Arriving 2-3 p.m. - Would you go to a Park?

[packy]

We are probably going to arrive about 2-3 p.m. on a Thursday in August. We are staying 4 nights at WDW then 3 at US. We really only need two days at US as we are on-site with FOTL access. If we got a 4 day pass would you go to the Parks on Thursday or wait and go Monday and leave for US later on? There is a US deal where you get five days for a two day ticket price so we would have US passes on Monday either way.

 

[drogerstn]

Good question

I think it would bother me too much if I didn't get a "full day's use" out of my WDW Park Hopper ticket.

Is switching your hotel stays an option? On our last visit, we spent the 1st 3 nights at HRH, so we spent the afternoon and evening of our arrival day in IOA/US then 2 straight days at IOA/US. With the extra "free" days on the 2-day IOA/US ticket (7 consecutive days at that time), I didn't feel like I was throwing away park time. Also, we felt like we needed 4 full days at WDW.

Under your scenario, I'd probably use the tickets for 4 full days at WDW, then check into the US hotel and plan to visit IOA/US for only 2 days. Will you have any time on the day you check out from the US hotel to visit IOA/US? 2 days is enough time to visit IOA/US with FOTL, but we enjoyed the additional half day.

 

[packy]

What you describe is what we did two years ago - went to US first with a 3 day for 2 day pass then went to Disney the last four days. Didn' t feel bad when we arrived at US in the afternoon as we had a free day on our ticket anyway. Can't do that this year as my brother and niece are meeting us at the start (for the first four days only) and want to go to WDW as they haven't been there since there was only MK and Epcot. I am leaning towards skipping Thursday and going to WDW parks on Monday and arriving at US late.

 

[kdibattista]

We always check in pretty early on our first day (normally by 10ish). We hang out at the hotel for awhile, grab some lunch and head over to Epcot around 2:00 for the rest of the day. The differences are that we have LOS passes and we go offseason so the crowds and heat are not an issue. If I were in your situation, I would probably wait til Monday. Go to DTD or the Boardwalk for the afternoon/evening... maybe some miniature golf and a nice dinner.

 

[swilphil]

We just returned from a trip where we arrived at 2 p.m. on Sunday, and didn't go to the parks until the next day. We checked in, went to the pool, walked around the resort, had a PS character meal at our hotel, went to the Boardwalk and got all unpacked. We were staying at the Dolphin, so we took a boat ride over to MGM to pick up our tickets at Will Call. That way we didn't have to wait in line when we arrived the next morning.

Plus we went to bed early, so we could get an early start the next day. I would have felt very rushed had we tried to go to the park the first day.

 

[zcomic]

I think you'd get more use out of the PH ticket if you used it on Monday morning/afternoon than Thursday afternoon/evening. HOWEVER that means you'll only have 3 nights at WDW. If you can fit in Spectromagic/fireworks, Illuminations & Fantasmic into those 3 nights that's great. If you can't then maybe it would be worth going on Thursday to see one of those.

We usually arrive around 2 or 3 and spend our first afternoon & evening at Downtown Disney. It gets us in the WDW state of mind. We also love to have our first experience at a park with the morning opening. That just adds to the excitement.

 

[beattyfamily]

I would relax that first day and not use a ticket for such a late arrival.

That's what we did on our last trip. We ate lunch, rented a boat, enjoyed the resort, took pictures of it, and swam and went to bed nice and early.

Then you can do 4 full days at WDW and 2 at Universal, which is what we did last year. 2 days at universal is pretty good especially if you are staying onsite. We did everything we wanted to do at Universal in 2 days with FOTL access.

 

[sardan]

You should go to the park. We always go to the park our first day. We go and just walk around, do a few rides, enjoy just being there.

 

[disneysteve]

We only go into a park on arrival day when we have an Annual Pass. I wouldn't waste a day on a 4-day pass.

Steve

 

[Harambe]

We mirror the beattyfamily! We like to check-in, see the resort - stare at a palm tree for about an hour! - swim, have a food court dinner then off to bed early so our first park day is off to a good start.

However once when we got Length of stay passes (which were too expensive for us since we like to do non-park days) - we checked in and headed to MGM - rode a few rides then watched Fantasmic! That was a great way to start a trip. But it really would be a waste of a ticket for you.

Have fun!

 

[nicknamy1996]

If you are only going to use it for part of a day on Monday I personally would opt for the Thursday evening visit.

I think it will extend your vacation. We had AP's for the first time on our last visit and were planning on ariving around 7 to 8 pm and doing no park (perhaps dinner and shopping?) We ended up ariving at 6 and decided to go ahead and activate our APs. We checked in at the All Stars registration desk and then got right back in the van and headed to MK.

It ended up being my favorite part of our trip. We got to...

Ride the monorail
See the castle
Ride Buzz Lightyear (Which was going to be down for rehab starting at the end of that day and for the entire balance of our trip)
Ride TTA
See the fireworks
See Spectromagic
Eat at Casey's on Main St.

It was less than 3 hours but it was so much fun, and it made the trip seem so much longer. By the end of our 1st full day (which turned out to be our second day at the parks) it felt like we had been there for 2 full days already, and this carried on throughout the week.

We are hoping to do the same next year, but this is on the second trip of our APs. But I would probably be a little less likely to do it if I had to burn a ticket to do it.

What time are you leaving Monday for US? If you do WDW on Mon. would you stay til then end of the day? If not 1 evening at parks when its a little cooler and so scenic would beat a hot morning at park then doing the whole hotel transfer thing.


Man why do I always ramble on so much?

Have a great trip,
Nick

 

[CRCrazy]

We've always gone to the parks around 3 pm on the day of arrival - but we've got AP's - so we aren't chewing up a day. That said, these have been some of the most magical days of our trips!

We touch down at MCO around 12:15 - get luggage at 12:30 - pick up rental car (National EA) and arrive at resort by 1:30 ish. Checking in and dropping luggage (we've always been lucky enough to have a room that's ready.) and we're ready to hit the monorail (or bus) by 2:30 or so!

First (and best) trip - We were ready to go by 2:15 - and I had made a PS for the Ice Cream Social at Epcot for 3:20 to be used if we were there in time. I wanted to get to Epcot so my daughter could ride Test Track - as it was due to close for rehab for the rest of our week there. We arrived at Epcot - got a great family photo at SE by the photographer - went over to TT and grabbed a Fastpass - return time 4:15-5:15 pm (perfect!). Headed over to the Land - watched the Circle of Life - then did our Ice Cream Social with Mickey, Pluto and Chip & Dale - best character interaction we've ever had. After eating our fill, we went back to TT and rode it for the first time - great picture too! We had both pictures sent to the room - went and rode Spaceship Earth (no wait) twice - my 5 year old loved this. We then hopped back on the monorail arriving at Magic Kingdom at about 6 pm. We got there just as the CM's were starting to set up the parade route for the 7 pm Spectromagic parade - so we scouted out a perfect curbside seat right in the center of the Town Square! We enjoyed the sights and Sounds of the Magic Kingdom, while our older daughters took the radio and went down to Casey's to grab some hot dogs and drinks for the wait! Sarah, our 5 year old, had a ball playing games with the CM's and other kids while she waited for the parade to start - Completely a Magical Moment! The parade was fantastic - then we strolled down Main St. to the Hub to get a spot to watch Tinkerbelle fly - Fantastic view of the fireworks as the park closed at 8 pm - then we headed back to the resort monorail - CR is the first stop - we were back at our hotel room 3 minutes after walking through the exit turnstile!

So - 5 hours in the park - a full day's pass worth
Memories to last a lifetime - PRICELESS!

 

[PaintedStuff]

Why not go to Downtown Disney, Pleasure Island or The Boardwalk for an "outside the park" Disney experience?