What to do on the first day?

[Altoqueenkelly]

You might want to inquire about adding a day to your tickets... we did this on our last trip because a rainstorm cancelled our dolphin swim excursion that we had planned. Anyways, it was a whooping $7 a person to add a park day!! Price may have changed, but for so cheap (under $10) you really aren't "wasting" a park day!

This trip: our flight gets in to MCO at 9am, we plan to spend the afternoon in MK and dine at Ohana. I don't think you can find anything to do for under $10pp (even for half a day!) unless you hang out/swim at the resort!

Another fun idea, in the past we went to DTD and rented boats that you could drive around. Not sure if they still do this, but my daughter loved it.

 

[froggy922]

On our arrival days we always have dinner at Chef Mickey's. Every time It's our tradition. It always helped for our kids to meet the "the fab 5" right off the bat and then we never have to wait in line at a park to meet them (yay!). So if you don't want to go to a park I would suggest just get settled in you room, explore the resort, swim or go to the arcade,any be take a nap if you are tired from travel, freshen up, and plan a character meal for dinner at another resort. You can get to bed early and get a good night sleep and be ready for an early start and full day.

 

[Leslieloody]

We are using two table credits on our first day and enjoying something that we have never done before. We are going to Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show at the Polynesian Resort. On previous stays, we have gone to Downtown Disney or resort hopped. You never know what you might see at different resorts. There's so much to do and see everywhere you go. A very cool show at Downtown Disney is the Cirque show. Pay the little extra for better seats, but not up front. Mid way up are great seats. Have fun!

 

[monorailsilver]

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!

This is what we do too.

We usually have an early am flight which means getting up at least 2.5 hours before the flight to get to the airport and then just sitting which for us that makes us tired.

There is no way I would go to a park (summer when we go) mid day in the heat when I am already tired and stand in line.

So instead we take the 'cool' way out and relax by the pool. Then we go to chef mickeys, swim a bit more and then watch the fireworks and go to bed.

Last August, our flight arrived at 10:30 but we didn't get to the Poly til close to noon because we had a bathroom put stop post plane plus we grab our luggage which really only took 10 min and then we had to wait for DME.

Our room was ready so we unpacked, got on our bathing suits and before we jumped in my sisters and nieces arrived so we waited for them and walked them to their room which was right next to ours.

 

[DisneyObsessed87]

On our last trip we flew and arrived at our hotel early afternoon. Ate dinner at T-Rex and spent some time downtown, then went to MK for extra magic hours.

For our November trip we plan on having some relax time since we are driving. If the weather is nice, we'll chill at the pool... Then our now first night tradition of dinner at T-Rex then shopping at DTD.

 

[ElizabethG]

This year we are going to Mickey's Backyard BBQ at Fort Wilderness. It is my DDs favorite.

In the past, we have had dinner at Chef Mickey's and T-Rex.

 

[kohlby]

We do DTD and do the hotel at the pool. Since you don't have a long trip, you may find you want to spend max time in the parks on those days - and kids like to have some pool time too. That way, you get the pool done at least once. DTD is free, so no added expense there unless you buy something. My eldest son has spent 2 hours building lego racers at the Lego store. (It's free to build). The reason it is usually only 2 hours is because we pull him away at that point! We like to start our vacation well-rested too. So we make sure the kids are in bed on time the first night. We want to have plenty of energy for the park the next day!

Another perk of DTD is that we're not huge shoppers. We do DTD so the kids can look around and see if there's one thing they want to buy. This cuts way down on the time spent in the stores in the parks. We do sometimes wander into one or two, but it reduces it because they kids know they're there for the rides/attractions more - which maximizes our time. (Plus, they love Once Upon a Toy at DTD).

 

[Ilovemyprincesses]

We are arriving early but I rented a car for 1 day to do some shopping. The rental car was only $15.

 

[kohlby]

There are some tickets that you can't add days on. We used to buy the 10-day never expire and then spread it out on different trips. You can't add days to those. I'm not sure about other no-expire tickets.

 

[KristenFNJ]

While we've never made it in quite that early, we usually try to hit the pool and go mini-golfing on arrival day. We stay off property and always have a car, so we have choice of the tons of minigolf places in the area, but Disney has 2 on-property. If you won't have a car, you can probably check in to the Disney Transportation availability for those 2 (one is at Blizzard Beach, so I'm sure the bus goes there). I think they do a free movie at Fort Wilderness, I'm not sure if it's every night, but you can look into that for the evening, as well. There's bowling at Splitzville at DTD in addition to the Lego Store and whatnot, if he enjoys that. Not sure if you need to make a reservation to bowl, I haven't looked to closely into that place, but it's something on-property that you can consider!

 

[robinb]

I think that dinner at Chef Mickey's is a great way to start your trip! You get seeing Mickey and Minnie and the rest of the "Fab 5" out of the way .

 

[Maggie at the Fort]

Disney transportation is a big hit for all kids I think. Mine could spend a day going from Monorail to boat to bus and back! If you are looking for budget friendly things, I have heard all deluxe resorts have all sorts of activities. You could go explore one and check it out. There are campfires at several resorts and at Fort Wilderness you have the campfire with Chip and Dale.