Need Suggestions For First Day Please

[Margie]

Hi, we will be arriving at DW between 11:00am and noon for a 7 day stay. We will get something to eat, and perhaps hang around our resort untill our room is ready. We have the park hopper plan. What are some suggestions for our first afternoon and evening? I feel it might be too late to go to any of the parks for rides, but have no problem going ot see fireworks or a light show. The kids will be biting at the bit. This is our first time going as a family!!
I was thinking that IF it's warm enough we could take the kids to Blizzard Beach in the afternoon (when it's warmer). Eat, and then take a walk to Epcot to see the light show there.
Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated!
Margie

 

[Wendy31]

Last year was our 1st time as a family - our DD was 5 & our DS was 3 (almost 4).

On our arrival day, we arrived at check-in time at FW (3:00 pm), unloaded our mini-van, quickly changed clothes, and then rode the resort boat to Magic Kingdom for our dinner reservations at Liberty Tree Tavern.

That first sight of the castle from the boat was unbelievable!! There was just something about that 1st boat ride & having the castle come into view! And having our first dinner w/ characters at Magic Kingdom was so wonderful!

After dinner, we rode "Haunted Mansion", "Dumbo", & "Small World", walked around a bit, & then got our first Mickey Bars & picked out some spots for the Spectromagic Parade & Wishes.

It was a perfect introduction to WDW & so fun! Looking back, the only thing I would have done differently was not have had dinner reservations. Although it was great having dinner w/ Minnie & Goofy on our first night, I felt too rushed from check-in time at FW to our dinner time. (I could have reserved a later time, but my kids don't do well w/ later dinners.)

This year, we're doing the same thing, but we don't have dinner reservations. We'll check into our hotel & then go right to the MK. Our favorite counter service meal was Columbia Harbour House, so we'll eat there. And then we'll ride "Dumbo" & "Small World" again - the perfect "first" rides at WDW. And then we'll have a Mickey Bar & watch Spectro & Wishes!! It's such a great first night!

So, if you have enough days on your ticket, I would say go ahead & go into the park - even if you don't ride the rides, there's nothing like walking down Main Street on your very first day & realizing, "We're here! We're here!"

 

[BAYSIDE MOM]

We arrived Dec 3 in the afternoon at the Beach Club. We took the boat over to MGM because it was open until 9:00. We did Ariel, saw Mickey Sorcerer, and saw the Indiana jones show and then walked into Fantasmic at 7:30. I don't know if it was because we went in early December, but we went into Fantasmic about 20 minutes before it began. We were to the far right, but every seat is agood seat there. My kids loved it!You might want to consider acharacter dinner your first night too. I have heard great things about Illuminations at Epcot, although we did not get a chance to see it.

 

[Kae]

What resort are you staying at? On our first days we usuaully go to DTD. Hang around the resort swim-we put the kids suits in the carry on. And eat at Chef Mickey's & ride the monorail.

Kae

 

[Margie]

Thanks! Taking a boat to the MK and seeing the castle come into view sounds wonderful! We are staying at a "moderate" resort. Coronado Springs. Would we be able to take a bus to one of the resorts on the lake and then take a boat to MK?
Margie

 

[Wendy31]

Would we be able to take a bus to one of the resorts on the lake and then take a boat to MK?
Margie

DH & I were just talking about this as we are thinking about staying at the Carribean Beach Resort this year instead of a cabin at Fort Wilderness (FW) (which is where we stayed last year), but we'll miss our lovely resort boat ride to MK.

I don't know if there are buses that go from resort to resort, as we have a mini-van & drove to everywhere except MK & Epcot last year - including the resort restaurants at which we ate.

A resort bus might go to Fort Wilderness since there are activities & shows there, &, from there, you could hop on one of the FW internal buses to the resort boat dock & then take the resort boat to MK.

However, your resort bus, I think, will take to you the Ticket & Transportation Center, &, from there (I believe) you can get on either the large Ferry Boat that goes to the MK or the monorail. (At any rate, I don't think there's parking at MK anyway - to get to MK, you must either arrive by boat or monorail... right?)

If I'm wrong, please correct me someone - last year, we stayed at FW & just took our resort boat to MK, so I'm not sure about the other transportation possibilities to the MK.

 

[lovesdumbo]

Thanks! Taking a boat to the MK and seeing the castle come into view sounds wonderful! We are staying at a "moderate" resort. Coronado Springs. Would we be able to take a bus to one of the resorts on the lake and then take a boat to MK?
Margie

You can't bus from resort to resort but you could take the bus to Epcot and then take the monorail to the TTC and take the big ferry from there. You could ask at the monorail if you could ride up front with the driver.

I wouldn't wait around the resort for your room to be ready. The resort will hold your bags and give you a phone number to call to check to see if the room is ready.

 

[NvrBnToWDW]

Last year was our first time to WDW and I made the mistake of going to MK the first day (Hey, it was only a few bucks extra to add a day). After being up since 4 am (we had a 6:20 flight) our time, and didn't get to Pop til about 11:30, we went straight to the park. We stayed all the way till Spectro, but were too beat to see the fireworks , so headed back to the hotel. We were exhausted and our first day had surpassed our energy. This year, we have decided to just relax on our first day . We are going to check-in, then head over to Whispering Canyon for a big lunch and then walk it off at Downtown Disney. We'll get some shopping done early and maybe stop by Ghirardelli's for dessert . After that, we'll just take a dip in the pool or watch TV in our room . Got to get to bed early, so we'll be ready for the parks the next morn.

 

[Margie]

[SIZE=4]You know, you are right! How quickly we can forget about how tired we are after all the arraingments, running and packing. Then getting up at 4:00 am!! We also have a early flight. I think we may just wimp out at the hotel pool in the afternoon. Maybe take a walk around... relax before our first BIG DAY!
Margie[/SIZE]
Thanks again !!:earsgirl:

 

[Kanga1]

DH and DD4 and myself...up at 4:30am to catch our flight...checked in at CR...drove to DTD to shop...went to the grocery store...dinner at Chef Mickey's...walked to MK and rode a few rides in Fantasyland...Spectro and Wishes...walked back to CR...and then fully UNPACKED!!!!!! Didn't get to bed until 1:30...and then I COULDN'T SLEEP!!! Finally got to sleep at 3:30am and had an EMH the next morning.

NEVER AGAIN!!!!!

This year staying at POFQ...check in...boat to DTD...relax...early to bed!!!

 

[jme829]

We always get an early seating at Chef Mickeys', then go to DTD for the evening. Get back to hotel for a fairly early night (10 ish) so we can have a fresh full day at the MK in the morning. WE are getting in pretty early this year (11:30 a.m.) so we will probably grab a swim at our hotel as well. While seeing the castle when we first get there is fine, we would rather see it first thing in the a.m. as a way to start off our day and week.