How late is it worthwhile to get to parks?

[Twitterpaited]

Our flight arrives at MCO at about 3:30 in the afternoon and we are taking the Magical Express. Is it even worthwhile to go to a park that evening? We have 3 young children with us - DN3, DN6, DN7 - and want to be back to the room by about 8:30. Staying at Poly. Only a 4 night stay and leaving for DCL afterwards.

 

[momto3pirates]

Realistically you will be to your resort by 5. If you want to be back in your room by 8:30, at most you would have an hour or two in the park. Time for a ride or two but not much else. Maybe take a ride on the monorail and try to check out the resorts?

 

[jameyh]

Maybe check out a location where you can see some fireworks and check out the resort. We were buying 6 day tickets but adding the 7th day was super cheap so we are using 1 days tickets to go to Hollywood studios on arrival night just to see the fireworks so we don't have to do rope drop and fireworks every day. Of course our flight lands at 1:40pm and we are renting a car which doesn't take as long as magical express so we will be at the parks by 5 and I got s slinky fp for 6pm

 

[loves to dive]

I would play it by ear, you can always add another day ticket later on if you need. See how the kids are doing, how late you actually get to the resort, etc. You just never know what the kids are going to be like.

 

[Thing 1]

IF you can get the kids to nap during your flight and IF you are willing to push bedtime back an hour or so, I would definitely go for it. It will give you three more FP. I would drop your carry ons at the resort and hit a park, probably MK. Grab a quick bite for dinner and stay till about 8-9.

 

[Twitterpaited]

We already did pay for the extra day on the tickets before we booked the flight. We got a good deal on the tickets with the land and sea package. So I am leaning toward going ahead because we can use those 3 FP+s.

 

[a1tinkfans]

Enjoy! Naps, hydrate n go!

 

[amberpi]

We already did pay for the extra day on the tickets before we booked the flight. We got a good deal on the tickets with the land and sea package. So I am leaning toward going ahead because we can use those 3 FP+s.

My kids were MUCH happier in the parks after dark because it was cooler and we let them go until they were tired. That said, are the kids early risers? Night owls? That might sway me, but at least get your 3 fps in! Good plan.

 

[TammyLynn33]

We are just doing DS and a special dinner and swimming and exploring our resort first night and resting up for our next /first day

 

[Twitterpaited]

My kids were MUCH happier in the parks after dark because it was cooler and we let them go until they were tired. That said, are the kids early risers? Night owls? That might sway me, but at least get your 3 fps in! Good plan.

They are not night owls. This will be their first big trip, including going on a plane. I have no idea how they will feel once we arrive. Might as well book the FP+s, but I am not making an ADR for that night. In case we want to keep it low-key that night, we can play it by ear.

 

[LSUmiss]

They are not night owls. This will be their first big trip, including going on a plane. I have no idea how they will feel once we arrive. Might as well book the FP+s, but I am not making an ADR for that night. In case we want to keep it low-key that night, we can play it by ear.

Personally, I would be afraid it would be too much on them & then they’ll be tired the next day. Traveling can be tiring for them even with naps. We now do nothing on travel day.

 

[Rach3975]

That's a hard one! At 3, 6, and 7 for their first trip, I would expect them to want to do something "Disney" as soon as you arrived. One suggestion that I've heard and liked is to book a character meal outside the parks for arrival day. A swim might also work.

When my kids were those ages we had to be really careful to follow their usual sleep schedules on vacation or things went south quickly. Even with older kids, it always takes longer than we expect to get to the parks, do what we planned, eat, and bus back. As big as the temptation is to get to a park right away, I don't know if I'd try to get a park in and risk overdoing it on day 1 of a long trip.

 

[DISfam2401]

At those ages, they'll probably be exhausted by travel. Personally, even when we arrive fairly early, we never do a park on arrival day. We like to explore the resort (especially at the Poly!, maybe go to Disney Springs and have a nice dinner to settle into vacation mode. You can book the Luau or Ohana at the Poly, go for a dip in the pool and basically just check things out. You can even catch the MK fireworks from the beach depending on what time they are and what time the kids go to bed. I think trying to cram in a few FP would ruin the magic of seeing Main Street and the Castle for the first time since you'd have to rush off to get to your rides. In the morning you'd be able to take your time and enjoy it. Good luck!

 

[Wayland10]

I would explore the resort, go swimming, have a character meal and watch the fireworks. That would be plenty of excitement for my kids!

 

[Twitterpaited]

The kids don’t care about a character meal.

 

[rg35]

If it's their first trip, how can they possibly know whether or not they would be interested in a character meal? It's difficult to impossible to make a determination on something without experiencing it first.

We never do park visits on arrival day, but since you've already paid for the ticket, value really depends on whether or not you want it to go to waste. Red flags are young kids who are likely to be tired from a travel day (maybe try to encourage them to sleep on the plane), a short trip with what I assume is a packed touring schedule for the rest of the days before leaving for DCL. But, at least you have DCL to decompress after the WDW visit.

 

[Twitterpaited]

If it's their first trip, how can they possibly know whether or not they would be interested in a character meal? It's difficult to impossible to make a determination on something without experiencing it first.

We never do park visits on arrival day, but since you've already paid for the ticket, value really depends on whether or not you want it to go to waste. Red flags are young kids who are likely to be tired from a travel day (maybe try to encourage them to sleep on the plane), a short trip with what I assume is a packed touring schedule for the rest of the days before leaving for DCL. But, at least you have DCL to decompress after the WDW visit.

They have seen a video of our family at a character breakfast from about 30 years ago. It doesn’t seem like it is worth spending the money on a character meal if they are expressing no interest. Now, if there was a Star Wars character meal...

 

[Hikergirl]

I think it really depends on alot of factors.
I would, but we are only a 2.5 hour flight away so we don't spend all day traveling to get there. We also weren't rope droppers when they kids were young so I wouldn't be concerned about getting back to the hotel by a set time, we have always been a night owl family.
If I was traveling from CA and was expecting the kids to be up and ready for RD I'd probably just hang out at the resort pool, explore the resort and get something to eat and then settle in the room and start fresh at the park the next day.

 

[North of Mouse]

We already did pay for the extra day on the tickets before we booked the flight. We got a good deal on the tickets with the land and sea package. So I am leaning toward going ahead because we can use those 3 FP+s.

Well, if it's use it, or lose it, go for a couple hours!!
I would never purposefully plan to go into a park for only a few hours after arriving.

 

[Ensusieasm]

Our flight arrives at MCO at about 3:30 in the afternoon and we are taking the Magical Express. Is it even worthwhile to go to a park that evening? We have 3 young children with us - DN3, DN6, DN7 - and want to be back to the room by about 8:30. Staying at Poly. Only a 4 night stay and leaving for DCL afterwards.

You could take the boat from the Poly directly to MK, use your three fastpasses and watch the 8 pm fireworks. You could plan on being back at the Poly by about 9. I think it’s worth it, but if your littles are tired and out of sorts after a day of travel, you might want to just relax at the pool, have a nice supper and get to bed early so you can hit the parks first thing in the morning.