planning disney days

[blakefamily]

We will be arriving on Tuesday Nov 18th. Haven't decided if we want to do a red eye and arrive early morning or a standard flight and arrive 5ish. We are flying from Oregon. Wondering if we arrive around5ish in the evening, what would you recommend as far as going to a park or just a dinner and maybe DTD ? We will be staying on site until Friday and then going to a Condo for another 8 days. Want to do as much Disney while staying on site, then maybe another day or 2 dispersed into the next week. When will the schedule for EMH days be available. I would love to experience rope drop at MK. Also my daughter is 7 and loves the princesses, what Character meal would you suggest if we did one to kick off our trip on the first night ?

 

[GenevieveRaqs]

I would recommend taking it easy that first evening. Hang out at the resort, maybe go over to DTD.

In 2012, we flew down for my son's first trip. We were only flying from Atlanta, so a short flight. But we live two hours from the airport, which made for a very early morning. We landed a little after noon. By the time we got on the bus, to the resort, checked in and to our cabin (FW) it was well after 2 p.m. We headed out to Epcot, arriving between 3 and 4 p.m. We had a 5 p.m. ADR. And we were all CRANKY! In hindsight, we should have just relaxed at the cabin without trying to do anything other than grabbing dinner somewhere. And that's exactly what we will be doing this time around.

 

[heybravo626]

You could get park and princess dinner both in MK (Cinderalla Royal table) and Epcot (Akerhus - Norway). Another option wouls be 1900 Park Fare at Grand Fla then you can head over to MK with a FP+ to see more princesses.

 

[ateam79828592]

My suggestion would be to do the regular flight and plan to do DTD your first night. That way you are starting off your trip rested and you aren't stressed about making a reservation that first night. Doing Magical Express, checking-in, checking out your resort, and then visiting DTD has always been a very exciting first evening for our family.

 

[emilyyvic]

You spend a lot of money to go to Disney World. Why cut off a full day of activities when you are only staying on-site from Tuesday-Friday? There's so much to see and do at Disney you'll want as much time to explore as possible!

Don't schedule an ADR for your first night, just in case you would like to relax at the resort, but do book the early arrival flight so you can have the option of making the most out of your first day!

As for princess character meals, I have only been to Cinderella's Royal Table, and am actually going for a second time next month! I love CRT and we really enjoyed the service, meal and characters at this place. Plus, it's classic and a great first introduction to dining with the princesses.

 

[blakefamily]

Thanks for your advice everyone. My husband and I both did red eye flights when we came last September. While we didn't sleep much, I wasn't overly tired. Has anyone done a red eye on jet blue ? Delta? What were your thoughts?

 

[sayuracodfish]

Hi blakefamily, fellow Oregonian here (Go Ducks!).

Last Thanksgiving we took a redeye to maximize WDW time (United). I liked it because I would much prefer to sleep on a long, boring flight than try to entertain myself. We were tired, but not overly so. We went to Epcot after checking in and walked around World Showcase - very enjoyable. I wouldn't make an ADR though, because it would stress me out in the event of delays.

 

[amym2]

By "arrive at 5" do you mean arrive at the airport or arrive at the resort? If your flight arrives at 5, it may be 7pm by the time you get to the resort, so I'd definitely plan to just hang out there. It's likely that MK and EP will both close by 9, unless you get pm EMH, in Nov.

If your flight arrives more like 3pm, you might consider heading to a park. I still wouldn't make an ADR, though, because if your flight gets delayed and you don't make it, you'll be out $10 per person.

In terms of princess meals, we loved CRT for breakfast. We never did Akershus in EP, but it's another option. We have friends who did 1900 Park Fare for dinner and loved it.

The October calendar was just released by Disney (although you can get the TA calendar earlier) so November should be released sometime around the beginning of May. Doesn't leave much time to plan ADRs!