What to do on the first day?

[TeachGeekLove]

Hello! I'm super excited, I'm finally able to take my son to WDW for the first time! He's 7 and we're trying to figure out what to do on the first day. I don't want to spend it at one of the 4 parks because I'd like to spend an entire day there, and we won't arrive until 12:30. Is that enough time for a water park? What else could we do?

Thanks for your input!

 

[Heluvsme]

Sometimes we take a swim then head to DTD. You can go into the Lego store, Disney Quest, etc, and then get some dinner.

We definitely try to make the most of the first day, but like you, we never want to waste a partial day on a park.

 

[flutterby3744]

Are you staying on or off site?

Our plane lands at 10:30 am, so we plan on making it a "resort" day. We're staying at Port Orleans Riverside, and that first day we are going to explore our resort, swim, and unwind so we are fresh for our first day in the parks.

In the past when we stayed off site, we went to Downtown Disney and explored and ate. It's a good way to get in the "Disney spirit" without actually going into the parks.

 

[squirrel]

If you are only going for less than 10 days then I would pay the extra (approx. $5 per person) and get an extra park day. It's cheaper than doing a water park.

You could go to the resort drop off your bags and check out one of the parks. Explain ahead that it's only a half day so he won't get to do everything but you will also go to the same park another day. I would suggest Epcot or MK as they take at least 2 full days (If you already have 2 days set for those parks, you may want to choose something else).

When I go for 14 nights we get a 10 day park ticket so our first day we hang at the resort or go to DTD.

You could do DTD if you don't already have plans to go.

 

[MandiC]

I think a lot depends on where you are staying. We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside and there was more than enough to do there the first day. However I didn't realize that beforehand so I planned on us spending the evening at downtown disney. It worked well, I do wish we had had more time to look around the resort because there was a ton to do. (However the day we flew in they definitely wouldn't have been able to swim, it was COLD)
One thing, if you are staying on-site and taking the Magical Express it does take a while. We landed at MCO shortly after 1pm and weren't at our resort until after 3pm.

 

[DaniMoon]

Our arrival day we enjoyed a couple hours at the pool and then did Chef Mickey. My kids got some of the "pool fever" out of their system, and got to meet the Fab 5 . . . riding the monorail and taking in some sights.

Enjoy!

 

[tanyaandallie]

Is your flight landing at 12:30 or are you arriving at your hotel at 12:30? If your flight lands at 12:30 it would be a number of hours before you are at the resort and settled.

We usually hang out the first day unless it's a short trip. We are always exhausted on travel days and flights can be so unpredictable. I would not recommend dining reservations on a travel day.

 

[TeachGeekLove]

Thanks for all the input! To answer some questions, we are staying on site at a value resort and only for 5 days. It's all I can afford. I have some old tickets that I'm finally getting to use, so adding on extra days is not an option.

 

[MSSANDRA]

There is so much you can do. We took our 7 year old in January but has was been before too. We had not been to DTD since he was very little because we really did not think he would really like it there. Well, we were wrong! He loved it. Loved the Lego store. Loved the toy store. Love T-Rex Cafe. Love the pen store. Just really had fun. An afternoon at the pool or arcade at the resort is fun, as is just walking around the resort. you can take the bus to MK and take a monorail ride. You do not have to use a ticket. We like to take MK monorail to the TTC and transfer to Epcot and ride through Epcot, again, no ticket required. Also fun is to take the bus to MK and them catch the boat to FW Camp Ground. You can visit the barns, the beach and eat at the trails end buffet. Easy to spend a afternoon at WDW/

 

[MandiC]

I am pretty sure all on-site resorts have extras to do. I heard they all play a movie each night. At our resort it was an outdoor movie, not sure what it would be at yours but you could look into it. That like it might be a nice relaxing way to spend a night. I think it's fun to look around at all the Disney properties and the values especially have a lot of theming to look at so you could probably spend a few hours looking around. It's always fun to look around at Downtown Disney too though. Maybe keep your options open and see what you feel like when you get there?

 

[Gracie09]

We should arrive around 2-3 pm. Our plan is to either swim or ride the monorail around to the other hotels. Then head to wilderness lodge for dinner and to do the campfire with chip and dale. Then hop the boat back to the contemporary and hopefully watch the fireworks from our room or one of the viewing area and then go to bed.

 

[jezebel73]

I agree with all the previous posts of DTD, the resort pool/activities - the value resorts offer poolside games and movies for sue. It could also be the perfect night to do a character or othe meal at a resort other than your own. We love checking out what else Disney has to offer so we can aspire to stay there someday ourselves!

 

[Cadets74]

I would definitely try to get a character meal in that night, chef mickey would be perfect... It would be a great way to get started... We unfortunately don't arrive till 5:30 when were going so were getting a bite to eat at the hotel (POP) and going to bed early cause we have Crystal Palace ADR for 8:05 the next day.

 

[mm1971]

Hello! I'm super excited, I'm finally able to take my son to WDW for the first time! He's 7 and we're trying to figure out what to do on the first day. I don't want to spend it at one of the 4 parks because I'd like to spend an entire day there, and we won't arrive until 12:30. Is that enough time for a water park? What else could we do?

Thanks for your input!

I think the watermarks close at 5 so you would have a couple of hours. We usually head to DTD if we don't do a park the first night. It's fun to walk around and the new bowling place seems like it would be fun.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I think the watermarks close at 5 so you would have a couple of hours. We usually head to DTD if we don't do a park the first night. It's fun to walk around and the new bowling place seems like it would be fun.

Don't know when OP is going, but water parks are open until 8 in Summer IIRC.

Also, OP are you positive you cannot add days to your old tickets?

 

[henry72]

I don't consider a partial day at the parks a waste since it usually is so cheap to add a day but since you said you can't, I would probably go swimming in the afternoon and then to DTD for the Lego store. The idea of Chef Mickey's is a good one too but I would have a hard time getting off the MK bus and not going in to the MK!

I definitely would not do a water park with that short time.

 

[kitntrip]

I don't consider a partial day at the parks a waste since it usually is so cheap to add a day but since you said you can't, I would probably go swimming in the afternoon and then to DTD for the Lego store. The idea of Chef Mickey's is a good one too but I would have a hard time getting off the MK bus and not going in to the MK!

I definitely would not do a water park with that short time.

I thought that Disney had gotten rid of being able to add a day and you now had to pay for a full price one day ticket if you wanted to add on?

 

[kitntrip]

When we had gone to Disney, it literally took all day to travel. Up at 3am and finally arrived at our resort at 9:30 that night, 7:30 my time. We stayed at ASM for the one night and switched over to POFQ the next morning. I planned that day as a leisurely breakfast, explore our resort, spend time in DTD day.

 

[TeachGeekLove]

When we had gone to Disney, it literally took all day to travel. Up at 3am and finally arrived at our resort at 9:30 that night, 7:30 my time. We stayed at ASM for the one night and switched over to POFQ the next morning. I planned that day as a leisurely breakfast, explore our resort, spend time in DTD day.

Why in the world did it take so long? We will be up at 3AM, flight at 6AM, in Orlando by 8:30. Give an hour and a half for the trip to the resort, then a half hour for a bus to TL. I'd say we'd be there by 11AM.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

Why in the world did it take so long? We will be up at 3AM, flight at 6AM, in Orlando by 8:30. Give an hour and a half for the trip to the resort, then a half hour for a bus to TL. I'd say we'd be there by 11AM.

That poster's tagline says she's from Alberta, Canada, which is a much longer trip than only being 2 1/2 hours from Orlando by air. I assume she lives some ways from a major airport and had to make multiple connections, plus go through Customs.

Anyway, to answer your question, we like to do a monorail tour our first day, plus go swimming.