How do you spend your first night in Disney?

[nana1765]

Trying to decide if I should Make reservations for our first night at Disney. we are a party of 10, staying at the Riviera. Not doing parks that day/night. should we eat and hang around hotel or make reservations for Disney Springs?

 

[schuyleredge]

We have done both! We usually either enjoy an afternoon at the pool and then grab quick service or we will make a reservation and go to Disney Springs for dinner and dessert. Before Covid, we usually would spend the afternoon at the pool and order room service. It was so nice!
But....I think it depends on what you want to do after traveling that day and if you all want to stay together versus splitting up and people doing their own thing.

You will be in Disney either way, so whatever you decide will be fun!

 

[SLThomas318]

I would say it depends on travel plans (flying vs driving, early vs later flights) and if there are any little ones in the group. We fly and have young kids. It's about an hour drive to the airport and a 2.5 hr flight for us, so by the time we get to the resort they are ready to get some energy out so we always plan on heading to the pool. I am always hesitant to make an ADR for arrival day because I just never know what everyone will be up for or what time we can get into our room and I don't want to risk canceling. If it was all adults I would def. consider dinner/shopping at Disney Springs.... you can also just do one of the quick service at Disney Springs if you don't want to be tied to a reservation time.

 

[Smugpugmug]

I usually don't make dining reservations on my arrival day and instead do a quick service at Disney Springs (Earl of Sandwich being my favorite). This may just be me, but I do that as a safe than sorry thing since flight delays and traffic on the road have been more and more common. I flew to Orlando on 5/7 where I had an almost 5 hour delay. The absolute last thing I wanted to worry about was whether I would be able to get to my reservation on time or not.

 

[snikki]

It really depends on how long you’ll be traveling (is this after a 2 hour flight or a 10 hour drive), what time will you be getting up that day for travel (3 am vs 8 am), ETA (noon or 5 pm), the makeup of your party (adults, small kids), etc. If it was a short travel day with mostly adults I would grab dinner at DS. A long travel day with kids in the mix I would do the pool and QS at the hotel.

When the kids were young we flew in or drove and we would chill out that first day. We were tired from traveling with small kids. Now that the kids are teens/adults we usually take a 6 am flight, land around 8-8:30 and are in MK by 11 am and stay until close. It’s a long day with a dinner ADR but it really took a toll on our last trip. To the point that we didn’t enjoy day 2 at the parks and day 3 was iffy.

Next trip were flying in the evening before and won’t be landing until 9 pm. We will just go to the resort, unpack and if we’re hungry grab food. I plan on eating at the airport before takeoff. PHL has decent dining options to kick off vacation.

 

[nana1765]

I usually don't make dining reservations on my arrival day and instead do a quick service at Disney Springs (Earl of Sandwich being my favorite). This may just be me, but I do that as a safe than sorry thing since flight delays and traffic on the road have been more and more common. I flew to Orlando on 5/7 where I had an almost 5 hour delay. The absolute last thing I wanted to worry about as whether I would be able to get to my reservation on time or not.

so true! Airlines have been inconsistent lately, Im thinking quick service will be the way to go.

 

[wabbott]

Since you're at the Riviera, and are on the Skyliner, an hour or two learning the route and how it connects might be something to do. Plus you have the Boardwalk, Yacht Club, and Beach Club restaurants that are adjacent to the EPCOT International Gateway station.

 

[nana1765]

It really depends on how long you’ll be traveling (is this after a 2 hour flight or a 10 hour drive), what time will you be getting up that day for travel (3 am vs 8 am), ETA (noon or 5 pm), the makeup of your party (adults, small kids), etc. If it was a short travel day with mostly adults I would grab dinner at DS. A long travel day with kids in the mix I would do the pool and QS at the hotel.

When the kids were young we flew in or drove and we would chill out that first day. We were tired from traveling with small kids. Now that the kids are teens/adults we usually take a 6 am flight, land around 8-8:30 and are in MK by 11 am and stay until close. It’s a long day with a dinner ADR but it really took a toll on our last trip. To the point that we didn’t enjoy day 2 at the parks and day 3 was iffy.

Next trip were flying in the evening before and won’t be landing until 9 pm. We will just go to the resort, unpack and if we’re hungry grab food. I plan on eating at the airport before takeoff. PHL has decent dining options to kick off vacation.

we will be flying out of Philly as well! Early morning (hopefully).

 

[nana1765]

Since you're at the Riviera, and are on the Skyliner, an hour or two learning the route and how it connects might be something to do. Plus you have the Boardwalk, Yacht Club, and Beach Club restaurants that are adjacent to the EPCOT International Gateway station.

Perfect!! thank you

 

[gregskellington]

With flight unpredictability these days I only make arrival reservations via OpenTable, since you can cancel those same day easily.

 

[nana1765]

With flight unpredictability these days I only make arrival reservations via OpenTable, since you can cancel those same day easily.

unfortunately, very true!

 

[gregskellington]

unfortunately, very true!

Sad, but it's a nice excuse to have a lady resort or pool day/evening! For my July trip I think we will try to hit up a resort lounge or two for snacks instead of a sit down meal. Lots of options

 

[MICKIMINI]

We don't make reservations just in case our flight is late. We'll be at BLT Saturday so when we arrive we'll take the monorail over to the Poly and eat at Capt'n Cooks.

IF we get in on time and our room is ready (unlikely), we'll head over to EPCOT to see Tony Orlando and have a snack or crepe for dinner. Day of travel is stressful enough, so we'll just be happy to be on vacation!

 

[k5xs]

As you’re staying at a deluxe resort, make sure you aren’t missing out on an Extended Magic Hours night that evening.

We just returned from a stay at the Swan. Even though we didn’t arrive in our resort until 7pm, we beat feet for EPCOT and enjoyed near walk-on rides and great nibbles until 11pm.

 

[Bellex917]

This last trip we didn't make a reservation, and we had the BEST night. We ended up just eating at the quick service at the resort, but then took the Skyliner to Epcot and walked to Beaches and Cream and got ice cream at the window and sat outside at Beach Club. It was night time and the lights at the Boardwalk were amazing across the lake. It was a true highlight of the whole trip for me.

 

[MomOTwins]

On our first three disney trips we made ADRs, multiple hours after scheduled to arrive. All three times we had some sort of delay—and had to rush from our resort to the meal after dropping off bags. Twice we made it just barely on time, and one time we were late and they already gave away our table but let us wait for another. So it wasn’t a total loss, but was stressful enough we no longer book arrival day ADRs. Instead I wait until we arrive at the resort and drop off our bags and then open the app and see if anything is available for the night that looks appealing. If not, we’ll eat quick service or at a lounge/bar at our hotel.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Relaxing/non park activities. We’ve done the Fantasia Gardens mini golf, the surrey bike rides, pool. We’ve done Disney Springs and just had stuff at the hotel.

Flight delays messed us up royally in 2019. We got to POR at 9:30 pm and we were all HANGRY.

In 2021 when we started at universal (and I’d you read my trip report you know this) and because people in my family barely ate any breakfast it caused mass chaos especially since we headed right towards the parks.

I cannot stress enough to not head to the parks day one. You need that time to make sure everything is ok at your resort and for everyone to be able to breath and relax a bit.

 

[PrincessMati]

First night is all about relaxing at pools for us! We have nothing planned since there may be unexpected delays. Since you are staying at Riviera I would recomend a quick walk to Banana Cabana, love it!

 

[diser_fam]

We drive, so we don't have to worry about the chances of flights being delayed, only traffic issues. We have been fortunate to not encounter anything major. We usually arrive on a Saturday and have a 10 hour drive. We leave on Friday at noon and drive 7 hours and stop somewhere along the way and drive in on Saturday, usually arriving around 2ish. Never rushing around.

We have been fortunate to have our room available either when we arrive or an hour within arriving. We usually explore the resort and then hit the pool once we have access to our room. First night is usually a dining reservation somewhere at Disney Springs and then walking around and doing some shopping.

 

[daisylovesdisney]

We like to just hang out the resort the first day, get settled and maybe some pool time. If they have a movie on the beach/lawn that's a nice first day activity.