"Help" What should we do on first day

[swoodard]

The day is almost here for our first trip
Our flight lands at 2:00 pm Friday June 9th with son 11, daughter 7 and dear wife. We will be staying at POP and will be there for 8 days. Where and what should we do when we arrive? Should we head to AK or Epcot or where....we are so excited we dont know where to go Please give us some ideas and what some of you guys do on the first day.

 

[chrismom3]

I'm excited for you since this is your 1st trip to Disney!! (We'll be there next month - )

We usually like to just relax on the first day. You can get pretty tired travelling (especially if you're flying). We would just settle in at the hotel - go for a swim, have something to eat and get a good night sleep so we can be up and ready to go pretty early the next morning (6:00ish). We don't feel like we're at Disney unless we've walked down Main Street at MK, so that is the first park we'd visit in the morning.

If you're a little more adventurous then us (or really excited to "get started") you may want to check in at the hotel and maybe go to Epcot for dinner (make your ADR's "now") and catch Illuminations at 9:00. Or maybe run over to MK for the parade and fireworks.

Have a safe trip and "have fun"!!!!!

 

[littlebigdog]

We usually arrive about the same time of day, but we are driving there. We'll be checking in at POP on the 10th for a 9 day stay and will probably just get something to eat and maybe go to DTD. We have also went to the parks before on our first day. I guess it just depends on what you would really like to see or do first. Whatever you decide I'm sure you will all have fun after all you will be at Disney!!

Hope you and your family have a great trip!

 

[dakyak]

usually, we land around 11...we check into the hotel and head off to EPCOT. We just HAVE to start our vacation off with a margarita from the cantina in Mexico. Eating lunch looking at the lagoon and the "big golf ball" always makes us feel like home.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Have a wonderful first trip!!! Have you made a little bit of a "schedule" at least noting what the hours are for each park, each day you are there? If I had never been to WDW before and I thought we'd be feeling up to it, I would go to the MK to see the night parade and Wishes.

Lots of people think that Animal Kingdom is 1/2 a day park, and it's opened until 8 on the 9th, so that's a good suggestion, if you want to get started. Don't miss the Festival of the Lion King, I think that would be a great place to begin.

Bobbi

 

[Microcell]

I would go to MK because it is my favorite park! I think Wishes is so stinkin magical it could really start things off right for you.

If you don't want to go to a park we typically do Downtown Disney, We usually get Disney Quest tickets for our first evening, the kids would really like that. Many interactive games and arcade games as well.

This time DH and I decided against buying them, and feel kind of sad that we will be missing it.

Discountorlandovacation.com has them for : $27.50 for adult, 23.50 for kids on sale.

 

[Katesdad]

Use this as one of your non-park days, walk around and look at the POP, go to the TTC and hop the monorail and explore the CR, Poly and GF. Go over to Fort Wilderness and visit the horse barn or the Lodge. Get some rest and attack the parks tomorrow.

Have fun and remember to relax, you are on vacation.

 

[Evil Queen]

Not flying, but driving from South Florida. We use to arrive early in the morning and hit the parks after pre-check in. But last trip we arrived the afternoon before we planned on hitting the parks.

We loved having the night to relax if we wanted. We didn't feel rushed that we HAD to do something. Last year we hit DTD and Disney Quest the night that we arrived. This year we will play a round of mini golf and make our 1st ADR's of the trip.

This makes us fresh and ready to hit the parks the next morning.

 

[DizChick05]

We always get in around 1:00, and use it as an "explore" day. we check-in, look at the room, drop the suitcases and head to Beaches and Cream at the YC. Then, we may head to epcot, do a little Future World, eat our way through the world showcase, and catch Illuminations on the boat ride back!

 

[WINTER]

We are arriving in July and staying at POP. We should be checking in around 4ish in the PM. I plan on relaxing by the pool for awhile; then off for supper. After our meal we will take the resort monorail from the MK and explore the resorts on the monorail (GF/Contemp/Poly), and maybe hit DTD. Just enjoying the world!

 

[metsfan11]

We are arriving at POP in August. We usually land at around noonish and chill at the hotel. But this year, we have park tickets for the day we arrive. We booked the Fantasmic Dinner Package for Hollywood and Vine. I figure that a nice ride on TOT and RNRC then some Fantasmic is a great way to start the trip!

 

[LSDisney]

The day is almost here for our first trip
Our flight lands at 2:00 pm Friday June 9th with son 11, daughter 7 and dear wife. We will be staying at POP and will be there for 8 days. Where and what should we do when we arrive? Should we head to AK or Epcot or where....we are so excited we dont know where to go Please give us some ideas and what some of you guys do on the first day.

When we went last year in July we were in the exact situation you are in. Our plane landed at around 2 as well. We didnt actually get to the resort until like 3:30, and we took Disney's Magical Express Service from the Orlando Airport. By the time we checked into to POP, it might have been around 4:30. We went to the room and rested from the long trip for a while. Then we decided to head for a park. We went to the park that had the Extra Magic Hours. I think it was Magic Kingdom that night, Well anyway, during summer all the parks except Animal Kingdom have EMH till bout 3am. Animal only has EMH till around 9pm.

Head for the park with Evening Exrta Magic Hours that night!

Hope it helps!

 

[sameyeyam]

We like to check into hotel, explore, let the kids swim. Pop has lots of great photo op's, so walk around and take some great photos of the kids in front of the giant props.

Our usual first night is we have a dinner reservation (around 7-8pm) in Downtown Disney. We wander around and enjoy the sights and start getting into the Disney mood. Then we let the kids stop by the Under $10 store and buy a Disney grab bag (about $7) so they have some little souvenirs and something fun to play with.

Then we go to bed early so we can be at whatever park we choose first thing in the morning when they open up. There are usually not long lines in the morning and you can ride LOTS of rides with virtually no wait.

 

[jmskinner]

This is also my first trip, arriving July 1. We are flying & will arrive at Noon. We are meeting the MIL and DSD who are driving. Thought we would check in, have lunch, and then will head to TL since it is open until 10:00. I have read that the water parks get full, but would we be able to get in around 4 or 5?

 

[Evil Queen]

This is also my first trip, arriving July 1. We are flying & will arrive at Noon. We are meeting the MIL and DSD who are driving. Thought we would check in, have lunch, and then will head to TL since it is open until 10:00. I have read that the water parks get full, but would we be able to get in around 4 or 5?

You should, the folks that hit it at opening will probably be heading out by then. We never could make it past 3 or 4 ourselves in a waterparks. Can't guarantee you'll find an empty chair or two, but you may. We hardly ever use chairs, we just pick one and put all our stuff (that we don't put into the locker) on it.

 

[WINTER]

Our usual first night is we have a dinner reservation (around 7-8pm) in Downtown Disney. We wander around and enjoy the sights and start getting into the Disney mood. Then we let the kids stop by the Under $10 store and buy a Disney grab bag (about $7) so they have some little souvenirs and something fun to play with.



For those who have purchased the grab bags, what are usually in them?

 

[my2boys1821]

I can't imagine going all the way to the World not going to one of the parks on the first day.

I know traveling is tiring and all but I would be jumping out of my pants if I had to sit around and wait for the following day to arrive.

We will be there in 2 weeks. Yooo Hoo! And our plan is to check in, relax at the hotel and pool for just a brief while. Head out to MK for dinner and a few sites and rides and watch WISHES!!!

I can't imagine a more magical evening!

 

[mamagoose]

We're leaving for our first family trip a week from tomorrow, but we will be arriving at the airport about 2 hours later than you. We are staying at AS Sports. We are planning on getting some dinner--probably in our resort--and then head over to ride the monorail. My kids are very excited about riding the monorail and we thought seeing the Magic Kingdom and Epcot while riding would be a good relaxing way to start our vacation. Then maybe we'll have time for a late swim. We won't head to the parks until the next day. Have fun!

 

[familyfirsttimer]

You have gotten a lot of good suggestions, I will tel you what we did last year on our 1st trip (me, DH DD6 & DD3). We got to POP @noon an dunpacked, chilled a little in the room. We wnt to MK walked down MainStreet and took some pics, and rode Small World, got a Mickey Bar and headed back to the hotel to shower, rest, change. Everyone was a little cranky during this time since we had been up since 4am and no one actaully fell asleep (this is when I begain questioning my decision to book a trip LOL!

Well, ee had dinner at Chef Mickey's @8 and it was WONDERFUL! Awesome character interation, good-enough food and a really really fun time. It really put ALL of us in the Disney spirit , plus the next day, my girls were not so crzay to have to seen the characters since they had just seen a bunch last night. It was great, we just did characters if they had a short line and we wanted to. this year we are doing Chef Mickey's 1st night again, we have decided to make it our family tradition.

Sorry this is a long post! BTW, you can see Wishes from a balcony on the side of the CR (same floor as ChefMickey). It is nothing like seing it in the park but, it was pretty cool to see that before heading off to bed.

Anything you do, you will have fun, you're in Disney! Have a magical trip.

 

[swoodard]

You all have so many good ideas
I really like the idea of hopping on the monorail and seeing it all first. I also like dinner We did not make any reservations to any sit down resturants and I assume its too late. We will have play it by ear on the meals I guess.