Arrival Day: Resort or Parks?

[ArielSRL]

It would depend on the situation for us but this upcoming trip, we are doing MK on our arrival day. For one, we are driving down more than halfway the evening before. Saturday morning we will only have about 2.5 hours more to drive so we won't have to get up super early. Secondly, its the first trip for my 2 yr old and the 2nd trip for my 4.5 yr old (but he was 9.5 months his first trip, so this is basically his first trip too) and its been 4 years since the last trip for my parents and I, so we want to experience as much as we can.

I'm expecting to arrive at SSR around noon-ish and we will have a QS lunch there (possibly while waiting on the room to be ready). We may check out the grounds for an hour or so if the room still isn't ready, not sure. Planning to be in the parks by 3pm at the latest and playing it by ear on how long we can go that night.

 

[TheFloatingBear]

Part of me really wants to relax and enjoy the pool/resort on arrival day, but I just cannot.

The castle calls and I must go.

I think it may be that we've generally been less frequent visitors, about once every two year (except this year, just one year in between this time). I just want to be on main street - even if it's not the "best" park to visit - that's when I appreciate some of the benefits to FP+...

 

[Tomh]

My situation is a bit different than yours OP. We always stay either 11 or 12 days, and so have 10 day park tickets. Our arrival day is a bit of time at the resort getting everything put away in the room, and then a trip to Disney Springs. This year, we are staying offsite, but the same principle. We will go to Disney Springs when we arrive, then after supper head to the rental house.

If I were only planning on 5 park days though, I would most likely add another day to the park tickets, and hit up a park on my arrival day.

 

[dkrauss]

We usually take the first flight out of Philly, so were on property by about 10:30am. Given that planning we always do a park on arrival day. Now were going in November with my brother and his family. My wife and I will be there early and are planning time at AK. My brother is not with us every day of our 7 days at WDW so he's only planning on a 5 day hopper (like the OP). So given that..........I suggested he take a later flight in. He'll arrive after 3pm I expect (guessing ) and our plan is to meet them around 5pm at the resort. From there we're going to do dinner at Boma and then explore the AKL (our resort for this trip). We'll crash early for RD at the MK on Monday!

In the end its really up to you. There's plenty to do besides a park. The AKL is a great location for that.........you could explore, visit the pool, hey dinner at Disney Springs.........or maybe visit the Boardwalk. Its all up to you..............a park on arrival day isn't required............nor is it a bad idea.

Yeah I was probably no help on this.................because there isn't a right answer

Doug

 

[Ensusieasm]

We will arrive at AKL around 2 PM on 4/3, and will be there until 4/8. Its our first time to Disney and I'm wondering if we would benefit more from relaxing, unpacking and discovering the hotel (which has lots to do), or heading out to the parks? I'm thinking of getting a 5 day park hopper pass, and doing the parks 4/4-4/8. Would it be worth it to add another day and go on the 3rd as well?

An extra park day would only be ten bucks, since you already have a 5 day ticket. I would have to at least go over to AK with three fast passes. You don't have to stay long to make it worth 10 dollars. It's such a deal! And transportation would be so quick. There would be time for resort exploration too.

 

[RedStars]

We're staying at AKL for 5 days over the race weekend and we have a 5-day ticket (only because the 5th day was free).

We're arriving on a Wed around Noon. I'm hoping for a late lunch at Sanaa, a little resort exploring and then we'll go to MK that night. We're doing low key: just a couple of rides before the parade/fireworks.

 

[Anesthesia Fine]

The past couple of times we hit the parks on the first day; this time around we're trying the "relax and explore the resort" route. It really all depends (for us) on length of stay and how early we arrive.

 

[mindeola]

We don't, but we usually arrive around dinner time and have been driving most of the day.

Us too. You could get your money's worth by arriving at two and staying at a park that has late hours though. If I had an annual pass, I would be very tempted to go to the parks!

 

[Micca]

What did we do to arrive at AKL by 2pm? Are getting up at 4:30 AM to get to the airport for an early flight, or did we have an 11AM flight and we're still fresh as daisies at 2PM?

I'd argue that the best attack plan is rope-drop, and you're better off having a relaxing afternoon and evening and an early bed time. But for the first trip? All bets are off

 

[d-train]

We have gone to the parks on arrival day on every trip thus far, but in June we are not arriving as early as we usually do.
This time we are doing DS in the afternoon, then a Boma dinner, and enjoying the evening activities at AKL - animal viewing, fire pit, marshmallows, storytelling.

It sure will be a different experience, but it is the first long visit with our DS4 - to bed early to get up extra early (as all 4 year olds do, right?) and hit RD at MK!

 

[GPC0321]

If I was staying at AKL, I might be tempted to tag on the extra day (like someone mentioned, it's so cheap), book 3 FP+ for AK, and do that since it's so close by. That way if there's an itch to "ride something" when you get there, you'll be covered.

I'd have a meal either at the resort (Boma or Sanaa) or in AK (Tusker House or Yak and Yeti).

But I've not been in 17 years, so I'm pretty sure that even though we're driving 11 hours to get there, and won't arrive until about 4pm, i'm still going to be heading to Hollywood Studios to ride a few things and see some fireworks! I've waited long enough!

 

[lustergirl]

We would hit MK and stay for the fireworks. Plan on doing that my next trip.

 

[ArielSRL]

But I've not been in 17 years, so I'm pretty sure that even though we're driving 11 hours to get there, and won't arrive until about 4pm, i'm still going to be heading to Hollywood Studios to ride a few things and see some fireworks! I've waited long enough!

Yes, I think you have waited long enough!!

 

[CJN]

We always hit a park for a nighttime show - Wishes, Illuminations, Fantasmic!. It's a fantastic (no pun intended ) way to kick off the trip. Plus, it takes the pressure off if later in the trip we either don't want to stay until park closing or decide we need to see one twice.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

We stay at the resort arrival day (but this year plan to go to the park on departure day). My deal is that we don't want to exhaust the kids on the very first day so we get a mid day flight that doesn't get in until evening. If there are travel delays, it'll kill our chances to go to the park (or ADRs). I don't want to waste the money. And there's plenty to do at the resort.

 

[ajwolfe]

It's a tradition for our family to go to MK on our first day and at least watch Wishes and try to catch a few rides. We don't hardcore tour, we just meander around and soak in the magic of it all!!

 

[quagmire0]

I'm a self-admitted parkaholic, as another poster put it. Here's how I see it: I'm going on that trip for one main reason: DISNEY WORLD. And what screams DISNEY WORLD? Magic Kingdom! I need to set my feet in that park as soon as I can. What's nice about it too is that once you get that 7 day ticket package, adding a day here or there is peanuts. So, doing a few hours that first day is worth the extra $10pp IMO. Plus, I usually treat this first park experience as a 'do whatever' time. We just sort of take our time and walk around and jump on rides that have short lines. There's no real agenda. Then we eat dinner and head back to check into the condo. Of course, with small kids, you always play it by ear - that's a given. But the two times we've done this, we didn't stay late. We usually do our 'full speed' Magic Kingdom day the next morning. This trip we'll also be staying a little longer and incorporating beach/pool days to break up the park visits.

 

[mickeymom22]

We used to always hit the parks every day and leave Disney Springs for our last night. I always hated Disney Springs. I think it was mainly because I was tired and grumpy because I knew we were going home the next day. On our last long trip, we chilled at the resort and went to Disney Springs on our first night. Wow! What a difference! We just strolled around! So nice! We got back to the resort at a reasonable time, so we could get tucked in tight for the night in anticipation of getting to rope drop the next morning!

We have stayed at AKL before! It is beautiful! I would also be completely content to hang out there!

Happy Planning!

 

[DisneymomCT1123]

It depends on the length of our stay. Do we have AP's? What time do we arrive?

We are arriving to MCO at 1 PM, taking magical express to AKL. Not sure what time that would get us there by, but figured around 2?

 

[DisneymomCT1123]

I would play it by ear, AKL is a beautiful resort and there is a lot to explore there. You didn't mention what the "we" was made up of. Small younguns, older kids, adults? That would make a difference as well. We always hit Epcot on arrival day, doesn't matter where we are staying, we must go to Epcot and eat at WS. You will be there during F&G so Epcot will have more food booths then the normal and some great exhibits. We are there every afternoon/evening or our trip during F&G and F&W. Really, you just have to know your family. If everyone is up to it, head to the park that open the latest, you can always either add on to your tickets later or have a resort day.

We consists of myself, husband and 8 & 7 year olds. I love the Epcot idea, kids are foodies so would probably enjoy dinner at WS. Thanks