Arrival Day.... what to do?

[AllAboutDisney]

DH and DS (8) and I should arrive at the GF by 10:30am on Wednesday, May 16th. How should we spend the day? We have park hopper passes with plenty of days. I had thought about the MK since it's so close and a good day to go. We will have an early start that morning since we will be flying in from Richmond. I also thought dinner at Narcoosee's with the Electric Light Parade and fireworks would be good to end the evening.


So, what should we do with the time? MK a good idea? Epcot Future World?

BTW, we will be there through Sunday.

Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[clownchk]

not sure, MK sounds like a great first day to me!

Our family always does late lunch at 50's prime time. We will be arriving at 10:30 as well and have 2:05 ADR's for our arrival day. MK is our 1st full day park.

Ask you family what they are expecting! I was shocked when I was told that we HAVE to eat at 50's the day we arrive!

Good luck with your plans and enjoy the magic!

 

[schmoopypoo]

MK is where we always start no matter what day it is or what time of day it is when we arrive and never had any problems doing that. We just love seeing that castle first thing

 

[westbrush]

What we do on arrival day is take it slow, unpack, go to the pool with our stack of information we get at check in, have a drink or two myself, DH will have a few beers, have a light lunch and just relax and get ourself adjusted and go back to our room after shower up and take the bus to Downtown Disney, browse shop, have a bite to eat normally at Captn Jacks since it's on the DDP. Get a good nites rest, up early the next days and ready to hit the parks. We just like to take it slow the first day and get used to it all.

 

[britts06]

When I was younger and went with my parents, we would arrive to our resort and unpack and maybe walk around the resort or swim or something like that. After that we would usually spend our arrival evening at DTD.

 

[mmessler]

We're staying at Pop, but we're planning on starting out our trip at MK too! We get in to MCO around 11:00am and we have ADR for the HDDP that night, so we're going to head over to MK at some point - depends on whether we're lucky enough for our room to be ready when we get there. (I'm not counting on it, but Disney is where dreams come true, right?) If it's not ready, we might just chill around the resort or go walk around DTD until it is and then head over to MK. Our first day no matter what time we get in and no matter what we do is usually our leisure day, no running about, no planning. Just unwinding. This year I work the 6 days previous to leaving and we leave bright and early, so I'm going to be a little tired, I think. (I usually try to take the day before we leave off, but no such luck this time.)

 

[pepe of ohio]

We tend to lean towards the, if we have AP's or MMW passes and not alot of days on property we head to the MK right off and return later into the evening.. Our stays are in the 10-12 night varieties so we have plenty of time to see and do alot. When arriving after noon we tend to unload our stuff and hang at the resort pool, do some gawking at DTD and try for a HDDR dinner, advance reservation.

As for Narcossee's, we thought the prices were real steep and meals exotic, alligator, pheasant etc. Check Allears.com and persue the menus, its a great view but O'hanas at the Poly is more normal of a meal and a great view of the MK fireworks and EWP.

 

[MissMichelle]

We have done everything from swim all day then go to DTD, to get our room and jump right on a bus to Epcot (we like to start with our first meal @ Le Cellier) but this year it is going to be check in (if we can) and head to Typhoon Lagoon, hang out till 3-4 pm then go back shower, dress and go for dinner (not sure where yet, but I am thinking a DTD restaurant).

I am getting so excited

 

[the john]

when my family and I arrive we unpack our luggage. Then we take a walk around the hotel and check out the gift shop. For the rest of the day we chill at the pool.

 

[IcePrincess467]

DH & I arrive in Orlando at 9am (which I am VERY happy about ) Anyways, we are going to do a little shopping first around Orlando (because I MUST get to a pottery barn! and a disney outlet!!) Then I figure we will get to the MK by 2pm and then have a late lunch there and stay for the evening (the MK is opened until 12am the week we are there!!!!

 

[AllAboutDisney]

We have done the HDDR thing several times before so not doing it this time but L-O-V-E IT!!!!!! I have such a hard time not doing a park especially when MK is just a 5 minute boat ride away. I am liking the DTD idea too instead of Narcoosee's. I guess I will just have to see what the tired factor is as the day progresses. And how quickly we get our room will play into it too.

 

[Mayl]

We always hit one of the water parks..

For us, nothing beats hitting the wave pool and getting into vacation mode..

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

We travel in to WDW from Los Angeles. It's really an all day travel. Last year, we went all park commando and as soon as we checked in, we headed to Epcot & dinner at LeCellier and park touring. It was too much for us. We were wiped out from the early morning and crashed hard.
This year, I decided we are going to take it easy. Our first day, since our flight arrives at 4pm, we'll check in, have a dinner at Boatwright's, and then tour POFQ (our 1st time there) and hit the sack early to ensure we're well rested for the next morning!