Arrival Day Advice?

[dreanat]

Hi all! I'm planning a trip for the beginning of December 2017. It'll be me, my husband and our 3 kids. My son will be 4 and my twins will be just under 2. Were hoping my brother will join us as well, to help us out.
I was just creating a very tentative daily plan. Excluding the arrival and departure day, we have 5 full days and I figured we could do 1 Park a day and 1 rest day (probably do Disney Springs or just a pool day). My husband wants to visit all 4 parks.
So onto my question- if we get to the airport and are ready to go around 2, I'm wondering if it's worth it to do a half day at one of the parks? Or maybe just rest? I was also thinking just to maybe do dinner at one of the parks on the arrival day.
What have you usually done on arrival day? Our kids are small and I'm planning on having plans each day but being flexible. I haven't been to Disney in years so I'm not sure what the afternoon crowds look like around that time of year. TIA for your tips!

 

[Kerriowl]

Look at how much it would be to add the extra day to your tickets. If I recall correctly, there is not much added cost after 4 days, so the extra time in the park might only cost you about $50. We always do a park on arrival day, but generally have been ready to go by noon. I wouldn't want to wait a whole day to hit the parks.

 

[shellyj]

We usually use the first day to unpack and explore the resort, and visit the pool. One of us runs out to the Target for groceries.
I highly recommend a dining reservation for Mickey's Backyard BBQ that first night. It's exciting for the kids and a good way to ease into Disney without getting exhausted on your arrival day. It's under a big pavilion so the kids can dance and wiggle. The buffet choices are limited to standard burgers, mac and cheese, etc. but there are lots of buffet lines, so the wait is never bad. We only did this show once, in 2014, and we're really excited to do it again next year when we travel with a group of first timers. The kids get to dance with the characters. When we went the website said that they don't do autographs but when we got there, Mickey and Minnie went out twice for pictures and autographs. That was a very cool surprise
If you think of it as a show and an experience, it's well worth it, especially since your little ones will be free. But if you think of it as a dinner, it will seem pricey for the food choices!

 

[dreanat]

Yup- the difference between a 4 and 5 day ticket for us is $60, so it's not too bad to tack on an extra day. I would love to be ready to go by noon but I think we're going to take an 11 o clock flight from NY so I figure by the time we're ready to go to Disney it'll be 2 or 3.

 

[dreanat]

We usually use the first day to unpack and explore the resort, and visit the pool. One of us runs out to the Target for groceries.
I highly recommend a dining reservation for Mickey's Backyard BBQ that first night. It's exciting for the kids and a good way to ease into Disney without getting exhausted on your arrival day. It's under a big pavilion so the kids can dance and wiggle. The buffet choices are limited to standard burgers, mac and cheese, etc. but there are lots of buffet lines, so the wait is never bad. We only did this show once, in 2014, and we're really excited to do it again next year when we travel with a group of first timers. The kids get to dance with the characters. When we went the website said that they don't do autographs but when we got there, Mickey and Minnie went out twice for pictures and autographs. That was a very cool surprise
If you think of it as a show and an experience, it's well worth it, especially since your little ones will be free. But if you think of it as a dinner, it will seem pricey for the food choices!

Thanks so much for the recommendation! I'll look into Mickey's Backyard BBQ. It sounds perfect for my kids. I think they'd love it!

 

[Kerriowl]

Another option for a dinner show would be Hoop dee doo Review. It is at Fort Wilderness and runs every night. I don't think that Mickey's BBQ runs every night. I haven't been to HddR since I was 9 (a lot of years ago), but we are going in June with my mom and two kids (6 and 9). I can't wait.

 

[loves to dive]

We drive down and normally get there between 2 and 3. We have been going since my son was just shy of 3, he is 36 now. We always go to a park on arrival day, always have. Which park just depends on where we are staying and our mood. When he was younger, the only game in town was the monorail resorts and what is now shades of green, so it was a no brainer, MK. Now we do split stays with a couple of nights in a moderate then over over to the Epcot resorts. We just go to the bus stop and hop on the first bus to arrive unless it's an Epcot bus. We prefer to save that for when we can just walk to it from the resort. I would say play it by ear, if the kids are too tired to deal with, just hang at the resort and go to the pool and explore. If they are full of energy and need to run some off, head to a park.

 

[dreanat]

I just checked Mickey's BBQ and it doesn't run on a Wednesday when we get in, boo! I'll check out HddR. I like the idea of going to Fort Wilderness. We can explore the resort and maybe roast marshmallows with chip and dale after dinner. I haven't been to Disney since I was 16 and I am so excited for this trip. I've been planning it for months now lol

 

[dreanat]

We drive down and normally get there between 2 and 3. We have been going since my son was just shy of 3, he is 36 now. We always go to a park on arrival day, always have. Which park just depends on where we are staying and our mood. When he was younger, the only game in town was the monorail resorts and what is now shades of green, so it was a no brainer, MK. Now we do split stays with a couple of nights in a moderate then over over to the Epcot resorts. We just go to the bus stop and hop on the first bus to arrive unless it's an Epcot bus. We prefer to save that for when we can just walk to it from the resort. I would say play it by ear, if the kids are too tired to deal with, just hang at the resort and go to the pool and explore. If they are full of energy and need to run some off, head to a park.

Thank you! I wasn't sure if my kids would be up for going to a park in the middle of the day, but you're right, we should just play it by ear. That's how my whole trip is probably going to be. I want to have plans but be open for things to change if we need to. If we do a park on arrival day, I definitely want to do MK.

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

Welcome from a fellow NYer! I would agree with PPs that Mickey's BBQ and HDDR are great experiences. The only thing to keep in mind is they are both prepaid meals and are non-refundable if you are a no-show. So if for some reason you run into flight delays and you arrive late you would be out that money.

We flew out of MacArthur this past December and everything went smoothly but as you know, December weather in NY can be unpredictable.

We usually make a reservation for one of the resort signature restaurants which would only result in a $10/per person no-show fee if our flight was delayed.

 

[dreanat]

Welcome from a fellow NYer! I would agree with PPs that Mickey's BBQ and HDDR are great experiences. The only thing to keep in mind is they are both prepaid meals and are non-refundable if you are a no-show. So if for some reason you run into flight delays and you arrive late you would be out that money.

We flew out of MacArthur this past December and everything went smoothly but as you know, December weather in NY can be unpredictable.

We usually make a reservation for one of the resort signature restaurants which would only result in a $10/per person no-show fee if our flight was delayed.

Hi fellow NYer! That's good to know. I'll keep that in mind when I'm getting ready to do dining reservations.
We'll be leaving from JFK. Just out of curiosity, how long does it take you to be ready to go, with flight, getting your luggage at the airport and maybe renting a car? Assuming there are no delays, of course. It'll be good for me to have an estimate so I give myself enough time if I make reservations that day.

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

Hi fellow NYer! That's good to know. I'll keep that in mind when I'm getting ready to do dining reservations.
We'll be leaving from JFK. Just out of curiosity, how long does it take you to be ready to go, with flight, getting your luggage at the airport and maybe renting a car? Assuming there are no delays, of course. It'll be good for me to have an estimate so I give myself enough time if I make reservations that day.

We didn't rent a car so I'm not sure about that part. We used Disney's Magical Express to travel from airport to resort. Also didn't retrieve our luggage because that's part of what Magical Express does for you.

I believe (I could be wrong though) Disney recommends to allow 90 minutes from the time you step off the plane to arrival at your resort. When we landed at MCO there was a long line for Magical Express and it took us about 2 hours to get to our resort.

Are staying at a Disney hotel? If so then you are eligible to use Magical Express and it's free. Apologies if you already knew that. I know that some people prefer to rent a car.

 

[dreanat]

We didn't rent a car so I'm not sure about that part. We used Disney's Magical Express to travel from airport to resort. Also didn't retrieve our luggage because that's part of what Magical Express does for you.

I believe (I could be wrong though) Disney recommends to allow 90 minutes from the time you step off the plane to arrival at your resort. When we landed at MCO there was a long line for Magical Express and it took us about 2 hours to get to our resort.

Are staying at a Disney hotel? If so then you are eligible to use Magical Express and it's free. Apologies if you already knew that. I know that some people prefer to rent a car.

Ok, I'm going to estimate 90 min to 2 hours. We're not staying on resort

We went back and forth a lot with this decision. Originally we wanted to stay on a Disney resort and we were going to book Art of Animation. Their family suites would fit us but then we saw a hotel that's right outside of Disney. We booked a 2 bedroom villa that's twice the size of an art of animation suite and has a full kitchen. Since our kids are all under 4, we figured we'd be in the room here and there so the higher space would be nice and I like the idea of making breakfast and heading to the parks. We don't want this to be our only trip so we decided we'll stay on resort when the kids are older.
I also wanted the option of having a car because we need 3 car seats.
That was probably way too much information that you needed but I like to convince myself that staying off site was a good decision for us lol.

 

[ktlm]

First, on a 5 full day trip with pre-schoolers, I would not do an off day. I would do 2 days MK and one day at each of the rest of the parks. We have been several times in December. You do not want to pre-plan a full "pool day" because the weather may not cooperate at all. We have had December trips in coats and gloves with highs in the 50s and we have had highs in the 80s- we have had both the same trip. We have had December trips with absolutely no swimming weather and trips with some swimming weather. We have only had one December trip when every day would have been okay for swimming. Also, as far as a Disney Springs day- remember you are in Christmas shopping season and it does not take a ticket to go there. It will be absolutely packed. We quit going there at all on December trips because it was just too crowded and crazy. Also, back pre-kid, DH and I could do a park a day-- all that changed when we had DD. Assuming you have been to WDW before, you are going to find yourself moving a lot slower then you did pre-kid. Even if you take a break during the extra day (we did stroller naps and stayed in the park), I think you would be better off with more park time.

As far as arrival day, are you talking getting to the airport at 2, or being from the airport to the resort at 2. If we were at the resort at 2, we would always do a partial park day. We used to do dinner in a park every arrival day- but now with the cancellation policy they have had the last few years that ADR is a bit risky since you could have fight delays etc. Unfortunately, we have dropped the arrival night ADR unless we get lucky enough that we can find one once we land (which I don't think we have been that lucky) or unless we just through caution to the wind for a trip! The one thing we have enjoyed about FP+ is that where we have lost our arrival ADR, we CAN get good FP late in the day for arrival day. For us, with the FP+ limit and tiers in EPCOT and DHS, that has been a big benefit to get 3 extra things in on arrival day. So, if it were me, even if we landed at 2 (which puts you walking into a park around 5:00 p.m.) I would do a part park day to take advantage of the 3 FPs. Back in DD's toddler days if they had FP+ (and thank goodness they didn't) that would have worked out well because she always wanted multiple rides on Peter Pan so we would have gotten at least one extra ride in (well unless that is a MVMCP night in which case you would need to pick a park other than MK).

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

Ok, I'm going to estimate 90 min to 2 hours. We're not staying on resort

We went back and forth a lot with this decision. Originally we wanted to stay on a Disney resort and we were going to book Art of Animation. Their family suites would fit us but then we saw a hotel that's right outside of Disney. We booked a 2 bedroom villa that's twice the size of an art of animation suite and has a full kitchen. Since our kids are all under 4, we figured we'd be in the room here and there so the higher space would be nice and I like the idea of making breakfast and heading to the parks. We don't want this to be our only trip so we decided we'll stay on resort when the kids are older.
I also wanted the option of having a car because we need 3 car seats.
That was probably way too much information that you needed but I like to convince myself that staying off site was a good decision for us lol.

OK gotcha.

That's too funny because we were talking about staying offsite for our next trip. You certainly get a lot more bang for your buck when staying offsite. We will probably be doing this next time. Have fun!

 

[DisneyRegulars]

I would absolutely not do a park day on your arrival day. I would hang out at the hotel. Check out the pool. Find a bite to eat, and get the kids to bed early so you can be at rope drop the next day. You may be exhausted from keeping three little kids entertained on the plane. When my son was two he still napped, and we always seemed to arrive at Disney right around nap time.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

I just checked Mickey's BBQ and it doesn't run on a Wednesday when we get in, boo! I'll check out HddR. I like the idea of going to Fort Wilderness. We can explore the resort and maybe roast marshmallows with chip and dale after dinner. I haven't been to Disney since I was 16 and I am so excited for this trip. I've been planning it for months now lol

remember the cancel time for HDDR is 48 hours not the night before plus it is prepaid. this could be affected if flight is delayed

 

[photophreak]

We're planning on a low key pool/resort day for our arrival day, then going to a nice dinner in the evening, and get rested up for our first full park day on our second day.

 

[morrik5]

When we go our family will be going to Disney Springs to exchange our Canadian 25% off park vouchers vs. having to do it at arrival at one of the parks. We should have no problem spending the remainder of the day touring around Disney Springs between shopping and catching a snack. The last time we were there Downtown Disney was under renovations so will be interesting to see what has changed.

 

[scrapquitler]

My family would have an absolute fit if we didn't go to a park on our arrival day. Granted, we almost always take the earliest morning flight and generally arrive at the resort via Magic Express by 11 or 11:30 AM, so they'd be really restless hanging around and not visiting a park for that much of the day. We also usually take the last flight out when we leave, around 8pm, so we also do a park on our departure day until about 1:00.

The one time we arrived later at night (arriving to the resort around 8pm) they wanted to hop on the bus to the MK even if it meant they could only walk up Main Street that night.