ADR on your first day there??

[GinCar]

We never do a sit down meal on the first day for 2 reasons.
1) with the time difference we never arrive before 2:00 and I wouldn't want to chance a late flight and messing up my ADR planning
2) we have 3 kids that are so excited and off schedule that I think they would not eat anyway

However, I have read here that some people get in before noon and have a tradition of a specific place to "kick off" their trip- that sounds like great fun. I imagine if we could do that the restaurant would have to be CRT or CM's.

Good luck deciding.

 

[ParkPrincess]

Do you book an ADR on your first day at WDW? Our flight arrives around noon and we have an ADR for 5pm at 50's prime time that night. I am second guessing myself and thinking it might be too much for the first day there. We have NO idea how our DD is going to be with flying and missing naps etc so maybe it's a better idea to just eat a CS that night. Also, you never know, the flight could be delayed right? What do you guys do??

Thanks!

We don't fly in, just drive. We always have an ADR depending on which park we're going to once we check-in.

Based on your situation, I'd probably not make an ADR and "wing it" with a counter service. Especially, since you're not quite sure how your DD will be after the flight.

 

[SereneOne]

Our first day we will stay off property and we will have lunch at Earl of Sandwich and dinner ressies for RainForest Cafe.

Our first day on Disney property and in the parks, we are going to Disney Hollywood Studios and eating at 50's Prime Time Cafe for lunch for the first time.

 

[hulagirl87]

No, we usually don't have an ADR for our first day. We usually just play it by ear and have a breakfast ADR the next day. This year our first breakfast will be Ohana!

 

[maj42169]

Last year we didn't make any plans for dining on the first day. This year we are planning on eating at 1900 Park Fare for dinner on the first day, then off to MK for evening EMH. We will see if this plan changes as we get closer to our trip in November.

 

[danielle.st]

We're doing Chef Mickey for dinner on our arrival night.

 

[perla75]

We never make an ADR for our first night because we don't like to be tied down for that night, as far as timing.

We have a fun first day tradition of doing Beaches-n-Cream for lunch (it's TS, but no ADR's allowed) and Captain Cook's at the Poly for dinner (it's a wonderful CS & they sell Dole Whips!).

 

[letthewookiewin]

On our first day we arrive at MCO at 10:00 AM. The only ADR that I made for that day was for CRT at 5:40 PM. We are going to go over to DHS until about 3:30 - 4:00, and then head to the MK for the ressie. We will probably just grab something quick from a CS after we get there. Maybe if we get to the WL by 11:00, we can eat at the Whispering Canyon Cafe.

 

[MickeyNicki]

We always have a TS ressie for our arrival day. It is our way to kick off the vacation

 

[mamalle]

No not us. we normally go over to DTD and hang out with the kids and wing it.. for us its only a 2.5 hour drive and we normally get there in the am around 9am and check in. We also do not normally do a park but hang out at the resort.

 

[IdoBeliveinFairies]

We have a 7pm ADR at Chef Mickey's. We are not going to the park the first day because we like to get there for rope drop and we would miss it. So we planed on eating at a resort and going to Down Town Disney on our first day. We find doing that first is a good way to ease into our Trip.

 

[Tikitoi]

We almost always go with a TS on our arrival day. The only reason we are not doing it this coming trip is because we don't get to MCO until 7 pm'ish.

 

[jamstew]

We do ADR's on the first day. We usually do Narcoossee's. Our DD will be 4 in October so we understand how missing naps and the like can affect them, especially at night. She's never had a problem and is usually too excited to act up while off her nap schedule. Of course, everyone reacts differently but at least ours is pretty good about not acting up too much when off her nap schedule.

Since we fly Southwest we never have problems from SAT to MCO. We have a direct flight and there are usually never any delays in our area, at least we've never experienced any in over 10 years of flying out of SAT. This great track record gives us the confidence of making our ADR's in the evening.

What time does the SWA non-stop flight from SAT get in? Flying out of Austin, I don't get there until 5:45, which I really don't like. I'd definitely consider driving to San Antonio on future trips for something better.

I have an 8:10 ADR at Narcoossee's on my arrival day. I'm using ME, and I think I should get to AKV in time to check in and get to Narcoossee's in time, but it might be pushing it. I'd like to have time to go to the room and drop my carryon before heading out, but that may not be possible. I've also considered the possibility that I may need to take a taxi.