What do you do on your arrival day?

[Karnak]

On my solo trips to WDW I usually go to Epcot on my arrival day, have a good dinner at one of the many excellent resturants there, and enjoy a few of the attractions in the park. Epcot is a park that always takes me more than one day to cover, so starting there makes sense to me.

Enjoy.

 

[Simba22]

We go to DTD on arrival day. We are arriving around 2:30 on our December trip so we will have pleny of time to wander DTD for a while, eat dinner that head to La Nouba for 9pm! Woohoo!!

 

[rie'smom]

Our first day we usually get to WDW around 1-2 pm. We head over to MGM and TOT. Afterwards we hit Sci-Fi. My teens love TOT and MGM is a smaller park so it works out great for us. We are usually back in our rooms by 9pm

Kelly

This is what we do too,except my DD has to ride RnR.

 

[phisigprincess]

I always plan DTD so we can ease into our vacation.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

On different trips, we've:

gone to DTD
gone to Boardwalk and then putt putt
strolled around resort (Port Orleans) and then went to the Luau.

In the past, we didn't want to use a full day's ticket when we arrived in the late afternoon. We may go to a park next time since the MYW tickets make it very affordable to add a day.

DH and I always comment on how magical the 1st evening always is for us, because we tend to forget from trip to trip how great WDW is, and we're not as tired.

We loved Boardwalk so much, we've made it our home.

We're going with relatives next time who want to spend our 1st magical night in Lake City.

 

[Family Fun Mom]

We've only been once, but our arrival day was so fun we decided it would be our tradition for all upcoming trips. We settled into our hotel, walked around the resort and checked it all out, then rode the bus to Epcot to board the monorail. We rode both monorail loops, getting great views of Spaceship Earth and Cinderella Castle, and ended the night with dinner at Chef Mickey's. Of all things we did that week, nothing topped the fun and excitement of that first night. I get a little misty just thinking about it.

 

[SaraMc]

We normally take an obsecenly early flight and arrive in Orlando around noon. DH are super tired and end up going to the Boardwalk or Downtown Disney oh and if we can get in our room early a nap! Last year I had morning sickness the moment we arrived in our room... This year with our new DS we are taking a later flight and will arrive at the hotel around 11pm.. so we will just hopefully move a sleeping 6 month old into his bed and unpack and go to sleep..

 

[Bill From PA]

We do a little pub-crawling at the BoardWalk during the day we get there, arriving at MCO around noon. That evening we hit PI and renew our membership at the Adventurer's Club.

Bill From PA

 

[cobbler]

If our family doesn't have AP's then we do something at DTD or hang out at the resort and swim. Usually for us, by the time we check in and get settled in, I don't feel like wasting a day on our tickets (again if we don't have AP's).

 

[mousiemom]

This is what we do: Our group of 8 to 10 we drive down and we arrive around 3:00, we check in and put all of our clothes up. We decorate our windows, and then we exchange our disney bags with everyone and we have so much fun doing this!! Once we have done this, we hop on the bus to DTD and go to the xmas shop, and The World Of Disney, and the mickey mart. We start our full day @ MK the next morning @ 8am. Oh, I can't wait!!!

 

[NC State]

We start our drive at 3:00 AM and arrive at POP at 12:30 PM. Check in, get something to eat and lay down for a nap. Then up and off for 7:50 PM dinner! I can't waite!!

 

[WDWFRV]

This coming trip we are doing it a little different. Not sure how I'm going to feel about it but we are getting in around 1:15 pm. We will check in at POFQ, wait for our grocery delivery (3:00) then take the boat to DTD & have dinner at Rainforest Cafe, walk around then head back to the resort, get to bed early &
head out to MK the next day. We will be there for 10 days so we will have time
to relax. (Ha Ha)!! In the past we have always headed straight to the MK so it will be tempting but traveling is so tiring we will try this.

Hey! my family and I have also a 10 day pass, so on the first day we never do a park, we also have Rainforest Cafe (Downtown Disney for the 31st of Dec.) and after we are going to our resort to swim and relax. On the 1st, we are going to MK and 2nd and 3rd (Universal Studios), 4th (One of the parks) 5th (Discovery Cove) 6th (Sea World) and the rest in the parks. I can't wait to get there, it is truly a magic place to be.

 

[mill4023]

We've only been twice and both times, we took overnight flights. So both times, we ended up dead tired and sleeping a lot the first day. On both of those trips, we started off with some time at Universal or Sea World, before moving to Disney parks.

In December, we'll be taking our first trip since moving from Oregon to North Carolina, so we'll be driving this time. We're driving half way Friday evening after work, so we'll probably be arriving between noon and 2 pm on Saturday. We'll be checking into POR, then heading to Epcot for the afternoon and evening. The only reason I'm planning it this way is because that's the way my itinerary worked out best. We'll only have 5 1/2 days this time, so it's been harder to fit everything in.

 

[AStamm]

It all depends on what time we get to the hotel. If it's a mid-afternoon arrival, we usually head for DTD. Two years ago we got to our hotel on Christmas Eve around 8 pm and promptly headed over to Epcot to activate our annual passes--and couldn't pass up riding our DSs two favorites--Spaceship Earth and Journey Into Imagination. That was probably my most favorite "1st day" ever even though we had approximately 30 minutes before the park closed.

 

[Tasmen]

Right now the plan is to take a red eye from Seattle to Orlando, arriving around 8 or 10am. I figure we'll get to the hotel, check in to the Poly and then probably head over to Epcot since that park will take us more than one day to fully enjoy. We haven't decided yet what we are going to do that first night.

 

[Dallas_Lady]

We have gone to a park, either Epcot or MGM, each time. We take the earliest flight so we can check in around 1 or 2 and hit the parks right away. We are too excited to wait any longer!

 

[DisneyDad61]

All the previous messages have alot of worthwhile information. To a certain extent, several factors come into play, i.e - traveling with kids, driving vs. flying, arrival time, length of stay, etc.
For my purposes, I use our first day (travel day) for non-park related adventures. Usually arriving at 12 noon or so, I also take this time to go to DTD and eat at Earl Of Sandwich Shoppe. One of the best lunches anywhere in WDW. Browse the shops, get an idea what gifts, etc. are out there and kinda get geared up for the next 10 days.
I have also used this day for La Nouba, or a nice Resort dinner at Jiko's, Boma's or Artist Point. What I basically try to do is not waste a Park Hopper pass on a park. WE are all somewhat tired already by the time we get to WL. We also have to get up relatively early (4 - 5am) for air travel and prefer to not get worn out the first day.
I have also done special events like a "Wishes" Cruise or went over to the Boardwalk that eveing for games and arcades and then ended up at Jellyrolls for the best nighttime entertainment at WDW next to La Nouba.
Doing things the first day that don't require a day at the parks. Makes WDW seem much larger and more enjoyable when you get to things outside the park that you wouldn't normally plan on.
Hope this helps.

 

[hsmamato2]

Wow-some of you guys have a LOT of energy! usually we get up around 4 a.m. for our flight down, arrive around 10-11 a.m.- by the time we get a rental car, stop for lunch, spend some time at a grocery store for snacks and things, we're BEAT! usually it's change into swimsuits,and the kids just play in the pool or whatever that first day,if we're feeling REALLY energetic, maybe go to DTD for dinner..... last year we hit Chef micks the first night, it was fun, but it sort of seemed over so fast, it's kind of more fun for us to wait a few days to go, and build excitement...
First days are so much fun! out of the cold winter air, and playing in a pool is enough for us!

 

[june@imsarc.com]

We always hang out at the pool during the day, unpack and relax for a bit, and then eat at O'Hana for dinner. We like to watch the fireworks in the Magic Kingdom to entice us for the next day. To bed early so that we can be wide awake the next morning to get to the parks before the crowds!!!

 

[mill4023]

Wow-some of you guys have a LOT of energy! usually we get up around 4 a.m. for our flight down, arrive around 10-11 a.m.- by the time we get a rental car, stop for lunch, spend some time at a grocery store for snacks and things, we're BEAT!

LOL.
Try driving 6 hours to the airport, taking a 3 hour 11:30 pm flight, switching planes, having a 2 hour layover, taking another 2 hour flight, getting a rental car in Tampa, then driving 2 hours to Orlando and arriving at the hotel close to lunch time. All with 4 kids, including a 2 yr old !!!!!

Yep, that's what we did last spring. It was the only way we could fit the trip in our budget. You might say we were a little beat by the time we arrived.