Please help me with my arrival day...

[zakatak]

We will be arriving on Thur, July 3rd for 10 days (7 at POR and 3 at GF). It will be me, dh, ds (7), dds (4 & 3). We have APs and my dd (3) has 2 five day hoppers. All days are covered.

So... Which would you do? We should arrive by Noon at POR, we will eat lunch, unpack, swim & relax. We will have been up since 4:30am...

1. IF we can nap, go to MK after dinner, do BTMR, Barnstormer and HM... watch Spectro and FITS.

2. Head to DTD after dinner for Ghiradelli's Ice Cream Sundaes via the BOAT.

We have EMH at AK for the next morning, so I am kinda leaning towards an easier first night, however I LOVE SPECTRO AND FITS and it would a great way to start off the trip...

What would you do?

 

[AKASnowWhite]

It is tradition for our family to go to MK the first day we arrive, no matter what time we finally get there! To see Cinderella's castle just seems to start our trip off on the right foot.

 

[geffric]

We are from the take it easy school of thought. Our first day is traditionally - unpack, swim, go to the grocery store, go to DTD via the boat, Lego Store, ice cream. Then AK and ride Kali River Rapids as many times as we can and get absolutely soaked. Eat... just take it easy...

 

[LvsTnk]

We would go to the MK, but it probably would be better to take it easy, and what fun is that

 

[Fizban257]

Instead of advice, here's our plan for our arrival on Saturday, July 5th:
We're staying off property, but once we arrive and check in to the condo, we're off to MK. The boys will get haircuts on Main Street (youngest DS's first!), we'll eat a late lunch at the CP, try and get on a few rides, and see the parades and fireworks. No rush, no plans, no itineraries, just kind of wingin' it. We planned the vacation without this day included and consider our arrival day just an extra bit of fun with no worries or hassles. It lets us add a little bit of spontaneity to the trip.

 

[luvaladdin]

We always start our arrival day at Epcot. We get there about 3:00 and maybe go on 1 or 2 rides in Future World, then head over to World Showcase, visiting countries, having dinner, watching any entertainment scheduled, then staying for Illuminations. It's usually not crowded and the lines for FW are short.