Question on first night at WDW

[ReinerFam]

Hi everyone! We are so excited about our upcoming trip Dec1-9! I have a question for all of you seasoned planners! We are arriving on a Friday night. Our plane gets in around 2:00 pm. I'm going to give the family two choices: 1)to just eat at the Riverside Food Mill Court (we are staying in POR) and settle in for the night or 2)to go to Epcot. If they decide Epcot - we plan to leave POR at 5:00 pm (by bus of course). We want to get there in time to see the tree lighting ceremony. And then I thought we could eat dinner at either the Electric Umbrella or the Liberty Inn. Do you all think we have enough time to get to the ceremony if we leave around 5? And what are your thoughts of eating at that time at the above mentioned restaurants. Sorry - I know this is alot but I am a planner! Thanks for any help! You guys/gals rock! Carol

 

[Duanerice]

Not sure about getting to EPCOT on time, but if you decide to stay near the resort, why not just take the boat to Downtown Disney and eat there, say the Rainforest Cafe? Shop a bit and enjoy the decorations.
Duane

 

[PattiPB]

Without any particulars (ages of kids, where you're from), here's an idea of what we do, and why.

Our plane lands around 4 pm---from the West Coast. Up at 5 to make plane, long flight, excitement and exhaustion mixed!

We don't use a day pass for a half day. I'd rather hold out for a full day---it's just too expensive for me to use half day.

We usually eat at Chef Mickey's (8 pm ressie is still just 5 pm to our bodies!) and take a loop or two on the Monorail to get ready for the next day. Depending on time, we can see some fireworks, or watch the Electrical Parade from the shore.

The idea of taking the boat to DTD is a good one, too! No matter what you choose---you're at WDW!!!

 

[Got Quattro?]

It gets dark at about 4:15pm. No way you make the tree lighting.

If you have the park days to burm (length of stay), yes...go to EPCOT and get Illuminations out of the way. Not that it's an unimportant thing to see. just later in your trip, you won't have to be tied to being at EPCOT one night at 9:00 to see illuminations.

Plus, the world showcase is the perfect spot to "snack' for dinner.

 

[allfordisney]

In my opinion, it depends on how many days you have tickets for. If you have a ticket for every day you're there, you might as well go to Epcot!

 

[Conan the Librarian]

It gets dark at about 4:15pm. No way you make the tree lighting.

If you have the park days to burm (length of stay), yes...go to EPCOT and get Illuminations out of the way. Not that it's an unimportant thing to see. just later in your trip, you won't have to be tied to being at EPCOT one night at 9:00 to see illuminations.

Plus, the world showcase is the perfect spot to "snack' for dinner.

Actually in South Florida, Sunset is at 5:30pm at that time. You would still want to be in the park and ready by 5:00pm or so.

You can check at Guest Services for scheduling.

 

[ReinerFam]

According to the Epcot calendar, the tree lighting ceremony is at 6:00 pm each night. We are staying from Friday to the following Saturday. I'm not sure we are going to be able to make it to that any other time in the week that we are staying in WDW. I just want to make sure that we will get there in time.

 

[phanomouse]

Hey we are going to be there from Nov 30 - Dec 18; maybe we'll see you around!

If you choose Epcot I would recommend running over to Beaches N' Cream then coming back for Illuminations... just keep it relaxing, you don't want to kill yourself on the first night especially after traveling.

On our first night we usually go to either DTD and eat at either the Rain Forest Cafe or the Earl of Sandwich and then we just relax. Or we go to California Grill and watch the fireworks.

Whatever you do you will have a ton of fun!

 

[grumpymakesmehappy]

We count everyday as a Disney day and buy our length of tickets accordingly. After we check into our resort, we head on over to the parks (preferably MK). We may not stay until it closes on that day but at least we got to see it and we can go to bed excited about tommorrow. There's no way our family could be that close to all the action and not join in the fun. If you can spare the day on your tickets then I would definately say go to Epcot.

 

[pezheadmeg]

We're arriving at 2 pm to MCO and staying at POFQ. The plan is to simply check-in then head right over to EPCOT. I figured with the bus that's getting to EPCOT at around 4 or so. With the park being open to 9, it'll allow time to hop SpaceShip Earth, possibly Mission Space, then a tour of the Showcase. It's sort of tough to be in Disney for that first afternoon and not hit a park!

Granted the the difference between a 4 day or a 5 day ticket per person was about $2. To me that's $2 very well spent if it allows for an extra few hours in the parks.