Arrival Day Rituals

[Groot]

Is there any specific ritual you MUST do as soon as you arrive? Is it a certain attraction, restaurant, theme park you must visit first for the vacation feeling to set in?

For me, going to Epcot and riding either Soarin or Test Track is a must, followed by eating at Le Cellier.

 

[PSUGuy]

We usually land around 8:30 - 9 am and we're in the pic below by 11:30 when Carl opens the taps, every time.

Bill From PA

 

[cattrix]

We MUST hit MK first thing, the smells and atmosphere just feel like home. Gives ya the feels!

 

[OhDannyBoy]

It used to be drive to hotel, unpack, head to bar.

Now we have a kiddo so time to make new rituals!!

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

Check in and head to Chef Mickey's

 

[kniquy]

Not on purpose, but the past 2 trips we have made Epcot our first park and for some reason ended up riding Nemo as our first ride. It is probably because i have scheduled FP for other rides a little later just in case our flight gets delayed.

 

[AntimonyER]

Even though we aren't doing Disney this time, (other than a MNSSHP night), we have planned to go to Disney Springs our first night again, and eat at T-Rex again.

 

[Wild4Walt]

Arrival day we usually arrive between 430p-7p depending on the flight we catch. It's a tradition to make a dinner ADR at DS, have a leisurely dinner and do some shopping and people watching. This trip will be the 1st time we'll be at DS since most of the new restaurants and shops have been added. We're looking forward to going.

 

[Ladyandthepuppies]

We fly in mid-day and do Chef Mickey's for dinner. The first time we did this my kids were beside themselves with excitement over the characters. It will always be one of my happiest memories. Now we go back and enjoy that memory while making new ones!

 

[sandym718]

Arrive at the Poly (via car) late morning and enjoy lunch at Captain cooks. Unpack and settle into the room, kids usually swim. Take a monorail loop ride. HDDR 4 pm show and then Magic Kingdom as late as it’s open!

 

[loves to dive]

Nope, we pretty much fly by the seat of our pants. We normally arrive between 2 and 3. If our room is ready, we drop our bags off and head off to a park, usually to get something to eat since we drive down and only stop for gas and potty. We have snack foods we take in the car but are usually pretty hungry. If we are staying in a value or moderate resort, after we drop our bags off we just go to the bus stop and hop on the first bus to arrive. If the rooms isn't ready they usually know what building we will be going in so we park the car and just head off to the bus stop. If we are staying in a deluxe or Swan/Dolphin, we check in and if the room is ready take the bags up, if it isn't drop them off with bell services. Then we will walk over to either Epcot or HS, depending on if a festival with booths is going on at Epcot or not. So I guess our ritual is to go to a park and get something to eat.

 

[Skippyboo]

Like to hit MK around 5pm and close out the park. Can’t do it on my upcoming September trip because arriving on a Friday that is a Halloween party night so going over to HS instead. May have to stop an Epcot so I can get my 4 visits for the cutting board in.

 

[momimouse27]

For us, it's always a restaurant. Sometimes its a new one we've never tried, sometimes its a family favorite...like O'hana. The last couple of trips we have done DS the first night, and this year we tried Paddlefish, which I loved! The trip before I think we had Boathouse.

 

[regul8ter18]

We are a first flight out family so we are usually there by 10:00am ish. We are also a runDisney family so we grad lunch and head to the expo after. after a few hours at the expo we head to a park usually Epcot or Hollywood Studios for a few rides and dinner then back to the hotel to rest up for the races the next day.