How do you spend your first night in Disney?

[pineapplepalms]

I just plan for QS the first day since we fly from across the country and have 3 kids 6yo and under. I don’t want to stress in case of flight delays or unpredictability with the kids. Our next trip we will be at Beach Club (BCV) initially, and by the time we get into our room it will probably be after 7pm. We’re planning to just head into Epcot for QS dinner/snacks and Harmonious before calling it a night.

Riviera has good QS options, and there are a lot of places nearby at Caribbean Beach or via the Skyliner too. Have a fun trip!

 

[farfaraway]

We usually stay and enjoy the resort and head to Disney Springs.

 

[Micca]

Keep it simple, traveling is stressful enough and chances are you're planning to get up for a rope-drop the following morning.

 

[GeekzRus]

Anytime we have flown out have spent remainder of the day at Disney Springs. Normally just do something quick or getting into some place normally is not too hard.

 

[MainMom]

Always Epcot on our arrival day.

 

[beccasmom]

We are thinking of heading to Epcot on our arrival for our next trip in August, but that’s dependent on what time we land (scheduled to be around 4) and our energy level after traveling. But usually we opt for a relaxed meal somewhere in the resort (counter service) and use the evening to relax, decompress, and gear up for busy days. When we were younger and had an earlier flight, we headed to a nearby park, but usually not so much now.

 

[Figmentv]

We’re expecting to arrive at POFQ around 3:30 pm after a 6.5 hour drive from GA. So we’re going to take it easy and do a monorail tour (this is a first trip for one in our party), activate our Military Salute tickets, then grab counter service dinner at the Poly and picnic on the beach to watch Electrical Water Parade and MK fireworks.

 

[loves to dive]

As others have said it really depends on the mix of your group and how long travel is. I know you said 10 people but you didn't mention ages and you are on an early flight. If you have kids, say younger than teens, DS probably wouldn't be good. It really is just a big, expensive outdoors shopping mall. There are lots of places to eat but littles might not be thrilled with that. Riv. has plenty of places to eat, has a pool and other activities and is on the sky liner route. Little might enjoy a swim then a ride on the sky liner just to ride it. Adults, or older teens might enjoy DS or hop on the Sky Liner and explore the BW area.

Personally, we always drive down, 7 to 7 1/2 hour drive and get there between 1 and 3 (depending if I'm driving or my son is). We have always, even when my son was a toddler, gone to a park when we arrive. Lately that has been Epcot but when he was younger, it was MK.

We do not do DS, my son isn't a fan of shopping and the one time I went, there really wasn't that much shopping (other than Uniglow) that I couldn't do in the parks. The food options were o.k. but again, I could get pretty much what I wanted either at the parks or the resort. I only went because I had some down time before I could hop but frankly, for me, it was a waste of my time. I could have gone back to the resort, gone to the pool and had a refreshing adult beverage and a meal there.

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

We always try to fly in so we make it to Disney mid-afternoon. Our tradition is to walk in through the International Gateway, grab fish and chips, eat it by the water or in the garden behind the UK, ride Soarin, and then see how we're feeling. The marginal cost per ticket to add on the extra day is pretty low at that point (we usually stay for 9 nights) so we figure it's worth it to add the 10th park day.

DD and I are going in November, and even though we are staying at AKL instead of BC and meeting up with family later in the day she says that it doesn't count as going to Disney if we don't have fish and chips and ride Soarin first. Crazy thing is that she doesn't even eat fish! She just likes the tradition.

 

[starry_solo]

Since we fly across the country, we don't usually get to Disney until late afternoon/early evening. We check in, lounge around the pool, and grab dinner (usually quick service at the resort)

 

[Jessiemendez1]

Trying to decide if I should Make reservations for our first night at Disney. we are a party of 10, staying at the Riviera. Not doing parks that day/night. should we eat and hang around hotel or make reservations for Disney Springs?

We’ve done a dinner (which we were late to due to storms at the airport) at Disney springs, gone straight to MK and then I’ve also headed to DS to get my TIW card and then gone out to eat. This trip we have a flight that lands at 9pm so it will be straight to the hotel for us! If you get there early enough, I’d do a nice dinner somewhere. Love DS restaurants!

 

[_19disnA]

Not sure if your party of 10 is one large family or several families traveling together. That would also make a difference in your planning. Will all of the families have the same interest in what to do or will you split up based on who wants to do what?

As others have said, DS is really just an outdoor shopping mall that really would be more appealing to adults/teens. While there is a Disney store, small children usually have no interest in shopping and easily get bored. If you are not traveling as a single group there is also the chance arriving on different flights can result in delays and everyone not being there when you thought.

Going to one of the parks for 1/2 day might be an option as well as spending time by the pool. Even with air travel, it can be a long day and there might be delays for any number of reasons. You likely had to get up early for even a mid-day flight.

 

[Edeyore]

Usually dinner at the resort and a dip in the pool. We have stayed at CBR the last few times. Go to the pool for a bit and then to Banana Cabana.

 

[DisneyHardin]

We always take an early flight, so we are usually at the resort by 11. We generally go to Epcot on our arrival day and eat a lunch/dinner combo about 3.

 

[DeutscherDon]

I agree with many of the Disney fans that have written before me. It depends on when you get in, it depends on if you’re flying or driving, it depends on how long you’ve been underway, it depends on the size of your group and what they would like to do, and it depends on where you’re staying. We love laying around the pool, getting the lay of the resort, and then going to dinner at Disney Springs. Going the day you arrive to a park can be more stressful simply because your pushing yourself in a new time zone, after long hours traveling or a shorter timeframe depending on when you arrive. Take the arrival day off and just enjoy being on vacation.

 

[QueenofScott]

For your January trip, we are hoping to fly into Orlando by noon and get to the resort early afternoon. We are planning to head over to Disney Springs to shop and eat dinner. Hopefully we can get an ADR for Homecomin'!

 

[kiramay]

We never book dining reservations because you never know what delays could happen with the flight.
For all except one of our trips, we’ve taken a morning flight and gone to a park on arrival. We like to do a few rides to get into the Disney vacation experience right away. Then we go to bed early. (The one exception was when we had afternoon flights and didn’t arrive until the evening. We got dinner at the resort and went to bed.)

 

[Civicsixxx]

If you’re flying in on the weekend I would avoid Disney Springs.

We flew from Philly on Sat, 5/14 and got in around 4pm. We didn’t have any reservations since flights are unpredictable.

Took the boat to DS and that place was PACKED. Ended up eating at the food trucks which was OK. But it was pretty miserable as we were tired and hangry and there were tons of people everywhere. I would have preferred to chill back at the hotel tbh.

 

[whitney37354]

We go to Disney Springs, eat dinner, shop, & head to bed early so we can fully enjoy the parks the next day.

 

[Grandmaof2]

We usually get the earliest flight out of Pittsburgh and spend most of the day at MK after looking around the resort. For us it all starts with seeing the Castle!