What do you do your first night?

[Taratink]

We should be checking in the WL at 3:30. I don't think I want to waste a hopper pass day going to a park as our kids go to bed early. I could be persuaded though. At first I was thinking about eating at Whispering Canyon. What are yor first night rituals? Do you stay at your resort or do you explore?
Tara

 

[drgnfly30]

Shopping... we hit the Disney outlet stores & DTD....
Christine

 

[Kimberle]

You could hang out at the pool for a couple of hours, then have a nice dinner.

You could take the either boat over to FW to check out the farm animals, let the kids have a pony ride (closes at 5, $3, closed toe shoe required). Have dinner at Trails End. Or do the Hoop De Doo or Mickeys BBQ. Go to the evening campfire and/or movie. (you'll get a schedule when you check in.)

You could take the blue launch boat over to CR, explore, then hop the monorail to the Poly & GF and explore each resort.

WL is so beautiful, I don't think you'll have trouble filling your afternoon! During our stay, we were generally done with the parks by 2 or 3 and just swam, had dinner, and relaxed.

Also, you can rent water mice and/or bikes. There is a trail to FW.

 

[mm6mm6]

We usually arrive in Orlando around 3pm and stay our first night at the DoubleTree by Universal for $57.

Then we get up the next morning, check in at WDW (we stayed at the CBR in 2002 and at the CSR in 2003) around 7:30am on a weekday when were the only ones in line. Then we get our room keys (even though we don't have a room assigned yet) and leave our van and take a bus to MK!

If I was doing what you're doing (which we may do in 2005) and staying right away at a WDW resort, I would definitely head right to Downtown Disney on a WDW bus. We just love the king crab legs and lobster bisque at Fulton's on the water! (Hint: the reason the king crab is so good is that they only give you the first, thick joint of the leg AND it's shell is cut in half. Which means your 1 1/2 pounds is almost pure crab meat instead of shell and joints and claws! Awesome!)

 

[Taratink]

Kimberle, Great ideas! I just checked out your pics. What a beauty. My son is 5 he was he was a month early but he only weighed 4lbs. Teeny tiny baby. I can't even imagine a smaller baby. Did you know that Shaq was a preemie? Well that is what my Dr told me. I never thought to visit the campgrounds.
Tara

 

[Kae]

We ride the monorail both loops. Get dinner at a resort. Chef Mickeys. Ohanna .

Kae

 

[LindaR]

For us, we just hang out at our resort. It is usually an extemely long day for traveling (we live 100 miles from the airport). We either eat in the food court or drive to another resort. My daughter is 15, so I don't have to do anything to get her in the "disney" mood.

Maybe a character meal at another resort (maybe one you are thinking of staying at sometime) or even a non-character meal.

We have done it all. Room service, food court, resort hop, DTD..... we just don't hit the parks!

 

[Kimberle]

Originally posted by Taratink
Kimberle, Great ideas! I just checked out your pics. What a beauty. My son is 5 he was he was a month early but he only weighed 4lbs. Teeny tiny baby. I can't even imagine a smaller baby. Did you know that Shaq was a preemie? Well that is what my Dr told me. I never thought to visit the campgrounds.
Tara

Thanks! Never knew that abt Shaq. He sure grew!

Enjoy your stay at the Lodge!

 

[WDW2000]

First night always have dinner at O'hana's and watch the Boat Parade and fireworks from the beach at the Polynesian. Great way to start at Disney vacation. Always impresses first time visitors too!

 

[Chicago526]

In the past we've always gone to MK until close. This time, I feel like you do and don't want to "waste" a day of our hopper on what's essentially only a half day in a park. We'll also be getting in around 3:30, so we're just going to relax and explore the resort. Then we have PS's for the CA Grill durring Wishes, so that will be our bit of 'magic' for the day!

 

[jonemick]

You could go to the Hoop-De-Doo Revue at Fort Wilderness campgrounds !

 

[Princess Erin]

This year, hopefully if all goes well, we plan to eat at Boma on December 19th (evening) when we arrive and just hang around for the holidays.

 

[WDW2000]

I agree with Hoop De Doo Review. THat also is a great way to start or end a WDW vacation.

 

[yooperfan]

We used to go to the Hoop dee doo Revue first night, but one year we had delays due to weather and missed it. Also, if you don't have ressies at least 6-8 mo in advance you will probably be seated further back, and if you have smal children and go to the early show it can be quite noisy in the back with all the younger children. We now go to Ohanas and try to make our ressies so we see the fireworks while eating. Our other choice is to go to the village and check out whats at the World of Disney as they give a discount with Ap and why pay more in the parks.

 

[lmhall2000]

We like to start the night off with a character dinner to get us in the mood! Chef Mickey's is great and I think you can take the boat from WL to MK then walk to CR from there...it's just nice seeing all the characters welcoming us "home"
Tara

 

[cyndibelle]

we do the downtown disney thing....we eat at the rainforest cafe...our children are small and they get a big kick out of that place....

 

[alwaysmom]

Relax! Relax! Relax! That's what we do after our early afternoon check-in. We wonder around the resort. Kids play in the pool and arcade, then it's off to Chef Mickey's for a nice dinner.

After driving from NY, even though we do stop for the night, we prefer to just hang out our first night. Then after a refreshing nights rest we are off and running in the morning.

:thewave: :thewave: :thewave:

 

[Tink]

Our family is another Chef Mickey's family. After we check in and hit the grocery store, we like to go to CM for dinner. It really gets us in the mood for our vacation. They have good mood and we start off seeing Mickey!

Depening on whether or room is ready or not, sometimes we go for a swim also. The kids can't wait to get into the pool.

I can now say I'll be eating there in less than a month!

 

[opal]

We get settled in at the Swan, walk to MGM and catch a bus to AKL and have dinner at Jiko, then to downtown Disney for a little shopping and then a good nights sleep so we can hit the early opening in the morning

 

[WDW LifeLong Fan]

We always arrive...relax...swim....shop...maybe a movie...and then enjoy the resort on our day of arrival.