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

[eeyoregon]

We fly from Oregon and never go to a park the 1st day.

Our travel day includes a 1 hour drive to the aiport + arrive at aiport 2 hours early + 7-8 hour flight = EXHAUSTED upon arrival into Orlando.

Factor in at least 1 & 1/2 hours from the time you land at MCO until you arrive at your hotel and get checked in and that is one looooooooooooooong
day!

The 1st night we get checked-in, unpack (if luggage has arrived from DME) and head to Downtown Disney for dinner and strolling and then to bed at a decent time so that we can hit the parks nice and refreshed the next day.

 

[MUDisneyCouple]

We just did this! We were visiting friends in San Fran and decided to go to WDW...I know DL is only a few hours away, but we wanted food from Epcot. See how irrational that is

We left San Fran at 8pm and landed in LAX at 9:30ish. Took off from LAX at 11:30ish and landed in Orlando at 6:30am (Fl time). Took our ME to POP...checked in and left our bags at the counter and off to Epcot! Got back at 6:30 and transferred to WL and went back to MK for wishes. It was a full day/night, but got our internal clocks on track for the rest of the trip. So, it can be done...however, stupid you think we are...it worked for us

 

[Clotho]

We fly from Seattle, and we don't go to the park the first day.

We, too, land around 4pm. Then a grocery stop, then get checked in and settled, and it's around 7pm before we would be ready to do anything. I don't know about you, but traveling can be tiring for me, and I just feel a little limp after a cross-country flight. Even though I am very excited when I arrive and eager to get the party started, I know that pushing myself when I am already a bit worn out is a way to feel worn out the rest of the trip, or even invite getting sick (lack of sleep + recycled airplane air + lots of crowds = recipe to catch anything that comes down the pike). So we always plan to take our time getting settled into our room, explore the resort, grab dinner at the resort, watch some TV, and plan our days to come!

 

[Rhonna]

We took the red-eye from west coast. Couldn't sleep on plane. Went into the park the day we landed. I can't remember that day at all. I go back and read my notes in the journal I kept but I didn't retain any of that day in my brain. Never again. Relax and settle into the resort, maybe a nice meal planned.

 

[lori123]

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 also took this flight - slept on the plane and headed to the parks for a few hours - then to the hotel for a nap and relaxing for the next day.

 

[Tyr23]

We're taking the red-eye out from SEA at the end of June. With plane changes and such, I figure that we won't get to OKW until around 11am. If we can check in early- great, but we don't have any park plans for that day- just lots of rest and sleep

 

[karylrocks]

I tend to gear my plans toward what my kids will want to do (don't we all?) and since your kids are younger they might be tired and just want to swim and explore the resort when you arrive. It is hard to tell how you will feel when you get there depending on how much sleep/rest you get the night before and on the plane. You might want to make sure you have that extra day on your passes just in case you want to hit the parks that night and have a tentative plan.

We are flying from Portland arriving at about 5:00, and I am planning to go to MK to catch Spectro and the fireworks so that we won't need to do that on our full MK day, and maybe get in a ride or two. Our "kids" are now 16-28 and I think we will be raring to go once we get off the plane.

 

[suzimar57]

we're flying in from new jersey in the morning, and aren't planning to visit a park the first day - we'll check-in (or store the luggage), eat something in the food court (at Pop), then just relax by the pool, walk around the lake (half of it, anyway) until our room is ready whenever - no parks for us, not even DTD - after years of "hitting the ground running" we're trying something different this year: relaxing on arrival!

 

[CJN]

Disney-Super-Mom, we've experienced arriving at MCO at both of your possible arrival times and both have their good points. When getting there at 4pm, IMO there sometimes can be a stronger fatigue factor which might carry into the next day because you had to get to the airport so early (although, woohoo, if Delta doesn't mess with their regional service after the merger we'll be flying out of Salem this time. Much closer for us than Portland!) But we always still have just enough energy to mosey over to Epcot. We take it easy, wander around soaking in atmosphere, grab some fish and chips and watch Illuminations. It's a really nice, relaxing way to start the trip. It erases the thought that it was a travel day and makes us feel like we've already eased right into our vacation.

If we arrive on the later flight, we try hard to go to bed right after settling in. Just keep looking at the clock and telling yourself how tired you are and how late it is, even if your body keeps saying it's three hours off.

No matter which flight you're on, you really can't go wrong, though. If you're short on vacation days, I'd pick the early one; it makes you feel like you got an extra day in the parks. If you have plenty of days, I'd base it on whether you're morning people, how well you'll handle losing half a night's sleep to get to the airport on time (and surely any true Diser is restless the night before ), will you and yours be able to nap on the plane, etc. The key for us - getting to bed on time that first night at The World is the most critical point in adjusting to the eastern time zone.

This next time around, we've mixed it up so comparing experiences will be interesting. My sister and I (we are so NOT morning people) are going down on the later flight with an 11pm arrival. Two days later when my bro-in-law and their kids (early birds all) join us, they'll take the 6am flight.

 

[jerelynj]

We are flying from LAX to MCO. I had to cut the trip a day short at then end, so we are taking a redeye at 12:30 AM, with a stopover in TX and getting to MCO at 10:15 AM. We plan to go to Wilderness Lodge and check in, explore, have AR's at Whispering Canyon at 1:30 and hopefully by the time we are done with lunch we can get into our room and take a nap. Then we will probably do Downtown Disney that evening, or MK if they have EMH that night.

 

[olydizknee]

I fly out of SeaTac. Between the time change and all the travel I'm too tired to fully enjoy the parks. I am much happier keeping the first day reserved for traveling and if I have time, exploring the resorts. Good luck deciding.

 

[disneymom8589]

Once when DH and I got in about 5:00 p.m. we walked around the resort, then spent time at Downtown Disney. On other flights when we've taken the red eye, we will go to a park. As someone else had mentioned, it sometimes feels good to walk around after being on a plane for a long period of time.

 

[IandGsmom]

We do not do a park even if we arrive at a decent time-which we usually dont. The kids and I are cranky, hungry and tired. If anything I will let them go jump in the pool while I unpack a little and get ready for the following day. Then we all crash!!

 

[Iggipolka]

We fly from San Francisco and usually do go to MK for a couple hours. We're just too excited to wait!

Our upcoming flight leaves SFO at 8am and gets into MCO at 5:45pm. We have ADR's at Whispering Canyon at 7:30pm (may miss that) and then we're going to MK!

We did a red-eye on Delta Song from SFO to MCO once...and only once. OMG, it was horrible. I was in a middle seat, my wife had the window and a creepy guy in the aisle seat watched soft p*rn on the E! channel the whole night long. I was too creeped out to sleep, not to mention smushed and horribly uncomfortable. We landed at 7am and were too exhausted to go to any parks as planned. We just napped in the hammocks at CSR until our room was ready at 3pm. Not a good way to start a vacation.

We've never had good luck adjusting our bodies to EST and tend to sleep late and stay up late. I'd love to get on EST this trip as I want to get to the parks before it gets too hot and/or rainy.

 

[eeyoregon]

(although, woohoo, if Delta doesn't mess with their regional service after the merger we'll be flying out of Salem this time. Much closer for us than Portland!)

Hi over in Stayton from over in Salem!! Drove past your nice town today on the way home from camping.

Oooooh how I wanted to fly out of Salem in August but when I was ready to purchase, it was $416 roundtrip out of Salem vs. $240 out of Portland = PDX it is .

When is your next trip?

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

We fly from Oregon and never go to a park the 1st day.

Our travel day includes a 1 hour drive to the aiport + arrive at aiport 2 hours early + 7-8 hour flight = EXHAUSTED upon arrival into Orlando.

Factor in at least 1 & 1/2 hours from the time you land at MCO until you arrive at your hotel and get checked in and that is one looooooooooooooong
day!

The 1st night we get checked-in, unpack (if luggage has arrived from DME) and head to Downtown Disney for dinner and strolling and then to bed at a decent time so that we can hit the parks nice and refreshed the next day.

Disney-Super-Mom, we've experienced arriving at MCO at both of your possible arrival times and both have their good points. When getting there at 4pm, IMO there sometimes can be a stronger fatigue factor which might carry into the next day because you had to get to the airport so early (although, woohoo, if Delta doesn't mess with their regional service after the merger we'll be flying out of Salem this time. Much closer for us than Portland!) But we always still have just enough energy to mosey over to Epcot. We take it easy, wander around soaking in atmosphere, grab some fish and chips and watch Illuminations. It's a really nice, relaxing way to start the trip. It erases the thought that it was a travel day and makes us feel like we've already eased right into our vacation.

If we arrive on the later flight, we try hard to go to bed right after settling in. Just keep looking at the clock and telling yourself how tired you are and how late it is, even if your body keeps saying it's three hours off.

No matter which flight you're on, you really can't go wrong, though. If you're short on vacation days, I'd pick the early one; it makes you feel like you got an extra day in the parks. If you have plenty of days, I'd base it on whether you're morning people, how well you'll handle losing half a night's sleep to get to the airport on time (and surely any true Diser is restless the night before ), will you and yours be able to nap on the plane, etc. The key for us - getting to bed on time that first night at The World is the most critical point in adjusting to the eastern time zone.

This next time around, we've mixed it up so comparing experiences will be interesting. My sister and I (we are so NOT morning people) are going down on the later flight with an 11pm arrival. Two days later when my bro-in-law and their kids (early birds all) join us, they'll take the 6am flight.

Hey Guys in Stayton and Salem!! I'm in Sheridan now but grew up in Stayton!

We flew red eye last year from PDX to MCO. We landed in Orlando about 9:00 am and check into our resort about 10:30 am. Our room was not ready so we headed to the parks (Epcot) We were all too tried to enjoy our day much and ended up returning to the room early and very tried.
This year we take a flight out from PDX at 11:45 the day prior to our check in at WDW. We land at MCO just before 10:00pm and we will check into the Hyatt inside MCO and spend our first night there. We will get a good rest and get up early and check into magical express and once we check into our resort we will be ready to hit the parts with a good nights sleep.

 

[eeyoregon]

Hey Guys in Stayton and Salem!! I'm in Sheridan now but grew up in Stayton!

Ok Stayton-ites: Do you know the Foltz' or Birkholz?

 

[Cargo]

a lot of peopel have given u advice (i haven't read them though haha) but here's mine:

If you are arriving anytime after the afternoon, . i wouldn't go to a park. reason being, . . . the pass start counting your days once you go to a park So for example, if your pass is valid for 5 days, . . then going to the parks from 3 pm to watever pm, will be counted as one day. You've lost the morning half of the day!!

What i would suggest to you is, . . go home, rest up, go swim and enjoy the hotels, . and then in the late afternoon, go on over to Downtown Disney. Firstly, depending on the hotel you chose, checking it out will be an adventure in itself, . . Especially fi you are staying at POP or All Star Movie. Next, Disney Downtown has the disneystore and the disney quest, . . .Let's not forget the lego store!

Being in things and surrounded by disney things is the second best thing to actually being in MK so i'm sure your kids will still have a great time


I'm going in 6 days and my group of 4 (includ. myself) will be arriving at 7:!5pm. We already know we're going to be going to DTD to enjoy our time there~

ohhh almost forgot, if you decide to hang out at the hotel and swim, remember to bring your swimwear and change of clothes in a carry on!!! Since using the Magic Express may take a while bringing you your luggage = )

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

Ok Stayton-ites: Do you know the Foltz' or Birkholz?

I know some of the Foltz not sure if they are the same ones or not I know Lisa and her sisters.

 

[ShellChelle]

That is brilliant! I never thought about taking the last flight out the night before. What a great idea. I think we are going to try that for our next trip.