How Early Do You Like to Arrive at Your Hotel?

[kylenne]

We are early bird flight people in general, not just for Disney trips--I always try to leave on the first flight out unless going to Europe, to minimize delays. But for Disney I also do it to maximize the vacation. Fortunately we have a plethora of nonstop options coming from NYC. It’s just shy of a 3 hr flight so we typically get to MCO around 9-10am depending, and are generally at the resort by 10-11. We have decent luck with getting room ready texts while at the airport or on the way to property, but if not we just drop our bags off and head into the nearest park until we do. We always pack a park bag with our essentials and have it in our personal items, so we can just grab those and go.

For our upcoming September trip we’re doing it a bit differently though, and plan to have a more leisurely arrival day because 1) it's a nonparty day so MK is bound to be busier than I would like 2) we plan on doing EEH that night at MK instead and want to be refreshed enough to be able to hang given our super early morning. ofc I say this but I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up hopping the monorail to Epcot just to ride Cosmic Rewind. Any time we say we’re not doing parks we always end up popping into one for at least an hour or two.

We are leaving on the last flight out on departure day, per usual. I am genuinely unsure if we are doing any parks that day. We disembark from the Wish the day before, and as a treat are staying CL at Poly for the one night. We’ll still have access to the lounge so we may just have a leisurely pool day instead before heading to the airport.

 

[bakerworld]

Flashlight batteries???!!! What is the backstory on that?

Right?!? We all just looked at each other like, "Don't they all have cell phones?"

 

[japanese maple]

We used to take the first flight in the morning but found we were exhausted by mid afternoon. We now fly in the night before and either stay at the Hyatt at MCO or the swalphin depending on the time out flight arrives and prices. If we stay at the Hyatt we take a ride share first thing in the morning. If staying at swalphin we walk over to BWI and check in first thing. Either way we now get a full first day where we start out feeling rested.

We are trying it this way for the first time in December! We are supposed to land at MCO around 10 pm, staying there at the Hyatt and then going over to AKL around 10 am next morning.

We are excited to try this! It makes it easier for us to drop our cat off for boarding, come home, pack and then head to airport same day. And then when we wake up next morning, we will get breakfast somewhere in airport and watch all the people rushing about while we know we are just heading to AKL to start our stay!

 

[jimmymc]

I like arriving in the evenings if it means I don't need to use a vacation day. Then I'll ropedrop my first park on the first full day of the trip. I find that if I arrive the morning of a trip and immediately start doing things, I'm exhausted by the evening and don't get my value out of that day's park ticket.

 

[J&J]

This is always an interesting one for me- I've found that on the flight-related sections of this board, people always recommend cheaper flights that take you in at the evening. But to me, that kind of blows an entire expensive hotel night on doing nothing but arriving and going to bed. For me, the typical vacation starts with arriving in the afternoon and then spending hours at Disney Springs to take in all that and "get started"- otherwise I'd be doing the Springs the next day and it again might feel like a waste of a vacation day just wandering around shops, haha.

So what does everyone else do? Being from Western Canada, it takes me a LOT longer to get there than it would most Americans, so keep that in mind. Typically it's a 3+ hour flight to Toronto, and only then can we fly down, and you need a long layover if you're flying out of Toronto.

We arrive early check in even though the room will not ready. Then we head for the parks have a nice lunch. Then when we are called that the room is ready we go back and rest till the fireworks.
Don’t like night flights then go to bed rather go into the parks early.

 

[Hubie]

We're both retired (over 20 years now) and getting old (78 & 77). This will be our first trip to WDW that we won't have to catch a flight from MSN that leaves at 6 AM. We live an hour away from the Madison Airport and hate having to get up at 3:30 AM. We usually arrive at MCO around 12:30 - 2:30 PM after a layover at ATL. Sometimes to get a direct flight we've flown with family out of MKE (a two-hr. drive to get to that airport) on Southwest. We hate the 2-hr. drive home from there. But now we have a free companion ticket on Delta every year and fly from MSN, which has no direct flights.

We're DVC and for the past 4 years stayed at our favorite resort (SSR). Our room, however, has never been ready when we've arrived. We've always just checked our bags, got the pin number for our Magic Bands and taken the boat to DS. But the last couple of trips we've found ourselves pretty exhausted by the time we return to SSR on one of the last boats around 10:00 PM. Then we're a little worn down the next day, even when scheduling a late breakfast at one of the other resorts or on the BW for 9:30 - 10 AM.

This Fall, we're flying out of MSN at 11:11 AM and have a 3-hr. layover at Atlanta. We plan to find something to eat at the airport for an early dinner. Then we're supposed to arrive at MCO around 7:30 PM and will go by bus to SSR. I assume we'll arrive around 9 PM, get our Magic Band pin number and go to our room for the night. I'm hoping to then be well-rested for the next day.

We also don't go into the parks anymore. Been there done that (RD every morning until close) many times with the kids, grandkids, and when the crowding plus the prices weren't so insane. We now just enjoy having a leisurely breakfast at one of the WDW resorts and spending some time at that resort before heading to DS hopefully before the crowds arrive. We then return to SSR around 12 - 1 PM by boat. After a relaxing rest we go back to DS by boat around 4 - 5 PM for an early dinner. Afterwards we take in the shopping and nightly entertainment offered there until around 10 or 10:30 PM.

 

[yaksack]

We usually do early flights and have a pool day when we arrive. Unfortunately, our room never seems to be ready before 4p.

 

[disneyseniors]

We always fly early in the AM, even if it's around 6 am. We have a 3 hour flight so we usually get there at about 11am or noon. We rest during the flight and are ready to check in and get our park passes (Universal). Then we get something to eat and head out to the parks. We find that the later flights can be delayed or have problems in the past, so we stick with early mornings, but we are morning people.

 

[MabelM]

Depends one flight schedules and when we can leave. For our next trip, I am trying to get a flight on Friday night so we don’t lose all of Saturday. With limited vacation, I try it maximize what we can do. If not, we take an early flight and go straight to the parks.

 

[PatsGirl]

Generally take a morning flight from BOS to wherever we are going. In the case of WDW, arrival by 1 pm, usually at resort by 2. Plan is always to drop luggage in room if ready or with bell services if not, and hit the pool area. Soak up some sun and some cocktails, plan a restaurant in Disney Springs for dinner/Disney vibes and get a good night sleep for early arrival at first park the next morning.