Downtown Disney - Right away or later in the trip

[mom2randj]

This will be our first trip to WDW and we will be arriving on a Sunday afternoon around 3:00 ish. Do we have time to hit a park or would it be best to try DTD first for dinner and some shopping. DD is 10 and DS is 8 and the lego store is a definite stop for us. I just don't know if it would be better to start our trip there or visit DTD on a night after visiting one of the other parks like AK. TIA for your responses.

 

[brdlyleon]

I know I've been wondering the same thing...You definately have time to hit a park after arriving so it depends on how many days you will be there and what you're shopping for. If you're there for more than a week, I'd say you can wait it out and go later on, like on an AK day...but if you wanna get some cool merch, like clothing or pins, you should def. fit DD in first. That way, you can wear the shirt, hat, pin, or anything during your trip. If you have plenty of time, I recommend going that same day, having a nice dinner, then just hitting the shops. Good luck and have fun!

 

[CathieArms]

Personally, I prefer to save it for one of the last few days of our trip. The reason for this is because there are a lot of fun stores that I might wish to purchase something, but only after I've seen what's available in the park and decided where I'd like to spend my money.

 

[mom2randj]

Thanks for the replies. We will be arriving on a Sunday and leaving early Saturday morning. I think my kids will definitely like the lanyard/pin collecting and we will probably have them save their $$ so they can buy some stuff while we are there, but in the same sense, I don't want to go nuts buying souveniers and such.

 

[Dismom55]

We like to do DTD in about the Middle of the trip, first I donot like carrying packages, so I want to go soon enough to have them delivered to our resort. So we tend to do one day in each of the parks do DTD then one more day in each of the parks (if our trip is long enough for that). We do a trip to the local Walmart in the beginning, first for snacks and breakfast stuffs and good prices on gift souvies for those folks back home. Then we can concentrate on what souvies we want for ourselves. (We only pick up a few gift items, but we do some gifting.)

 

[kent285]

And, also note that weekends tend to be really busy since a lot of locals will be there, too.

 

[Marleen2]

Maybe it might depend also on how eager your kids will be to go to the parks. Whenever we go to WDW, even after 20 hours of travelling (we usually arrive about 9-10pm), while all I can really think of is going to bed, THEIR mind is on catching some Extra Magic!
They're both so over-enthousiastic about being at WDW again, that I really can't refuse

We usually go to DTD a few days later, after we visited some of the parks.

 

[mickey50]

I would suggest taking it easy you first get there. Downtown disney and dinner is a greay way to get started. This way you can get a good night sleep and hit the parks early the next day.

Have a magical time!!!

 

[ktlm]

We usually take a flight that gets in around 2:30 and we always go to the parks the first night. We usually get to the park between 4:30 and 5:30. We usually book an ADR for a TS dinner, so we have kind of a relaxing first night. We never book anything really important that we would be upset if we missed because we know that flights can be delayed etc. Depending on the park hours and crowd predictions, we will either go to MK, or Epcot. Of course, with it being your kids first trip, they may want to go, go, go, the minute they hit a park not sit down and eat! The think about DTD the first night is that there are so many gift shops and things at the parks that if you do your shopping the first night, they may find so many more things they would have rather bought. We usually do DTD on AK night. Actually, if it weren't for DD, I wouldn't care if we did DTD at all, and I'm a big shopper. It just takes too much time to get there and back from the resorts; almost everything you can find there you can find in the parks to buy (except for the Lego store stuff); and it is usually too crowded. Of course, the Lego store is a big priority for you, so that makes a difference. We have a Lego store in our mall at home and DD isn't really into them anyway, so it is no big deal for us.

 

[minnierocks]

DTD is always our first night activity...usually we drive and it's a great way to relax before going full-force in the parks for 7 days. One trip, I decided that we would catch the parade/fireworks on the first night instead and the kids were not thrilled with that idea. They really missed going to DTD upon arrival! We usually do a little shopping, have dinner (Earl of Sandwich or WPE), and then stroll for a bit after dark. It allows for us to get back to the resort at a decent time for bed and be well rested for the next day at the parks.

 

[OKW Lover]

If you arrive at 3:00 you've got lots of time to do a park. You don't say when you are going, but at the very least, Epcot will be open until 9:00. Plenty of time.

 

[mom2randj]

If you arrive at 3:00 you've got lots of time to do a park. You don't say when you are going, but at the very least, Epcot will be open until 9:00. Plenty of time.

We arrive Oct. 23rd (a Sunday). I haven't even booked flights yet but I believe we will be arriving at the airport around 1:30ish and I figured it would take us a couple of hours to get to the resort and checked in before we are ready to go.

I am leaning towards going to a park and doing a TS dinner now b/c I know we will be hungry and would enjoy a relaxing dinner.

I also like the idea of DTD after AK day.

 

[Bonnie40]

Another vote for going to DTD on the evening you arrive!

It became a tradition for our family and my kids still talk about arriving, checking in and heading to DTD! It's a great way to get in the Disney mood, without hitting a park right out of the gate. It's also a good way to get the toy shopping out of the way....if your kids are anything like mine were, they had they're own spending $ and were dying to spend it!

DTD has great shopping and letting them pick up something stops the bugging about buying stuff when you're in the parks!

DTD in the evening is lovely....grab a sandwich at Earl's, sit outside and have the kids play in the water feature (bring a towel or an extra shirt!) Great memories!

 

[jennyf2]

DTD is great & we usually make on stop on our arrival day. We spend time looking around the shops, grab a quick bite, & my favorite--people watch We usually go back a few times during our trip for QS lunches & we always see a late night movie at the theater (Disney tradition)...

Have a great time!!!!

 

[ktlm]

We arrive Oct. 23rd (a Sunday). I haven't even booked flights yet but I believe we will be arriving at the airport around 1:30ish

If our flight was getting in at 1:30ish, there is no way we would not go to a park that day! You can probably be inside of a park right around 3:30 which gives you alot of time to play!

 

[Disney999]

I think it depends on how tired you and your family will be. I usually go to DTD the first night but that's because I'm exhausted. We have to fly across country to get to WDW. I wouldn't want to waste one of my park days being so tired.

 

[Christine9125]

We always go to DTD on our first night for dinner at Earl's, we will be doing the same thing with our next trip.

 

[LoriABil]

Our first trip, we waited until later in the trip. I wish we had gone sooner! The T-shirt store and a nice dinner are always one of our first stops now. We make our T-shirts, go window shopping, and eat dinner. Then, we pick the T-shirts up on our way out. We all wear our shirts one day at the parks.

Later during our trip (usually on the water park or resort day) we will head back to DTD to pick up any souvenirs we saw that we couldn't live without and go to Goofy's or Ghirardelli's for a treat!

This works for us because of our goofy T-shirt tradition and we get a chance to see what is available at the parks and think about purchases instead of impulsively buying!

 

[Frannie115]

We get in mid-afternoon and hit DTD that evening. Love the dining and shopping. We'll usually go back again before we leave.

 

[dave 2]

We always arrive late pm and head straight for DD and Lego store. Will be 3rd time we do this next Thursday although Lego is at temp location while awaiting renos. I guess we'll have to ga 4th to check it out!