Which is better....arriving late pm or early am??

[Jeneliz]

Traveling with our 5 year old and 18 month old sons and my parents. I'm trying to decide if its better fly Friday night 5:30pm arriving at 8:00pm or fly Fri morning 6:30am arriving at 9am.

I'm leaning towards the night flight. This way we can get in...get to sleep and start fresh the next am.

With the early flight....I dont know is it worth it to head to the park by 1pm? Hmmmm....

 

[danceintherain]

The issue you run into with the early morning flight is that the likelihood of your room being ready is very low. It's possible that they'll have a room to put you in, but not likely as many of the rooms can't be cleaned until after 11am. It depends on how close to capacity your resort is that day.
Unless you're willing to hang out at the pool most of the day, or immediately head to a park, it might not be the best choice.

We usually arrive fairly late in the day, and when we went with our son, I definitely preferred arriving late, because it meant he could go straight to bed, and we were up and at Rope Drop first thing the next morning. We were short on time for that trip enough as it was, so spending an extra night in a hotel gave us a few extra Disney hours.

 

[MistressMerryweather]

We have four kids(1, 3, 7, and 9) and love getting in early. We like to use that day to spend exploring the resort, swimming, relaxing and getting to bed at a reasonable hour.
Flying in late feels like we are wasting a whole day of vacation and paying for a night without being able to really get our monies worth for the day.

 

[goofy4prez]

I like to get in as early as possible, leave my bags at the hotel, and hit the park or pool. And when we leave to go home we like to do it as late as possible.

 

[Blessedwithboys]

We have two kids 2 and 4.5 this is our first trip but we are doing the arrive late (same flight time as you). My thoughts are that we will then be able to get into our rooms, get somewhat settled and not feel like we are missing anything at the parks while we do it. Baths and bed by 10 and up early the next day for rope drop I felt like flying in and getting there at 9 or 10 would waste half the day and get us to the parks late afternoon just when crankyness is really setting in with my two. No thanks!!

 

[canopynut66]

we have always arrived at resort by 9 AM and then most times do have to wait around for a room and sometimes luck out and get in one by 11 AM then get settled and go to DTD for dinner as were so tired from really not sleeping the night before and leaving home at 6 AM. so this last January my sister and I decided on a four day short trip and we got to resort by 9 PM and got settled and just ate in food court that night and then got to bed earlier than usual and was up and out early. worked better for us. so were trying it with brother in law this October and see what he thinks..as we had done the morning thing for years.

 

[*Fantasia*]

We have four kids(1, 3, 7, and 9) and love getting in early. We like to use that day to spend exploring the resort, swimming, relaxing and getting to bed at a reasonable hour.
Flying in late feels like we are wasting a whole day of vacation and paying for a night without being able to really get our monies worth for the day.

Same here.. we like getting early. Just my opinion.. I think that your chances of getting the room you want is better. I know they do the room assignment ahead of time, but if you don't like your room location, I think your chances of getting the room you want or at least close to it is better. Disney has yet to fail me. I have been getting if not most, all my request are granted. We use the time to explore the ground when the room is not ready.

 

[shopgirl78]

We always to the military ticket~ 4 day passes & vacation. We stayed 4 nights last time (March 12-16) and our first day we had an 8am flight arriving at 11-ish. We booked several reservations that day and it turned out to be a bad idea. We were so rushed (and late for the first one : O. Our last day/night we also had an AM flight so no parks...it just felt too short.

This next time we are doing 5 nights (planning just to purchase the cheapest flight) and take the first day/night easy and starting the parks that next AM.

 

[WsPrincess]

We love getting there since we know we cannot wait to get into the parks. We travel with two kids, 4 and 2 and take the first flight out and get to the resort before 1. Last month we checked in, room was ready, threw everything in and were at MK by 2pm. I just always want to get there! And the kids are excited and even have napped on the flight after the 5am wake up!

 

[FantasiaMagic]

I suggest night:

YOu would be able to check in right away and not have to wait. Then as you said you can get some sleep and be refreshed for the next day.

Have a great time at the world!!!

 

[Nomad70]

We prefer to arrive mid afternoon, check in, look around the resort, head to DTD for dinner, maybe go swimming or get in the hot tub after that. Then we call it an early night so we can wake up fresh and ready to go. We are very early risers here (530 M-F, and by 630 S-S). We always drive as well, considering we only live 6 hours away from Disney. lol

 

[SugarSpice]

We generally arrive late afternoon, then eat dinner, then head to MK for the parade, fireworks and hopefully extra magic hours

 

[monorailsilver]

We have always done an early flight but we don't do a park that day. It is our rest day.

If you do the late flight, it might be delayed & you might not get in until 10 with a flight delay or even 10 to your room & having to unpack at least a little (or waiting for your luggage) would put you to bed at 11ish.

I'd go early & spend the day at the resort pool relaxing, go to a character dinner like Chef Mickey's, go back to the pool for a bit & then head to bed early.

 

[Herbie]

We did the late nite arrival, and enjoyed it...no rush to get to a park, take it easy, get some sleep, and be ready to go the next day.

 

[TX Momof2]

We take a AM flight and arrive for a late lunch. I loved getting to Disney with time to still go to a park (if desired), look around the resort and have a great Character meal! It's like a bonus day!

 

[Masonmj84]

We have always done an early flight but we don't do a park that day. It is our rest day.

If you do the late flight, it might be delayed & you might not get in until 10 with a flight delay or even 10 to your room & having to unpack at least a little (or waiting for your luggage) would put you to bed at 11ish.

I'd go early & spend the day at the resort pool relaxing, go to a character dinner like Chef Mickey's, go back to the pool for a bit & then head to bed early.

This ^^^.

In that regard, we always take swimming stuff in a carry-on. Even if our room isn't ready, most of the resorts have a changing area near the pool (and at least the mods and deluxes have towels at the pool). So we just hang out there until our room is ready.

Then, later in the evening, it's off for our traditional opening night dinner at 'Ohana.

 

[staceymarie]

We actually do a flight that leaves at 6:30am and arrives at MCO around 9:15or so. Get to the resort at 11am or so after DME and our room is always ready!

 

[ErinsMommy]

I like to get in as early as possible, leave my bags at the hotel, and hit the park or pool. And when we leave to go home we like to do it as late as possible.

This is our family as well. The excitement of going to Disney/and then being in Disney, has us all running around on adrenaline, and once we're back at the room we're all asleep wtihin seconds. That excitement continues until we leave for our flight home, and leaves us feeling like we need a vacation from the vacation.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Where are you flying from? For us, we are coming from a Southwest Air hub so the likelihood of our flight being delayed increases greatly the later in the day we fly. I have never had a 3pm or later flight and left on time...

Generally, we take the first flight out and haven't been delayed yet

As for the room being ready "early", only 2 times in 15 trips has it NOT been available. Since we arrive on DME, they know our flight time and know we are coming early and have always been able to accomodate us (unless we have had VERY specific room requests). Even then, both times, the rooms were ready with 2 hours of arrival.

When DS was younger we would head to MK for lunch, watch the 3pm parade and ride a couple of "simple" no line type rides. We would head back to the resort by 6pm to get settled for the night and be fresh early the next day. It was like a "bonus day"

 

[ktschultz1]

We have tried it each way on our two Disney trips. We found taking the late flight easier on our children (then 1 & 4) than the early morning flight was (then just one almost 3 year old). When we did the later flight they had basically followed their normal routine for the day, had good meals, up at normal times, the baby had a nap in the afternoon, etc, When we tried the early am flight our DD had trouble getting up two hours early, didn't want to eat a good breakfast, etc - we don't usually follow a strict routine at home and we are often off doing different activities but waking up a few hours early, a 4 hour flight, etc made her difficult to deal with that day.