What do you do on your arrival day?

[disEAR]

We have our routine.

Catch the redeye flight and arrive at the resort between 5-7am.

Eat breakfast at the resort.

Head to Magic Kingdom for the morning.

Usually head to Downtown Disney and have a real early Dinner.

Go back to our Resort and call it a day. Get a early sleep.

 

[1971DBday]

We usually get in around mid-day, check-in, go to the pool to unwind (weather permitting - but we have swam when it was 68 degrees) then get ready and go to MK. We play games during the year to see who gets to choose the very first ride (DH won this year and he chose the Walt Disney World Railroad . He said in all of the years he has gone here, he has never been on it...okay.) Then another ride or two and that back to the Poly for a couple of cocktails and to bed early to hit the parks early!!!

 

[mariepapa]

Where are you staying? If you are staying near Epcot then going there is a good choice.

Otherwise, I would go to Downtown Disney and shop!

 

[DonaldTDuck]

I always head to a park, usually DHS or Epcot. I like 2 full days at MK.

 

[hkeller27]

Our Day 1 is the same every time:

7:00am flight out of NJ, 9:30am arrival at MCO. ME, check-in, and we are generally walking right down the middle of Main Street USA before noon!

Always stop at Casey's for lunch - long standing tradition now. Spend the rest of the afternoon at the MK.

Pop back over to the Contemporary for an early dinner at Chef Mickey's. Then jump on the monorail over to Epcot. Margaritas from La Cava and Illuminations! Kiddos fall asleep in the stroller on the way back to the room.

No rest for the weary when you Disney with us!!!

 

[trubie]

Hang by the resort, then head to DTD.

If we get there early enough, we go to Epcot.

 

[mrcricket]

We've done it many ways. If we get in late afternoon, we'll head over to downtown Disney or dinner at Epcot and turn in early. But if we get there by noon, we head out to the parks.

This December our plane arrives about 10:30. Figure we'll be checked in by noon and then it's off to Epcot. We'll stay to see Illuminations if we feel good. If not, we'll head back and get a good nights sleep. Either way, we'll be up early the next morning for MK rope drop. No slacking on this very short 4 night/5 day trip.

 

[csjordan]

Sleep! We always get in late at night. So when we get there we sleep and get up late and then hit a park for a few hours.

If at 9AM I would definitely hit a park!

Our flight gets in at 8 pm...any ideas? We're staying at POFQ. I figure by the time we land, take ME, get checked-in, it will be around 9:30. I usually need to wind down after our flight, so any ideas are welcome.

 

[OB1]

Our flight gets in at 8 pm...any ideas? We're staying at POFQ. I figure by the time we land, take ME, get checked-in, it will be around 9:30. I usually need to wind down after our flight, so any ideas are welcome.

Just chill out at your resort. There is a nice bar, a pretty good food court, good pool, and nice walk ways through the 'French Quarter". You are close to the river and may want to walk along it. As late as you get in, I would not push it. Your luggage may arrive 1-2 hours later, so have a carry on bag for what you need when you arrive.

 

[grovsnerguy12]

We usually arrive mid afternoon - 3 in the afternoon so we always have time to go to the parks. I never feel right unless the first thing I do at Disney is walk under the train station at MK and head down Main Street USA.

I know when we do that, the Disney vacation has "officially" started.

 

[csjordan]

Just chill out at your resort. There is a nice bar, a pretty good food court, good pool, and nice walk ways through the 'French Quarter". You are close to the river and may want to walk along it. As late as you get in, I would not push it. Your luggage may arrive 1-2 hours later, so have a carry on bag for what you need when you arrive.

Do you happen to know what time the pool closes and whether or not there is a pool bar? That might not be a bad option. I doubt the pool bar would be open that late, but you never know!

Thanks for the information!

 

[jpolak]

Relax. Go get a nice dinner at a different resort. Explore that resort for a bit, maybe trade some pins. Then it's early to bed so everyone is ready for rope drop in the morning.

 

[csjordan]

Relax. Go get a nice dinner at a different resort. Explore that resort for a bit, maybe trade some pins. Then it's early to bed so everyone is ready for rope drop in the morning.

That sounds like a fabulous plan. We'll be heading to DHS first thing Saturday morning!

 

[sophie832]

After a full day of travelling, we'll probably be pretty exhausted, but we're landing at 4:45pm, and hoping to check-in at YC, get settled, then walk over to Epcot for a 7:40pm (or 8pm, haven't decided whether to change it yet) dinner ADR at Les Chefs. We'll probably see some of Illuminations before going to bed.

 

[csjordan]

After a full day of travelling, we'll probably be pretty exhausted, but we're landing at 4:45pm, and hoping to check-in at YC, get settled, then walk over to Epcot for a 7:40pm (or 8pm, haven't decided whether to change it yet) dinner ADR at Les Chefs. We'll probably see some of Illuminations before going to bed.

Have fun! I'm jealous...you only have a little over 2 weeks before you leave!

 

[OSURules]

When we arrive early as we will in January (landing 9:30AM), we check in at the resort and head to Animal Kingdom around noon. Since we have a great zoo here in Columbus, the animal exhibits are not that enticing. We will hit EE, Lion King, Safari, etc.

Following, we will head to AKL for dinner and back to our resort by 7 or 8, in bed early and ready for a full day 2.

 

[W.E.D.]

We usually grab the cheapest flight possible (more $$ for Disney), which is typically a late flight from my home town. We are usually checked in by 10 p.m. which doesn't leave a lot of time except for sleep. Sometimes we have a pizza delivered to the room.

 

[jcmaro]

This is what we are doing next week. We will drive from VA so we will get up early Saturday morning, drive with as few stops as possible, which will still end up being about 5 or 6 because of the kids, hopefully get in around 6/7 pm at an offsite hotel. Sunday morning we get up, check out and head to Sea World since we have platinum passes. Sunday afternoon we check into CBR with dinner at 6 at Cape May.

 

[Thumper_Man]

DW and I own a timeshare off site. We usually don't get in until 5-6 in the evening. We fly in from the West. When our flight lands; we gather our luggage, pick up the rental car and drive on over to the resort.

After we check-in, we will usually unpack and get settled into our room. Then head on out for a nice dinner. This past trip, we went to Shula's. Yummy!

After dinner, we'll stop by a grocery store and pick up our groceries for the week. Head on back to the resort, put the groceries away and head on down to the pool and hot tub. Relax for the rest of the night and go to bed early. Get ready to hit the parks running the next day.

 

[rlahansler]

What do you like to do on your arrival day?

I joined Tour Guide Mike and he recommends staying AWAY from the parks on your arrival day because you need your rest to get up early the next day. I agree with him that a lot of people don't get enough rest the night before a trip (sometimes I'm still doing laundry at midnight). But we're arriving at 9am and I don't want to waste the day. After the airport, check-in and a quick lunch, We could make it to a park by 12pm or 2pm at the latest. I was thinking we'd spend 4-5 hours touring a park, then pick up something fast for dinner on the way back at our resort, and get a good night's sleep.

Epcot and Universal are the lightest parks for the Monday (Dec13) we're arriving. Epcot seemed like an easy choice, but we'd miss the advantages of arriving much earlier or staying through to Illuminations. I was going to go with HS, but it's a Fantasmic night so the whole park will be busy, and I think we'd be too tired (and irritable) to put up with long lines or to stay till closing. I want to get everyone in bed early.



What do you think?

What do you usually do on your arrival day?

We are arriving at 10am in Orlando. We are staying at Beach Club Villas and plan on checking in to the resort, then head over to Epcot for a 130p lunch at LeCellier. After lunch stroll around Epcot some , then head back to the resort early as we have 8am breakfast reservations at Chrystal Palce the next day.