What's your Ideal First Day or Tradition?

[tink 2257]

This year we will be coming from Universal, and the best way to start our vacation is Breakfast at Chef Mickey's ! It will be a great start to a fabulous week in Disney...can't wait!!!

 

[mmeads4]

This will be our first WDW trip/ family vacation. We will be driving from Kentucky which is about a 12 1/2 hour drive ....so I am planning on arriving somewhere between 12 and 4pm depending on when I can get my husband to agree to leave ...check in to our resort OKW and then take the boat to DTD for shopping and a meal (maybe Rainforest Cafe) then take the bus over to the Poly or Grand Floridian to catch a magical glimse of the Electrical Water Pagent that I'm keeping a secret from the others

 

[mommiepoppins]

we un pack and swim!!!

 

[tiggtail]

I didn't realize we had a tradition until I read this thread....but we do! Every time we are there, we all but beat down the door to our room, throw our suitcases on the bed, change whatever clothes we had to (with speed that would impress Dash) and leaping over whatever happens to be in our way we motate to MK. After a few brief tears of joy, we manage an orderly power walk towards Adventureland where we NEVER miss Pirates. It would be a sacriliage to do so. By the time we make the round of Pirates, Splash, Thunder, Haunted Man., and Peter Pan we are so wiped out that we are just plain silly. We laugh at anything by that time and we are in such delight to just be at the World, that by the time our heads hit the pillow, we all agree that we never sleep better than that first night. And get this...every trip was with my DH and I and our four grown children! This year will be the first to take our four grandkids, so I guess we have to behave now. Darn.

 

[dreamsofdisney]

I was just talking about this with my DH the other night!

In the past, we've always had flights that got his in to WDW very late at night, and all we had time to do that night was check in and fall into bed. This year, I planned the flights a little better, so we'll be checking in around 4:00pm. DH had suggested that we pop over to the parks that night for a few rides and dinner. I'm pretty firm that I'd like to check in, walk around the resort and see the animals, take a quick dip in the pool and then have dinner at Boma.

For me, there's something magical about heading out bright and early our first day and walking "right down the middle of Main Street, U.S.A." Even though it's not our favorite park, we always start and end with Magic Kingdom. Something about seeing the Castle in front of me, and riding the rides that we all remember from our childhood puts us in the right mind for a magical Disney vacation.



This year, my DS13 suggested that we spend the first four days visiting the parks in the order that they were opened. The later days we'll hop around more and visit water parks and DTD/DQ. Our last night is always spent watching the fireworks at MK. Last visit, as we left the park, Mickey appeared on top of the railroad station and said "Huh, huh...See ya real soon!" A magical end to our trip!

 

[Nedebpats]

We usually fly in mid afternoon, checkin to resort and unpack and then go to Chef Mickeys for dinner, then back to resort early to bed to start bright and early next morning in the parks. only 2 mos 1 wk and 5 days till we are there. Yea!!!!

 

[lilybeth11602]

Our tradition since we had our DD3 is to always fly! We used to have an 11 hr. drive ahead of us and to face coming home now we fly. It is wonderful! It takes 1 1/2 hr. non stop then DME picks us up and our bags.When we get there they take care of our bags we just make sure we have our bathing suits and we like to swim because its usually late afternoon and we eat at our hotel.Everyone is all excited for the next day at the park (and rested)Its so nice to hear people that love Disney as much as I do.Now I've gotten my husband into it and this will be our 4th trip since we've had our daughter.I feel like I did when I was little and I want my daughter to have that same feeling of excitement.

 

[jakensydsmom]

Thanks everyone for your replies so far! There are some great ideas here. We haven't told the kids yet because we don't leave until 4/12/07. I am already poring over books and websites and have made flight and hotel reservations (except HRH b/c I can't until July). My husband says I'm drving him crazy already and wished he waited to tell me too! He kids, but deep down he's always glad when I plan things out and all (well, most) goes smoothly. One thing we will do this year - my brother and his family will be there for a few days that will overlap with us. We are going to reserve one of the Grand Gatherings events since we are a party of 10 altogether. That will be a special memory for all of us! Check it out of you will have family or friends there at the same time!

 

[mousiemom]

I love our first day! We always have adjoining rooms, so, we open up our door and everybody starts unpacking. We decorate our windows with lights, plushes, and picture frames. After we decorate our rooms, we head to the food court to get our mugs. Everybody gives out Disney gift bags that are filled with all kinds of goodies. We make us a drink and head to DTD to get our annual xmas ornaments and hit the mickey mart store. Our next trip we are going to watch the Electrical light parade on the water. We never seem to make this and I've never seen it!! I get all my tinkerbell treasures ready for my dd for the week. Oh, I can't wait!!!
Have fun!

 

[sneetch]

We usually check in at the resort mid to late afternoon. Go to the room and rest for about 45 minutes. Then walk around the resort to check it out. Then go to the food court and grab a bite to eat, and get the refillable mugs. Usually after that if it's still early enough we'll head to Epcot and ride some of the classics like spaceship earth, the living seas, etc.. and then maybe tour a few of the countries in the world showcase. After that we head over to downtown disney for dinner at the rainforest cafe. Then once back at our hotel we'll go for a swim at the pool. This year may be different though, cause I'm taking my 11 yr old niece and she's never been. I'll probably let her decide.

 

[isis151miu]

Our typical first day tradition is to go to MK, walk down mainstreet and start with adventureland and work our way to fantasyland, which we really don't do much of anymore. Then we have lunch reservations at he crsytal palace and rest for a little before finisheing the rest of the park. But its not always possible to go to MK on the 1st day due to crowds.

Our tradition has always been to have at least one dinner in a worldshowcase at Epcot and then watch Illuminations afterwards. Mk & Epcot are our alltime favorites.

 

[Thinktinknpixiedust]

We check in and unpack, or as my DH calls it "move in", and then immediately head to the Boardwalk (no matter what resort we are in) and have our tradition first-meal-vacation-kick-off-oh-yes-we-are-finally-here-KITCHEN SINK from BC! Every year all 5 of us go hungry, but we NEVER EVER finish it. really puts us in the mood, especially the kids cuz mom never lets them have ice cream as a meal anywhere but Disney!! then it's back to the resort to throughly check out our new digs that will be our "home" for the next couple of weeks, swim, or what ever. But the first day, the one we wake up to the Mickey wake up call, that is reserved for the Magic Kingdom! and that is the last day as well. So many mixed emotions in that park!

 

[darrylpan]

Our tradition has been the same for our 5 visits so far. We check in at POR.We unpack our luggage while listening to the Disney info channels on the television. After unpacking we head to the store to buy our refillable mugs, then walk the resort to admire the landscaping and get chased by the psycho ducks. After escaping the bills of death we always take the boat ride to DTD. We wander the shops and inhale the magic and usually have supper at Planet Hollywood. Then its back to POR and we change into our swimwear(this has to be done discreetly so as not to scare away any of the mousekeeping staff) and we head to the main pool area for soaking in the hot tubs and drinking 2 Pina Coladas.

 

[daisy_77]

Great thread, BTW!!

We have only been once to WDW and that was last year and it was just DH and I. Next April, we are taking our daughter, Maddie, for her first trip and I would love to have a tradition of having a dinner at Chef Mickey's our first night there!

 

[3PRINCESSMOM]

One for when we arrive relatively early, one for when we arrive relatively late.

Option A Early Arrival: Check-in to our resort. Semi-settle into our rooms. Head to Epcot. Do a few attractions in FW then head to the Garden Grill for our first WDW meal. I know we are probably in the minority here, but this kinda just happened. Way back when we were rookies, I had read in the UG not to bring the kids to MK first, (they state it may scew the kids' expectations). Since I wanted to see Epcot, I chose that park. We picked the Garden Grill back then for 2 reason... if we couldn't give the kids MK then we wanted to give them Mickey AND since they were little back then, the family-style service was appealing since it didn't require me and DH to be constantly getting up to go to the buffet. Now it seems to be our family tradition.

Option B Later Arrival: On 2 trips we have chosen to arrive late in the evening. On these occassions we decided to just do the 'hang around our resort' thing. Purchased our mugs, got park maps, watched the resort channel to get pumped for the next morning. Not as exciting, but definitely allows us to be fresh on our first full park day.

I can see the up side of each option...for both we're in WDW!!!

 

[STEAMBOAT209]

After check-in or, ( let the desk know we have arrived ), we had over to Beaches and Cream for our burger & fries, the its off to MK, to take that magical walk down MainStreet, hearing the music, laughter, and seeing the CROWDS, this is our start of a wonderful trip. Only 11 more days

 

[Hef4545]

We drop our bags in the room and head to MK.

 

[belle&beast]

We have only been once as a family, but I love the way the trip started for us. We arrived later in the day, checked in to POR and grabbed a CS there. Then we hopped a bus to MK to see Spectromagic and Wishes. It was the first time our 2 and 4yos saw the castle and DD4 was in awe of the color changes at night. I think we will do this the next time we go, too because of the timing of the flights from our hometown. It was a magical way to start our vacation.

 

[DIS4MYGIRLS]

Instead of going to Goodings you should turn left at that Crossroads intersection and head down about a mile or so. On your right hand side will be Winn Dixie. Much better selection and about 2/3 of the price.

Do you know if the Winn Dixie is better priced then the Walmart? We have been going to the Walmart for years but it is a farther drive then the Winn Dixie. I am always looking to save a dollar so I can spend it at Disney, but more importantly I hate being away from the world... My husband and I go to Church and stop at the store for whatever we may need and then I want to get back to the world.

 

[EpcotMatt]

A tradition I started a few years ago for us is that our first morning we wake up at DW, we have breakfast at Kona Cafe. Most of the other breakfasts are just pastries or quick sandwiches. But our first breakfast there we always eat at Kona. Additionally, our first stop tends to always be Magic Kingdom & head right over to Adventureland so my DW can get her Dole Whip. She says the vacation doesn't officially start until she gets her Dole Whip. Not being a sweets guy myself, the vacation doesn't officially start for me until I get ti fill my half yard of happiness at the little outside beer cart at Rose & Crown at EPCOT.