things to do on first day

[zzyzx409]

Ah, the first day, first night thread.

We usually have dinner, unpack and relax, but back in 2001, this was a hot topic on te old RADP, so Deb Wills compiled a list and published it on her site. It is still there and a good read, the URL is:

http://www.allearsnet.com/pl/fnight.htm

Enjoy,

Andy

 

[disneymomof6]

Thanks so much for all your advice. I'm still undecided what we will do, I guess I have a couple more weeks to decide. We do only have passes for 4 days at the park. Is there any theme park that takes less time to go through than others? I suppose this just depends on what you are interested in. We are in Florida for 7 days. We want to go to Sea World one day, does this involve a full day? and then maybe rent a car and travel around to see other sites. I just don't want to miss anything or not take full advantage of everything down there to see while we are there!!!

Personally we use epcot as our first day there.... epcot is divided in the two sections and after half day my kids are bored there although there are some things that we really enjoy doing. also epcot is bottom of the list so its hard to go there after we go to the other parks because epcot doesnt compare to the others.... I dont mind epcot when its just me and hubby strolling and relaxing taking in scenary but kids want more disney and epcot doesnt have the same feel to them that the other parks do....

ALSO in the past we have done DTD or the boardwalk.... but we now save those trips for after we have gone to animal kingdom since that is a short day trip.

 

[Tasmen]

We are going to go to Epcot on our first day in. We are taking a red eye into MCO from Seattle and should land around 10am. We have late lunch adrs in Epcot and will probably just casually walk around Epcot for a while and maybe visit Downtown Disney a little later in the early evening. Our main thing was that we didn't want to plan anything too activity intensive for our first day. We are saving MK for our second day after we get a full night's rest

 

[summerlandjeff]

We have a little tradition going for our first day. We like to fly out early (from ACY) so our flight usually leaves at 6:30 - 7:00AM putting us at MCO around 9:00AM. Since the flight and transportation can be a little hectic, we check in, knowing our room won't be ready, change into our swim suits and enjoy a quick lunch poolside (CSR). After some swimming and a few tropical cocktails , we go to our room, rest up and enjoy dinner at the resort. The park hopping starts the second day when we're refreshed, excited and ready to go ! We've found easing into all the excitment is better for us than jumping in with both feet!

 

[josie21]

Thanks again for all the great advice. I think i'm just going to add an extra day onto our hopper passes, it came out to only like $4 or $6 a ticket, I'm sure we'll want to check out one of the parks our first day so at least this way we will be able to without feeling like we wasted half a day with a full days ticket! Thanks again. I can't wait to Go!!!!!

 

[MeLaNie9]

We will be arriving on Feb 6th. We land at approx. 11:15 a.m. so hopefully will be at our hotel (Pop Century) by 1:00 in afternoon. We have 4 day hopper passes, what park would suggest seeing first if we use one of our days on the day we arrive? Any advice on what we should do? This is our first time to WDW. Thanks.

We are arriving on this day also! We are doing are on the same flight we took in May and are planning to do the same thing we did then - we arrived at the resort around noon/1pm (then it was Poly, this time we will be at YC) We will grab a bite to eat at the resort then head to the MK! We just have to walk down Main Street and see the castle ASAP! We were able to leisurely walk around parts of MK and ride a few rides. We plan to catch the afternoon parade that day as well as Spectromagic and Wishes. Then on other days that we plan to go to MK, we can ride the "big ticket" rides during the parades.
Have fun!

 

[Disneyfan18951]

I go solo so I don't have to deal with kids but what I normally do is:

flight lands at 10:30 am
go to AK see as much as I can before 4:00,
go to checkin at Hotel,
head over to MK for evening hours maybe ride a few rides if not to crowded
watch parade and fireworks since these are must sees

** Side note** I arrive on Saturdays and the MK usally has later closing time

 

[kellyg403]

In the past our first day we usually arrived around 1 and got settled and ready to go to MGM by 3. We usually hit TOT and RNR which are the kids favorites and then hit Sci Fi for dinner...another kid favorite. We also do the Great Movie Ride..another kid favorite for some unknown reason!

This year we have decided on our first day to rest a bit, go to Planet Hollywood for dinner and do Cirque that evening. Maybe some shopping. We don't spend alot of time in DTD so we thought we would see what it was like in the evening.

Hope that you have fun no matter what you do the first day!

Kelly

 

[dahrjo]

We have a late flight and won't get to POR until about 5:00. Any ideas for a late arrival?

 

[kimis]

We have a late flight and won't get to POR until about 5:00. Any ideas for a late arrival?

We ususally always arrive arounf 4 or 5 in the afternoon also. Rather than waste a day on the tickets we go to DTD to eat and walk around. We really like Capn Jacks so we always eat there first. They didn't used to take PS but now they do. Than after being away from the resort for 2 or 3 hours when we get back the lagguage is there and we can unpack. DTD is a nice place to go that first night.

 

[becca011906]

our first day we are going to go to one of the monirail resorts and get on the monirail and ride around and just 'see' all the magic to kinda put us in the mood!

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

Hi Cindy's Mom! I am Cindy's sister, also Donna, Nellie, Jenny, Wanda and Mary's sister to boot!!

I just read your message. Glad to see another like minded soul. This just sets the tone for our visits. We like to start off slow and end up slow and enjoy the middle of our trips with however we feel like each day. No point in a vacation if you are not having fun!

May we meet on the Poly beach one day and soon!!

Slightly Goofy/Linda

 

[Goofy22]

Thanks again for all the great advice. I think i'm just going to add an extra day onto our hopper passes, it came out to only like $4 or $6 a ticket, I'm sure we'll want to check out one of the parks our first day so at least this way we will be able to without feeling like we wasted half a day with a full days ticket! Thanks again. I can't wait to Go!!!!!

I would say add the day if you can it is well worth it even if you only go for a few hours! Which park first I think depends on the ages of your children and what they wish to see! On our first visit with our children in 2000 with our children our daughter was 5 and she was so into seeing cinderellas castle so we did Magic Kingdom of course first my son was only 1 1/2 yrs old so he didnt mind either! When we entered magic kingdom and we walked down main street she SCREAMED! Mommy Daddy look it's Cinderella's Castle and she cried so hard she was so happy! I have not forgot that to this day! She is 12 now and we still do Magic Kingdom first because of this and it brings back those memories so I would say go for the park that is going to leave a lasting impression for your children and you it is a memory you will never forget!

 

[kmccain]

We are going to hang out on our first day too.

Since we are staying at Fort Wilderness we will be swimming and going to the campfire and the movie, but it is also something you can do too!

We save Downtown Disney for our last day and that is when we buy everything to take home!

There is a lot to see there!

Hope this helps!

 

[LIGrumpyGirl]

We have our first day down so well when my daughter "plays" Disney she can recite it step by step. After getting settled in our room (SSR - DVC) we go to DTD for an Earl of Sandwich lunch (yum!!) Then we go food shopping for the week at WinnDixie. Then it is off to dinner at WL - Whispering Canyon. Off to bed early for the next day is at MK.

 

[meeskamouska]

We aren't coming in until late in the evening...so we are going to head to Downtown Disney and eat and look around!!! Get to bed early and start our trip rested!!!

 

[hollyb]

This was a huge dilemma (sp) for us. We have now decided on how to spend our first day. Get off the autotrain around 9ish hopefully, hit the zoo there in Sanford. Enjoy the zoo eat lunch and soak up some sun. Early evening head to our hotel check in and explore. We know the kids will want to swim. Nothing to stressful the first day, it's all up to how the kids are. Then Sunday we will hit MK. Can't wait!

Are there fireworks everynight of the week?