Arrival day thoughts

[Wdw1015]

Our flight arrives at 9:30 am on our arrival day. Because we'll be there so early, I'm not sure what to do this day. We currently have 5:00 reservations at T-Rex and it will be my husband and I with our 2 boys, ages 5 & 9. There are several options:

1. Relax, swim, Downtown Disney, maybe tour other resorts. What would you say is the average time to spend at DD? Is it an hour or 4 hour type of place? (Realizing it will vary family to family)

2. Head to MK to just look around and do some character meet and greets for a few hours. Then go to DD. Would see about pushing back our T-Rex reservation to 6:30 or so.

We will also be going to MK the following day but need to leave at 7:00 due to MNSSHP. Then we'll be attending the party on a later day but will be focusing mostly on party stuff that day (arriving at 4:00).

I would love to go to MK on arrival day but worry we'll be trying to cram in too much. I would like to be to hear your thoughts!

 

[ejdmomma]

Your Option 1 is normally what we do on arrival day. We're usually exhausted from traveling and like to have a laid-back day before touring the parks. My kids look forward to walking around DTD and most times we eat at T-Rex as well. We normally have an early dinner, swimming, showers and early to bed.

 

[tabistar]

2 hours is good for us at DTD, plus eating time; my kids get bored in all the shops. I'd vote for #1: hanging out at the resort, then heading to DTD for some browsing and dinner, then call it an early night.

 

[River Country]

Option 1

 

[Alesia]

I always go to a park on arrival day, even after driving for 15 hours. I can't imagine just hanging out around the resort or going to DTD.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Option 1. Don't kill yourself in a park after traveling with two kids.

 

[Disfan1968]

Hehe... and I never go to a park on arrival day, though I never get to Orlando before noon. Our arrival day this August will get us to POR at around 1:00 PM. We'll check in, tour the resort a little, settle in to our room, go to Boatwrights (TS) for a 5:00 pm meal, a carriage ride through POR after that, and then settle in to try to catch a good night's sleep before our first park day.

 

[busymommy2pink]

We've done all of those! haha. One trip we put on swim suits and just hung out at the pool, ate dinner at the resort and called it an early night to get an early start on the parks the next day. Another trip, we took my teen sister for her first time, so we went to MK after checking in. We had no plans, zero, just went in short lines and did a couple of things. It was just so she wasn't sensory overloaded the next day. Let's be realistic, your first time ever at the MK you are trying to take it all in. And on yet another, we arrived closer to noon, headed to DTD and ate dinner. I wouldn't do that one again. We like DTD mid-trip so we don't overload on souveniers the first day. We usually go after we've been to all 4 parks (or 3 if we aren't doing DHS). We also noticed we should avoid on weekends, as it's significantly busier fri-sun, I'm guessing because there are more locals.

My vote? Go to a park! Even just for a couple of hours, rest at the resort (swimming makes kids super tired AND hungry..so I would avoid this) and then head out for dinner. I personally would splurge on a cab to get there if I knew my kids would be hungry. I would eat dinner before browsing stores. Fed kids are much nicer

 

[han22735]

Our flight in September arrives at 9:05 am and we are heading right for magic kingdom. If it were a later arrival then maybe i'd say just hang out. So we are planning on leaving around dinner time and then spending the remaining night by the pool to rest up for the next day's RD. For what it costs for an extra park day its totally worth it even if its for a few hours to get covered in Pixie dust!!

 

[PoohsFan1]

We will be doing option 1 for our trip in October. We too will be landing in MCO by 9:35am and we plan to hang around by the pool and relax for most of the day, then we will head to DTD for our dinner reservations at Fulton's (5:30pm ADR) and do some shopping and walk around afterwards.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We always hit up MK on arrival day. With an ADR in MK or on the monorail loop.

But I'm not a big DTD fan.

 

[nkereina]

We are doing your option 1 when we go, so that's what I'd recommend. Another thing to factor in is the cost of admission for just going to MK for a few hours that day. Is it worth it? The more ticket days you have, the less the cost would be to add an additional day, but it's still a cost to factor in for 4 people.

I think swimming and visiting DTD later is a nice way to relax and recoup from getting up early to travel that morning. For us, DTD is maybe 2 hours of walking around and shopping. No kids though.

 

[Boo2UBrooke]

Option 1 definitely! You might consider going over after dinner to watch the parade or fireworks if you just really want to go to the park, but I wouldn't go crazy, so you you will be rested and ready for a full day the next day! Also, don't forget that a lot of the resorts offer campfires and nightly movies....Ft Wilderness even has the campfire singalong, which is a great value as well as a great way to "welcome" yourself! You can view fireworks and the water pageant parade from several of the MK resorts, without using a park admission. I love this option, because you get a sneak peak for what's in store, without getting exhausted right off the bat!

 

[kiramay]

Option 2. We always go to a park on arrival day. Get your 3 FP rides, do some lower wait rides, walk around, and have dinner in the area. Then make it an early night to rest up for the first full day.

 

[kelmcg]

If you get in at 9:30 then hopefully you'll be at your resort by 11. (But without your bags if you are taking Magical Express) Check-in....... drop items off in your room and you'll hopefully be at the park between 12-12:30 depending on buses. Then you'll need to be leaving the park by 4 if you want to make sure you get a bus to DD in time to make your 5pm reservation. After eating/looking at shops then you have to come back to your room and still unpack your luggage...etc.....

Or with option 1 ......after you check-in, you can take swimsuits out of your carry-on luggage and head to the pool. Your luggage should arrive to your room early afternoon.......Personally I would leave DH with the kids at the pool while I came back to the room to unpack the luggage. I would also get my backpack ready for the parks the next day. (This way I don't have to stay up late or get up early to do this!) When they are done swimming you will be unpacked, and ready to head to dinner. After dinner you can shop a little and then head back for an early night.

 

[kitkat4622]

we are also doing option 1....

 

[GPC0321]

We're arriving @ 3pm(ish) at our resort and plan to chill for a couple hours, grab a bite at the food court when we're hungry, and head over to Epcot around 7:00(ish) to look around and then watch IllumiNations (FP+). I may schedule two other FP+ for Epcot prior to IllumiNations, just in case we are ready to get over there earlier than I anticipate, but we'll be back in Epcot at least twice more so I won't sweat it if we don't make those.

 

[Pkltm]

We always do option 1, we pack a swimsuit and hang out at the pool before heading to dtd for the evening, this year we are eating at Fultons. We usually spend a few hours there, we enough strolling around and people watching after a travel day

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

We arrive on Oct. 25 around 9:50 a.m. and are going to head to the resort to check in (imagine we'll get there around 11:30-12:00) then hit the pool for a few hours, go to DTD for an hour or two and then dinner at Raglan Road and an early bedtime. We are going to have to get up at 5:00 a.m. that day so not going to worry about rushing to a park.

 

[Shadyluv]

We always head to MK on our first day!!! The kids (well...and us too!) are so excited to be at Disney that we just can't wait to get in and feel the atmosphere of a park! So I would definitely go with Option 2 and you can get three fast passes for that day too.