afternoon arrival suggestions....

[provencio]

Or flight will be landing at MCO at 3:30. I am assuming we will get to our rooms and ready to hit... whatever?? around 5:30/6. Any suggestions? Should i book FP+ is it reasonable to think we can hit a park or is Disney Springs our best option?

 

[Candleshoe]

Which hotel are you staying at? In all of your plans, which park are you light on (and would enjoy an extra 1/4 day at)?

 

[minnie mum]

Depends on what day you are arriving and what the park hours are that night. Assuming you are staying on site, you could head to the park that has EMH that night, if there is one. We have often gone to a park on our first night for a few hours. And yes, book FPs, probably starting at 6:00.

 

[provencio]

We are at AoA arriving on June 4, a Saturday.... we will be there a week.. trying to plan out itinerary now so need suggestions, unsure what we will be light on

 

[Candleshoe]

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/calendars/2016-06-04/
There aren't any evening EHM hours. If it were ME I'd hit Magic Kingdom or Epcot depending on what I was light on for the rest of my itinerary.

 

[MDIME]

Personally, I would plan on either exploring my resort and/or hitting Disney Springs. Why pay for a full-day ticket and use it for only a couple of hours? Plus as we all know travel is sometimes err.. delayed. Avoid that stress by having a loose & flexible plan. Just my 2 cents. Enjoy your trip!!

 

[Bullseye]

Personally, I would plan on either exploring my resort and/or hitting Disney Springs. Why pay for a full-day ticket and use it for only a couple of hours? Plus as we all know travel is sometimes err.. delayed. Avoid that stress by having a loose & flexible plan. Just my 2 cents. Enjoy your trip!!

Depending how long you're staying... this is exactly what I'd do. Hang at the resort or go to DSp. If your trip is the short side, then I'd go to the park open the latest.

 

[BalooFan]

I can't wait until the day after my arrival to hit a park, but I usually arrive in the early afternoon so I have a decent amount of time to work with. It looks like MK would be your best bet park-wise. As it currently stands, MK is open until 10:00 pm on June 4, but maybe the hours will be extended before you need to book FP+. (I will be there the second week of May and MK is open until midnight both of the Saturdays I will be there.) I would make later FP+ reservations, rather than starting at the time you anticipate arriving at the park, since you could have travel delays. If not a park, I would either (1) head to Disney Springs (2) hang out at AoA and possibly venture across the bridge or around the lake to visit Pop Century, or (3) visit the Boardwalk area.

 

[andiraye]

How long is your trip? If it's short, I would skip the park - it's not worth the price of a park ticket for just a few hours in the park.

If it's long, and adding another day is just $10, then sure you can head into the park, catch a ride or two and see the nighttime show.

That being said, for us travel days are always tiring and in either case I'd still prefer to check out our resort, maybe go swimming or catch a movie on the lawn or walk around Disney Springs or the Boardwalk, and go to bed early.

 

[Lyricallie]

I get in the late afternoon/evening. Our plan is to get back to the hotel shower, get changed etc (8 hour flight yuck) then head to DS for some CS food (thinking wolfgang puck express) then heading to MK for the fireworks then back to the hotel and KOing!

 

[Donnainnj]

Fyi, MK may be more crowded then you expect that day due to it being on the schedule for Gay Days. I have been there on that day in the past and it does make a difference in the crowds. Sunday is Epcot, but that park tends to handle the crowds better.

 

[Alesia]

Personally, I would plan on either exploring my resort and/or hitting Disney Springs. Why pay for a full-day ticket and use it for only a couple of hours? Plus as we all know travel is sometimes err.. delayed. Avoid that stress by having a loose & flexible plan. Just my 2 cents. Enjoy your trip!!

Adding an extra day is only $10. I thinks that's totally worth it.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

We've been there over the 1st week of June the last 2 years and MK hours have been extended until at least midnight (sometimes 1 am) every day.

Last summer, here's what we were able to accomplish in 4 hours on arrival day and we didn't get to the park until 8 pm. It happened to be a morning EMH day and we found bumper to bumper traffic leaving the park as we arrived.


Big Thunder 3x
Splash Mtn 2x
Space Mtn 2x
Mine Train (10 min wait right a closing time)
Pirates
Jungle Cruise
Haunted Mansion
Pooh
Peter Pan
Speedway
Barnstormer 2x

We also watched the parade and fireworks and had a couple of Dole Whips.

 

[bluezy]

We usually arrive around noon on a Sunday and always spend a few hours at Epcot that evening. We grab lunch at the resort (AoA) when we arrive and then spend an hour or so getting settled in the room (we drive, so our luggage is with us when we arrive) and then head to Epcot. We love getting a head start on things by hitting a park for a few hours on arrival day. The extra $11 in ticket cost is well worth it in our eyes -- especially now that FP+ is available because we know we can get on at least 3 attractions. We do a few rides and then we have dinner somewhere and head back to the resort for a quick swim and then to get to bed at a decent time so we can hit the ground running in the morning. It works well for us.

That being said, I'm not sure what I would do if we weren't arriving at the resort until 5:30. It would probably depend on several things: ages of the kids; hours of the parks; what is planned for the next day. If the kids are able to stay up late without having meltdowns, I'd probably plan to spend a few hours at a park on your arrival evening. I'd choose the park with the latest hours -- most likely MK. If I planned to have a full day (meaning rope drop in the morning and staying until closing at night with a possible break in the afternoon) in the parks the next day, I would try to be back at my resort room no later than 10:00 on arrival day -- which would probably mean heading out of the park by about 9:00. In your situation, if everyone in your travel party is a tween or older and you think they can handle the long travel day, then go ahead and plan some FP's for that night. I'd choose MK and schedule 3 "must do" rides -- with the first one being scheduled from 7-8, then 8-9, and 9-10. I would plan on riding the last ride as close to 9:00 as you can. Then you can decide if you want to do some additional things stand-by or just head back to the resort. We've found that stand-by lines really start to decrease by 9:00 because everyone wants to go to the parade and then the fireworks. It's great to take advantage of those shorter lines at least one night at MK. If you want to see the nighttime parade and fireworks, you could plan those for a different night.

If you think that heading to a park on arrival night might be too much, then just plan to hang out at the resort and swim. Or take a bus to EP or MK and do the monorail loops before heading back to AoA. Or maybe plan a late dinner at a resort table service restaurant.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I usually like to head to MK that first night and see the fireworks for sure. That way if I decide I'm worn out on my MK day, I leave before the fireworks and avoid the crowds.

I would be flexible in your case - book some MK FP+ and if you get there cool and if you arrive and don't feel like a park - go to Disney Springs.