Help planning 1st day - afternoon flight arrival & Micky's Christmas Party curve ball

[HollyRB]

Our flight lands at 2pm on the Sunday after Thanksgiving and we will be taking Disney transportation to the Contemporary. I just noticed now that they are predicting that night will be the Christmas party in MK. I was hoping to spend our first night there since it's short walk over and my kids will have already had a long day traveling, but wasn't planning on spending the extra $$ for the party.

Will we have enough time to get to MK and have some time to enjoy it before it closes at 6pm? My youngest will be 3 and I'm not sure he'll be able to stay up long enough to get our money's worth if we buy tickets to the party.

Also, if not MK that first afternoon/night, what would be other viable options? We are relying on Disney transportation and don't want to add too much additional travel time. How best can we plan to enjoy our first night in Disney?

 

[pitpat]

how many days of tickets do you have / how long is your stay?

 

[HollyRB]

We fly out Friday night and have park hopper tickets for all 6 days.

 

[DIS_AWC]

I think on party nights the park will close to non-ticketed guests at 6 pm. So even if you get to your resort on the super-fast end of the scale of possible timing from the airport to CR, by the time you actually get IN to MK you would have just 2-3 hours (possibly less, if you experience any travel delays along the way). If you feel that little dose of magic on arrival day is worth using a park ticket, then it's worth it! It may start to get crowded at the park by 4 since the party guests can start arriving then, but you could use FP. If you think that short amount of time would be a waste of a ticket for your family, then skip the park and plan to start fresh first thing the next morning.

Maybe you could do dinner at Chef Mickey's? That's right at your resort and would be a dose of Disney magic with the fab 5 characters.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

I would definitely not do the party on arrival day with a 3 year old.

We don’t add our arrival day to our park tickets until we get there just because we have no idea how the kids will be. Did you already buy your tickets? If not, I would consider swimming at the pool or riding the monorail, exploring the monorail resorts, booking a fun early dinner on the monorail line like 1900PF or Chef Mickey’s. Get settled in the room, etc. Last time we stayed at VGF (with a 1yo and 2.5yo) and just did a big monorail loop, got a Dole Whip at the Poly, and had a fun early dinner at 1900PF. Then we hit MK first thing the next morning.

If you already have your tickets, I would probably monorail to Epcot (just a transfer at the TTC.)

 

[sharonabe]

Honestly I would probably play this one by ear. If you go to MK, it is going to be VERY crowded with both party and non-party guests trying to get in and out. BUT you could ride the train around the park. Do some of the things that rarely have a wait. Grab some dinner.

My second option would probably be to hop on the monorail and go to EP. Character spot should have shorter waits in the early evening and there's always getting to ride in the BIG ball!

 

[pitpat]

I would probably make 3 FPs for Epcot. Some other rides for younger kids won't have a wait and you don't have to make it a late night. That could be a nice start to the trip without the 6pm limitation.

 

[kj2mom]

My first thought was also Chef Mickey's. You are going to need to eat and what better way than with the Fab 5 right there in your hotel? I think that would be the perfect way to start your trip and you can make a quick break for it if your 3 year old has had enough!

I know that doesn't use a park ticket though !

 

[bettymae1121]

We never do a park on arrival day. We're up at 6 AM to get to our home airport to fly to Orlando, and by the time we land and get to our hotel and into our room it's 3 PM at the earliest. We've been up and traveling all day. Our arrival day plans are to settle into our room, explore the hotel, then grab dinner, a swim and an early-ish bed time so we can be up early-ish the next day for rope drop. I'd rather be well rested for our full first park day. Add in the 6 PM limit and this would be a hard-pass for me.

 

[GPC0321]

Honestly, after a day of traveling, a quick pop over to MK just to let your little one see it and get a taste of the magic for an hour or two might be just the ticket before having a nice dinner (Chef Mickey's?) and then relaxing a bit. You could venture over to the other MK-area resorts to check out their Christmas decorations (highly recommend Grand Floridian), and if you think your little guy is up for it, there is the Pirates and Pals Fireworks Voyage, which would be an awesome way to enjoy Holiday Wishes. Or maybe just head to bed early so he's good and rested for the next day's adventures?

 

[Etch]

We are going that week as well. Staying at BLT and arriving about an hour after you.

I just noticed now that they are predicting that night will be the Christmas party in MK

The MVMCP schedule had been released and there is a party that night for sure. Historically, the MVMCP on the Sunday after thanksgiving has been one of the busiest ones so I wouldn't plan on going there that night. They start letting the party guests in at 4:00 pm.

Also, there are MVMCP's on 4 of the 6 nights you'll be there so you'll have to plan your MK days carefully if you want to see HEA.

Our arrival plan that night is to go for a Monorail ride with the kids, eat some dinner and explore around the resorts a bit. Then get to bed for an early morning RD at whatever park we choose to go to.

Hope this helps.

 

[frannn]

Since you already have tickets fot that day, I would consider scheduling 3 FP in Epcot and a character meal (or if its too much for the kids, no ADR but just CS). You know your kids. My youngest would fall asleep in the stroller once she had enough so we could still enjoy fireworks or a meal for a bit.

 

[Dr.Mickey]

We like to hold our arrival day plans VERY loosely. We go to a park if we feel like it - or not. We have a few FP ready if we make it - but we might just crash at the resort instead. We all start the travel day with the expectation of flexibility. In fact, on the last trip, we planned a night at Raglan Road, which went perfectly - but I had a backup reservation for it later in the week in case we missed it.

My first thought about a Sunday arrival for you - MVMCP is the one part of my trip that would be set in stone. We would plan our day around sleeping in or naps to maximize our time at the party. There is no way I would schedule it on our flexible day. I would plan it for Tuesday or so, and I would maybe hit Epcot for a couple of hours.

And also, I’m a bit jealous. That’s my favorite time to visit