Doing MK on arrival day

[mastermind307]

I just booked our airfare for our October trip and now that I know what time we'll be arriving, I can begin to plan our days. We are supposed to land at 12:05pm on Saturday Oct. 10, and from what I've read on these boards it will take about 1 1/2 - 2 hours to get to our resort using ME. So we should arrive at VWL around 2. After checking in, I would like to go over to MK. I thought I could get fastpasses for 3 things and get those taken care and maybe do some other things that don't have long waits. Then on the day I planned to do MK later in our trip, we won't have as many things we want to do. It's not that much to add a day to our tickets, so would this be worth it? Assuming the park is open late and it's not a party night.

 

[cakebaker]

I'd do it- but I'd allow lots of extra time before scheduling fp+ just in case there's a delay.

 

[GWhitten98]

Assuming its not a party night and you don't think your family will be to tired to enjoy it then yes it could definitely be worth it in my opinion. If nothing else give yourself time to get settled and then go later and see the night time parade and wishes. Also need to consider what your plans are for the following day. Then if later in your trip you can spend that time doing things which will be far less busy b/c the masses are watching the parade and wishes.

 

[Alacrity]

If your flights go well you should be good. My wife and I do this usually but, we have had APs that last few years and, we have been burned on FPs and ADRs due to a late arrival. I would look at the MK closing time for that day and make sure the ticket cost will be worth while. If it closes early that day, due to maybe the Halloween party possibly, another park may be in order. Though it just doesn't feel right when MK isn't the first stop!

 

[BellsFam]

We arrive at MCO at 10:50am, I budgeted 3hrs to get to our hotel my DME, I put my first FP+ in at 5pm... If that helps you at all... even if we're earlier than that we won't feel rushed, stroll into the parks, grab food, etc. I did make the FPs for that day for rides that if we miss it wouldn't matter too much...

 

[tstottle]

The only downside is if you are "morning park people." We like to be at the parks at opening for the low crowds. Which means relaxing and getting into bed early makes for a better park day the next day. But, giving yourself an extra half day at MK would be worth it...if you were only going to to MK in one day otherwise, it's hard to do everything at MK in one day! Have fun and I'm jealous (we always take short trips so adding an extra park day is a lot of extra $$$)

 

[siskaren]

Saturdays aren't party days except this year I would expect there to be a party on Halloween itself.

 

[HopperFan]

I do it all the time. I go knowing it might be more crowded but look at it as bonus time. We ride a few rides, wander some shops, eat our dinner (I'm doing it this week and we have a late dinner at Be Our Guest) and just kick off our trip with a no pressure just soak it in evening. Some trips it's just to grab a mickey bar and watch Wishes.

One trip we arrived at 7 pm, got to the park about 9 and enjoyed until midnight. It was great!!

 

[Chuckers]

We went last year about the same time you're going.. It may be Columbus Day weekend... if that's the case, the park will be more crowded than normal for October. Not extremely bad, but there will be more people.

 

[mastermind307]

I think we'll hit a park on arrival day, but now I'm thinking about other parks beside MK. My 3 options would be
Magic Kingdom - would be nice because we can just take the boat over
Get 3 FPs - not sure which ones yet
Walk around and enjoy the atmosphere and do anything else that doesn't have a long wait.

or Hollywood Studios - Since there's not much we want to do, this might be a good option.
The 4 things we want to do are: TSM, Star Tours, the drawing class, and DD wants to eat at 50's Prime Time.
If there's time we might do the Great Movie ride. DD will be tall enough for Rockin' Roller Coaster, but not sure if she'll want to ride it. She loves Everest at AK. We've seen all the shows and don't really care about seeing them again.

or EPCOT -
DD favorite ride is Test Track so we would ride that and then hit some other stuff in Future World. We would stay away from World Showcase, it will probably be crowded due to the Food and Wine Festival.

We'll have 6 park days, 2 at MK and EPCOT and 1 at HS and AK. Which park would be the best to hit on our arrival day for about 4 hours?

 

[DisneyFive]

We've always gone to a park on arrival day, however it specifically has NOT been Magic Kingdom. Simply our preference though. We want to save MK for our first or second full day, see the opening show, and make the day of it. Absolutely nothing wrong with hitting MK on your arrival day, I totally understand why people would want to.

We typically do Epcot on arrival day, and our very first trip did Hollywood Studios. Both great options. Just be aware that HS can close a little earlier than Epcot some days.

We figure about 3 1/2 hours from landing until you can set foot in a park. Since you are arriving around noon, you'll have a good 5+ hours of park time depending on which park you want to do. For the minimal additional cost, it's WELL worth it IMO.

Dan

 

[ajwolfe]

It's tradition for us to do MK on arrival day. We may not get a lot done, but we love going there first. And this way we can get in Wishes or a parade and be ahead of the game for later in our trip.

 

[DisneyFive]

And this way we can get in Wishes or a parade and be ahead of the game for later in our trip.

That's one very nice thing about doing MK on arrival day, if the weather is nice. You know you got to see Wishes in case weather is bad later in the trip on your MK day. The same can be said for Fantasmic on arrival day. If we do F! on arrival day, it's nice to know you got to see it. Same for Illuminations at Epcot. Same for Animal... oh wait... no nighttime show ...

Dan

 

[Chuckers]

I always do Epcot on arrival day because tradition is my first on-site dinner is at Via Napoli. After dinner, if MK is open later than Epcot (and it usually is) I'll go over to MK to catch fireworks and just walk around the park at night. I love all the parks at night, they're so beautiful.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We always go to MK on arrival day. We usually are checking in around 9-10 am and then head straight to MK. I'm not "in" WDW until I see the castle. We get some good rides in and watch Wishes and the parade. For us it's not getting Wishes out of the way since we must watch it on arrival day and our last full day at the parks. I think the ride situation would be even better since we will get 3 FP+ to start with.

Next trip I'm thinking of making a CM ADR for a very late breakfast and then heading to MK. I'm kind of afraid of this because of the no show fee.

 

[Wood Nymph]

I would give yourself at least three hours from the time you land until the time you walk in the gates of MK. The WL is usually the third stop on the Magical Express. It stops at Poly and GF first. It is definitely worth it to go to MK from VWL. The bus ride takes five minutes and the bus depot is right outside of the villas.

 

[texasgingerbread]

I would give yourself at least three hours from the time you land until the time you walk in the gates of MK. The WL is usually the third stop on the Magical Express. It stops at Poly and GF first. It is definitely worth it to go to MK from VWL. The bus ride takes five minutes and the bus depot is right outside of the villas.

So does it go to Poly or GF first? In that order first poly then GF? Or vice versa. TIA!

 

[texasgingerbread]

After checking in, I would like to go over to MK. I thought I could get fastpasses for 3 things and get those taken care and maybe do some other things that don't have long waits. Then on the day I planned to do MK later in our trip, we won't have as many things we want to do. It's not that much to add a day to our tickets, so would this be worth it? Assuming the park is open late and it's not a party night.

i'm doing this in May on my arrival date which is a Sunday so bigger crowds at MK. If you keep my name and PM me when I return I'll let you know how it goes. I'm planning on this as "bonus" time at MK because I'm planning on 2 days at MK later (I'll be there 7 days total including this day). I *think* I'm going to try for 3:00 parade FP and then 2 other ones that are crazy busy and then go to Akershus for dinner. That's the plan right now...

 

[jmkjr72]

We are doing this on our may trip The first time I'm doing a park on arrival day.
we land an 1210 stayin at blt have ads at crt for 700
dgf wanted to do the most disney thing she could on arrival day as she has never been so we are doing mk and a princess dinner
I was thinking about 4 5 and 8 for fast passes if we can get them

 

[sharona]

I agree with the previous poster who commented that MK is a must on arrival day. Walking down Main St. with castle in sight is the start of the trip for us. Because of the later arrival we have always considered any rides on arrival day to be a bonus and just focused on the atmosphere and soaking the FL warmth into our cold New England bones. Now with FP+ you are guaranteed at least 3 rides with short waits, that makes it even more attractive.