Need arrival advice please

[Melwhit16]

My family, total of 13, are driving to Disney on Saturday, Nov. 26th. We are planning to leave early and arrive around 2pm. We are able to stay until Wednesday giving us a total of 5 days. Because of Thanksgiving I know the crowds will be high on Saturday but I really hate to miss out on a park day. Also this is a first trip for most of the family going and I wanted their first park to be MK. We have an ADR at Crystal Palace at 7:15. Should we:

1. Go to MK despite crowds, maybe get some FP to some of the smaller rides, Pirates, jungle etc.
2. Arrive at hotel check in and do pool time if weather is good. Skip the parks and cancel CP. Maybe go to Whispering Canyon (I would like is Ohana but I don't think a group of 13 will come up)
3. Go to another park and hope it isn't as busy. Cancel CP. Not sure about another dinner reservation.
4. ???? Any other suggestions

 

[Klayfish]

That's going to be up to how tired you guys are. If were us and we were arriving at 2pm, no doubt we'd go to MK that day. It'll be busy, but if you get your FP+ 60 days in advance (or 30 if you're off property), you should have no trouble getting good choices for rides. Fill the time between with less crowded rides. The only time I've ever been in MK where I said "OK, this is too crazy" is Christmas Day.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

It would depend on how everyone felt after the drive. When we drive down, it takes 19 hours nonstop so we wouldn't go to a park on arrival day. However if we take 2 days and stop half way we could do a park on arrival day.
We are APs so we would probably relax by the pool and go out for a nice dinner, maybe a character meal out of a park or Cali grill to watch wishes during/ after dinner.
Like I said it all depends on how you all feel after driving.

 

[GaryDis]

1. Be prepared to decide on the fly, because it's so difficult to predict how you'll feel.
2. Give up the MK first mantra. It's a symptom of Millenial Instant Gratification, and it's what everybody does (which is why Saturdays and Mondays at MK are crowded) but there's no rationale for it. Entertainers have long understood to hold the best for last, though with kids, it can be difficult to make it the absolute last. Nevertheless, doing MK first establishes a standard that's difficult to maintain in he other parks. Because you have a short stay, I'd suggest saving it for a full day in Sunday, and then depending on how that goes, you can either do another full day Tuesday or a part day Wednesday before you leave.
3. Based on that, I'd consider one of the Epcot area restaurants on your arrival day, including the possibility of one of the Swan/Dolphin restaurants, which gives you the choice on the fly of either Epcot or DHS (or both if you have park hopper). Both have evening shows that are a good intro, and F! usually ends early enough for a good night's sleep and then RD the next morning at MK.

Just my opinion. Ymmv.

 

[disneygolfer1985]

The MK will be crowded on Saturday, but i think Epcot would be better as a leisurely pace option. You could eat at a restaurant at the WS and listen to all the storytellers to see how all the countries celebrate the holidays.

 

[jlnten17]

I agree with pp. Try one of the slower parks. We never start at MK because I prefer to save the best for last so to speak. We are so excited to be at Disney the other parks seem more magical than they would if we did MK first.

 

[kastoney]

We go during slower times of the year (Aug/Sep and or Jan/Feb) and even given that we have a firm no MK on Saturdays rule (or really the weekend at all). It is just way too crowded to even be enjoyable for me. If it were me I'd head to one of the other parks (AK is our Saturday go to) or just chill at the pool and enjoy your resort. I'm sure you will be happy doing whatever as you'll be in Disney World after all

 

[Snow White Wanna Be]

I would absolutely go to MK, and I think you'll likely be able to get FP+ for whatever attractions you want. As a point of reference, I booked a FP+ for the Mine Train less than three weeks out on a day that will be a "7" according to touringplans.com.

The lines will be longer than you'd like for other attractions, and I'd make sure to give yourself more time than you think you'll need to get to the park in case you don't arrive on time, but you'll still have lots to do. There will be the fireworks and parade in the evening, and attractions like the tomorrowland transit authority, liberty bell riverboat, and Mickey's phillharmagic are relatively long and usually have reasonably lines even on busy days.

And - if it's your first time to MK - take some time to take pictures and enjoy the ambience.

 

[MrsJamesPSullivan]

It would depend on ages and how long your drive is. We love to arrive the Saturday after Thanksgiving and usually arrive at the resort around 4 but we've been traveling in a car, plane or bus since around 7 am central time that morning and by then we've had enough of close proximity to people so a walk around the resort, swim at the quiet pool and going to bed early because who sleeps the night before vacation is what works for us.

You'll have to take into consideration your travellers and length of trip.

 

[dreiwhit]

For my family, we always take our arrival day after check in to get groceries and rest. That's what works the best for us, but as always YMMV.

 

[nkereina]

Be prepared to decide on the fly, because it's so difficult to predict how you'll feel.

This is good advice and what we like to do as well, but it does mean you'd have to give up your CP ADR or else you'll be charged $10 per person for not cancelling in time. If you didn't have a TS ADR, I'm not sure if it would be worth the hassle of going to MK.

If it were us, we'd probably just go to MK and keep the ADR. I'd also get FPs if you can. It may be crowded but by the time you actually get there, have dinner, do the FPs, you won't really be contending with crowds too much anyway. After that, I'd call it an early night and plan to watch Wishes another night.

 

[mullysisters]

I like your idea of showing your family MK first. I think CP start to your trip is wonderful (if noisy LOL)
Get your fastpasses and just enjoy what you can, I don't know the ages of your family but may I suggest PP, Splash and HM. You should be able to do some of the others. Head back to your resort when people start flagging and have a relaxing evening. Good Luck, there are no bad days at WDW. I go to Wdw as a solo, what I wouldn't give to go with a large family like yours.

 

[CinderellaElla]

My family, total of 13, are driving to Disney on Saturday, Nov. 26th. We are planning to leave early and arrive around 2pm. We are able to stay until Wednesday giving us a total of 5 days. Because of Thanksgiving I know the crowds will be high on Saturday but I really hate to miss out on a park day. Also this is a first trip for most of the family going and I wanted their first park to be MK. We have an ADR at Crystal Palace at 7:15. Should we:

1. Go to MK despite crowds, maybe get some FP to some of the smaller rides, Pirates, jungle etc.
2. Arrive at hotel check in and do pool time if weather is good. Skip the parks and cancel CP. Maybe go to Whispering Canyon (I would like is Ohana but I don't think a group of 13 will come up)
3. Go to another park and hope it isn't as busy. Cancel CP. Not sure about another dinner reservation.
4. ???? Any other suggestions

I guess it depends on how much you all want to stay together. Which hotel are you staying at? Regardless, I think with a party that large and during a high crowd season, I would recommend just stay at the hotel that first night.

 

[Melwhit16]

What a wonderful variety of answers. Lots of great points and ideas. I am thinking that going to MK on arrival, eat at CP, getting a couple of FP and then just taking our time and leaving whenever we are tired. After we eat we could go enjoy the pool or get some sleep. The kids, age range 5 to 16, will probably sleep the whole drive to Disney so they will probably be wired

 

[scrapquitler]

My family, total of 13, are driving to Disney on Saturday, Nov. 26th. We are planning to leave early and arrive around 2pm. We are able to stay until Wednesday giving us a total of 5 days. Because of Thanksgiving I know the crowds will be high on Saturday but I really hate to miss out on a park day. Also this is a first trip for most of the family going and I wanted their first park to be MK. We have an ADR at Crystal Palace at 7:15. Should we:

1. Go to MK despite crowds, maybe get some FP to some of the smaller rides, Pirates, jungle etc.
2. Arrive at hotel check in and do pool time if weather is good. Skip the parks and cancel CP. Maybe go to Whispering Canyon (I would like is Ohana but I don't think a group of 13 will come up)
3. Go to another park and hope it isn't as busy. Cancel CP. Not sure about another dinner reservation.
4. ???? Any other suggestions

My family would definitely choose option 1. Hit MK, ride a couple rides that we can get FP for, do dinner, then decide how tired we are and if we want to stay a little longer or not. There is no way my family would not go to a park if we arrived at 2PM, and MK is always our first park, even if it were just for an hour or two.

 

[RustManFan]

I would not go to a park on the arrival day. We never do whether we fly or take the Auto Train. We usually take the monorails around the MK resorts and over to Epcot. Get a nice intro tour of the area. Also have done some of the boat transportation. From MK take boat to WL or FW and eat there.

Or head to DS and eat there and maybe get some shopping done so things don't have to be carried around in a park...

 

[SillySallySews]

I know I'm in the minority but I never make ADRs for arrival day. Too much can happen (traffic, construction, detours, weather, accidents, car could break down, the list goes on). We had a horribly stressful start to a trip once trying to make it to an ADR when we drove and were very delayed due to unforeseen issues. We now prefer to get there when we get there, check in, and relax/swim at our resort on arrival night. We either grab quick service at our resort or visit Disney Springs for dinner. Then we go to bed early so we can be at RD for our first full day. 13 people is a big group! I would try to get some input from everyone on how they feel about arrival day plans. Maybe some of them will prefer to relax while others will want to hit up a park. And also, if you really want 'Ohana don't stop looking! We are a family of six and often have extended family meet us at Disney. We've seen plenty of ADRs for larger groups open up at the last minute.

 

[smiths02]

We drive from the Atlanta area, and we prefer to have a dinner ADR and go to a park on arrival day (then again, we are only looking at a $50 cancellation fee for an ADR vs $130)
We have done MK...we had BOG dinner, made a few FP+

We have also done Epcot. Even for a first timer, I think Epcot is very defining for Disneyworld. Another advantage of choosing Epcot for the first night is that with the Tiers for FP+ and the multiple great eating locations, it is good to visit Epcot on multiple days.

We have also had a reservation at Disney Springs on arrival night. Otherwise, we find it hard to get to Disney Springs (especially on a shorter trip), and we don't use a park ticket. You could try calling a place like T-Rex or Rainforest directly or some of the restaurants are on OpenTable...this would save you the cancellation fee if you do have to cancel.