If flying from the west coast, do you try to visit a park the first day?

disney-super-mom

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I'm not sure how to go about scheduling our first day (flying in on Tuesday, December 9th). It'll be myself, DH, MIL, BIL, DS 9, and DS 5.

We could take an early flight, land at 4:00pm, check-in, then hit one of the parks. On the one hand, everyone will probably be really excited that we're finally there, adrenalin will be pumping, and they'll want to go go go. On the other hand, it could be quite exhausting for everyone, and we could be completely pooped out for Wednesday (December 10th), the first full day of our vacation.

Or, we could take an early flight, land at 4:00pm, check-in, then just hang around our resort (CSR). We could go swimming, have an early dinner, then off to bed so we can get plenty of rest for our first full day at the parks. Of course we would be coming from the Pacific time zone, so if we went to bed at 9:00pm, to us it would be 6:00pm, and maybe the kids (and adults) wouldn't be able to go to sleep. (Or maybe we'd be so tired from the early flight that we'd be more than ready to hit the hay.)

Or, we could take a late flight, land at 10:30pm, check-in, go right to bed, and be well rested for the next morning. However, everyone might be too excited to go straight to bed.

I'm just not sure what to do. Anyone out there who could help us out and give us advice?:)
 
Since you're coming from the west coast with the time difference I would go to one of the parks for a couple of hours at least - maybe get in a couple of rides and see the fireworks. I love to be able to spend some time walking around after being cooped up in a plane for any length of time. I doubt if anyone will be ready to go to bed at 9 pm (as your body will still say its 6 pm). I would shoot more for 10:30. That way hopefully everyone will be tired enough to sleep through until at least 6 am est. That still gives you eight and half hours your first night there.
 
By the time you wait for Magical Express, get settled in your room, etc., it will probably be supper time. I don't know about your family, but for mine, they just want to eat at the resort, maybe swim, and go to bed, ready to tackle the next day. I would love to visit a park on arrival day, but for now it's not worth it. I was willing to take the early flight this November, but DH wants to travel "leisurely". So we don't land till 6:30 pm.
 
I live in Phoenix. Here is what I do.

I take the last flight (preferably non-stop) out the night before my vacation "officially" begins. So if my check-in at WDW is on a Saturday I leave Friday night. I get a room through Hotwire near the airport and stay there. The next day I get up early and go to WDW. That way I have a full day.
 

i say go with the 4pm arrival, hang at resort and swim, and dinner. all that travelling and swimming will wipe everyone out so early bedtimes won't be too much of an issue. if you skip the parks this day, how about a character dinner at one of the resorts to get everyone pumped (chef mickeys or 1900PF)?

have fun!
 
We are also coming in from the West Coast in Dec.:santa: This will be our first time to WDW. Our flight is due to land at 4pm (but we know how that sometimes goes) and as the above poster said we figure it will be dinner time. We plan on going over to DTD to have dinner and look in the shops, then maybe go back to the resort(Pop) for a swim. Then hopefully we will be wore out enough to get to bed, get some rest and hit the parks first thing the next morning!:banana:
 
We always try to at least make it to the fireworks the first night. It will cost you the admission into a park for the day but it only costs a couple more dollars if you are staying for a week. Getting into a park and watching the fireworks really gets us into the vacation spirit. A character dinner would be great, but with all of the delays on airlines it may be difficult to make it on time. Good Luck and have a great vacation.
 
I fly from Phoenix and do the opposite of Stinky_Pete! *LOL*

I try for the first flight out (1 stop or non stop) and usually arrive at MCO between 2:30 pm and 5:00 pm--just depends on the flights and time of year.

The time change is an issue for me for several days. I'm a night owl by nature, so I'm still going strong at 3:00 a.m. WDW time those first few days! I gradually work myself into the difference over four or five days and am in sync for the latter half of my visit.

You'll be arriving on a Tuesday, so unless you're planning on MVMCP, you won't be going to MK your first night (they're scheduled on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday--MK will close at 7:00 p.m. those nights). That would be my first choice for a park, as it's usually open later. AK will close at 5:00 p.m. (Tuesday might be EMH night, which means it would close 3 hours later); DHS closes promptly after Fantasmic (used to be open for guests to wander through Osbourne lights, but they didn't do that last year), and EPCOT will close immediately after IllumiNations, which usually is at 9:30 in December.

So, my thought is no parks on arrival day. Even if everything goes smoothly (flight lands on time, luggage is available, ground transportation is timely), you'll arrive at CSR around 6:00 p.m. By the time you check in and settle in your room a bit, it's going to be around 7:00 p.m.

If you're renting a car, this would be a good time to go off site (there's a Super WalMart on SR535 near WDW--not to mention a gazillion other stores) for supplies and perhaps have a meal while you're at it. Then return and explore CSR a bit. It's a beautiful resort--particularly when it's illuminated at night.

If you're not renting a car and no one is starving, you have several options:

Explore CSR a bit and learn where everything is. If it's warm, take a swim. The pools are heated; the air is not. Take a Frisbee or something similar with you to play games in open spaces. Relax, eat dinner, call it a night.

Take a bus to DTD and explore the shops there and possibly have dinner.

Take a bus to MK (you won't be going in), then the resort monorail loop and check out the monorail resorts decked out in their holiday finery. Since MVMCP runs until midnight, you'll be able to pick up the bus to your resort at MK very easily.

Take a bus to DHS (again, you won't be going to the park, just using the transportation), then take the Friendship launch and tour the Boardwalk resorts. Boardwalk has ESPN, which doesn't accept reservations. Could be a good option for the first night. If you miss the last bus at DHS, you will need to take a bus from one of the resorts to DTD and take a bus from there back to CSR. Kind of crazy, but once you become accustomed to the WDW transportation system, it's pretty easy! :)


Dining at any of these locations is an option--or at CSR--but you probably will have to make ADRs at 180 days out at the TS locations. It's a royal pain in the backside, but it's necessary if you want to dine at specific locations/times.

Lots of options! You just need to find the right one for you and your family.

And before you go to bed, be sure to request a wake-up call for morning! :)
 
We never do a park on day of arrival. We check in, swim and have dinner at CM. We may ride the monorail loop sometimes we get off at MK and watch the fireworks from outside and other times we watch Wishes from 4th floor observation deck at CR.

We are total resort hangers when we are there. We actually one hit 2 parks each trip. MK is always one, this year EPCOT is up.

So, for this particular trip, we aren't hitting MK until our 3rd day.
 
We never go striaght to WDW from the West Coast... we stay with my folks a few days first. But I would DEFINITELY not do the 10:30pm landing.. WAY too late! We usually do it as it is our only direct form SF, and the kids get to bed at like 12 or 1, and the next day is not cute.

I would take the early flight and then plan to hang at the hotel. If you are jazzed and ready to go, you could hit a park (just add an extra day to your tix) for a bit, but decide when you get there. Flights are always so delayed and everything is logistically tough, you may be better off just relaxing, and going to bed as early as you can, which may not be that early! :)
 
I would recommend not trying to get to a park the day you arrive. Having just completed a trip from the west coast last week. We 3 adults took the earliest flight out of California, landed in Florida at 4pm by the time we got our shuttle van, made a grocery stop, got checked in, waited for luggage to be brought to the room, it was going on 7PM. It was all we could do to stay awake long enough to go to boardwalk for dinner. With kids I would just plan on exploring your resort, dinner, and swimming, and being nice a refreshed for the first full day of parks.
 
We are coming from Seattle. We grabbed a non stop night flight. So we leave around 11pm and arrive around 7am. We have done this before to diffrent destinations and we know we can sleep on the plane quite well. We then plant to hit the parks that morning we fly in, take a afternoon break, go back for dinner and a few rides and call it a early night!
 
We are coming from Seattle. We grabbed a non stop night flight. So we leave around 11pm and arrive around 7am. We have done this before to diffrent destinations and we know we can sleep on the plane quite well. We then plant to hit the parks that morning we fly in, take a afternoon break, go back for dinner and a few rides and call it a early night!

This is exactly what we do on all of our trips. It is a long day but we recover by the day 2.
 
Wow, thanks for all the advice everyone.:thumbsup2

Some of the options sound intriguing. I'm going to have to give it some more thought.:scratchin
 
I have done this twice, and coming from washington I have an idea on how you might feel. The first time we arrived around 5pm. had cs at pop and then went to DTD to disney quest. I was exhausted with a bad headache. It was crowded and I didn't have as much fun as if I was well rested.

The second time we went, we arrived around 7am, went to CM for breakfast and then on to MK. It was the most exhausting day and again I was too tired to really appreciate the first day at MK. Everyone was a little cranky.

This sept we arrive around 5pm and stay and eat at the hotel, swim and just relax. We have a wedding the next day so we will not see MK for a couple of days, but I will definately appreciate it and be well rested.

Good luck with whatever you decide, and let us know how it went.
 
We just did this 2 weeks ago. We landed at 4 pm (how funny that everyone lands at 4 pm) did ME, checked in, found our room, waited for the bus... and got to MK at 7:30 pm.

Since we were on Pacific time, I knew there was no way we'd made park opening the next day anyway. We stayed at MK till 9, then went "home" and slept in the next morning. Then did Epcot World Showcase in the afternoon, went to bed relatively early, and were ready for an early day the next day. Worked great, although DS was crankier than normal on that Epcot day.

I wouldn't do a red-eye with kids. That's what we did when I was a kid, and my mom said NEVER again. My brother was about 10 and was sooo cranky the next day. Your room isn't ready so you can't even go rest.
 
I speak for myself, but I never sleep well the night before a trip. I am usually up and down all night, so I never try to push too hard on the first day. I like the suggestion of doing shopping at DTD that day, as then you won't have to stop at every shop in the parks for the rest of your trip. Once you see the World of Disney Store, you have most of your souvenirs done and just have things for individual rides to consider. Plus, you save a day on tickets.
 
Unless we take the red-eye, which we wont do, the only flight we have gets in around 10pm if on time, sometimes 2am if late. So sadly, we dont get to go to the parks that day:sad1:

But we check-in, get some rest, and are up good & early the next morning for our first day of touring!:)
 
We have lived in either UT or Idaho, and I have been to WDW 10times. We have done both the 1st flight out, the last, and the red-eye. In Jan. I did the red eye. I think it took me 3 days to adjust, because I can hardly remember the first few days of our trip! I won't do that again. I like the first flight the best. We have time to get our bags get a car or use ME, and get dinner. We have only gone the parks 1 time on our first day, and it was in Jan. It worked because we had time to check in, and my husbands flight got in at 2:00 p.m. Otherwise, I think it is too much to squeeze into a day, and the kids will be too tired for the next day. I would get to bed early, and hit it hard the next day. Plus I hate to waste a day of admission for only a few hours.
 
We leave from LAX and the only non stop flight leaves somewhere between 9 and 10 and we get in about 5:30. By the time we get to the hotel and check in its dinner time. We will usually go to DTD to eat then come back to the room and unpack and relax.

I think it would be too much to try to get to a park since traveling, especially almost 5 hours in a plane really tires you out.

We try to go to bed at a decent time (we have these great natural sleepy time strips that help you adjust to a new time zone) and then we can wake up SORT of early in the morning and be almost on Florida time.
 


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