What do you do the day you arrive to WDW?

[Moushe]

Last trip we went to Hollywood Studios since that's the park that we only ride a few things at (my kids are too small for most of their rides).

The trip before that we planned to explore Disney Springs starting with lunch at T-Rex - but when we walked out after lunch there was as torrential downpour so we ended up just going back to the hotel and letting the kids nap. once the rain stopped we got in the pool.

This trip we are staying at Bonnet Creek and we are still debating whether we should do HS or some pool/resort time.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

DW and I have a tradition - first day there we always drop bags off at the resort (too early for a room), and head straight to Via Nappoli for lunch. It's kind of our "get into the mood" thing.

Since we are in Epcot, we'll always hit up TT and Spaceship Earth - our two favorite rides.

Anything else is whim based.

 

[85glht]

We head to DS and get a sandwich at Earl of Sandwich. Walk around the area for a bit. If it is early enough, we would head to a park. Any park would suffice....

 

[PSUGuy]

As we stay at Board Walk and land at MCO 9am ish we do a grocery stop, check in then head straight for WS, the pic below shows me on our first Disney 'ride' on every trip.

Bill From PA

 

[PantherPete]

We have always gone to DHS and the Prime Time Cafe for dinner. Then we catch the boat back to the Y&BC for an early bedtime so that we can get to the MK at the RP the next day. Because there isn't that much to do at DHS these days, we can't see spending 2 full park days there. So 2 partial days works great.

 

[AFwifelife]

We don't go to the parks on our arrival and departure days. When we get there, we check out the resort, get groceries, and hit up DS for our Disney attire. If there is anything I like but not in my size, I check to see if it's on the Disney Shop Parks app to possibly find my size somewhere else. If it's at a resort, then we go to that resort and check that one out.

 

[rg35]

I find it interesting that folks who get in later use up a day on their park tickets to immediately start visiting the theme parks.

 

[My2Pixies]

We usually drop our bags, start a load of laundry and head to the Boardwalk Bakery or pizza counter for dinner. We arrive late afternoon after a couple days of driving, though. Last time at the BWV I had a very good view of the Illuminations fireworks from my balcony. Then sleep to get ready for the first park day!

 

[Mom2Stitch]

Depends on the time we arrive and who is with us. Normally, we get fly in early and head to a park, MK usually. If DS is with us we have dinner at Chef Mickey's-family tradition. Our September trip we will not be getting to the airport until 5PM, so we are going to check into CSR and get unpacked and settled and then head to Chef Mickey's. That will be the night of the first MNSSHP so we'd like to watch the fireworks from the Poly beach if possible.

 

[J'Adore Disney]

My family and I wake up at about 5:00 a.m., take a 3.5 drive to Disney, park our car and drop off our luggage at the resort we are staying at, and head for the parks, Magic Kingdom is usually first on our list! Riding Big Thunder Mountain Railroad first just solidifies I'm home! Once we receive the text advising our room is ready, we head back to the hotel for a break.

 

[scotty s]

Like others..It depends on what time we arrive and where we're staying! If we get in early afternoon, we get unpacked at the resort, walk around a bit, and then head to wherever we have dining reservations.
If we arrive late we usually just relax at the resort, have dinner, and are ready for the next day!

 

[Poppybeach]

I know so many drop the bags and head to the parks but we take it a bit slower. It's a long day already by the time we get to the resort so generally we check in, get acquainted with the resort, hit the pool and then do a nice dinner at the resort or Disney Springs and then early to bed to be fresh for rope drop the following morning. DS would be fried if we went straight to the parks! Not worth it for us.

 

[meggybear17]

I find it interesting that folks who get in later use up a day on their park tickets to immediately start visiting the theme parks.

If you have park tickets for 5ish days the cost to add additional days is only about ten dollars per day. On our next trip we have 8 day tickets so we are going to stop by Epcot for a few hours since the cost is so little. If we only had a 3 or 4 day trip I couldn't see the value in going to a park for just a few hours on arrival day either

 

[princessnikitaa]

I'm from Michigan and my wife and I travel every February. You can imagine the weather I am leaving behind. We always take an early flight and usually arrive at the resort around noon. Fortunately our rooms are always available so we get into our bathing suits and head into the pool. After several hours of lounging in the beautiful Florida sunshine, something I haven't seen for months, we get dressed and go to the Magic Kingdom. We always have dinner at the Crystal Palace on our first night and the first thing I do when I get into the park is to stand in the middle of Main Street and soak in the image of the Castle. Being that we are in our 60's, the memories of our childhood, past trips to Disney, the realization that we are once again back causes the tears to well up in our eyes. Oh yes, we also get a Mickey Ice Cream Bar from the vendor in the front. The Castle, a Mickey Bar and Main Street. It doesn't get any better than that. Following dinner and the fireworks we head back to the hotel for a good rest.

Aww, this was an amazing response! Thanks so much for sharing. I hope that I am lucky enough to be be able to return to WDW and look back on all the beautiful memories like you do. Thanks for the ideas!

 

[FirstTimeDisneyVisit]

We are always on the first flight out of NJ ! We take off at 6am and are at our resort by 1030 and you still have the whole day to enjoy ! We always hang at the pool then nap watching Stacey. After we are all rested its off to Disney Springs for shopping and dinner at T-Rex

 

[tsme]

We unpack, go for a nice meal, walk around the resort & nearby resorts, basically just relax & enjoy the area.

 

[Catvondita]

We usually go to Downtown Disney, or hang out at the pool/ pool bar. We always make sure we watch Stacy

 

[londontime]

Sleep like a dog. We have a 5 and 3 year old who have just done 3500 miles.....
Oh, and then up at 5am to explore the resort with my boy. 3 years in a row.

 

[tinkerbella16]

Epcot has been our arrival day tradition. We always arrive around 10am, and this year our flight to MCO arrives at 8:30am. We plan on hanging out at the resort to relax and swim, since it is our first stay at Beach Club. We have a 5:20 ADR for Garden Grill, so we'll head over to Epcot around 4-4:30 and have some FP's set for after dinner. We are going in September, when it is hot, so we want it to be more relaxing than just running right to a park like we normally would do.

 

[AshleeH]

We usually go right to the parks and then have an ADR for supper. This trip we're changing it up a bit - we're going with some of our best friends, so they are meeting us there at roughly the same time. We have an ADR for a late brunch at Chef Mickey's and then we'll go to the parks that night - although our schedules are a little different, I don't think we'll be in the same park that night.