First Day

[kshark1958]

My family always stays one week Saturday to Saturday whenever we visit WDW. In the past we always got an early flight 8am or earlier from Philly so we could get a day at one of the parks on our first day. This year we are thinking about taking it a little slower and taking a late morning or early afternoon flight and just enjoying that first day at one of the pools or just plain relaxing and starting our days at the parks on Sunday instead of that mad rush on the first day. As anyone else used this strategy and what your thought are.Thank you ahead of time for all your responses.

 

[kniquy]

You need to plan what your family wants or needs. The one reason why we like to get in an extra park day in is because an extra day on our ticket doesn't really add much to the total cost of our trip and more importantly it gives us 3 extra FP. Even if you were to still take a later flight get to WDW early afternoon you could go to a park just for a couple hours and then back to the resort when your room would likely be ready and have a relaxing evening. Just my 2 cents.

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

I’ve done both and they work for different reasons. This past Dec we had an early flight with plans to hit the park when we got there but it was pouring. The resort was packed with people and of course our room wasn’t ready so it was quite boring. Couldn’t even access the community hall because it was so crowded. I was wishing we all hadn’t woken at 4am to get an early flight. One year we booked a flight the evening before and a one night room at an all star since flight options our original arrival day weren’t very good. We loved feeling relaxed, getting a good night sleep and feeling well rested the “first” day of the original trip.

 

[Dracarys]

We are flying from mountain time so our super early flight still gets us there after lunch. Plus, we are traveling with 3 young kids (6, 3, 1). We always make travel day a relaxing day. We usually plan a character or special dinner to get us in the spirit of Disney. As the kids get older maybe we’ll be able to make our travel days park days as well, but for now we enjoy our slower day once we arrive on property.

 

[Magical2017]

We never visit a park on check in day. I like to get settled at the resort, book dinner somewhere, and chill. Even if we had APs we would get a good night's rest and hit the parks on day 2.

 

[Memorymakerfor4]

I've done both and really prefer a relaxed first day. Last summer we booked Mickey's Backyard BBQ the first night as our "opener" and it was the perfect activity to really psych everyone up for the rest of our trip. I also feel like we got to pause and appreciate our resort for a bit too, something that doesn't happen when we hit the parks right away. Like a previous poster said, if I were to do another 1st day park visit, I'd just plan to hit fast passes and easy attractions after lunch the first day. I'll never book another 6 a.m. flight out with kids (what were we thinking?!?).

 

[heynowirv]

We like to fly in on an evening flight say Friday and spend Saturday just relaxing. As it turns out his April our first day we are doing MM at DHS (we're paying 95.) on Saturday so we will spend that day chilling by the resort and maybe Disney Springs earlier in the day since we are staying at SSR.

 

[LRdismom]

I always fly in early morning. I'm usually exhausted by the end of the day but I just can't help myself because I don't sleep well the night before anyhow and I'm so excited to start my vacation! I also like getting to the airport while there is no traffic on the road. I do see the advantage to flying in later in the day because flights are sometimes cheaper and you can get a full nights rest before starting the next full day at Disney.

 

[FFMickey]

We used to head to a park right off the DME, but now we enjoy the resort the first night we are there. This takes into account any delays that may happen with flights and transportation. We also don't make any ADRs that night and just eat where we want. This makes us ready to go the next day, bright and early (at least for me and not DW).

 

[miTnosnhoJ]

We drive, and have APs, so we will usually drive as far as Jacksonville the day before. Then we arrive at Disney in time to visit a park and use fast passes. We usually go to MK because it is easy to get to from VGF. We have also had good luck checking in early, but we don’t count on it.

 

[gharter]

Our arrival day is usualaly spent enjoying the resort and Disney Springs, then a good restaurant at night.

 

[kboo]

I think it depends on where you are staying. We like the early AM flight because our kids are little and get up early anyway - so it's not horrible for them to get up a few hours earlier. We are usually at an MK or EP resort, so we usually check in, have a casual lunch, and head to the nearest park (especially if our room isn't ready). If the room is ready, we may go up, have a nap, and then go do some afternoon FPs. First night dinner is usually low key - in the MK area, we usually go directly from MK to 1900 Park Fare, and then back for an early bedtime.

Last Thanksgiving, because of flights, we went to the airport after our kids got out of school. It was supposed to land around 9pm, but was delayed so we landed around 11pm! We booked one night at the Hyatt at the airport (and still saved a few hundered $ on airfare), then went downstairs, had breakfast and got on an early DME bus - it left before most of the early AM flights arrived, and was very quick.

 

[jbh275]

We like to to arrive in the afternoon, relax and catch Fantasmic that first night. We get there early enough to get good seats. Since it's our only mission for the day, it's a very relaxing and we knock that off our list right away.

 

[Liv&Leah]

We don't usually do any parks the first day. That's our chill day. We know we will be back, so we don't feel rushed and just ease into our vacation. We unpack, walk around the resort, swim, etc.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I just cannot get up that early to get an early morning flight, my hats off to those of you who can! I also do not book an ADR on arrival day because travel is so variable. I do book 3 FPs for late evening in CASE we care to visit a park and we do have AP.

 

[Disneylvr1971]

We've done both. On the later day flights, we get unpacked then usually head over the DS and have dinner and relax.

 

[CraigInPA]

My wife and I have sworn off the Saturday early morning flight from Philadelphia to Orlando, after experiencing the seemingly endless wait at DME time and time again. The last time we did it, we arrived at MCO around 9:30, and didn't board a bus until 10:45, getting us to BLT shortly before noon. Now, we either fly on Friday morning with significantly lower crowds, or we come in at night and stay at the airport Hyatt and catch the very first bus out of MCO in the morning.