Red Eye arrival strategy

[hookedup]

We are arriving early on a Saturday in December after a red eye flight from the west coast. Me, dh and ds (4 yr old) for a 5 night pre-Christmas stay . A gift from my boss (who just laid me off after 13 years)
We are staying at the CR - I know we can't check in until 3:00 so I am thinking about a strategy for our first day. We only have a 5 day park hopper (but also have two "plus" visits left from our last trip) and I am wondering if it might be a waste to go to parks that day. If we are really tired we might poop out early. Not sure what we are going to do. Any thoughts or suggestions? Will it be too cold to go to a waterpark?
Thanks!

 

[MouseClubMom]

So sorry to hear about your layoff.

I would play it by ear. You can go to the resort and leave your luggage there until your room is ready (I believe they store it at bell services). Head for whatever park has EMH and go until time to check in then head to the hotel for a nice long nap or lounge by the pool.

December weather can go either way. I know one year we went and it was HOT one day and freezing the next. Lounging at one of the water parks would be another great option. Keep in mind that usually one of them is shut down for rehab this time of year.

Try to sleep on the plane if you can - I take Xanax when I fly because of my fear of flying and this knocks me right out!

Leave your options open and see how you feel when you land.

MCMom

 

[mic_key_mouse]

I would plan to relax and rest that day, especially after a long flight. Get to your hotel, take a nap, freshen up, check out the Christmas decorations aroung the hotel, and maybe do a character meal at CR or another resort. We have done water parks in Dec a few times, but the weather is hit or miss. You won't know until you get there if it is going to be warm enough.

Be sure to call the hotel the day before and let them know you are taking a red eye. That is off-season, and if you ask nicely if they would consider allowing you into your room early you might get a favorable response. My .02 worth

Blessings.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

We live on the east coast but I was up packing till like 2 am and then had to get up at 4:30 am for the limo. Our flight arrived at 11:30. We also could not check into our room at the swan, so we bussed over to the Poly and rented the boys mouse boats, then ate at Kona Cafe. My original plan was to go in the mk and see the 3 pm parade. Our 3 ds are 16,14 and 12 and we were all so pooped no one wanted to go into the park. We got into our room around 3 and got up like at 7:30. Looks like you have a little one. If you dont want to go to the parks, take a monorail loop, check out the arcade at the contemporary, have an early dinner with chef mickey or at park faire at the grand floridian, do mini golf or go to fort wilderness on the boat and go to the petting zoo. I have not gone in dec, but in feb. our ds went swimming and got really sick even though the poly pool was heated. As the other poster said, be prepared for all kinds of weather. Sorry to hear about the lay off.

 

[Barbday62]

I've done three trip from WA state and its always been the red eye for us. The first year was the hardest because I couldnt sleep on the plane at all. We generally arrive to Florida about 7ish or 8ish (Which is only about 4amWA time zone).

We found we had to plan things that kept up moving. Once we sat down and tried to watch the movie in France in Epcot and almost fell asleep. We stayed at the Beach CLub that time. SO we decided to walk around a while, eat some junk food and then we went to our suit cases to get out our swim suits. Luckly the room was ready once we finished swimming a while. (They must have had a dressing room because I was so tired I cant remmerb wher we changed our clothes at anymore. I do remmeber just drying off in the heat and putting clothes on top of my swim suit when we finished swimming. When our room was ready (about 2or 3ish in the afternoon) we took a long nap and hit the parks again in the evening. I think we may have waisted a day because our park time was very small that year. The parks were open late so we at least got some evening time in.

 

[Micca]

If adrenalin is pumping, try the parks. It's best to force yourself into the new time zone when traveling. The parks won't be open too late before Christmas. Maybe you could stay until it's time for an early dinner, then hit the sack at CR and catch the EMH the next morning.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

Will MVMCP be going on the night you arrive? If so, why not go over to Fort Wilderness when you arrive and let your DS play, do the petting zoo, etc. then go back to your room as soon as you can check in and take a nice long nap. That way you can get refreshed and go have dinner before MVMCP. You wouldn't use one of your Hopper days but you'd have to buy the special event ticket for MVMCP.

 

[LuvTigger]

I would call WDW reservations now and ask them to put a request for early check-in on your reservation.

I once went to WDW the first week of December (stayed at PO), and we caught a red eye in from LAX. We arrived at around 5:30 or 6:00 a.m. When I made the hotel ressie, I asked if I could put a request for earliy check in, so they noted it on the ressie but made sure I knew it wasn't a guarantee.

When we got to PO at around 6 a.m., I was able to check in and get into my room right away, and the front desk person mentioned my request for early check-in. Meanwhile, a lady next to me, who apparently did not put in a request for early check-in, was told her room was not ready yet.

So, while it's not a guarantee, it couldn't hurt to ask now. Hopefully the room will be ready when you get there (I would think availability of rooms would be pretty good, unless you're going Christmas week).

If you can get into your room early, you could take a nap and go to the parks. What we did was go to MK when it opened, went back to the hotel for a nap in the afternoon, and headed out to the park again later.

As for water parks, expect ANYTHING in terms of weather! The day we got there, it rained, but it was a comfortable temperature. The next 4-5 days, it was beautifully clear, but COLD!!! I believe it was in the 30's-40's. Enough to make me wear thermal underwear. I brought clothes to layer, so I had a short sleeve shirt underneath a sweatshirt I could take off when I entered rides since they were very warm. Our last day, it went up to the 80's, and the water park was open (the other days I think it was closed because of the cold weather), but the water was still a bit chilly. It was do-able though. Then that night, there was a thunderstorm.

I agree that you should do MVMCP, we did it and it was so awesome! Be sure to see all the special shows and the parade, and you can get a photo of your family which is included in the admission cost.

You will have a great time, it is a beautiful time of year to visit!!