Travel day at your resort

[AngiTN]

I will add we don't do DS at all. To us it's just a big outdoor shopping mall with restaurants and we have tons of that where I live including high end stores and fabulous restaurants.

I often wondered if we are the only ones to view DS this way. I don't see the appeal to wandering around and shopping while at Disney. Can't you do that at home? As to shopping for Disney stuff, can't you do that at the parks or the resorts?
We may go for a meal, every few trips but that's it. In that way, we treat it no differently than heading to a resort to dine, go, eat and leave.

 

[Farro]

Normally staying at Yacht/Beach we head to Epcot after checking in and ride Spaceship Earth. Then dinner either in Epcot or Boardwalk area.

Last trip we stayed at Poly - still went to Epcot, didn't ride anything and then went back to hotel and Magic Kingdom for dinner at Skipper Canteen. That was weird, and the whole trip felt off!

Next trip back to normal!

 

[Sparkly]

We arrive fairly late from the UK, so dinner and bed. Then jetlag has us up nice and early the next morning to hit the parks! This trip though, we'll be exploring AKL on our first morning and hitting MK on our second full day when we're checked into OKW to start the package.

 

[Melanie230]

What is your favorite thing to do on arrival day? Go straight to a park, spend the day exploring or Disney Springs?

We take the last flight out from home so that we arrive too late to do much other than unpack, get the room organized, pick up a few groceries, and go to bed. That way the first day we are up and out the door for rope drop!

 

[tobikaye]

I do not have any set routines when it comes to WDW. If I arrive at WDW before 10 am, I will likely go to a park. If I arrive after 7 pm, I probably will grab a bite to eat and hang out in my resort room. When I arrive between those times, I have done any number of variations where I either go to a park, hang out at my resort, visit other resorts/DS.

Everything just depends on my traveling party and my mood. I rarely make in set plans for arrival day unless I arrive before 10 am.

 

[greg9x]

Usually arrive late morning or early afternoon so do a half day at a park... But make FP's for later in case of delays.

 

[Lady and the Buc]

I usually book the earliest flight I can get. We always arrive on a MNSSHP day. Once we arrive at the resort, if our rooms are ready we take a nap until about 2pm then get ready to head to MK. If it’s not ready we swim at the resort until it is ready.

 

[supitscarrie]

I've done a few different things, most commonly going out to Disney Springs for an evening of some shopping and usually a nice sit-down dinner. I've also gone straight to the parks, which is fine if you get there early enough - I fly in, so I have to rely on the flights being on time and then the magical express hauling us out to the resort. Otherwise, it seems like a waste of a park ticket if you can only be in a park for half a day... but that's just my opinion.
When I'm there this November, I'm thinking about spending some time relaxing at the resort and then doing one of the dinner shows in lieu of DS. But nothing's set in stone quite yet.

 

[roydavid7771]

No matter what time we arrive, we never head to the parks on our first day. If we're early, we hang out at the pool and explore the resort, then always dinner at Disney Springs.

 

[Luvs Mickey]

A couple times we’ve arrived in the morning I’ve gone to the spa for a pedicure. Helps me unwind and decompress from the flight and hecticness of getting everyone there. Then out for dinner!

 

[hereforthechurros]

Past two trips we flew in later and did dinner at Disney Springs then pool time at the resort. This last time we flew in earlier and hit the parks right off. I think I actually prefer the chill day at the resort vs. rushing off right to the parks.

 

[hereforthechurros]

I often wondered if we are the only ones to view DS this way. I don't see the appeal to wandering around and shopping while at Disney. Can't you do that at home? As to shopping for Disney stuff, can't you do that at the parks or the resorts?
We may go for a meal, every few trips but that's it. In that way, we treat it no differently than heading to a resort to dine, go, eat and leave.

The food is better at DS so we often dine there. We aren’t shoppers but hitting Amorette’s or the Ganachery is fun, and World of Disney + Lego Store are a must for our son. Other than that and an emergency paid of sandals at Havaianas we haven’t stepped foot in the other stores there. But DS also receives a ton of local traffic so they’ve gotta have everything.

 

[EscalatorKid]

I personally never schedule anything "important" on Travel Day. So, no ticketed events or parks. I do take the first flight out of Buffalo as a rule, so there's less likelihood of severe delays. However, I have had issues with delays on flights in the past. (This past February trip, a 2pm flight became a 6pm flight and dinner at DS became dinner at the resort.) Between potential flight delays and DME delays or waiting, I just don't risk it.

I "usually" arrive by 10:30 if I take the first flight out. So, I usually get to the room and freshen up, change clothes from my sweatpants and hoodie to more Florida appropriate gear. I go head to Disney Springs and get Earl of Sandwich for lunch and poke around the shops. I'll grab coffee at Starbucks to keep myself awake because those 4AM wakeups are not fun. I come back to the room and go for a swim and take a shower and climb in bed to watch some Florida news. My last relaxation of my vacation is usually the first night.

 

[Magnoliafan]

I arrive this Saturday (yay!) around 9:30am. I’m staying at BWI for the first 4 nights (40th birthday splurge) and my plan is Ale & Compass lunch, followed by a few hours in World Showcase. Once I get my room ready text, I’m going to rest and hopefully nap in my room before heading to MK for HEA and then DAH.

I try to book the earliest flight possible because I’m always antsy to get to a park. The only two exceptions were midnight arrivals for a long weekend (my birthday trip last year) and my post-Irma flight from DLR (which was a scramble, because I had initially booked WDW first, but had to switch it up to avoid the hurricane). Both of those trips started with a sleepy trip on DME.

 

[mcurran]

I have 3 kids from 2-8 and we’ve been going with kids since our oldest was 2 and youngest was 9 months old. Our travel day usually starts at 4-5 am and consists of 2+ hours driving and waiting at the airport and keeping kids entertained. By the time we get to our resort around 4 pm we usually aim to have qs at the hotel, a dip in the pool, and a nice poolside drink.

 

[Nancyg56]

I often wondered if we are the only ones to view DS this way. I don't see the appeal to wandering around and shopping while at Disney. Can't you do that at home? As to shopping for Disney stuff, can't you do that at the parks or the resorts?
We may go for a meal, every few trips but that's it. In that way, we treat it no differently than heading to a resort to dine, go, eat and leave.

We generally do nto go to a park on arrival day, however there are times when it makes sense for us. This next trip I have MK planned for just a few hours so our Newbie can see the Castle. SHe has never been so she really wants to visit MK first. So why not?

WE always have a meal planned between 6 and 7 so we dine and get back to the resort at a reasonable hour so we can hit the parks early the next morning.

 

[Mdsleiman]

thanks everyone for your travel day stories!

 

[beccasmom]

We do go to a park if we arrive early enough, but usually we have a nice lunch - or dinner - and just chill out (conserving our energy!). If we can we’ll hang at the pool for a bit.

 

[Nowenteringwdcop]

We are arriving mid-day in December, so we're going to look at some resort decorations, grab dinner, and take a walk around the boardwalk!