arrival day fun things?........

[P'colaFla]

Just curious as to what others do on their arrival day at Disney. My husband and I live in FL and we drive to Disney so we usually have a half day to goof off. One of our favorite things to do is after we check in our resort we hop on a bus over to one of the parks just to get some ice cream and do some people watching. We like to go over to MK, walk down mainstreet, head to Adventureland for a pineapple float. Then we find a nice bench in the shade and just enjoy "being there". Another funny thing is (and I hope others do this as well) is when our vacation is getting closer we usually discuss our trip on our afternoon walks. It builds up the excitement. Just wondering what others do?

 

[kdibattista]

We normally take the earliest flight and are all ready to checkin by 10:00am. We have always been able to get into our room right away so we normally just unwind and check out the hotel. We then head over to Epcot for the rest of the day.

 

[ktulu]

Since my wife and I have only been there once together, we checked in, got to our room, found it was dirty, told the CM it was a good room, just have it cleaned (they did and it was done really well!). The poor bellhop was embarrassed, but hey, we're at THE WDW! We dropped off our stuff, grabbed our UPH and headed to MGM.

I think this trip we're going to hit either epcot or mgm, we're not sure yet. We're taking it easy this trip and not doing too much planning.

Maybe we'll head to the TTC and hope the Epoct monorail asking for a ride up front. So many choices.

I wonder if I can convince my wife to head to MK and just ride POTC over and over...

arrrrr me thinks not!

darrrrrrrren

 

[P'colaFla]

Yeh, so many things to choose from. We like to take it easy that first afternoon so that we are raring (sp?) to go our first full day. I love the Pirates also. I have a CD that I play in my car sometimes that has that theme song on it and it also plays "dead men tell no tales". It makes me want to be there! We also check out our resort real good and take a walk around especially if its one which we have never stayed. It's all good, just can't wait to get there! This will be trip 12 for us together but we still get just as excited......just like two little kids.

 

[alyssa810]

we like to take the earliest flight too, and then by the time we've checked into the hotel, we head over to downtown disney for lunch and a check on the pin trading action. After that it varies. sometimes we check out the hotel; other times we'll hit one of the parks.

 

[copper0426]

Well, it depends, sometimes we leave the night before our ressies and get a cheap hotel close by, in that case we just crash. However if we leave early in the am we usually get there by 11:00am we are only 3 hrs away. I usually get stuck doing the check in and everyone else gets to walk around the resort and in the shop. Then, my husband just has to hit MK. He says he hasn't reached vacation mode until he walks down Main Street. Wait a minute. I usually do the drive and I am in vacation mode as soon as I drive by the Walt Disney World Welcome signs. To each his own. This trip not sure if we are leaving Fri night or Sat Morning. DS and I just discussed this this morning. My mom will be going with us this trip, so we will be talking DH and DM into being ready friday as soon as they get home from work. DS and I will try to have the van all packed so the just need to change and jump in the van when they get home.

DS gets to choose where we go the first day and he is saying he want to do AK. It is pretty funny, that our 7 year old knows all the parks, what is in each and how to get there. After all he should, he's been going three to four times a year since he was 3 weeks old.

Sorry for the rambling, I just like to share.

Diane

 

[P'colaFla]

The rambling is no problem......I think its fun to talk about it. Listening to others' plans are interesting. Gives me different ideas... thanks for the input.

 

[peterpan321]

We usually go to Chef Mickeys for dinner and then ride the monorail (hopefully in the front) around the whole track. We may watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks from the top of the Contemporary Hotel. This gets us into the Disney mood without using a park day on our passes.

 

[barbeml]

P'colaFla--My DH and I talk about our next WDW trip during our morning walks, evening walks, and in instant messages at work. We are hopeless WDW addicts! We pretty much always have our next trip planned so it is out there to look forward to.

Our new tradition on first day is to check out resort and stretch legs after all the driving, have an early dinner at 'Ohana (the Poly screams "vacation" mode), then take the monorail into MK for the evening. Last year, we were able to walk right on a bunch of rides, including Haunted Mansion and Buzz Lightyear.

I agree with many previous posters--we are not in The World yet if we have not seen the Castle (even though Epcot is our favorite and DH doesn't feel we have officially started vacation until we get to Epcot!).

 

[dmonroe]

We usually like to get settled into our resort and then maybe head to Epcot or to DTD, just depending on what time of day we arrive. Last year we got there in the early evening and just threw our stuff in our room and headed to DTD for dinner at RFC. We usually arrive on a Saturday, and there is one thing I learned several trips ago. Don't go to MK on a Saturday! Save it for a day when it's not so crowded!

 

[P'colaFla]

Isn't it funny how most people feel like they have to go to MK first to start off the vacation? I agree that Saturday's always seem so crowded at MK. I believe that Sunday is EE for them also (I may be wrong) which pretty much knocks out the whole week-end if you are trying to avoid the crowded days. Luckily we are arriving on a Monday this trip so hopefully it won't be so bad because I am looking forward to checking out my resort (CSR) then taking my stroll down MK Mainstreet to get a whiff of the bakery. Don't ya just love that? Everyone seems to do something different when they arrive, but they are all neat ideas.

 

[Melora]

Since we live on the west coast we are limited to when we can arrive. This will be our third flight out there (just booked all 9 tickets last week) and as the 2 times before we could only arrive in the late afternoon or first thing in the AM. I don't want to take a red eye with the kids (especially the 2 year old) so we have to take whatever flight leaves early morning our time. This year we won't get in until 6 PM Florida time so by the time we get to Old Key West there will be no time for anything but dinner at Olivias.

This time around our flight leaves Florida at 7 PM instead of 3 PM like the last 2 times so we have 4 more hours in the park on departure day.. not a big deal but every minute counts when you're there!!!

 

[timbud1]

I don't have a long history...first trip since '92 in May. We rolled into town around 1p.m. Settled in, went swimming, got hairwraps for the girls. Then, we headed to DTD and ate at RFC. It's funny - we have a RFC less than 10 minutes from our home, but have only been there twice!! The girls BEGGED to go, so it was a big deal and they enjoyed the beginning of a nice week of "YES" from mommy and daddy!! We walked around DTD - so nice when it's dark and all the lights are on. This got the family excited and READY for MK the next morning. I really liked our first day, and will probably plan to do it again!