arrival day or departure day

[Joyful2018]

we are planning 6 nights 7 days and initially was just going to get a 5day base ticket. if i upgrade to 6day that would mean going on arrival day or departure day. what do you prefer? i dont have flights yet so i know i cant really decide until i finialize that, but just trying to think through which day would we be less tired? or have enough time to make the cost of the upgrade worth it. how much time would you say is necessary to use an additional day to make it worth it. also we arent staying on property so we cant do EMH. TIA!

 

[Meglen]

Arrival day if you have a early flight. The excitement of being there helps with the being tiered from a early flight. Usually by the end of the trip travel day just sucks the life outta you. Unless your flight out is at like 7pm or more I don't think it's worth the stress of making sure you make it back on time.

Say you have a 5pm flight than the bus picks you up at 2pm. So you had to be up packed ready hand off luggage to bell service go to park by say 9am. Gotta leave park by 1pm incase bus takes awhile . Prolly just me but that's stressful

 

[Daisy7425]

We like to go on arrival day, for the reason that Meglen said: excitement! Also, our room wasn't ready the last time we got there as our flight was super early and we got there by noon. No where else to go besides sitting by the pool! For arrival day, we pick a land in Magic Kingdom and get our three Fps around that area, so we're not trekking all over the park after a day of traveling and then have a meal on our way out on Main Street. It works well for us!

 

[Beer Me]

Check the cost of 6 vs 7 days. And check undercover tourist for deals. You may be able to get a 7th day so cheaply that you won’t have to choose!

We like to plan an arrival day evening focused on fireworks plus whatever else we can get done. Make a late FP for a e-ticket ride.

Having tickets for departure day also gives you a chance to have more fps - maybe a last chance at something you couldn’t get a fp for earlier in the week.

 

[HuskieJohn]

After travel my family typically needs to unwind/crash for the rest of the day so they can be ready for the next day.

I have an extra day ticket for my trip and its being held for our departure day for any park that we missed any major thing which we can rope drop.

 

[SaintsManiac]

We like to rope drop the MK on departure day. Hit our favorites and leave at lunch time. We usually fly out at 5 or 6.

 

[Skippyboo]

I drive so. I definitely do arrival day. Love to hit the magic kingdom around 5 pm and go to park close. The price difference between 5, 6 day tickets are usually not that significant compared to the overall vacation cost. Say extra $20 per person.

 

[Tormania]

We usually do both arrival and departure day and that's with flying in. On our last two trips we would arrive at MCO around 10:30am (early, non-stop flight needed) and with resort check-in on our phone via MDE and Magical Express transportation we literally could go straight to the parks (after transfer at the first resort our bus stopped at) and could be in the park by noon easy. On departure day our flight would be leaving around 6pm or later so we could check out of our resort and still get to the park early and stay until almost 2pm.

 

[gharter]

It really depends on your flights.
If you arrive early, I would go on arrival day, if you fly out late, departure day.
As mentioned above, look at the price difference between a 5,6 and 7 day ticket.usually by that point, the cost for an extra day is minimal.
Looking at ticket cost, there is roughly $10 difference between a 5 day and 6 day ticket and $10 between a 6 and 7 day ticket. I know what I'd do.

 

[Tink9721]

We always do both! Even if it's only a few hours, it's worth it. We always watch HEA (or Wishes in the past) on our first night and spend a few hours in MK on our last day. Perfect way to start and end the trip!

 

[Alesia]

I would upgrade to a 7 day ticket and do both

 

[Katie1174]

I vote for arrival and departure. We always fly in and take the 6am flight and we arent that far away so it takes about 1 3/4 hrs from take off to wheels down. We are on DME by 8:15 and at our resort to drop off our carry ons by approx 9:15 and at our first park, usually MK by 10ish. Then on checkout day we take a flight out around 6 or 7 pm, hit the park of our choice at opening and stay til about 2 pm. So we try to make the most of every magical minute we can.

 

[pookadoo77]

We usually do the parks on departure day then drive home that evening.

 

[heidijanesmith]

Arrival day!

If we do not have an early flight, then we like to hit the pool one last time.