What's the first thing you do upon check-in?

[dan40]

Typically, what is the FIRST thing you do after you check in and get settled in your room? For myself, I think it's that first walk around the grounds of the resort I'm staying at, to get that old feeling of being on vacation again. After the long flight and layovers, I'm happy to get into my room and have a shower, then go exploring if it's not too late at night. This time I'm arriving fairly early in the morning, so I'll have the whole day to kick around before heading to the parks the following day. Do you have a ritual you follow, or are you sticking to an itinerary?

 

[mousehockey37]

First thing we do is go to the room, get out the travel flashlight and check the bed for bedbugs. Then we'll head out to the parks and start takin it in.

 

[Dug720]

I usually swing by the food court on my way to my room (if it's available) and get my mug. If the room isn't available, I rearrange stuff so I have my park bag, store the rest with bell services, and then go to the food court for my mug and possibly food depending on time and then head to a park.

 

[dan40]

I usually swing by the food court on my way to my room (if it's available) and get my mug. If the room isn't available, I rearrange stuff so I have my park bag, store the rest with bell services, and then go to the food court for my mug and possibly food depending on time and then head to a park.

So tell me, depending on where you are in the world, would you go to one of the parks on the same day you arrived? I'm coming from the west coast of Canada, so it takes me about 7.5 hours to get there not to mention being up very early in the morning and at the airport for two hours before my international flight. I don't think I could see myself going to the park on the same day I arrived - I'd be exhausted! Plus, I only typically get a 5-day pass, and it would be a shame to "waste" an entire park admission getting to see only half the park, on a day that I could be catching my bearings. In addition, there is a 3 hour difference from YVR time and MCO time... when I land at MCO, it'll be nearly 04:30 PT!

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

So tell me, depending on where you are in the world, would you go to one of the parks on the same day you arrived? I'm coming from the west coast of Canada, so it takes me about 7.5 hours to get there not to mention being up very early in the morning and at the airport for two hours before my international flight. I don't think I could see myself going to the park on the same day I arrived. Plus, I only typically get a 5-day pass, and it would be a shame to "waste" an entire park admission getting to see only half the park, on a day that I could be catching my bearings.

I'm not the person you asked, but . . . .

I wouldn't "waste" a day if it was pretty late. If we have tickets (days) rather than an annual pass, we don't go to the park on arrival day. We might head out to Disney Springs. Or we have been known to hang out at the resort, going swimming and getting acclimated.

If we have passes, we head out to a park. And that is after a 7 hour drive.

 

[dan40]

I'm not the person you asked, but . . . .

I wouldn't "waste" a day if it was pretty late. If we have tickets (days) rather than an annual pass, we don't go to the park on arrival day. We might head out to Disney Springs. Or we have been known to hang out at the resort, going swimming and getting acclimated.

If we have passes, we head out to a park. And that is after a 7 hour drive.

You have lots of stamina. I've thought about doing dinner at Disney Springs too in the late afternoon after my arrival. That's not a bad way to start a new tradition!

 

[loves to dive]

We drive down, it's about a 7 1/2 hour drive so we get there between 2 and 3. If the room is ready, we drop our bags off and head to a park. If the room isn't ready, we just leave the bags in the car and head to park. The park depends on where we are staying, usually either MK or AK since we tend to stay in Epcot resorts but do split stays and stay in a moderate the first day or two and you have to bus to those two parks so we get it over with while at a moderate.

 

[Chelley00]

I always unpack and settle in first. Then we explore the resort, maybe take a swim. It's a long drive and I like to do the chores first and then unwind before we start the hustle of the parks

 

[Dug720]

So tell me, depending on where you are in the world, would you go to one of the parks on the same day you arrived? I'm coming from the west coast of Canada, so it takes me about 7.5 hours to get there not to mention being up very early in the morning and at the airport for two hours before my international flight. I don't think I could see myself going to the park on the same day I arrived - I'd be exhausted! Plus, I only typically get a 5-day pass, and it would be a shame to "waste" an entire park admission getting to see only half the park, on a day that I could be catching my bearings. In addition, there is a 3 hour difference from YVR time and MCO time... when I land at MCO, it'll be nearly 04:30 PT!

If I arrive that late I just do the food court as that late my room would be available.

I only do the parks if I land prior to noon. For August, I'm planning to go to EPCOT.

 

[Trip planner]

We live on the East coast so we can catch an early flight and we head to the parks! If we drive, we stay elsewhere the night before (rather than getting in WDW super late) and arrive at WDW at 8:00am!

 

[jo-jo]

Our usual trip starts leaving our house about 3:30 am. We usually get a flight between 6 and 7 am, so we land and are at our resort by noon at the latest. Those trips we go to a park, for 4 or 5 hrs since we have an AP and called an early evening.

Our next trip we are taking a late morning flight with our DS and family, so we won't get to disney until about 4. I have a ADR for dinner and that will be it. No parks that day.

 

[bluezy]

We usually arrive around noon (driving the last 4 hours of a 16 hour drive that morning). Using online/direct-to-room check-in, our room is usually ready when we arrive so we head straight there to drop off our luggage. Then we go to the food court to buy our refillable mugs and grab a quick lunch. Back to the room to do a little unpacking and settling in. We usually head to Epcot around 3:00, use our 3 FP's, have dinner at a QS location, and then back to the resort by about 8:00 so we have time for a quick swim and then get to bed by 10:00 so we get a good night's sleep and are well rested and ready to spend a long day at the parks the next day.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

You have lots of stamina. I've thought about doing dinner at Disney Springs too in the late afternoon after my arrival. That's not a bad way to start a new tradition!

Not really, I ride a scooter because I don't have enough stamina. I also nap some while my husband drives.

Once I get there, I have to get into my vacation.

 

[Eeyore's-tail-tack]

So tell me, depending on where you are in the world, would you go to one of the parks on the same day you arrived? I'm coming from the west coast of Canada, so it takes me about 7.5 hours to get there not to mention being up very early in the morning and at the airport for two hours before my international flight. I don't think I could see myself going to the park on the same day I arrived - I'd be exhausted! Plus, I only typically get a 5-day pass, and it would be a shame to "waste" an entire park admission getting to see only half the park, on a day that I could be catching my bearings. In addition, there is a 3 hour difference from YVR time and MCO time... when I land at MCO, it'll be nearly 04:30 PT!

Usually another park day isn't that much more. unless you are totally exhausted I would pay for an additional park ticket. You can get a lot done in 5 to 6 hrs at a park.

 

[Emma Rose]

We usually get our mugs, grab a bite to eat and then head out to MK for a couple hours

 

[Aletha]

I'm planning our first trip and we are coming from Oregon. I figure we won't get there until 6 or 7. We're staying at POFQ so I think we'll take the ferry to Disney Springs and eat dinner and then do some shopping. It's going to be hard to sleep though - what with the excitement of going to the parks the next day and the time difference!

 

[MrPTato]

We usually take the first direct flight from New Hampshire on SW around 6:15a and land in MCO around 9:15a (once had a flight that the pilot shaved off 45 minutes). I usually stop at the front desk at our hotel because I feel like that is the place vacation starts, even though I have checked in online first. I try to get my room preferences sorted out and negotiate when I can. Then it is off to Epcot for Spaceship Earth. After that we either stay in Epcot or go elsewhere. We walk the resort later that evening or the next morning.

 

[melana]

I always arrive early. Store my luggate with bell services, check in and then hit the parks. We always do MK first.

 

[rosiebean]

It all depends. I'm usually the first in my party to arrive. If I arrive in the later afternoon, I check out the gift shop, grab a snack, take a walk, then hang out in my room until family arrives. We usually have a drink in our room or at a resort bar once everyone is in, then head out to an ADR. If I arrive early enough, I do the giftshop/snack thing, but head out to a park for a few FPs before heading back to meet up with family. My most recent trip, I was up at the crack of dawn to pack, get the kids to school and pass off 'rest of the week' instructions to my DH (who usually doesn't drop off kids at school), to the airport, direct flight...but even though I was in my room around 1:30, I had just enough energy to go the gift shop and pick up something for lunch. Then I *crashed* for a nap and slept for a few hours until my sister and her family arrived. THEN we headed out for a drink and to dinner .

The last time my kids came with me, we arrived in time to go to a park, but went to the pool for a few hours instead. We were actually on our way to Epcot when they decided they wanted to swim...but we were staying at YC, so when we walked past SAB and the slide, they turned around and said, "no park, pool" lol. My family (extended) trips are usually in the off season, and the kids too old to miss school now...no worries, though, I plan on taking them again this summer!

 

[bluezy]

Usually another park day isn't that much more. unless you are totally exhausted I would pay for an additional park ticket. You can get a lot done in 5 to 6 hrs at a park.

Exactly. For the ~$12 to add an extra day to a multi-day ticket, it's worth it even if we only spend 3 hours in the park that first day. We usually spend about 4 or 5 hours in the park, but I wouldn't even be upset if we were only there 2 hours for that price. Now, if we arrived late in the day (after dinner) or had to deal with a multi-hour time change, I would probably just hang out at the resort and rest. But since we aren't in that situation, we think it's well worth the ~$60 investment for our family to spend a few hours in a park on arrival day. It's a nice way to ease into the vacation.