Red eye arrival day - tips?

[zanzibar138]

I posted a few weeks ago about having a dilemma with a rescheduled flight, which would see us not arriving at the Poly until close to midnight. After a few weeks, it still wasn't sitting well with me, so revisited it with my partner and we agreed to compromise by taking the red eye from Vegas the night before (which doesn't really take any time away from Vegas, but will guarantee that we arrive at WDW nice and early!). I'm not a good flyer and will generally avoid a red eye at all costs, but was willing to accept this given the circumstances, and splurged on Spirit's larger seats to try to make it as comfortable as possible.

It's highly likely that I will not get a single second of sleep on that flight, so just wondering if anyone has any tips for our arrival day. I'm one of those people who needs a solid sleep to function, but I'm also a pretty fussy sleeper - I need to have my feet up, with dim lights, a blanket, and a quiet environment. Initially I thought we'd just make our way to the Poly and try to get through until 4pm the best we can, maybe trying to have a nap at one of the quiet pools or something. But then I thought maybe it's worth booking a hotel for the day. It'll cost just over AUD $100 to book a room from 8am-2pm, which I think would be worth it to be able to sleep for a few hours, shower and change, and arrive at WDW refreshed and ready to go. I'd consider a hotel in the airport area or Disney Springs area.

We would still keep that day fairly light, and plan to spend the afternoon just leisurely exploring the Poly and surrounding areas before an early dinner and watching the fireworks from the Poly. We will have park access if we feel up to it, and if we're really keen, there's always EEH at EPCOT that night. We have 14 nights though, so don't need to rush into anything and we will have another opportunity for EEH at EPCOT.

Just wondering what others do on their arrival day after a red eye? Particularly for those who don't sleep on planes. Do you just push through the best you can? Is there anywhere comfortable to nap for a while if you need it? Do you think it's worth making the effort to try to get a few hours proper sleep early on to be able to make the most of the day? For the record, jetlag doesn't usually affect me - doesn't matter what my sleep schedule has been, I can always fall asleep at 'bedtime' local time, as long as I can get comfortable enough (not sure about my partner though!).

 

[elvispursley]

We usually take a red eye from the west coast and end up arriving well before 9am most of the time. In the past we’ve gone to one of the waterworks until our room is ready. I’ll usually take a nap and relax in the lazy river. Other times we’ll catch a nap at the pool. We’ve even sat in the lobbies of YC and OKW and caught a nap. We’ve generally been very lucky and our room is ready by 1pm but YMMV…GREATLY! once we get our room, we’ll often take a nap and head to Epcot for dinner and a few attractions.