Arrival Day Options + Ticket Question

[taythecray]

Back with a couple other questions for you all. I need opinions on what we should do on our arrival day. This will be our first trip if that makes a difference (well I've been before but never for an extended vacation) We are a group of 9 (7 adults 2 kids ages 10 and 14) and while I realize not all of us are going to be together 24/7 we don't want to split up all the time. Basic info:
-Flight arrives at 11am (I'm assuming we would be at the resort around 1, staying at AKL)
-The airport we're leaving from is a little over 2 hours away so we will be up around 4am traveling
-Most of us will probably sleep in the car and possibly on the plane
Assuming we get in on time at to the resort at 1, do you think we should make it a park day? It's not that much to add the extra day and I will definitely be up for hitting the parks (Disney gives me energy I didn't know I had) I feel like while our parents will probably want to rest, about half of us will want to go.
The reason I want to add the extra day is because we are only staying 5 nights which barely gives us enough time to cover all the parks. We definitely want two days at MK and one at each of the others, but I feel like we need two days at Epcot. I was thinking arrival day at HS because there isn't much there we want to do there anyway. I will be talking to my family about this as well obviously but I figured I would ask the experts on what they thought

My ticket question is this: We rented DVC points and are ordering our tickets from UT. Does this mean we all have to buy the same amount of days on our ticket? I know if you order a package from Disney everyone staying in the same room has to buy the same amount of days, but can we switch it up? This would be nice if some of us wanted to go to a park on arrival day and others didn't so we wouldn't pay the extra. Thank you all!!

 

[hiroMYhero]

Ticket-wise you can purchase whatever ticket lengths you need - not everyone needs to buy the same # of entitlements. You aren't purchasing a package.

You haven't stated when you will be vacationing or what the crowd levels will be on your arrival day. With the ages of the kids in your party, you should go to a park on your arrival day.

 

[mastermind307]

Back with a couple other questions for you all. I need opinions on what we should do on our arrival day. This will be our first trip if that makes a difference (well I've been before but never for an extended vacation) We are a group of 9 (7 adults 2 kids ages 10 and 14) and while I realize not all of us are going to be together 24/7 we don't want to split up all the time. Basic info:
-Flight arrives at 11am (I'm assuming we would be at the resort around 1, staying at AKL)
-The airport we're leaving from is a little over 2 hours away so we will be up around 4am traveling
-Most of us will probably sleep in the car and possibly on the plane
Assuming we get in on time at to the resort at 1, do you think we should make it a park day? It's not that much to add the extra day and I will definitely be up for hitting the parks (Disney gives me energy I didn't know I had) I feel like while our parents will probably want to rest, about half of us will want to go.
The reason I want to add the extra day is because we are only staying 5 nights which barely gives us enough time to cover all the parks. We definitely want two days at MK and one at each of the others, but I feel like we need two days at Epcot. I was thinking arrival day at HS because there isn't much there we want to do there anyway. I will be talking to my family about this as well obviously but I figured I would ask the experts on what they thought

My ticket question is this: We rented DVC points and are ordering our tickets from UT. Does this mean we all have to buy the same amount of days on our ticket? I know if you order a package from Disney everyone staying in the same room has to buy the same amount of days, but can we switch it up? This would be nice if some of us wanted to go to a park on arrival day and others didn't so we wouldn't pay the extra. Thank you all!!

We are renting points for our October stay and I ordered tickets through Maple Leaf tickets. I ordered 6 day tickets for my family and 5 day tickets for my in-laws. Already have them linked to my Disney account.
We will be arriving at MCO at noon and hopefully will be at VWL around 2:30ish. Our plan is to go to EPCOT and get a few things done in Future World using FPs and other things that don't have long waits.

 

[jcdean]

For $120 youcould add an extra day for everyone in your party. To me, it would be worth it just to stroll through World Showcase or view Fantasmic.

Not sure what you had in mind for your other park days, but using the extra half day to view parades/ fireworks means that any other evening(s) your group spends in that park you'll be able to take advantage of much shorter ride wait times while everyone else is gathering for the night time entertainment.