What to do on our arrival, non-DL day??

[smithfamilyof7]

We will be flying in early on 10/8, landing at LGB at 10:45, so I'm guessing to our hotel around noon. We are a large family so we aren't renting a car (it's cheaper to do shuttle with 7 of us rather than renting a minivan or large SUV). We're staying at a nearby hotel so we can walk to the parks. However, we start our 3 DL/DCA days the next day... I figured we would just relax that day, maybe swim or something, walk over to Downtown Disney... It's been a few years since I've been and we didn't spend a lot of time in DD - is there much to do over there besides shopping? We don't want to spend our souvenier money before we even get to DL! We have small kids - would they enjoy it? Any other suggestions on what to do with an entire afternoon and no car?

 

[Eddygirl]

Relax, swim, relax! lol!

We get in later in the afternoon on our first day. It too is a non-Disney day because of the shorter PH tickets available now. We are planning on swimming, walking to DTD. There is a Build-A-Bear there. The kids have spending money ear-marked for a disney bear so we will do that and they can have them to snuggle with for the rest of our trip. We might grab a bite to eat while over there.

We are planning on hanging out, going for a swim or two, having some treats and maybe renting a movie from the hotel PPV. DH and I will have a glass of wine on the patio as it is a fireworks night...so we are looking forward to that too.

 

[Cinderpamela]

You are getting there so early.... I really don't think I would be able to keep myself from heading to the parks! It wouldnt be that much more to add another day onto your 3 day tickets... would it?

We always go to the parks on arrival day so I buy tickets accordingly... of course we are a family of 4 not 7...

 

[HydroGuy]

We do things we like in DTD such as dine at Rainforest Cafe. In July we saw the new Batman movie. Swimming is also good. Mostly take it easy and shoot for an early bed time.

 

[sweethannah]

I don't think we'll be doing the Parks our first day either. We are definitely going to get our passes that day and maybe head over to DTD to get something to eat.

 

[KateDrake]

We do things we like in DTD such as dine at Rainforest Cafe. In July we saw the new Batman movie. Swimming is also good. Mostly take it easy and shoot for an early bed time.

I agree with HydroGuy, an early bedtime is key! If your hotel room isn't ready when you arrive, I'd head over to DD and maybe grab some lunch and wander around. I like to spend a couple of hours at DD early in the trip, so I can get an idea of what souvenirs are available. We tell our DD that she can look, and then make her decision after we've seen all the stores, so she can pick the one thing she is dying to have.

After that, I'd maybe come home and swim and just relax. I'm sure you'll have to start getting up early to get 7 people ready the next morning! Even though the parks don't open quite as early in the off-season, it can still be an early morning for kids!

 

[nikkislaght]

We too, swim, grocery shop as we get a suite with Kitchen,, do DD, head up to roof for fireworks viewing then hit the hay for an early morning.

have fun.

 

[DLRfan31]

Arriving that early, I'd have a VERY hard time staying out of the parks.
Disneyland is open til 11 p.m. that night and the calendar says they are showing Fantasmic! and having fireworks. DCA is open until 10.
If you would be spending $$ elsewhere, why not add a day to your parkhoppers.

 

[marcemc]

My boys love to spend time at the Lego Store (DTD), even if they are not buying anything

 

[larina]

As suggested, I'd check out DTD. My kids love the Lego store and CarMakerz. There's also a big Disney Store (or 2 or 3) to wander around in, as well as all the other little shops. We were sorry we hadn't built more DTD into our last trip.

 

[MinnieVacations]

You could have lunch or dinner at Goofy's Kitchen. That would get you in the spirit and see some characters without going into a park.

 

[I❤MICKEY]

We arrived very late - 6:00 pm so we decided to get dinner at DTD and pick up our tix. DS was 3 at the time. It was his second visit. I can not express to you the level of meltdown he had when he realized we were basically at DL but not going in. He threw himself to the ground and cried like I have never seen. Over and over he begged to see Mickey and ride BTMR. My husband scooped him up and we walked directly back to the car. Everyone was staring at us. I was mortified. It felt like a 2 hr walk.

My point is if you have little ones and they realize where they are DTD may not be the best spot for arrival day. We learned our lesson the hard way.

 

[ociana]

We plan our out of park activities for arrival day. Last time we did Medieval Times and the Ripleys Museum (I don't recommend the museum). Our plan for the next trip is to mosey through DTD and have dinner at Steakhouse 55. I agree with everyone else that says it is a good day to relax and get settled in for the long, fun days ahead.

 

[smithfamilyof7]

I have thought long and hard about buying an extra day since we have so much time there. But, we'd like to go down with some "extra" for something that might come up, food costing more than expected, or something. To buy us all another day it would be close to $500. (Our 7th person is a baby so just 6 tickets but still a lot!)

I am a little worried that the kids might not quite "get" why we can't go to DL the first day, especially if we spend time in DTD - so close yet so far away. But they're old enough (two 7 yr olds, 9 & 10) that they should understand.

We will definitely have to aim for an early bed time, especially since we will be getting up so early to fly out. Build a Bear sounds like a fun time (I'm assuming they have Disney specific items that make it different from the one we have here at our mall?), and I KNOW the boys will love the lego store.

Thanks for the ideas!

 

[Rubygoose]

We're arriving at 2pm, so probably get to the hotel at 3pm, then spending time at the pool at the hotel before heading over to Goofy's Kitchen for dinner. I wanted to do Goofy's on a non park day so that we didn't have to leave the parks and waste ride time. Also, I thought it would give the kids a Disney experience without having to enter the parks. I think your kids are old enough to understand that it costs a lot of money to enter the park and that's why they can't go until tomorrow. Last year, when my daughter was 4, we didn't rainforest cafe for dinner the day before our park day, and I just told her that our ticket isn't ready until tomorrow, and she was ok with that. When she saw people going into and leaving the park, I just explained that their trip started before ours, but it will be our turn tomorrow.

 

[Xenorye]

My family is going early next year. It will be my daughter's first trip (she'll be 3.5), and we were originally planning on doing 3 days in the park. I talked the wife into extending to 4 days, which does not include the day we arrive. I've now talked her into doing 5 days, so we can go when we get there and focus on the kiddo's first meetings with the characters and such, then we have the next morning to focus on rides early in the morning.

 

[HydroGuy]

I have thought long and hard about buying an extra day since we have so much time there. But, we'd like to go down with some "extra" for something that might come up, food costing more than expected, or something. To buy us all another day it would be close to $500. (Our 7th person is a baby so just 6 tickets but still a lot!)

I am a little worried that the kids might not quite "get" why we can't go to DL the first day, especially if we spend time in DTD - so close yet so far away. But they're old enough (two 7 yr olds, 9 & 10) that they should understand.

We will definitely have to aim for an early bed time, especially since we will be getting up so early to fly out. Build a Bear sounds like a fun time (I'm assuming they have Disney specific items that make it different from the one we have here at our mall?), and I KNOW the boys will love the lego store.

Thanks for the ideas!

Good luck. I would sell it as a "relaxation day" to build up energy for the parks.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

We'll arrive late on Mon 10/22, Tue is our Halloween Party day *we'll enter the parks at 3pm - we're having brunch @ Goofy's and then I'm going to Mandara Spa *at the Grand CA for some pampering, my kids will hang out in the Grand's lobby or maybe go back to HoJo's.

 

[Zbugz]

We plan to arrive early afternoon and do a little DTD shopping, swimming and relaxing, too, before we hit the parks the next day. I like building up the anticipation and getting acclimated.

My kids are older now, so it isn't a problem, but when they were little we'd explain things to them by how many "sleeps" they had to do before something would happen.

 

[ValpoCory]

To buy us all another day it would be close to $500. (Our 7th person is a baby so just 6 tickets but still a lot!)

3 day PH passes are $250 for adults and $235 for kids (or less if you buy ahead of time at certain websites or through a 10% corporate discount). 4 day PH passes are $275 for adults and $255 for kids (or less). So at most, $25 per adult and $20 per kid. So buying you all another day would be at most $150, not $500.