Arrival day... What to do???

[chimommy]

I'm having a really hard time deciding what to do the day we arrive... If you have any thoughts on my options please give input. I have not booked our flight yet... But I think we will be arriving around 10am or 11am. We are staying at WL in early dec. so this is what I'm thinking...

Option 1: spend the entire day at the resort... Either have dinner at ohana or one of WL restaurants.. Go to the campfire and try to get the kids to bed at a descent hour because we will probably be getting up early the next morning..

Option 2: check in after the kids nap go to Epcot... Have dinner at Epcot and leave before the fireworks/ closing

If I choose option 1 we will only have on afternoon/evening at Epcot. This will be our 5th trip to Disney... So I don't feel we need to do everything... But I do want to try and see all the Christmas storytellers and characters for the kids... We probably won't go to the candlelight processional bc I don't think our kids will sit through it.. But I thought about trying to hang out around the pavilion so we could listen to some of it. Epcot is one of my favorite parks... But I feel we have not been spending as much time there now that we have little kids (usually most of our time at mk). But I also think there is a lot to do at our resort so I don't want to miss Out on that either!!

Thanks!!

Thanks!!

 

[MichiganDVC]

I'd say it really depends on when your flight actually comes in, and when you actually get into your room. If you are able to get into your room by let's say noon or 1 PM, and you have a chance to settle in and freshen up and make a night of it. But if you don't end up being able to check in your room until 3 PM, Then this kind of limits what you will really have a chance to do with your evening. If you don't end up getting into your room until two or three, I would select option one and perhaps do a monorail tour of some of the nice Christmas decorations are up. I understand that the Floridian has nice decorations well as where you'll be staying at wilderness Lodge.
Ultimately though, I would make all your determinations based on the weather. If it turns out that the day you arrive is your nicest weather, then you really might want to make a day of the parks or a day to go to the pool whichever your family prefers. If it's a rainy chilly day then you might just want to do a resort tour and have a nice dinner inside and get ready to go the next day.

 

[grimley1968]

If it were me, I'd go to EPCOT after the kids have a rest. If you get to WL no later than 11 AM, that's a lot of time to visit a park, especially one that will almost certainly be open until at least 9.

This leaves plenty of time to enjoy the resort before you go to EPCOT.

Keep in mind that your room might not be ready until 4 PM or so. In that case, your kids would have a tough time napping unless they can do it on chairs in the WL lobby, by the pool, in transit to a park, etc. So that may be a good excuse to go to a park anyway, unless you'd like to swim instead.

I would also add an option 3: go to MK if it's not too crowded. If your room isn't ready, you can catch a boat to MK. There will be a wait for the boat and then the boat ride itself, both good opportunities for little ones to have a "power nap". This is probably the easiest park to get to from WL. Also, you may be able to come back to WL after a 1/2 day at MK and get in your room, swim, etc. This is normally what we've done in our WL stays in the past.

 

[RomeGal]

Hey! We are also arriving mid-morning on a Saturday (May 18) and we are planning to hit Epcot right after checking in. We have another day scheduled for Epcot later in the trip, and my kids are almost 8 & 9 (we'll be there for their early birthday trip!) so we don't do big naps or anything anymore - but I don't think they'd be able to stand themselves just "relaxing" on the first day...

We are driving in from GA and will spend the night in Ocala the night before, get up early and head to WDW hoping to arrive by 10. World Showcase opens at 11 so we plan to kind of focus on that for the midday/afternoon and come back to the room mid-to-late afternoon for a quick dip, or rest, and get ready for dinner at Teppan Edo that night.

Good luck!

 

[Wood Nymph]

We stayed at the WL in February. Our flight landed at 9:45am. We took the ME to WL, checked in but the room wasn't ready yet. It was around 11:30am. We hopped on the boat to MK, picked up our Photopass+ card, met our family in Frontierland, and had lunch at Columbia Harbor House. We did a few rides after lunch, went back to the WL for swimming and naps. Then we all took the boat to CR, the monorail to the Poly, and had dinner at "Ohana. Then we went back into MK to watch Wishes. We headed to the boat, got back to the WL in time for the 9:35pm Electric Light Parade, and then crashed. It had been a long day, since we had been up since 3:30am to catch our flight to Orlando. But we always go into a park when we arrive.

When we return to WL in December we plan to stay at the resort until after nap time, then head off to Epcot. MK will be crazy that day, since they will be filming the Christmas Parade, so we will avoid it at all costs.

 

[si-am]

We don't ever do parks on arrival day. We like to leisurely unpack and explore the resort, maybe swim if the weather is nice. Sometimes we will head to DTD for some dinner and shopping.

If your room isn't ready til late afternoon, then it's no fun to come back after dinner at the parks to unpack and settle in! I like to get that done ASAP.

 

[sjs314]

I usually have a park plan incase we feel up to it, if not we just play it by ear. We normally take a early morning flight also and are exhausted since being up at 4am or thereabouts.

If it is a new resort that we have never stayed at before we have lunch go to our room when it is ready nap or shop etc. It is nice to check out the resort, WL is especially nice to just walk around watch the geyser etc.

In Nov we had a quicky lunch ran over to DHS to see the OL then had dinner at Mama Melrose's the park was closed by time we were done eating took another quick peak at the lights without the crowds this time and then returned TP our resort

 

[disney debi]

I would use the day to explore the resort and look at the decorations and settle in for a fresh start in the morning. You know your family best though and know how they will handle the traveling. Good luck with your decision.

 

[Tink415]

I'm having a really hard time deciding what to do the day we arrive... If you have any thoughts on my options please give input. I have not booked our flight yet... But I think we will be arriving around 10am or 11am. We are staying at WL in early dec. so this is what I'm thinking...

Option 1: spend the entire day at the resort... Either have dinner at ohana or one of WL restaurants.. Go to the campfire and try to get the kids to bed at a descent hour because we will probably be getting up early the next morning..

Option 2: check in after the kids nap go to Epcot... Have dinner at Epcot and leave before the fireworks/ closing

If I choose option 1 we will only have on afternoon/evening at Epcot. This will be our 5th trip to Disney... So I don't feel we need to do everything... But I do want to try and see all the Christmas storytellers and characters for the kids... We probably won't go to the candlelight processional bc I don't think our kids will sit through it.. But I thought about trying to hang out around the pavilion so we could listen to some of it. Epcot is one of my favorite parks... But I feel we have not been spending as much time there now that we have little kids (usually most of our time at mk). But I also think there is a lot to do at our resort so I don't want to miss Out on that either!!

Thanks!!

Thanks!!

I don't really have any suggestions except to say I've been on lots of trips in December and never been able to see all the holiday storytellers in one vacation, never mind one afternoon. The timing of the story tellers is not set up to make it easy to walk around without lots of back tracking and see everything in one afternoon, a least IMHO! It would require more effort than I'm willing to put in.

 

[amym2]

I wouldn't count on your room being ready early enough for your kids to nap. Plus we're antsy to get to a park when we arrive, and no one is willing to take a nap when we are excited about being at WDW. We'd probably leave our stuff at bell services and head to a park. Plan to call it an early evening and head back to WL for dinner and an early bedtime.

 

[VACamm]

I would relax at the resort ... and maybe visit resort gift shops... grab an ice cream... and swim