Help me plan my arrival day/ First park day

[MAMACARLA]

We arrive on Septmeber 23 - a Thursday.

We will be up probably at 4 am to get on a 6:30 am flight from Seattle-SNA. Will get in at about 9 grab our bags and a shuttle or taxi and be at our hotel by 10am. (Either hojos or BWPPI) CHeck-in time is 4pm. A ECV should be waiting for me there.

Variables to consider while planning.

This is the first day of our 5-day park hopper.
My children are 4 and 6.
I want to set up a grocery delivery for that day at some time - I don't know how much say I have over the delivery window.
On subsequent days I will do 1 early morning and at least two late nights for WOC and Fantasmic on the weekend.
I plan to do a Goofy brunch sometime during the stay as well as a couple of meal reservations.
We want to see all the shows possible over the 5 days.

SO how should I structure that first day at the park considering we won't have a room until late afternoon, we will be traveling form very early and we want to get as much out of our visit as possible without killing ourselves on day one.

What would you do that first day????

Thanks for your ideas.

Carla

 

[QueenDoOver]

Well, if it was me...I would stay at HOJO's. Just arrange your groceries to arrive at anytime. They will accept the delivery and even put them in your fridge if you are not there.

On arrival, if the weather is nice and the kids are inclined, change their clothes and go for a swim.

Alternatively, head to the parks, take a train ride, do some pictures, ride whatever you want, get some fast passes, see some characters, eat lunch in the golden corral. When you are tired, head back to the hotel for a nap and/or swim. Rest and then head back for evening rides and fireworks if they are scheduled.

That should get you off to a good start!

 

[Brady's Mom]

It's very possible that the park hours will be 10-8 at DL and 10-6 at DCA, so if you get to the hotel before 10 you could be in the parks before rope drop. If you can last until dinnertime after being up so early, you could do as much as you can and then get an early night's sleep. If the hours are short, I don't think I would consider a nap and swim in the mid afternoon since it would cut into park hours a lot. (if your kids don't poop out too much)

You can check into the hotel anytime after you arrive - you will just not get a room until it's ready - usually around 3 or 4 ish in the afternoon. At HoJo they will happily store your luggage and there are some spacious bathrooms for freshening up before you head to the parks.

I haven't done grocery delivery, but understand that HoJo will accept delivery for you and hold your stuff if you are at DL.

Since it will be a Thurs. there will be MM at 9 am, so if you go to the parks right away, I would consider going left to Pirates, BTMRR, Pooh, and that side of the park and avoiding Fantasyland until the next day when you can get there before the park opens and be in line for PP right after you enter.

You could also consider going to DCA and riding TSMM and heading to Bug's land. If your little one is tall enough Soarin is a great ride for kids, too.

Hopefully the parks won't be very crowded and you can get a lot of stuff done on Thurs. and Fri. morning before the bigger weekend crowds hit.

HTH

 

[brenda1966]

In Sept on a thursday i'm guessing there isn't any night time entertainment -- no fireworks? Of not, I would plan to get into the parks and enjoy some rides, take in some of the scenery, a parade, etc. Make an early night of it, try to have your groceries delivered late if you can.

You're arriving early enough in the day that i'd just head straight into DL and enjoy!

 

[mhalpern]

I am not an expert on DLR so this is just my $.02. We have a similar situation. We are arriving late on a Friday night, flying in from the east coast. I want to get the most out of my 5 day pass too but I have no idea how the jet lag will affect my kids. Whether you arrive early in the morning or late the night before, travel is tiring. Therefore I have low expectations for "getting things done" on our first day. From what I have read 5 days is more than enough time so I don't want to push it on Day 1. We plan to get up when we get up and wander over to DTD to check it out. We have reservations for Goofy's Kitchen at noon so that will definitely get us a fix of characters. After that we will go to the park but mostly to get our barrings. We'll do what we can (considering it is a Saturday in the summer) but I'm not going to stress about a touring plan the first day. We will do WOC and F! later in the week. I want to start out at a nice relaxing pace - before the drill sargent in me appears later in the week.

BTW - we are staying at BWPPI and I found out that they will not store cold items for you. So if you are having things that need refrigeration delivered, you will want to be there when the delivery comes.