I know this is kind of a no-no but...

[ntengwall]

I know a lot of people say not to do anything the day you arrive, BUT...our flight gets into Orlando at 9:30 am and there is no way we are going to sit around the house all day (might be a different story if we were staying at a cool on-site resort).

So...we are planning on heading over to MK around 1 pm or so. I have given my boys "the talk" about how we are not going to try to do everything that day (Dumbo, Peter Pan, Barnstormer etc...) and it is more to get in the mood. But I was wondering if any of you had some good recommendations of things we could do that probably wouldn't be too crowded (stuff like Tom Sawyers Island?). We are going to go back to MK on Tuesday and will get there at rope drop, so this day is going to be much more low key. Is there any chance, at this time of year, that we might be able to do some of the more popular rides with getting there so late? We aren't even planning on staying for Spectro since we want it to be an early night. Thanks for any advice!

 

[horsegirl]

We have gone at that time due to the same situation, and while it was crowded did get to do quite alot of things. I think last time we did Fantasyland and it was busy but were able to seeMickey's Phil, Snow White, and got fastpasses for Pooh and Peter Pan. By 4-5 it slowed down alot. It was great because we watched a parade, the show at the castle and even went to the haunted house. We didn't feel rushed, had low expectations and took time to stop and really enjoy the park. The next day wegot there for EMH and had frontierland and tomorrowland to ourselves. It was great. We love MK, so I think we went 3-4 days, after other parks or first thing. Have a great time. BTW, your boys are absolutely gorgeous.

 

[BYC]

We always do Seaworld on the day we arrive. It is easy to do in a short day, and we do enjoy it...but not as much as Disney! Then we check in, and go eat, but do not enter a park until the next morning. Always works great for us!

 

[hockey mom]

We did that exact thing on our last trip. We did SM, BTM, POTC, JC, and quite a few others without feeling like we had to do it all because we had another day already planned for MK.

 

[chamonix]

No problem! Just grab some fastpasses as soon as you get there for something special they are looking forward to (Peter Pan, Pooh, whatever). I would skip the afternoon parade and ride rides during that time (will be less crowded during that time, but beware--you may get trapped by the parade!)

 

[meloneyb21]

Who said not to do anything on the first day? I made an early flight to get there at 9:30am with every intention on doing something that day....I figure that's all apart of the fun.......Is that supposed to be some kind of tradition or something? I never heard of it.

 

[D L and K's Mom]

We like to walk around MK hop on the monorail and then have dinner at a hotel (O'Hana or at the Contempory Hotel) We watch the fireworks, hop on the monorail get off hop on a bus and head back to the hotel. Sometimes we go to DTD, we walk , eat ice cream and SHOP!!! I personally like the ride on the monorail and visiting the hotels. We get off and walk around.

 

[mossy1]

Downtown Disney is a great alternative for first day---always something to do and it doesn't cost you any of your admission days. I would say if you have enough days on your passes then a midday MK day still sounds good to me.

 

[padams]

We went to MK in the afternoon of our first day (the Sat. before Thanksgiving) a couple of months ago. I had told my boys the same thing- "it will be crowded, we won't get to do everything but we'll go back the next day." We were actually able to do more than I expected. I asked my boys 8 and 10 what ride they most wanted to do at MK, and they said Space Mtn. because younger DS wasn't tall enough on our last WDW trip. So, we went to Space first, grabbed a fast pass, and went on TTA. After TTA, we noticed that the line wasn't long for Stitch , so we did that, and then it was time for our Space fast pass. Before we went on Space, we grabbed a fastpass for Buzz. After Buzz (and a snack and restroom break), we headed over to Adventureland, grabbed a fastpass for the Jungle Cruise, and went to Pirates. After POTC, DSs played with those little boats you can drive and then we went to the Swiss Family treehouse. By then, it was time for our Jungle cruise fastpass. As the park was clearing out, we were able to do Haunted Mansion.

Ask your kids what they really want to do, and then plan to do that first, and use fastpass as much as you can.

 

[ntengwall]

Can someone tell me where I need to be to avoid getting trapped by the afternoon parade? I was thinking that that would be a good time to try to ride the more popular rides

 

[bubba73]

I like going to DTD on my first day. That way I can get a lot of shopping done there and I don't have to take "park time" away from the family so I can pick up a gift for someone. We already would have it. Or, if you were staying on site, I would say to resort hop. That way you could figure out where you might want to try on your next trip.

 

[tweedlewtwinsmama]

Ourf first night we will be continuing our drive from Ohio after a 1-night layover in possibly Kingsland GA (or 3 nights at St. Augustine Beach if I can convince DH ). We hope to be at Pop no later than 11:00. That night we will go to Epcot and do what we can maybe some of the more minor no line things. We also have an ADR for Biergarten at 5:30pm . I thought this place would be a good kick off to our trip. Any tips on what rides will be possible at Epcot during the afternoon?

 

[Cheerio]

We're planning on doing MK on our first day there too - we'll be arriving just after lunch, but it's EMH so open until quite late. We'll do a few rides, look around - and go back later in the week

 

[ImaHomebody]

We've gotten in at that time lots of times. (I don't want to waste a day that I have paid for so I book flights that get in early enough to get that first day in!) .

We check-in, many times the room is ready, if not, then we leave our bags and head over to the park. You can do and see a lot that first day, why waste it. If you don't want the kiddies tired out after traveling all morning just walk around and check out the park and "make plans" for what to do the next day. Chances are they will be so excited to be there that "tired" won't be an issue and they will probably sleep better that night having gotten a taste of the park already, instead of being "juiced up" all night with excitement waiting to go the next day.

 

[dgolddis]

Are you going this week? If so you will have plenty of time to see as much as you want. This is one of the slowest times of the year. We have gone this week for the past 4 years.

 

[CleveRocks]

In May, our flight arrived at 9:30 a.m. We had some small child (5 and 2.5) and mother-in-law (62, acts 5) delays at the airport, but once we got to the DME counter it took us 53 minutes to get to CBR. We got checked in by 11. We rested, lunched, swam, rested, and then got to MGM by 5:30. We went to the 6:00 Playhouse Disney show, got dinner at Toy Story Pizza Planet (along with takeout from Backlot Express), shopped for souvenirs, saw Muppetvision 3-D, did Star Tours, waited for my father-in-law for 20 minutes (I'm not exaggerating) so he could use the Sci-Fi bathroom (which had no line!), and then had the in-laws mind the kids and get them ice cream while my wife and I rode Rock n' Roller Coaster. MGM closed at 9:00, it was EMH night, but we were done RnR by about 9:15.

Is that enough stuff for you to make it worth it on your first day???

 

[Deb & Bill]

If everyone says not to go to a park on the day you arrive, I'll need to respond to that other thread about doing/liking the opposite. We usually arrive about 3PM and we are usually headed to a park for dinner by 5. We always get PAPs, so it doesn't matter if we use a day or not. If you will be arriving around 9 or 10AM, you must go to a park. Or at least DQ or a water park or something.

 

[CherCrazy]

Yup, I'm with the group that never heard of waiting till the next day to go to the park. We hit the ground running and GO!!!

I guess I could only see waiting if you get there late in the day and you don't want to pay for admission.

 

[ntengwall]

We're going Feb 4th-Feb 11th. My best friend is going this week though--we will miss eachother by 1 day!

 

[disney1990]

We always go to a park when we arrive. We usually arrive between 11:00 am and noon. Our park of choice for our first day is Epcot -- after all World Showcase doesn't even open until 11:00. On our trip over Thanksgiving week, we went to Epcot and rode Spaceship Earth (no line), the river ride in Mexico (no line), Norway's Malstrom (30 minute wait), walked around World Showcase and did some of the movies. After all that, you can get some dinner and see Illuminations.