1st trip, 1st day - what to do?

[UsNew2Disney2008]

Orignially I had thought we would go to MK. We will be getting up around 4 am and my son is almost 4 and never naps. I've told him you HAVE to nap at Disney, so we will see. Normal bedtime is 8, but sometimes it is 9 before he goes to sleep. General wake up though is 6-7 am.

That said, we get in at noon. I had planned going to MK that night for Dinner at the CP at 5 with Pooh. It will be a Sat. I thought perhaps we could squeeze a nap in first. My SIL reminded me checkin isn't till 4 at AS resort so....

Do I go with plan A if he gets no nap and plan on coming back after dinner or is that crazy thinking I can drag him out of there then.

Plan B, do I scrap CP with Pooh, go to AK or DHS (loves Cars and Buzz) do Playhouse dinner and call it a day around 6ish to start early am at MK the next day (which will be crowded by the way due to evening EMH.) That full day we also have dinner at Chef Mickeys.

Any help you could give me would be great since I've never been either and I'm doing this trip just the two of us. Just kidding. It should be great.

PS - not one of those commando moms. If we get the Chef Mickeys and he is tired and melting down, I'm completely fine with going back and playing in the pool or watching ants if that is what puts a smile on his face!

 

[LynnTH]

This is just our way of doing things. We never go to a park on the day we get in. I know lots of people do, but with all the traveling and stuff everyone is just too tired. We either stay at the hotel and swim and ding around, or we might go to downtown Disney that day or we will plan a dinner that is not in one of the Parks (like Chef Mickey's).

 

[ldo]

if you get into hotel early, and he will nap, great--stick with plan. If you can't get in early, or he's too excited to nap, don't waste the day waiting for hotel, or trying to get him to nap (if he's not asleep in 20 minutes--forget it).

If no nap, I would go into MK, look around, ride a few rides and see how it goes--if he is getting cranky--skip CP, but 5 is pretty early, so he might do OK---get there at 4:45 and you should be seated right away. After CP, 1 more ride tops (we like to get FP for Jungle Cruise before we eat, then it's right around the corner to ride), then head to hotel for early bed.

 

[UsNew2Disney2008]

So if the nap is out and we need to wrap it up by 6 -

1 - go to CP @ MK?
2 - go to DHS, catch Playhouse Disney, Little Mermaid, visit with Buzz & Cars?
3 - go to AK (closes at 5)

Presently planning the first whole full day at MK, second whole full day at AK. We do have hopper tickets.

 

[Disneylush]

My son is the same with naps and we was 3.5 on our last trip. We flew early and got to MCO around noon. We got to the hotel by 1. Had lunch then went to MK. There was just something missing by not being at MK early in the morning. I felt like we got to our own vacation late. I figured my kids would sleep on the plane so we would be able to do a late dinner but I was dead wrong and I also quickly learned Disney dinning is never on time allow extra time for meals.

 

[lisaross]

I would suggest not going to a park - its just so much in a day - w/getting up early etc. I would suggest going to the pool after the pool if your son naps great if not just get him to bed early. I would probably go to Chef Mickeys for an early dinner about 5pm - and this way he can see all the characters and everyone gets to bed early and the next day get to the parks by opening!

have fun

lisa

 

[tinkandpan]

When we fly in early- my kids without fail take a quick nap enroute from MCO to the resorts... shooting my afternoon of a longer nap right out the window. We usually wind up hanging out at the resort pool, and heading to DTD for the lego store, the little train and carousel there and dounter service at either Earl of Sandwich or WPE. This way we aren't tied into anything. we try and get to bed early. I then usually make a super early ADR for Crystal Palace the next morning and we hit MK bright and early

 

[Mom2JPL]

We went in Oct with our 3 little ones, 4, 2.5 and 12 months. We were up super early (4am) for our flights and arrived at SSR around 1. We were able to check in (room was ready!) and then we headed to Epcot for a late lunch with the princesses - the last lunch adr before the dinner seating - a great way to start our vacation! It worked out great! Our kids didn't sleep at all(except for the 12 month old who slept on the plane) and after lunch we stayed in the park for only about an hour. We then headed to the room and relaxed - kids got an early bath and were in bed early for an early morning adr in AK. An exhausting but wonderful first day!

Oh, and we went back to the room everyday for naps around 1ish or so...even though the kids were on again/off again nappers at home, they fell asleep quickly every afternoon from walking around the parks and being up early. We'd wake up and head back to the parks around 4 or 5 for evening adr's and rides, and be back in the room around 8:30ish for tubs and bed.

 

[Disneymom1220]

Another alternative for a resort character meal your first night is Mickey's Backyard BBQ at Ft. Wilderness. It is held on Saturday and Thursday nights each week. If you want to hang around a little later, you can always watch the fireworks or the Electric Light Water parade from the beach there. They have boats that go to the Contemporary as well as the Magic Kingdom.

Have a wonderful trip!!!

 

[Goofin' around]

I am taking 11 days off of work. The 1st 2 days are for driving. 3rd day I want to take the kids to either the Gulf or to the Atlantic for swimming. Then back to our hotel room (off site). Day 4-9 are at the parks. and drive home on days 10 and 11.

 

[UsNew2Disney2008]

SO if we can't check in and need to kill a few afternoon hours.... MK or DHS?

I'm a little confused about which night to try to catch the fireworks. Both nights Wishes is at 10pm. Sat sounds to be busy, but then Sun is EMH for the evening - which I hear is crowded too. Any idea on the lesser of the two?