Downtown Disney - Right away or later in the trip

[disneydiva16]

We are arriving on a saturday afternoon and will go to DTD once we put our suitcases in the hotel room. We always go our first day there to have dinner and shop then back to hotel to swim in pool. It's a great way for our family to start our Disney trip

 

[snipe523]

We generally do DTD on the first day as well as a few other times while we are there. The reason for the first day is that we drive straight through from NY to get there, and usually arrive somewhere around 3pm or so. Because of this we are usually to worn out to go near a park on the first night. A nice leisurely stroll through DTD is always nice after being in a car for ~20hrs.

 

[dragonfly08]

I like to do DTD the first night. Dinner at Earl of Sandwich, dessert at Ghirardelli, and some ornament shopping. That way I have time for personalization and resort delivery, plus I know I have it out of the way because it's something of a tradition to give my kids Disney ornaments for the holidays in years we've visited there.

My kids are not night owls, so if we arrive after lunch, we simply wouldn't have enough time in a park before they're too tired. I prefer that they be well rested and ready to go in the morning for our first full day, and it makes for a nicer trip for everybody.

 

[Vinnya1726]

I would cast my vote with those who say to do DTD on an animal kingdom day. My kids are way to excited when we get to Disney to go shopping. I always like to get the kids to the parks either MK or EPCOT to see some characters or for a nice dinner. I actually prefer EPCOT on the first night, dinner in Norway with the Princesses and then the World Showcase. It is a nice leisurely way to start.

 

[~Tonga Wingo~]

I like DTD on AK day since AK closes so early. That is what I have planned for my upcoming trip.

I would vote for a park. Personally, I like to start in MK and end in MK. I would see which parks might have some EMHs to take advantage of. Or maybe do the Wishes Dessert Party your first night there. Treat the kids to dessert for dinner

 

[smb6]

I think you will have plenty of time to check out DTD on your arrival day.

I personally do not like to do DTD after a day in the parks, because I'm just so tired after being in the parks the last thing I want to do is do more walking...

You mentioned the kids wanting to start pin collecting. I would encourage you to make this purchase beforehand on ebay. Pay attention to the sellers wording and make sure they are authentic Disney pins. But if you are starting pin collecting from scratch- this is a great way to get started without breaking the bank. You can also buy Disney lanyards on ebay. I did this for all my kids first visits. Now that they have started their collection, they do buy pins at Disney- but it would have been very costly to buy them several pins each to get their collection started at Disney.....

 

[HannahHeartsDisney]

We are coming in on a Saturday and are heading to DTD that evening just for the fact that we don't want to spend a whole days ticket on half of a day. This will still get us in the Disney mood, for FREE, and it will be a good time filler for our first day. Then the rest of the trip will be spent at the parks!

 

[Harters2WDW]

Another arrival day vote! Of course, we drive in and just need the down time to get ourselves ready for a rope drop the next morning. Now, I say that and last time we did both DTD and a park! This year we will do DTD (On Friday!) and see if we can resist the urge to pop into a park!

 

[lblume91]

After a 15 hour drive, we prefer to relax at POR the afternoon we arrive. We usually get there around 4:00 or 5:00. We get settled in our room before heading to the food court for dinner. Then we go to the gift shop to look around & to load gift cards with the money our DDs have worked hard to earn at home. By this time, we're usually ready to head back to the room & get a good night's sleep for rope drop the next morning.

Back in '06, we promised the girls that we'd go to DTD after we checked in. It was crazy busy & we all got pretty grouchy with one another. Lesson learned.