Park on travel day?

[justthe2ofus]

Hi everyone. I'm another newbie. My nine year old daughter and I are vacationing at Disney World for the first time in June (We can't wait! )

We are taking a red eye flight and will arrive in Orlando around 11am. Would you go to a park on the arrival day or just hang out a the resort and Downtown Disney. I'm thinking we may be tired after the late night flight, but don't want to miss out.

What do you think? By the way, we are staying 7 nights and have six day hopper tixs.

 

[deakam]

by the time you get to the resort it will probably be noon. Check in is 3pm. If your room is not ready you might want to head somewhere. If your room is ready I would see how I felt. Not really plan anything, maybe take a nap or have some lunch. Since it is your first trip you might want to take some time to acquaint yourself with the resort and maybe head to a park for dinner and some evening extra magic hours.

I would not plan on doing a lot. Just take in the atmosphere maybe catch the fireworks at Epcot or the Magic Kingdom. Where are you staying? There is always the campfire sing along at Fort Wilderness. And most of the resorts are now showing movies in the evening. On our last visit we got to the French Quarter about noon and our room was ready. By the time everyone took a nice little nap and unpacked....we walked over to Riverside and had a nice dinner at Boatwrights, walked back to our resort where they were roasting marshmallows by the campfire along the river. Made it to bed early and we were all well rested to start are first full day.

Whatever you decide just don't over do the first day....you will regret it later on in the week.

 

[JasonBlue07]

Well, I'm not gonna suggest u to just go ride ahead. U will probably arrive by the evening so I suggest u to just take a nap first to regain some energy for like at least 2 hours, then u would wanna see your nightime entertaiment that u wanna see n u start your visit by seeing the show u wanna see n the next day and onward is the real blast... Have fun!!

 

[serene56]

We are spending our arrival day unpacking and Downtown Disney.
Eating at either T-rex or Earl of Sandwich.

I say relax your first day/

if you try to fit it all in -- you will both hit a wall mid week and will be miserable.

 

[Metro West]

Welcome!

 

[Taytortots]

First off, welcome to Disboards!
Secondly, it's hard to get a feel for how your day will go, so you should just keep your options open.
There are many factors, such as check in, is your room ready, are you tired etc. You wont know until you get there what you're feeling.
I've gone to the park on my arrival day before and we had a great time, even though we woke up around 3 to leave on our flight. Sometimes the excitement keeps you awake (or you can sleep on the plane xD)
There's always the option for a small nap, or only a small time at the park.
Just play it by ear, and keep your options open.
Have fun!

 

[party-of-five]

My suggestion would be to wing it. I wouldn't make any reservations or anything. See how you feel when you get there and decide. I've been on red eyes and slept the whole way. I've been on others and didn't get a bit of sleep. Your room may be ready, it may not be. You could rest and relax by the pool and head on over to a park later if you're up to it. Or save the ticket and head over to downtown Disney for the evening. You could ride the monorail and checkout some of the other resorts. You could go to the Boardwalk. So many options. It might be best to see where the day takes you.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[justthe2ofus]

Thanks for the advice and the warm welcome.

Playing it by ear (I like the pun) may be the best way to go. We are staying at the POR so there seems like many things to do there. Plus we can take the boat to Downtown Disney. Or like one person said, visit other resorts. Or, nap and visit one of the parks later.

Lots of factors to consider but it appears to be lots of optios as well. I cant wait for our vacation to begin!!!!!!!!

I love this site already. So much information and everyone is very helpful.

 

[jrtoastyman]

One thing that first timers rarely fully appreciate is how physically taxing a trip to WDW can be. I was there a few days ago for a quick trip, and on Monday I walked 14 miles (was carrying a pedometer). Even on the lighter days, I was still walking 8-9 miles. Over the course of a week, that adds up.

With that in mind, the worst thing you could do would be to wipe yourself out right out of the gate by doing too much on too little sleep and then trying to play catch-up for the rest of your trip. Particularly for a week long trip, you're going to need that energy.

Unfortunately, if you land at 11, that's a long time to be on Disney property without going into the parks, particularly if you're excited by virtue of it being your first trip -- not recommending you head into the parks, just trying to be realistic about the fact that you're probably going to want to, no matter how tired you are. If you do feel compelled to head over and take in a little bit of the parks, though, resist the temptation to do everything, and just go in to take in the atmosphere, have a meal, and then come home and get plenty of rest so you're good to go for the rest of your trip. The good news is that the price difference between a 6 day hopper and a 7 day hopper is not great, so if you get there and you're feeling frisky, you can pop over to the parks for a little bit and just add a day to your ticket without it being a huge financial outlay.