Park day on arrival?

[sharpemom]

Our flight arrives at 11:30am. Should we plan to do a park in the afternoon or evening if we are using the Magical Express? Or will transportation to Disney take too long?

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I would. It'll take upwards of 90 minutes to get to your resort using Magical Express so you'll have plenty of time for a park. I usually plan on going to a park around 3pm when I arrive by noon.
If I get to a park earlier it's bonus time but since I like to unpack if my resort room is ready, 3pm seems to work best for me.

 

[loves to dive]

Yep, if you can swing the ticket. We drive down and arrive between 2 and 4 and always go to a park on arrival day.

 

[NH-to-FL]

I would say yes. If you are staying for a number of days, the cost of an added day of tickets should not be too high. When we stayed on site we would usually visit a park in the afternoon/evening. We would get park hoppers that included the day of our arrival and departure. With your 11:30am arrival you will probably be at the resort by 1pm. I recall we had about a 50/50 chance of a room being available with a midday arrival.

If the room was ready we would head there and unpack. We would then pause for a leisurely lunch to decompress after the travel. After lunch we would head off site for some food shopping. After that we would wander over to Epcot. An easy walk as we stayed at the Boardwalk.

If the room still wasn't ready we would have our leisurely lunch hoping that the room would become available. If the room still wasn't ready we would wander over to Epcot until we got the room ready message. Then we would go back to the resort, unpack, and then head off shopping. If we weren't feeling too tired we might head back to Epcot for an evening snack.

Wishing you a magical trip!

 

[scrapquitler]

Even the time we arrived at the resort at 10PM we went to MK (which was having EMH from 11pm - 1am).

 

[anonymousegirl]

I come from the West Coast so my flights don't arrive until 5-6pm, and I still often hit a park, sometimes just for dinner (Epcot) or a fireworks show (MK). I have an AP so it doesn't cost me more money.

 

[CarolynFH]

We'd go to a park as well. We would probably not make an ADR (at least not until we were on the DME bus) or schedule anything non-refundable though.

 

[Kaytie]

It'll take upwards of 90 minutes to get to your resort using Magical Express

Eh. DME generally averages between 75 and 90 minutes from when you getting off the plane. Downwards of 90 minutes might be more accurate?

 

[ncc1701]

You can do it . We used to go to MK or Epcot on arrival day since we take an early flight and are there around noon. However since we are now more in the relaxing mode on our WDW trips we grab lunch at DS or ESPN Club ( if it isn't a Saturday during College football season) then go back to hang by the pool. We have gone to Epcot or DHS in the evening depending on dinner plans.

 

[Wild4Walt]

Which park are you thinking of hitting? I think in most cases I would give it a go it I arrived and got checked in by 2p. ( That's just me personally ) For arrival days we tend to arrive at the hotel around 5p so then we just go to Disney Springs, have dinner and do some shopping. If I could get my DF on the 1st flight out, it would be a park day for sure!

 

[sam_gordon]

Our flight arrives at 11:30am. Should we plan to do a park in the afternoon or evening if we are using the Magical Express? Or will transportation to Disney take too long?

You should get to your resort around 1p. Plan on another hour to check in and then transport to a park. So you could be at a park around 2p. As far as "should you"...
1) Do you have passes that would cover that day?
2) Did you have to get up extremely early to catch a flight? Will you be tired?

You definitely can go to a park. No one can judge whether you "should" except you.