does this arrival day plan sound like a good idea?

[Smbmoyers]

So, we arrive the end of November and although park hours aren't out yet mvmcp is scheduled for that night which totally messed up my plan of going to magic kingdom the first evening. We land at noon so I plan to be on the magic express and checking in until 2...

My plan is to try for a:
4pm tsmm fp+

Do minnies holiday dine (is there a dinner package to catch f! that works with the dp?)

Use another fp+ somewhere

And use our final fp+ to go to f! if we can't get a dining package?

Does this sound reasonable?

 

[goodeats]

It sounds reasonable, but you have to be prepared to pay the cancellation fee if you have flight delays (or a sick/too tired kid). I am a commando at heart, but I know my DH would hate that much "activity" on a travel day. We come from the West coast and we are seriously zonked after flying cross country.

 

[Smbmoyers]

It sounds reasonable, but you have to be prepared to pay the cancellation fee if you have flight delays (or a sick/too tired kid). I am a commando at heart, but I know my DH would hate that much "activity" on a travel day. We come from the West coast and we are seriously zonked after flying cross country.

Our flight is actually only 2 hours. We take off from a airport close to us (2hours) at 10am. So we'll leave our house at 6 but I anticipate my 3 year old will sleep til the airport(we have this baby sleep in the car thing down to a science) so It would work perfectly! I didn't,think about the are cancelation issue. Maybe I'd be better off to wait until we arrive and see what adrs are actually available and make sure we feel up to the magic?

 

[snayak]

I try not to plan ADRs or hard ticket events on travel days (even outside of Disney...) - I've been burned too many times either by weather or mechanical issues or just plain being tired!

If you are OK potentially having an extra day of park tickets (or have an AP) then I'd totally book FP+ for DHS and see Fantasmic - if you skip them, no big deal! Depending where you're traveling from, a nap or pool time after hustling all morning sounds relaxing, then off for Evening DHS!

 

[leebee]

I'd skip the dining package and just book FP+ for TSMM and F! You have to cancel ADRs 24 by midnight the day before the ADR or face a $10 per person fee. Too many things can go wrong on travel days (late/missed/cancelled flights, overtired 3yo, overtired parents, etc) for me to be comfortable booking ADRs on the first night. We like to take it easy that first night- do something or eat somewhere if we are up for it, lounge around the resort and go to bed early if we're tired. It really is worth it to be rested and ready for that first full park day!!

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

I agree with PPs, we don't make ADRs on our first day. We usually go for QS or see what ADRs are available when we get there. We wouldn't want to pay the fee if we don't make it in time. Enjoy!

 

[Nancyg56]

We travel early and generally land aroung 9 or 10 am, so we do make ADR's for dinner. I would be aware that the Fantasmic dinner packages ae generally early, so your plan to book one with a noon landing is iffy at best. They are only booked with the first show, so you must have an early dinner. I would not book anything before 4 or 5, simply to account for travel delays and any other arrival day issues that may crop up.

 

[alliecat523]

We also book arrival day FP and ADRs and haven't had any issues. There is a risk of flight delays, but I've had worse luck with on site transportation delays and ADRs than flight delays.

 

[mrzrich]

You can't pre-book FP+ for TSMM and F!. They are both tier one.

You can book F! As your 4th FP

 

[mrzrich]

Also for people afraid to book ADR's on arrival day, consider using open table. Reservations made through open table do not incur a penalty if missed. Participating restaurants include:

Morimoto, Boathouse, Raglan Road, Paradiso 37, Crossroads at House of Blues and Fultons at Disney Springs

Garden Grove, Shulas, Blue Zoo and Il Mulino at Swan Dolphin

Also Big River Grille at the Boardwalk.

Another option for arrival day is to join the Landry Club. Members are given priority seating with out advanced reservations. Landry Restaurants on property include
Rainforest Cafe, T-Rex and Yak &Yeti

 

[StirlingSilver83]

Last year we decided to stay off site the 1st 2 nights before checking into Disney, so when we checked into our Disney hotel we were full steam ahead with a full day of ADRs and FPs. We usually drive down from NJ, so we drive to Florence, SC and stay overnight and then drive the rest of the way the next day. The year before when we didn't stay off site 2 days prior, we were staying at Contemporary, so we made an ADR for 6:30 for Chef Mickey's, but we didn't make any other sort of plans because I wasn't sure when we were getting into Disney. Next year when we go we are not staying off site like we did last year so we are just going to our resort. Hoping to stay at the Poly next year. Anyways I plan on having us see the spirit of Aloha dinner show that day but nothing else concrete. If we get in early to Disney my plan is to see if I can score any kind of FP at MK before the SOA show, if not we might just hang out at the hotel or by the pool or hotel hop to Contemporary and play in the Arcade there (my older DS loves their arcade). I think on your check in date you should keep your reservations to a minimum bc you never know how you are going to feel after flying/driving/taking a train to get to Disney, lol...specially with kids

 

[Nancyg56]

Last year we decided to stay off site the 1st 2 nights before checking into Disney, so when we checked into our Disney hotel we were full steam ahead with a full day of ADRs and FPs. We usually drive down from NJ, so we drive to Florence, SC and stay overnight and then drive the rest of the way the next day. The year before when we didn't stay off site 2 days prior, we were staying at Contemporary, so we made an ADR for 6:30 for Chef Mickey's, but we didn't make any other sort of plans because I wasn't sure when we were getting into Disney. Next year when we go we are not staying off site like we did last year so we are just going to our resort. Hoping to stay at the Poly next year. Anyways I plan on having us see the spirit of Aloha dinner show that day but nothing else concrete. If we get in early to Disney my plan is to see if I can score any kind of FP at MK before the SOA show, if not we might just hang out at the hotel or by the pool or hotel hop to Contemporary and play in the Arcade there (my older DS loves their arcade). I think on your check in date you should keep your reservations to a minimum bc you never know how you are going to feel after flying/driving/taking a train to get to Disney, lol...specially with kids

WE have done the SOA on arrival night. It was an OOP night and it was a fun way to get started. But as I said upthread, we take the first flight out and usually arrive by 9 or 10 am.