Arrival day

[kimnscott]

Where to go on our Arrival day. We will not Arrive till About 3 pm or later and husband will have to sleep as soon as we can check in 17 hour drive. Where is a good place to go without a ADR. We have DDP but are unsure if we could make a dinner reservation to to tiredness. We are staying at POFQ.

 

[bangzoom6877]

Where are you staying? It may be a better idea to either get in-room dining (if you are in a deluxe resort) or something at your food court if you are in a value resort. Also, at a value resort you can get in-room pizza delivery if you want. It's not for me (I'm a pizza snob who only takes her kids to Pizza Planet because they love it there...and I get a salad!), but I'm sure some people enjoy having it. If you can get something to your room, it would be more relaxing especially after such a long drive.

 

[jpecora1@nycap.rr.co]

POFQ is small - accessibility to water taxi to DTD and Bus Depot is very close and has pretty short route to most parks. I'd have a hard time not going somewhere on the day of arrival. Just get a late ADR somewhere - like 8 or 9pm. You can be tired when you get home, but when at Disney take advantage of every second you have to be in the parks.

 

[WAHMto5]

If we do not make a ADR for the first night, we go to DTD and get use one of our CS credits

 

[oldbay]

I would go to DTD and eat at either Wolfgang Puck's Express or the Earl of Sandwich. Both are counter service, so no reservation is needed.

 

[jennylyn_b]

On our arrival day, we always go to DTD for dinner and shopping. I love Basin and we stop in there and get some soap and a shampoo bar for our trip! Then we head over the the West Side and eat dinner. Sometimes at Raglan Rd. or Paradiso 37 or even just Cookes if we aren't super hungry. From POFQ, you can take the water taxi over to DTD and its a nice leisurely ride.
Also, we have never had a problem walking into Paradiso and getting a table if that is your type of food.

 

[Dis_Dreamin]

I would go to DTD and eat at either Wolfgang Puck's Express or the Earl of Sandwich. Both are counter service, so no reservation is needed.

I second Wolfgang Puck's Express. We did the same thing in June '08 when we stayed at POFQ. Rested up a little (we were waiting on others from our group to arrive) then headed down to DTD and did some shopping and ate at WPE. Loved the food there and are probably planning on doing the same thing this May when we go.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

We're going to Victoria & Albert's, after a short trip to AK to ride EE and see the parade.

 

[OhThePain]

If you insist on using a TS credit on the first night, there's Boatwright's at POR (just a short walk away) if you don't want to travel too far. It is a nice resort to walk around at night and the lounge is pretty comfy if you are looking for a drink to cap off the day of traveling.

 

[PoohsFan1]

POFQ is small - accessibility to water taxi to DTD and Bus Depot is very close and has pretty short route to most parks. I'd have a hard time not going somewhere on the day of arrival. Just get a late ADR somewhere - like 8 or 9pm. You can be tired when you get home, but when at Disney take advantage of every second you have to be in the parks.

You sound just like my DH...his motto is there is NO sleeping in Disney . With that said, for our arrival day, we too are staying at POFQ in March and I just made a late ADR for 'Ohana's (8:10pm ressie). We are due to arrive at the resort by 5pm the latest, the difference with us is that we are flying from Chicago so there will be no long 20+ hour drive for us. After we get settled in we will freshen up and head over to the Poly, have dinner, then hopefully get a chance to see Wishes from the beach, then take a ride on the monorail before heading back to the resort for a good nights sleep. But if you did not want to make a an ADR anywhere, then I would either take the boat over to DTD (many good CS restaurants there plus they have RF that I don't think you need an ADR for) or go to POFQ's food court...it is one of our favorites. Good luck with whatever you decide on.

 

[FreezingRose]

This will be our first trip to WDW, we'll arrive around noon and head off to Animal Kingdom right away, taking advantage of EMH. Hope this will work well for us.

 

[kydisneymom]

We stayed at POFQ last year and on arrival day we ate at Downtown Disney at Earl of Sandwich. You really have a lot of options even if DH wants to rest. The Food Court is small at POFQ but it's fine for a quick dinner. With some planning you could go to Riverside to eat at Boatrights ( surprisingly we never could get a resv.) I didn't try to make that an ADR, but will for our next trip.

 

[cdhale]

When are you going? We just got back, and the crowds at the non-character meal restaurants were very light, so you could probably walk up to most of those and get a table.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Maybe Boatwrights at PO, or Turf Club at Saratoga Springs is close by. The CS at DTD is really good though, and WPE is the same quality as TS, and a great value on the DDP.

 

[Tara922c]

We are also staying at POFQ. If I were driving, I wouldn't make an ADR on arrival day. I would let your dh sleep, while you and the kids hit the pool, dtd, or even one of the parks. Since you have a car you could always go off site to eat once your husband wakes up, or even better order a pizza. There are many places that will deliver to your resort. I just open up the yellow pages, and found tons of adds for pizza that said "we deliver to wdw resorts".

 

[Carrie772]

We have tried going out to eat and visiting a park on our arrival day, but it has always been a real bust. The kids are tired. I am tired. Hubby is tired. We just hang out at the hotel, eat at the CS there, play on the swingsets, maybe swim, play video games, and enjoy our hotel. We are there so briefly as we spend most of our time in the parks, it's a really nice way to move in.

 

[kimnscott]

btw the way we are going in jul.y.

 

[mlittig]

You are so lucky to be staying at POFQ because you can just take a fabulous boat ride to DownTown Disney We love to go to Earl of Sandwich with their yummy sandwiches, good variety and very reasonable prices And you don't need an ADR either