Arrival Day - Park or Not

[ummarine]

Landing at MCO at 4:30pm 4/13. Does it make sense to try use one of our park reservations for Hollywood Studios on arrival day and take advantage of the extended evening hours that night? Staying deluxe, 7 day tix with park hopper plus. Planning on a rest day and maybe a water park during the trip, so maybe this is a no-brainer, yes.

 

[DebLovesPooh]

I don’t book a park on arrival day because flights are crazy right now. We enjoy Disney springs for shopping and meals. Then get a good nights sleep and early rope drop the next day.

 

[OwnedByRetrievers]

We went back and forth about this as well for our split WDW/USF trip. We ultimately chose to not do a park on our arrival day but not because of the recent flight issues, but because we have to get up at 5 am that day, and know we'd be too exhausted to enjoy the extended evening hour. For us, our arrival day will be the only extra evening hour during our stay.

Instead, we're choosing to do a park on our switch day instead, even though crowds will most likely be heavier (EPCOT on a Saturday). On our arrival day, we'll do something like Fantasia Golf, Disney Springs, etc., and save the parks for when we're fully rested.

 

[isabellea]

We don’t visit a park in our first day. We like enjoying the resort then have dinner at Disney Springs or the boardwalk. This summer we are staying at the Dolphin so we will stay in the boardwalk and maybe try the skyliner.

 

[Jacq7414]

I may do it just for the extended hours. How many days are you staying? Can you add an extra day to your ticket?

 

[Turksmom]

I would reserve the park for arrival day. It doesn't use your ticket until you enter, so if you decide not to go, you haven't lost anything. If you need to purchase another day of tix to cover your park days, you can add it on once you are there (assuming reservations are available).

 

[loves to dive]

I would reserve the park for arrival day. It doesn't use your ticket until you enter, so if you decide not to go, you haven't lost anything. If you need to purchase another day of tix to cover your park days, you can add it on once you are there (assuming reservations are available).

This. It really depends on the make up of your party and how early you leave and how long your flight is. We always go to a park on arrival day but we drive down from north Ga. It's about a 7 1/2 hour drive so we get there between 2 and 3 most of the time. If our room is ready, we take everything and drop it off in the room and freshen up so sometimes we don't get to a park until around 4. Our first park is almost always Epcot but that is just because there is usually a festival and we are usually hungry. Later in the day is often pretty good at HS. You don't say how long you are there but even using one day as a water park, you still have 6 days on your tickets. 6 days in the parks especially with hoppers, usually is plenty of time.