1:30 pm arrival

[aubeone]

I will arrive at my hotel around 1:30 pm on a Friday. Should we just enjoy the hotel or try to spend the afternoon and evening in a park. If so...which one?

 

[Cinderella94]

The day we arrive, we usually get there around 3:00 PM and we went to a park that very day. If you have the passes, use them, why let them go to waste for a day?

 

[Bashful2]

Depends. How late are the parks open the day you arrive? What kind of tickets do you have? Do you have small children? Where are you staying?

Depending on those answers, you could either go to a park, spend the afternoon at DTD or your resort and take in some of their activities. You could also visit another resort and look around, then have a nice dinner.

 

[Rella Bella]

Depends. How late are the parks open the day you arrive? What kind of tickets do you have? Do you have small children? Where are you staying?

Depending on those answers, you could either go to a park, spend the afternoon at DTD or your resort and take in some of their activities. You could also visit another resort and look around, then have a nice dinner.

I agree, give us a little more info and we can give you better advice.

 

[SB in KY]

I always like to take arrival day slow and easy....everyone is so excited to arrive, the kids always love to explore the resort (even when it is one they have been to umpteen times before)...we enjoy a nice leisurely meal that evening and turn in early....by the next AM we are up early and ready to roll....in contrast when we ran straight to the parks on arrival we just seemed worn out and the kids were cranky early...but I always felt like we needed to stay until closing to "get our $$ worth" out of the park tickets and everyone would be dragging the next AM....for us a slow start begins the trip a lot better....and no one ever complains of boredom.

 

[misslissa]

If you want to take it slow, I would suggest not going to a park, as long as you are going to have plenty of time to visit them! Since the day I am arriving is the last day of the Food and Wine Show, that is what I'll be doing. BUT, if I were arriving any other day, I would probably spend the day looking around the resort (especially if you haven't stayed there before) and also maybe looking through the stores in Downtown Disney. And, MOST IMPORTANTLY, I would do something that would totally get me into the 'spirit' of things like getting an APR at Chef Mickey's You would probably even catch some fireworks around there!

 

[danny1649]

Honest I would head to MK and start the magic that afternoon.Others have given you some good advice,I'm just saying what I would do.Have a safe and magical trip.

 

[Eljay]

Epcot is a lovely place to spend the evening. Wander around World Showcase watching the live shows, then pick from the many great places for dinner and then Illuminations at 9:00, how can you go wrong?

 

[speakupjc]

Enjoy a park.

 

[eblack0409]

This was my first trip to WDW and the first 2 days we stayed at the Best Western and spent the first evening at DTD...we learned....stay on site...the BW was not impressive.

 

[kellyg403]

We will be getting there early as well on a Friday, no babies but with 6 kids 9-17. We are planning on checking in at CBR and then heading over to MGM. The kids have been dying to try out the Sci-Fi. Even with the so-so reviews that is what the kids want to do. Making an early night of it since we probably will be tired. If not, trying DTD maybe. We are driving from NC and spending the night in Savannah since we are leaving late on Thurs. And then heading in to Disney at as leisurly a pace as the kids will allow.

Kelly

 

[LaraK]

We're arriving at acout 9:30 AM...however, after getting up at 4 to catch the plane, we figured we'd be too tired to fully appreciate the parks...sooo, we're going to Downtown Disney, exploring the hotel (checking in early and enjoying the pool until we can get into our room) and then having dinner at Boma...which is FANTASTIC. We figured we'd go to bed early and hit the parks fresh.

 

[DrTomorrow]

We have travelled enough to know that we get sort of fuzzy on travel days. Since we fly in from Phoenix and don't get to our resort until after 4PM, we usually stick to wandering around either our resort, or a non-park area like the Boardwalk or DTD. We usually are tired by bed-time, so we get a good night's sleep and are ready to tackle a park.

Of course, if you have a short stay & time is limited, hit the park.

 

[The Sweetness]

Personally, I LOVE driving up to *the world* (about 4 hours here) having a quick bathroom and check in at the hotel (sometimes pre register if rooms not ready) then drive right to the MK, and have a lovely relaxing meal at Tony's or The Plaza, or CP, then start hitting the rides and shows. Best ever was entering, lunch at Tony's then parking at the curb for the afternoon parade while DH went to the candy shop to get us a treat for dessert. One of my fondest WDW memories

 

[Disneyof3]

We usually arrive about 1:30 to the resorts too and both times we usually head to Epcot because it is open longer at night. In Feb.06 though I'm thinking because were staying even longer then the last 2 times, to stay at the resort and explore it for the afternoon. Even head to DTD with the POR boat. We've never done that before? I found the last 2 times when you head to the parks after unpacking and stuff it can be fuzzy and a little crazy for the kids and parents.

 

[ctp365]

We will be going straight to MK after we arrive at about 6pm. The park is open till midnight that night, and after travelling for approx 20 hours to get there, we figure we dont want to miss a minute.

Im sure we'll be tired, but hopefully the excitement will make us forget about that.

Carmen

 

[Bunny/2]

We'll be arriving in Orlando about 1:30pm. Plan to check in villa, little unpacking and have dinner at CP, watch fireworks head home. This will be the start of the Grandkids first visit to Disney.

 

[Pig Pen]

We usually arrive around noon (after getting up at 4:00 am for a 6:00 am flight) and head over to Epcot for a relaxing lunch and stroll around the WS. We always plan to stay for Illuminations, but never quite make it!

 

[aubeone]

Thanks for the feedback...several of you asked for more info...

I will be traveling with my wife and 10 yr old daughter. We are staying for 8 nights. We will be staying in OKW for 6 nights(Sunday-Sat, rented DVC points) I am thinking of adding 2 extra nights at the beginning of our trip..arriving at 1:30 on Friday. I need to book a hotel and thought, I should choose a room based on what parks I want to visit first.

 

[Disneynutbsv]

When we got to our hotel, we stayed there, went swimming a bit, unpacked and took it easy. We had to get up so early that morning to catch our flight, I didn't want to be exhausted the first full day in the parks. We had a nice dinner at the Wilderness Lodge, then went to downtown disney for a little bit. We got back to our room at 8-8:30 just totally wiped out. So, I would say, it depends on how early you need to get up as well.