Going to park on arrival day? Good idea?

[MissManda]

We don't normally do parks on arrival day. I typically end up with a horrible headache after flying that takes a little while to recover from. I prefer to lay low on arrival day and relax at the resort and possibly Disney Springs depending on how I feel. That way we can start the next day bright and early!

 

[Shelby Schroepfer]

Question 1: if your flight lands at 2, is that too late to go to a park that evening? (Normal wake up time for us, so no insane early morning). Or would you just hang out at the resort?

Question 2: if you did go to a park that evening, which one would you pick? So far, all parks are showing 9-9, other than Epcot which has EMH until 11.

ETA: financially, it's not really a concern. Because of the Canadian resident deal, it's only $15 per person to add the extra day.

We have arrive around 2 ish every year and always do a park just to start the vacation off right. Usually it's Epcot just because it's during Food and Wine and we almost always arrive on a Sunday in September so the Halloween party closes up MK at 6pm otherwise that would for sure be our pick. But we've really loved Epcot on arrival day. We dump our bags as soon as we check in, put on some comfy clothes that we had in our carry ons and off we go.

 

[SaintsManiac]

*If* we did it, and that's a big if right now, I'm still not sure I want to try this or not, but *if* we did, I was thinking something like:

Day 1 (arrival day): Epcot from 5/6 to 11. Basically doing the M&Gs (Ralph/Vanelope, Joy/Sadness) and World Showcase. That's really all we planned to do anyways, other than Frozen ride.
Day 2: We could sleep in and relax. Head into Hollywood Studios around 1:00 (which was our original plan anyways).
Day 3: R&R day
Day 4: MK (rope drop to close, with a long afternoon break, and HEA Dessert Party)
Day 5: R&R day
Day 6: AK (9 - till whenever we get tired in the afternoon)
Day 7: MK (9, leave after the parade)


Otherwise, plans are looking like:

Day 1 (arrival): Hang out at the resort
Day 2: MK, 9-9 with afternoon break and HEA party
Day 3: HS, 1-9
Day 4: R&R day
Day 5: EP, 9-3/4ish
Day 6: AK, 9-3/4 ish
Day 7: MK, 9-end of parade

I dunno... almost thinking maybe the first option looks better, two full rest days instead of one? With the flexibility to add a Blizzard Beach day?

Do you really feel like you need 2 rest days, though?

 

[DisDreaming4116]

Everybody vacations and tours WDW differently but according to your initial schedule, you plan on spending 2 of 7 nights in the parks at night. There is such a different vibe at night at each park and if you're concerned about little ones not making it to evening, you might consider a midday break or even be surprised how much energy kids have and not want to leave.

 

[sscamarogirl2000]

YES!!!!! Absolutely park. For $15 that's worth just walking around and taking in sights for a couple of hours. I would do epcot since its opened the latest. Plus, even if you have a whole day planned at epcot there is still plenty to do there. We wound up going back 4 times and still didn't see it all. One of those times we left HS at 8 and went to epcot cause it was opened until 12.

Also, we purchased an extra day on our ticket for $15. It was supposed to be a no park day but i had not got reservations for CRT or BOG. i was afraid i would only be able to get one on a day we had not planned going so, we were willing to pay $15 just to go eat. I wound up getting reservations for the days we were actually at MK but we decided to use our extra day at HS but not get there until late. I went ahead and just made late fastpasses and we got there at 4 and they closed at 8. We did ToT, RnR, alien swirling saucers, TMM, and walked through shops. So, even if you get there late you can still get plenty done.

 

[loves to dive]

There are a lot of different things to take into account. The make up of your party and just how you feel generally when you arrive. We always have park hoppers, we drive down, we have been going since my son was just shy of 3 and he will be 39 this year so we have been a lot. We always get our PHs for as many days as we are going to be there. We usually get up around 5 for the drive down and get there between 2 or 3, according to if my son is driving or if I am (he drives faster). We check in and if our room is ready, drop our bags off, go potty and go to the parks. If we are staying at a moderate we go to the bus stop and hop on the first bus to arrive. If we are staying at an Epcot resort, we usually walk over to Epcot to get something to eat. We are very relaxed in our style and are play it by ear sort of people. We don't make FPs any further out than next day, usually day of in the morning. We don't make ADRs any earlier than day of, usually in the afternoon while walking around. We don't mind waiting in line for rides and because we are two adults, can eat at whatever time something is available or even spend the day snacking instead of full meals. We have been known to hop to all 4 parks in a day, without even meaning to and we often go back to the resort in the afternoon to hop in the hot tub and enjoy a refreshing adult beverage and decide to just stay at the resort the rest of the day then hop to some park or another resort for supper.

 

[The13thLetter]

We have APs and will be landing around 2pm as well in August staying at BC so we plan on going to Via Napoli for dinner and just walking around WS and catching Illuminations (if its still there!) in case we do not get a chance to catch it later on during the trip.

 

[Klayfish]

Heck yeah we'd be in the park!!! MK for sure. You could be in the parks before dinner pretty easily. No reason to just hang out in a hotel, you're there for Disney.

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

We book FP+ for a few rides and an in-park dinner on arrival day. We get to the resort at 2pm (BLT) and will walk over to MK around 5pm.

 

[mshanson3121]

Everybody vacations and tours WDW differently but according to your initial schedule, you plan on spending 2 of 7 nights in the parks at night. There is such a different vibe at night at each park and if you're concerned about little ones not making it to evening, you might consider a midday break or even be surprised how much energy kids have and not want to leave.

Mostly because they can't do a night in the park and then be up and back on the park the next evening. Though I have considered basically just doing all afternoons/evenings, and leaving all mornings for sleeping in etc... Since they love the idea of being in the parks at night. Would also be better for my daughter with her bowel disorder (mornings can be rough). Was just thinking of rope drop and lower waits.

 

[mshanson3121]

Do you really feel like you need 2 rest days, though?

Honestly? I don't know. Combined my kids have ASD, SPD, anxiety, EDS-H and a bowel disorder. I have EDS-H as well... So, theres a very real possibility that we'll need it, yes. But, we may not, either. It's honestly one of those won't know till we get there things. I do know that last time we did 4 days in a row without a break (and not even full days) and by the end of the 4th day we were all worn out.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Honestly? I don't know. Combined my kids have ASD, SPD, anxiety, EDS-H and a bowel disorder. I have EDS-H as well... So, therest a very real possibility that we'll need it, yes. But, we may not, either. It's honestly one of those won't know till we get there things. I do know that last time we did 4 days in a row without a break last time (and not even full days) and by the end of the 4th day we were all worn out.

Gotcha. I knew you have special needs in your group. That's basically why I said skip arrival day.

For me personally, we go to the parks every day. If we had a 2pm landing we would be in MK ASAP, but we have APs.

If the cost is minimal and you think everyone can handle it then of course go. Epcot is a great choice!

 

[bopper]

Here is my thought:

Don't do it. What ends up happening is you stay late to get the most of your visit. But then you want to get up early for parks the next day.
Butif you are not going to get up early , it could work.
Also it depends on how you buy your tickets. You would not need to buy a ticket for the first day. But if you have a combo hotel/ticket then you would get one for that day anyway.
Consider exploring your resort (if you are staying on site) and having dinner somewhere fun.
Also how old are the people in your group? would staying up to 11 work?

 

[scrappinginontario]

For me it would depend on what time we need to get up in the morning. If we're up at a reasonable time I can see popping to the MK for a few hours. If we've been up since before 6am, we'd just settle in at the resort and probably head to DS for supper. Keep the evening quieter, rest well and hit the ground running the next day!

 

[Peppeperoni]

My friend did this but had an early flight. Went straight for MK. I personally like to chill out! My next trip is from May 10-18. Universal is 10-12 and we are just relaxing first day!

 

[mshanson3121]

Here is my thought:

Don't do it. What ends up happening is you stay late to get the most of your visit. But then you want to get up early for parks the next day.
Butif you are not going to get up early , it could work.
Also it depends on how you buy your tickets. You would not need to buy a ticket for the first day. But if you have a combo hotel/ticket then you would get one for that day anyway.
Consider exploring your resort (if you are staying on site) and having dinner somewhere fun.
Also how old are the people in your group? would staying up to 11 work?

Our tickets were bought as a package with the Canadian resident discount. We already have 5 days, so technically, I guess wouldn't even need to add a day. If we did want to add a 6th day, it's only an extra $15 per person. Our kids are 8 & 11 (will be just shy of 9 & 12 actually), and can definitely handle staying up till 10 or 11, as long as they don't have to be at the parks early the next morning. We actually planned on not going into a park until around 1 the next day anyways. We always plan either a day off or an afternoon entry, after a late night.

 

[Disney Bubble Lover]

I’d say do it for that price as you’ll also get another day of fast passes. Our last trip included 9 consecutive park days and we opted for all half days or 3/4 days rather than any full rest days. It did make the tickets a bit more expensive but we found the experience very enjoyable and relaxing and it worked well for the needs of our family. While I would recommend going to the park on your arrival day I would also suggest keeping it a pretty laid back day and avoid scheduling any ADRs, fast passes or other plans that are super important to you just in case you experience any travel delays.

 

[beccasmom]

We used to head to a park, but not so much anymore. On most trips we arrive mid-evening. On our upcoming trip we should get to our resort around noon, but we are planning to just chill out by the pool and maybe head over to the Springs later. This is a rest and recuperation trip for us and for that reason our schedule is pretty open.

 

[Disney Bubble Lover]

I’d say do it for that price as you’ll also get another day of fast passes. Our last trip included 9 consecutive park days and we opted for all half or 3/4 days rather than any full rest days or rope drop to close days. It did make the tickets a bit more expensive but we found the experience very enjoyable and relaxing. While I would recommend going to a park on arrival day I would also suggest making it a laid back day and not making any ADRs, fast passes or other plans that are hard to get or super important to you just in case you experience travel delays.

 

[PixieT78]

I think it depends on your family and what your plans for the next day are. But for $15 I'd do it for sure. In fact, my flight is landing later and it was definitely more than $15 per day but we're doing it anyway due to the short Disney portion of our trip.

We land at 5pm and are going to send our bags via DME. But we'll Uber directly to MK, drop the carryon into a locker and enjoy our evening. I'm banking on the hours being extended to 11pm (which has been the case in previous years) and, of course, an on-time flight for this to really work, but I am ok with taking the risk. We have also allowed for a flexible morning the next day so if we are up, we can hit the park early but if not, our first FP isn't until 10:45 so we can sleep in if we want to.