Arrival Day Question?

[BC24]

We will be arriving on July 25 at approximately 11:30 at Kidani assuming ME takes about 60 min. as our flight gets into Orlando at about 10:15 am. Curious as to what might be a good way to spend the rest of our day there as we will have gotten up early to leave with a 6 am flight from Northern Indiana.

We were thinking about swimming and then maybe getting settled into our room, and then after that a character meal possibly.... We have 4 boys ages 3-8 that will be going with us....thinking it would be best to get a good night's sleep to get going at rope drop the next day would best...any thoughts are appreciated.

 

[Pumbaa7287]

I think that sounds like a good plan. Some of the resorts are so beautiful that you don't ever have to leave them! I know you mentioned a character meal, but you could also look in to the Bomas buffet at Animal Kingdom Lodge. It's an amazing meal with lots of variety and some of the best desserts on property.

If you're set on a character meal, you probably want one out of the parks so you're not wasting a day on your tickets, I'd recommend Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary. It's standard but good food, and if you feel up to it afterwards, you can explore the other monorail resorts after dinner and catch the Wishes! fireworks from the beach at the Polynesian.

 

[Disney Doll]

AK is a heckuva resort with a lot ot see and explore. It's been a while since I've stayed there but Iunderstand that the new DVC section has agreat pool and so forth.

You could also do mini golf at either Fantasia Gardens or Winter Summerland...always fun.

Character meals not in a park...Chef Mickeys at the Contemporary and the one at the BC with Admiral Goofy..in the Cape May Cafe. There is also one at the Grand Floridian I think.

If you are over near the Contemporary try to time your meal so you can see the nighttime water parade called the Electric Water Pageant. It's cute and it goes by the GF, the Poly, the CR, WL, FW.

 

[ItsNotMuchofaTail]

We recently arrived at POR around noon after getting up at 4:00 am for a flight. We were not as tired as I thought (vacation adrenaline i guess LOL). We got a bite to eat at the food court waiting for our room to be ready, then swam for about an hour. Got freshened up and went to DTD (POR has a lovely boat to DTD). Wandered around for an hour or two, headed back to the resort for dinner and went to bed early for AK RD the next day. It worked really well.

I recommend playing it by ear though. I personally wouldn't schedule an ADR, kids are unpredictable, I would rather swim and see how it goes than be tied to getting somewhere by a certain time. But only you know your family. MY DD can be very inflexible.

 

[Angel Ariel]

I think what you mentioned sounds like a good plan.

We are heading to WDW in March and our current arrival day plan is to get the rental car, stop at a grocery store on the way to our hotel (SoG), check in and go to dinner at Kona Cafe. We arrive at 4pm though, so we don't have as much time.

If we had the amount of time you have, I'd probably head to DTD for part of the afternoon, or do some resort exploring as previously mentioned so that I could get a Disney fix without wasting a park ticket on a 1/2 day

 

[mm1971]

We have travelled early the last couple of years and usually get to the hotel, check in and get settled, have lunch. Then we head to the pool for a swim and relax for a while. After that we usually head to DTD and walk around for a little while. T-Rex is a fun place for dinner with kids. Get back to the room early and get some rest.

One year we did go to MK as it was EMH, but the adults took a nap by the pool, the kids napped later in the afternoon and we just got food at the food court and brought it back to the room for dinner.

I would say a character meal when everyone is tired could be hit or miss, but agree that if you want to do one, Chef Mickey's is easy to get to and the food is decent.

 

[Masonmj84]

Our flight is scheduled to get in tomorrow at about the exact same time as OP (around 10 am ish).

We're doing the Fantasmic meal package (have a 3 pm ADR at HBD). Following Fantasmic, we plan to check out the Osborne Lights.

Assuming our flight is on time, we should have a bit of time to chill at our resort pool before having to catch the bus to DHS.

 

[MHSweb79]

AKL is a beautiful resort. You can't go wrong with spending the afternoon napping, exploring the resort or taking a swim. There are places in the main building where you can look out for animals, and I think they even have night vision goggles after dark.

They will probably also have activities for children schedule throughout the day - you can ask when you check in.

Your instinct to rest up & start the next day fresh is a good one. No need to overwhelm the kids too early!