Day of arrival question

[JJ&JSMOM]

Just a quick question for you disney experts from a newbie. We arrive at MCO at 12:10 pm and hope to be at our resort by 2:00 (early check in) but check in is really not until 4:00. So it will be after 4 that we can get settled in our room - my question is should we schedule a TS for that evening? Its my DD's 2nd b-day so we wanted to go to CM's (we're staying at WL) to celebrate. Would we have enough time to make it to a 6 or 6 30 dinner or maybe do it the next day and just get acquainted w/our resort that night? I could schedule WCC instead.

What do most people w/ young kids do? I have no idea how my kids will be - they'll either be tired or pumped and ready to go!

 

[chocolate chip]

We usually check in then hit downtown disney to get the kids in the mood. However, this year we are trying something different, we have made a reservation for BOMA for the evening we check in and then we are going to hit MK b/c they have the magic hours the night we are checking in. Not sure how the kids will feel after driving from NY, but we can hope for the best.

 

[BlindTyldak]

What time are you getting up in the morning? Are your kids likely to freak at the sight of the castle and want to go there instead of the GF?

Personally I'd make the ADR for WCC that night and if they are wired, then take them to watch the water pageant or something for a treat. Play it safe and do the GF the next night.

 

[MariDisney]

We generally don't schedule a TS for day of arrival, even though we take the earliest possible flight and have been on property sometimes by 10:00 am. I never know how our mood is going to be by dinner time in terms of being tired, etc. So, first day, our tradition is to go to UK in Epcot for fish and chips. The one time we did TS our first night (Ohana, which we love) it turned out to be a nightmare because DD was just too wiped out.

 

[brat5063]

I don't know if there is a right answer. We land at MCO around 9 am. I am hoping for some pixie dust and that our room is ready. If not, at the moment I am planning on eating some lunch at the hotel and chilling out by the pool. We have dinner reservations at Tony's. Not sure how kid friendly that will be either, but we wanted to hit MK and another family we are traveling with put a limit on our character meals. We have two planned this trip at CM and Play N' dine.

 

[brandip22]

We would never do a park on arrival day, but we always do CM on arrival night. Last year, our plane was late and we were about 30 minutes late for our ADRs, but they didn't mind and we were seated. I would say to start it off with a bang! FWIW, it was me, Dh, DS(just turned 3 then) and DNeice (10). We loved it and plan to go back. I think you will have time to do a 6:30 ADR there and it will be worth it. You'll still get to bed early, too.

 

[TeresaMc]

We will be arriving to our resort around noon, hopefully our room will be ready(we have to get up at 3am for flight) also but we have booked Crystal Palace for 3:50pm then if we are tired or didn't get a nap because our room wasn't ready we can retire early and if we are up to it we can stay in the park.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Just a quick question for you disney experts from a newbie. We arrive at MCO at 12:10 pm and hope to be at our resort by 2:00 (early check in) but check in is really not until 4:00. So it will be after 4 that we can get settled in our room - my question is should we schedule a TS for that evening? Its my DD's 2nd b-day so we wanted to go to CM's (we're staying at WL) to celebrate. Would we have enough time to make it to a 6 or 6 30 dinner or maybe do it the next day and just get acquainted w/our resort that night? I could schedule WCC instead.

What do most people w/ young kids do? I have no idea how my kids will be - they'll either be tired or pumped and ready to go!

Schedule Chef Mickey's for about 5:30pm. By the way, you can check in at any time and much of the time, your room is ready before 4.

 

[kldmom2000]

We are landing at MCO around noon"ish" as well and are staying at the YC-we made TS ADR's for Garden Grill @ 5:30 that night since it's walking distance from the hotel. My girls are anxious to get their first peek at Mickey this time around!!!

 

[AKLRULZ]

No guarantee, but ensure "early check in" is on your reservation - we always book the first flight out of the day and usually land at MCO anywhere between 9-10 AM - for the past 7 trips over 3 years we've been successful at having the room ready when we checked in.

That said, we're AP holders so we don't feel pressure to immediately hit the parks - we typically tool around the resort, swim, grab a quick lunch and always do a TS meal the first evening. Keep in mind it's a vacation and you'll want to be relaxed as best you can - a hard thing to do with all the excitement though!

Have a great time!

 

[bleeps]

First quick tip: if your room is NOT ready at check in and they give you a card with a phone number to call later in the day to get your room number, be SURE to use the phone and get your room number -- that way, when you do return to your resort, you know right where to go and do NOT have to stop at the check-in desk again.

Second -- for us (DS, now 8, DH, and me) after 4 trips in as many years, we feel that the lesson we have learned is NOT to overbook/over-do the first day/night. You'll have your whole trip with schedules (ADRs) to have to meet and a lot of things to do -- we've found for us that by removing the stress of having to make an ADR or other special, timed event the first night, we do much better for the rest of the trip. Now we leave it entirely open, so that depending on what time we actually arrive, the room situation, and how we're feeling, we do whatever we want to do for as long as we want to do it, and this has worked wonders for us....

 

[vonderbar]

We always try to arrive at our DVC resorts by noon the latest. If our room isn't ready, either grab our swim suits before checking bags with Bell Services. We head to the pool area and have a light lunch or snack. Other times, we head straight for the closest park to the resort. We always have an early dinner the first night, since we turn in early that night too. Only you know how your child will be by dinner time, so plan according to the mood.

 

[JJ&JSMOM]

Only you know how your child will be by dinner time, so plan according to the mood.

This is true on a normal day but this will be far from a normal day. I think what we'll do is stick to my original plan which is get lunch first at Roaring Forks & go for a swim. Once room is ready we'll get settled (we have groceries being delivered and also a crib & stroller). Then we'll see what time it is & how everyones doing and go from there. Maybe take the boat to CR and ride the monorail around.

Thanks for the opinions. Its nice to get different opinions to think about. DH doesn't like talking WDW. Thanks again.

 

[Eeyore's Tailfinder]

I guess it's up to you - it depends how much excitement your DD can handle in 1 day...

I don't have kids but am making an ADR for our first Disney night (no airport though - we will have been on I Drive for 11 nights), and are doing the dinner at CRT so we can have a really magical, straight into the Disney experience on the first night and perhaps a couple of hours in MK

 

[mom_2_boys]

We usually check in then hit downtown disney to get the kids in the mood. However, this year we are trying something different, we have made a reservation for BOMA for the evening we check in and then we are going to hit MK b/c they have the magic hours the night we are checking in. Not sure how the kids will feel after driving from NY, but we can hope for the best.

We did something similar. Landed at MCO at 1:30, arrived at Pop at 3:00, dinner at WCC at 5:25, over to MK for the evening. Yes, it was rushed, but it is hard to keep telling them that you are going to Disney and then end up at a hotel. Not too much "magic" in that. We didn't stay too long, just rode Buzz for ds4 and ds2, looked around and headed back to our room.

I like the idea of starting at Downtown Disney, maybe I'll try that next time!

 

[Tikitoi]

The last time we went to Disney, we stayed at AKL, arrived around 12:30 so took time to relax and explore our resort. We then our dinner at California Grill that night, but there was enough time to relax before that, which is what was needed since we were up so early. No matter what, have a great time!

 

[CindyAnn]

Will you have to get up much earlier than usual to arrive at the airport on time? Will your 2yo end up missing nap time because of travelling?

I find that we're usually up very early on our arrival day, either getting to the airport for a 7:00 a.m. departure, or completing the second day of our 24 hour drive. Either way, all of us seem to be much more tired than usual.

We usually don't schedule any park time or table service meals the first day, but start our trip with a water park, a swim in the pool, or Downtown Disney. Then we get to bed early in order to be up for an early start the next day.

Your DD might enjoy spending the following day as her "birthday" after she's well-rested, and can be back on her regular schedule. Don't forget to get her a birthday button at the Magic Kingdom (I assume they're still doing that?) to celebrate the occasion, and have fun! What a great place to celebrate your DD's birthday!