Lunch idea for arrival day-want kids to feel the magic!

[DanceDisney23]

I agree with all the posters who said don’t overdo it on your travel day. Traveling is exciting enough for kids that age, especially if you’re flying, and can be a bit overwhelming, too. They’ll be happy just to explore the resort and take the boat to DS.

OKW is a huge resort with lots of things to do, but it’s also quiet and relaxing. The food there is pretty good.

We stayed at OKW when DD was 4 and it’s still her favorite resort at WDW. We’ve stayed at AKV and AOA, among others, since.

At AOA, she just wanted to be in the pool, which we did. I don’t know how she would have felt if we had just visited the resort and could not go in that pool.

At AKV, we walked into our Savannah view room, she took one look around and asked if we could go to OKW instead, lol! I know many kids love AKL, but if they have been to the zoo, visiting the resort will be a similar experience. And it’s a bit out of the way. How much time do they want to spend on a bus after arriving at their destination? Just let them arrive and recharge. They’ll get overstimulated often enough in the following days, I promise you.

 

[erinch]

Joining the chorus -- here's what I would do!
Arrive at the resort and leave your stuff with bell services if room isn't ready, which is probable.
Take the boat to Disney Springs. If T Rex or Rainforest are their vibe, if you join Landry, which costs $25 bucks, you will get a $25 dollar credit and also you get front of the line access without a reservation at Landry locations. (This includes Yak & Yeti at AK.) There is also lots of great QS, and Homecomin' often can do walk up seating. If you look on OpenTable, several of the restaurants are on there, and you can cancel sooner than 2 hours.

I'd then take them to World of Disney, buy autograph books, big pens (easier for characters to hold) and look around for what might be on their list for souvenirs so all the money doesn't get spent in the first 3 hours, LOL.

If you have the room text, you can start to head back. Otherwise, you can do the Christmas tree trail, see what other entertainment there is, marvel at the giant legos and play with some, and even ride the little expensive train and carousel. Get some cookies to take back to the room. When the room is ready, or when you are ready, you can take the boat back, get settled in, go on a resort tour with playground and pool if warm enough, and do dinner at Olivias (with an ADR).

Then hopefully have worn them out so you can get to bed early and get organized hopefully for rope drop the next day. At least with my crew, all the evening stimulation means they would have been boucing off the walls at least till 10, and I would have had tired cranky kids the next morning just when I wanted to go start the magic.

 

[Upatnoon]

Hi everyone!

We are traveling in early December for a couple of days- 4 adults and 2 kids, ages 6 and 4. This will be the kids first time at WDW! We arrive in the morning and are staying on site, but not planning on going to a park the first day. I'm trying to think of a lunch place that would add to the excitement of the first day. We are already planning on going to Disney Springs for dinner that night and will probably end up at Rainforest Cafe or T Rex and of course walk around, go to World of Disney, etc.

Since we are staying on site and will be using bus transportation, I was thinking that maybe we take the bus to MK and take the monorail loop to the Poly to have lunch? Captain Cooks? The kids might get a kick out of the monorail and we might even take the Epcot loop as well.

My other thought was to take a bus to HS and take the skyliner to Art of Animation. We would eat at their quick serve which I've heard is a food court style, but the kids might enjoy walking through the resort and seeing all of the Lion King, Cars and Little Mermaid theming. The skyliner is definitely on our to do list, but we were also planning on doing it on one of our non park days to go to Cape May Cafe for breakfast, so we wouldn't necessarily have to do it on the first day.

I would appreciate any thoughts/ideas/opinions! Thanks so much!!

With kids that age, I would take them to the Art of Animation. Great place to take photos and run around.

Of course, this is all going to depend on your kids, but we found doing food courts much easier at that age.

Some people pointed out that your kids could demand going swimming, which they can't do. Our kids would not, as that isn't wasn't a big deal for them, but all kids are different.

Another option is to take the boat to disney springs or to the Port Orleans Riverside. Port Orleans has a food court as well.

 

[B-Ride]

I don't care what any one says. In our 10 trips to WDW the best way to feel the magic on day one is a trip to Magic Kingdom. Lunch at Columbia Harbour House works well but location is the key.

 

[katyjeka]

Not sure if you're interested in spending the money but we love to start our trip with a private fireworks cruise. It's our girls favorite "extra" at WDW.