out. Also it's neat to walk down the boardwalk hotel area.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

If it was just me and DH, we always checked in, changed, and headed out to the parks. Now with DD, we do nothing too exciting on the first day. We might go to dinner but that's about it. We would rather have her up and full of energy on our first full day.

 

[candielips]

We never made this an official tradition but we always seem to head to DTD & grab supper there on our 1st day.
We like to be well rested for the next day when the fun begins!

 

[Cheloconnell]

We take the early flight and arrive to Orlando around 10:30. By the time we get to the hotel it is around 12:00. We check in and then head off to Magic Kingdom We usually make our first stop Casey's Corner for some great hot dogs and then hit a few rides. It is a very low key day though.....

 

[Twins]

The last time we were at WDW (2007) we checked in and headed right to the Magic Kingdom. It was an exhausting day especially since we had spent a day and a half driving there. This time we will check in and spend the afternoon at the pool followed by a trip to DTD where we will shop and have dinner. We will then head back to the Poly and watch the fireworks from the beach. I want to start us off on a more relaxed footing. The last trip was too hectic, so I'm hoping this will help us slow the pace down and make our trip more enjoyable.

 

[DVCGeek]

DW & I have dinner @ Whispering Canyon (at the Wilderness Lodge) on our first night and typically just hang out there and/or at whatever resort we are staying at afterwards.
An exception was that last trip we went to Poly for "Spirit of Aloha" on arrival night and did WC later in the trip due to ADR availability... At any rate, normally we don't do any parks on arrival day!

 

[TinaLala]

We take the earliest flight we can get, put everything I need for the park into a backpack inside my carry-on, check into the hotel and while DH is signing his name the girls and I are running to get a bus to MK.

Usually within 2 hours of the flight landing we're on the Carousel or Dumbo. It's a tradition for us to sing "Walking Right Down the Middle of Main Street USA" as we walk toward the castle! Then we run through it and jump on a horse! We stay at MK all day and usually have dinner at Ohana - this time we're eating at Whispering Canyon Cafe and then we watch Wishes. Go back to the hotel, change into our bathing suits and swim for as long as we can stand it and then crash into bed and sleep late the next morning!

It's like an intense dose of DISNEY in one day!!

 

[bratmomma]

Our check-in day is low key. This time we plan to check in and explore our resort, maybe go swimming. I also am headed to DTD and I don't even care if I have to go alone! LOL I am getting to that potato head display on my first day, even if it kills me! I also have to pick up my fridge sometime.

We will basically be chilling out and gearing up for the marathon 4 parks in 4 days that awaits us starting at dawn the next morning!

 

[richmo]

I like the advice given so far. I think I'd skip going into the parks on the first day, but would take some time to get acclimated. If you're arriving at 1 PM, you may or may not be able to get into your room right away. Even if not, checkin, get your room key, and your park tickets (if you don't already have them). You can use your resort's pool and relax a bit. Travel days are always exhausting, even though you sit most of the time.

I would also spend some time getting familiar with the Disney transportation system. If you're at a monorail resort (Grand Floridian, Contemporary or Polynesian) hop on and take a ride. You do not use any of your park days doing this. Go to the Transportation and Ticket Center stop and transfer to the Epcot line. You'll get a nice ride thru Epcot from above before returning to the TTC. If you're at Wilderness Lodge or Ft. Wilderness, take a boat to the Magic Kingdom, then use the monorail to get to the TTC and Epcot. If you're at other resorts (all Values and Moderates and some of the deluxes) take the bus to the Magic Kingdom and do the same. Navigation the rest of your days will be much easier as you learn the system and get the lay of the land.

Also, another way to get into the spirit of things is to go over to Downtown Disney. Again, you can pick up a bus at your resort. Plenty of Disney shopping, dining, etc.

 

[Targsmom]

Our first day after we check in, we usually go get something to eat. Check out the resort see where everything is. We either will go for a swim, walk around DTD, just unwind from traveling. When room is ready we get settled, get needed supplies from store, Eat again, then try to get a good nights sleep.We usually get up early have a good breakfast then start the day refreshed. Take a break in the afternoon, relax and enjoy the trip because it goes FAST!!!!

This is pretty much what we do as well.. but we might hit Disney Quest this year. .just for kicks!

 

[Mufasa&Simba]

I think it all depends on what time you're getting there during the day. All three times I've been to WDW we've never went to a park the day we arrived. First time: went to Disney Marketplace (before it was called Downtown Disney) that evening. Second time: just stayed at our resort, had dinner, and relaxed. Third time: that evening we went to the Boardwalk.

 

[MARCIAKAZ]

On our first trip, we didn't arrive and get checked in till about 4:30. We rented a condo off-site. So, after we got settled in, we went to the Boardwalk/Beachclub resort area. We had a fun dinner at Beaches and Cream, rented a Surrey Bike for 4, rode the path around the lake twice, took a round trip ride on the Friendship boat, explored the resorts a little, then headed back to our condo about 9:00 pm. It was a just-right portion of Disney fun to get us ready for our first big day at MK!

 

[torsie24]

I am planning nothing for our arrival day - as we have a loooong journey and a big time difference:

Wake up at 3am UK time. (10pm FL time)

At the airport for 5am UK (12am FL)

Get the Orlando at 3pm FL time (we have to connect in Detroit so adds hours to the journey!)

Hopefully get to AKL 5pm/6pm. (Which will be 10pm/11pm UK time)

I think by then we will really be struggling to stay awake. So we'll just explore AKL and I'll force myself to eat some dinner from the Mara, and then try and keep myself awake until about 10pm, by unpacking etc.

Doesn't matter what time I go to sleep though, the forst few days in the US I'm always awake at like 4am! So we'll be doing a few rope drops at the start of our trip!

 

[mreid1974]

Everyone basicallly has the same idea i do... I never start a disney trip in a park.. My first park has to be MK.. But i must go there for rope drop on our first full day!! So for the day of arrival we take the earliest flight we can get hoping to be at the resort no later then 1.. We grab lunch at the hotel.. By the time we do this its around 2ish.. We hop on the bus to MK and ride the monarail around the resort loop and then thru epcot.. If you are gonna do this take the time to try to sit up front with the driver.. I did it for the first time last time and it was a great experience.. Then we hit dinner at a resort and head to DTD for a lil shopping.. trying to be in our room no later then 9 to get a good rest for the big next day

 

[bunkkinsmom]

I think it depends on what time you're arriving, how you are getting there, and what resort you are staying at. When hubby and I went prekids several years ago, we flew in on the first flight, checked in and dropped bags, and went straight to the MK! By the time we got to the Hall of Presidents we passed out. Never again.

This past January we took our first trip with the kids. We took the train down and it's an overnight, so we slept really well. We got to our resort around 1030 or 11, checked in, dropped bags, grabbed the boat to DTD, and had a nice relaxing lunch at Wolfgang Puck Express. We went back to OKW and waited for our villa and relaxed. We went to dinner at Epcot, and I think that if we had gotten in later than 12 or 1, we wouldn't have gone to the parks at all that day.

Either way, have fun!!