1:30 pm arrival

[Rella Bella]

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.

Couple of things...
Add the extra days! It will make your whole trip more relaxing. Anything you can do to lessen the 'hurry up and do everything' feeling. I am so much more relaxed standing in line when I know it's not my only day to be in the park. Plus it gives you flexibility, you can easily rearrange your "Park" schedule if you need to. If you have 'only this day to see ___' and it turns out to be packed that day... you're stuck. But if you have more days you can just say "Woooo, MK is packed... let's do AK today". We have done this more than once... and it seems often if one park is packed the others aren't quite as busy.

With a 10 yr old, (unless your getting up VERY early), you could certainly do a park in the evening. That's what I'd recomend... but I love the parks. We always want to see the night-time shows as many times as we can. Since she's old enough to stay up... I'd say go for it. Wishes at MK, Illuminations at Epcot, and Fantasmic at MGM, are all shows we like to see more than once every visit. (And sometimes they get rained out... so we always try to plan them at least twice.)

The other option would be to book your room or have dinner at one of the MK resorts (Contemporary, Poly or GF) because you can see Wishes from there, which is another wonderful experience. If you had dinner around the time of Wishes you could see it from OHanna or Narcoosi's.

I guess it boils down to what's right for your family. We are a 'stay-up-late, sleep-in' family... we all do great at night, but if we try to get up early & pack in a full day... LOOK OUT! I know other families that do better if they go to bed earlier and love to get up at the crack of dawn to hit the parks before the crowds. (Well, before some of the crowds... there seem to be just as many people who think that way.) To each his own.

Either way you go, you'll have a great time! There is so much to do outside the park. Besides what I have mentioned... there's DTD... Circ-de-sole... Jelly-rolls on the Boardwalk... Disney Quest (which a 10 yr old would LOVE), tons of wonderful restuarants, and all the resorts to check out. You're going to have the time of your life.

 

[SqueakyMouse]

We have PAP's, so what we do the first day is not really a $ issue. Generally, we unpack then head for a park. I admit that I am the one who must have a walk down Main St. at some point on our first day. Sometimes, we spend the entire first day at MK. Other times, we go to another park for most of the day; then end the day with a my "walk" and an ice cream-cookie sandwich in front of the castle.

 

[henrylovespooh]

I would to to Epcot. If MK has Spectro and Wishes that Friday, it may be very crowded and to me it's not very magical to go to a park on the first day and not be able to ride much and have to fight crowds.

Go to Epcot, stroll World Showcase, see some characters and have a nice meal. I just think Epcot lends itself to relaxation.

 

[Kanga1]

Hi!

I'm kind of in the same boat you are. We're staying at POFQ...arriving about 1:30...and I can't decide whether to relax, unpack, and take the boat to DTD for dinner and shopping and turn in fairly early...

OR

Check in, have dinner at Chef Mickey's and then go to MK to see Spectro and Wishes.

We have enough park days so that's not an issue. If we do #1 we will do Chef Mickey's our first morning before hitting MK.

Decisions, decisions...don't ya just love it!

 

[JerseyJ]

We are arriving late morning & staying @ CBR. We are meeting friends there for our first Disney trips without kids.

Have decided to go over to EPCOT for a couple hours untill our rooms are ready because it is close to our resort. After 3PM, we plan to go back to our rooms to get settled in. Have reservations @ California Grill & hope we have it timed perfectly to see the fireworks. Since it's January - anticipate early fireworks then back to CBR for early bedtime so we are fresh for MGM in AM.

Many great ideas here - you can't go wrong. Just pick a plan that meets your families needs.