What does your first day at Disney look like?

[bbak30]

We hit a park if we arrive early enough. The cost to add extra days gets so minimal after a few, so I don't feel bad about only going for a few hours!

 

[GabBeFit]

We are in the same boat for our up coming trip! We are going to use the day to explore the changes at Disney Springs, do some shopping at the outlet malls and hit up some restaurants we love

 

[Annadesu]

We're not doing a park day on arrival day, either. We plan to hit Disney Springs, and do some of the mini-golf. We also booked dinner for O'hana, which you don't need a park ticket for.

 

[TraceyPoppins]

It's funny bc just this morn. DD15 and I were discussing our "first day"....

We try to get a very early flight out of Philly so we can be checked in to our resort before noon. But like you, we don't want to go into the parks either. It would be exhausting to do even half day in a park after getting up around 3am. We like to enjoy some resort time and chill on our arrival day. Last trip ('14) we checked into BC, got lunch at Hurricane Hannah's and relaxed by the pool.... oh... and another thing (one which I don't plan on repeating this year).... we went sneaker shopping! My DD remembered at the airport that she didn't pack her sneakers (only the flip flops she was wearing) So on our arrival day, after lunch, we checked the gift shop at BWI, the gift shops in Yacht and Beach Club and then finally at a shop in Dolphin we found sneakers her size! As it turned out we had so much fun exploring the resorts (it was our 1st time at BC). We were giddy, partly bc of being tired and partly because of all new sights we were taking in, around each turn. She had been crying and upset over forgetting her sneakers but as it turned out, the time we spent shopping for the new sneakers is now one of our fondest Disney memories. It's funny how you can make lemonade from lemons, isn't it?

This morning DD and I were saying how, for us, the first day is really one where we soooo enjoy and savor the anticipation of what is coming. It's like having a wonderfully wrapped gift sitting in front of you!.... a 43 square mile gift!!! LOL

Cute story! I just packed my sneakers today, one entire week before we leave. I will wear another pair on the plane so I have options! Last trip I only brought one pair- cute new Vans which dug into my Achilles' tendons. Lesson learned. I'm having my DD 16 and DD 13 bring two pairs also. And our flip flops of course

Oh- we fly out of Philly too!

 

[EasternShoreGal]

It sounds like we go against the grain a little. We tend to stay at BWV. Our kids are very young, so we usually don't take a plane before 9am. We arrive at MCO around noon (from NY), catch DME and then check in and head to Epcot by around 3. We tend to have a 6pm or so dinner reservation somewhere and some fast passes that we may, or may not, end up using. However, we look forward to Disney for so long that we don't want to just hang at the hotel. We won't do a lot that first day, but do make it into Epcot for a couple hours before dinner. However, if we couldn't walk there, I'm not sure we would actually do that. Walking makes it so much easier (no buses, boats, monorails or long treks to deal with what could be cranky stroller-ridden kids at some point). Other than dinner, we have no plans and reserve the ability to head back to the resort if the kids can't handle it (but so far they have always been ok-- lots of adrenaline).

The day after arrival day is always MK, arriving very early and seeing welcome show. Because, for us, it just has to be. The kids couldn't take the suspense of waiting till later in the week.

Ditto parts of this. We used to fly all the time and always took the early flight down, arriving between 9-10 am. We would rent a car, make a grocery stop, store bags and head over to Epcot for fish and chips QS for lunch (we typically stay at BCV). Because we usually have an annual pass, the extra park day, even just for the purpose of lunch, didn't cost us anything. It didn't feel like we were in Disney til we were in a park somewhere.

Now we drive more often than not and because we have lost count of them, our trips are more about relaxing. Flights have gotten expensive out of Baltimore and we don't take as many short trips. Our arrival times have varied. We have driven through the night and arrived for early entry at a park and then crashed at the pool for the day. Our last trip we left early morning, arrived by 6 pm, checked in at BLT, grabbed dinner and then headed up to watch the fireworks from Top of the World lounge. We never make an ADR on travel days until we are on property (or pretty darn close) because you never know what travel issues you might have.

 

[lisagyo]

For the last few years we've taken the first flight out from Detroit and by the time we catch the Magical Express and get to our resort it is lunch time. We'll get our room taken care of and then head over to Disney Springs and shop and go to DisneyQuest and eat lunch (usually Earl, but this year I want to go to Wolfgang), we usually make a dinner ADR for somewhere around that area as well. This year we're going to try T-Rex. I want to take the DVC tour at Saratoga this year, I think we might do that on arrival day too.

 

[unwritten01]

I shoot for the earliest flight so we can arrive anywhere between 10-1 depending on what the flight gods want to do that year.

Our first day after check in is to go to the pool, refill our mugs countless times and then we do chef mickeys for dinner. I convince my dh to let us watch wishes and then we go to bed so we can get an early start.

I have no desire to go to a park because I am already tired from the early wake up and inability to fall asleep. Plus we don't need to do a park since we typically do 5 park days with off days every few days.

I have no desire to go to downtown Disney/Disney springs because I am tired and that means walking and shopping. I'd rather be swimming, hop on the monorail, eat dinner and then return for more swimming or sinking because someone aka me ODd on crab claws or whatever they are called!

We closely mirror this - always Chef Mickey's first night then Wishes / water parade etc - love seeing the pictures of the kids growing up in front of the plate.

 

[Thiago Acquaviva]

Have a meal, go shopping and take some rest!