Arrival day.

[David 1980]

we land at Orlando on Friday July 5 at 9:45 A.M. and will be using magical express and am asking what park do we go to and what about dining for our first day? I am not sure if we do a lunch reservation because not sure if the time from airport to our resort?If we do dinner do we make it late because don’t want to waste first day.Thank you in advance.

 

[Nancyg56]

It is tough to really answer becuase you have not given us specific information regarding arrival time and transportation methods, however this is my "in general" answer.

i allow at least 90 minutes to get to my resort, and we use DME. Every time we blast off to a park i regret it, but we often will anyway. the lesson I learned this last trip is that if I want to go to a park i need to refrain from making an ADR because no matter how much time i buffer in, something will glitch.

Take into account what your travel day looks like and if you want to rest and get settled in the arrival day or not. It does make a difference with regards to the following day, so think about it.

If you do make an ADR make sure you give at least 5 hours betweeen wheels down and that ADR.

 

[David 1980]

It is tough to really answer becuase you have not given us specific information regarding arrival time and transportation methods, however this is my "in general" answer.

i allow at least 90 minutes to get to my resort, and we use DME. Every time we blast off to a park i regret it, but we often will anyway. the lesson I learned this last trip is that if I want to go to a park i need to refrain from making an ADR because no matter how much time i buffer in, something will glitch.

Take into account what your travel day looks like and if you want to rest and get settled in the arrival day or not. It does make a difference with regards to the following day, so think about it.

If you do make an ADR make sure you give at least 5 hours betweeen wheels down and that ADR.

Thank you and have updated my thread.

 

[Steve G]

Give consideration to non-park activities as well. We are usually pretty tired from our (early morning...) flight and a little burned out from airport stress and are already missing a good chunk of park time. The timing of the bus ride can be hit and miss too, but there again could be additional time. Also, it's not too easy getting on any kind of stand-by rides at that time of the day, which just makes us more frustrated, so we find ourselves burning through FP's that much quicker. Our day one now consists of checking out the resort and/or Disney Springs; we may also sprinkle in pool time, often as we wait to check in earlier than the 4pm standard time. May not be a bad idea in July for you either.

 

[TIME4DIZ]

Deleted.

 

[David 1980]

Deleted.

Wheels down 9:45 am and staying 6 Days.

 

[eagle1992]

Also don't know enough of your details...but we did something similar this past April...we made NO lunch ADRs that day...we went to our hotel...dumped off our stuff, got changed, went to MK, grabbed a bite on the go, and soaked in the atmosphere to watch the parade. We then hit the first of our three pre-planned FP+ that day at 4 and had dinner ADR at around 7:45ish...

 

[David 1980]

Also don't know enough of your details...but we did something similar this past April...we made NO lunch ADRs that day...we went to our hotel...dumped off our stuff, got changed, went to MK, grabbed a bite on the go, and soaked in the atmosphere to watch the parade. We then hit the first of our three pre-planned FP+ that day at 4 and had dinner ADR at around 7:45ish...

Thank you

 

[Nancyg56]

I cannot give advice on what park to go to, however if you land that early you should be at your resort by noon barring any delays. If you decide on a park, be sure you have your FP in place for that park, so yu know that you have three attractions goo to go.

I woudl book dinner, either at your resort or in or near the park if you can. Judy 5th is still holiday as far as I am concerned so i like to know I have a hot meal i can get to.

 

[Ambehnke]

We always either fly in late, last flight of the day and start the next day or early, like your flight and go to a park right away after dropping off our carry ons. I wouldn’t plan a TS lunch but dinner should be fine!

 

[SaintsManiac]

If it were me, I would go straight to MK and just eat there.

 

[bigbabyblues]

We drive, but we always go to a park the first day if staying onsite. One thing to consider is what time you will be getting up that morning and if there is a time zone difference. I wouldn't make an ADR for lunch, and I wouldn't make a late dinner ADR. You may be more tired than you expect to be later in the day. If you have park tickets for that day, I would make 3 FP somewhere and plan an early-ish dinner. A lot of people want to go to MK first, but we usually choose Epcot because it is our favorite park.

 

[amberpi]

We go to the parks late, so if you wanna, go! Get late afternoon fps, and enjoy it. If you want to do something really off road, go to the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress and meet the parrot, Merlot. The service people there are amazing. The kids believe in Merlot magic more than Mickey. The hotel is right by DS.