Arrival day plans?

[Sillysidewalker]

What do you typically do on arrival day? We have two flight options. The first would land at 7am and the second 2pm. I like the idea of the 7am arrival to get a full day but I know this means my kiddos will be exhausted with no where to nap. I am just trying to get tried and true strategies to avoid burnt out after our first day. Side note this trip is a quick one Fri - Tues so we won't have much down time.

 

[RMichael21]

What do you typically do on arrival day? We have two flight options. The first would land at 7am and the second 2pm. I like the idea of the 7am arrival to get a full day but I know this means my kiddos will be exhausted with no where to nap. I am just trying to get tried and true strategies to avoid burnt out after our first day. Side note this trip is a quick one Fri - Tues so we won't have much down time.

We usually land at about noon and then head to Epcot for dinner and rides after we check in.

 

[wannabeBelle]

I very rarely do early morning flights like that as I am just not an early morning person. I would get there at 2pm and be comfortable rather than getting up at some very early hour and being tired and cranky the whole first day. I usually hit a park, check out my favorite attractions, enjoy a great dinner, fireworks, then off to the resort for bed. Marie

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

I think either could work. We've actually done both recently. A few years ago, the cheapest flight had us landing at about 9am. After checking in, we went to MK. Our daughter was almost 4 at the time. We stayed til about 5, basically just using our 3 FPs, meeting a few characters, taking lots of pictures. It was a nice start to the vacation. We made sure she went to bed on time and was refreshed for the next day. She did miss her nap that day but was so excited, she was fine throughout the day.
On our last trip this past Sept, we landed a little later, closer to noon, so we decided to just stay at the hotel. We walked around the resort, swam in the pool, checked out the gift shop, ate in the food court. It was also a nice start. And again, we made sure our girls (now 5 1/2 and 1) went to bed at their normal time to prepare for a busy day the following day.

I think either option would work! Because this is a shorter trip for you, if it were me, I'd go with the earlier flight and either do a few hours at a park or a character meal at a resort. Or even Disney Springs.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

And regardless of what time you land, you may still be able to check into your resort. If a room is available, they will let you check in, even if it is earlier than the posted check in time. So you may be able to sneak in a nap if needed. Will your kids nap in a stroller? You could always walk around Disney Springs. My one year old napped in the stroller daily on our last trip and it worked well. Granted the naps weren't as long as if she were in a crib but it was enough to take the edge off and get her through the day.

 

[DisneyPrincess5]

If I were in your shoes, I'd most definitely take the 2pm. Our airport is 1 hour away so if we take an early morning flight, like your 7am option, we'd be leaving home no later than 4:30am which ain't my jam. Being exhausted isn't worth cramming in park time.
We never do anything the day we arrive, no matter what time it is, other than go to Publix and explore our resort so we'd rather leave later and not rush in the morning.

Your kids like you said will likely be tapped out and if you push them that day, it may set a certain tone for the trip that may be hard to recover from. If I were you, I'd have the first day just he settling and then you can kick the next day off on a great note.

 

[SaLeone]

I must say...my girlfriend & i did a 6am flight last year and got to MK by 10:30am. We stayed until the park closed & it was the most exhausting and satisfying day. We are headed down again on 2/18 & our flight is at 6:30am. We will get to the park & hit up Starbucks on Main Street as soon as we get there as it will be much needed! We will be exhausted but the excitement, adrenaline & coffee will get us through the day!

But with little kiddies, it is probably better to take the later flight. Whichever option you go with, have a safe & wonderful trip!

 

[hiddenmickey75]

If it was me and knowing its such a short trip, we wouldn't want to waste much time. So we would take an early flight, check in, hit a park till dinner time, then probably eat at Disney Springs and then relax there until time to go back to the resort to relax and get ready for a full next day. I think it also depends on the kids and how they handle travel. Mine even when young wanted to go, go, go, but I know everyone is different. I would say to get there early and relax as much as needed the 1st day because even a day in Disney World is better than a good day in the real world.

 

[wendysue]

We have always taken the earliest flight, as I like to get there and enjoy almost a whole first day doing things, but this trip we are taking a late afternoon flight and not arriving till 7 p.m. It will be different, but my husband will be thrilled that we don't have to get up at 3:30 in the morning this trip. Can't wait for next week! Glad it wasn't this week, as we are having an ice storm...

 

[Disney4family]

We always take the first flight down and head straight to the parks. The adrenaline rush mixed with pixie dust helps us get through the day.

When the kids were little, they might have crashed in their strollers. We always stayed in the parks since the round-trip to the resort & back to the park would eat up the day and could have possibly woken them up (if we had to break down the strollers and get on a bus). We would stroll the shops or enjoy a Grand Marnier slushie (if in Epcot) until they woke up, have an early dinner and head back to the resort for a good sleep.

We've done this since they were both 3 and never had a problem. Every family is different. Every child is different. Ours have it in their DNA and are ready to do it again in 199 days.

 

[drwadadli]

Our flights usually land around 1 - 2 pm. Depending on how long we are staying and what we have planned determines what we do on arrival day. Usually, we use this as non-park day and will go to Disney Springs and end up dining/drinking at Raglan Roads. If we go during the parties, we make sure we are at Boma for dinner as soon as they open (we try to get first reservation) and then head to MK for the parties. If we go for < 5 days, we do the same as RMichael21 and will head to Epcot for dinner and rides.

 

[StarshipDisney]

If you can, I would recommend always going to a park (even if only for a few hours) on the day of arrival because you can reserve 3 Fastpasses. I actually like the new system since I can reserve 3 Fastpasses for every day we are there...including both the day of arrival and catching a few early morning rides on the day we leave. I like to always take advantage of the 3 reserved Fastpasses per day.

 

[BigRedDad]

Not sure of the age of the kids, but it is going to be busy day and night before. If you take the flight that lands at 7AM, that will get you to the resort at about 8:30AM. After getting there, checking in, maybe having a room, and get off to a park, it will be about 9:30AM. You can get a good bit done, head back at 2-3PM for rest. Otherwise, the later flight may get them to sleep on the plane and get some rest. You'll get to the resort and out to a park at about 5PM. You could also just enjoy the resort for that afternoon and evening, get a good night sleep and be ready for the next day.

 

[21stamps]

My vote is- Take the early flight. They can sleep on the plane
Have a relaxing pool day/games and do a character dinner..Or, hit the park for a few hours then return to hotel early evening..5 ish or so.
Go to sleep at a reasonable time and back to the parks in the morning.

 

[Sillysidewalker]

My kids will be 7, 4, 4 & 2. I am most concerned with the 4 year olds. My 2 year old will easily sleep just about anywhere stroller etc. My thought for the wary flight was to do a character brunch, then go back to the resort for pool time until room is ready then naps. hopefully wake up in time to hit a park for a few rides and fireworks. Do you think a 10:30 ADR would be possible at 1900 Park Fare coming from AOA?

 

[21stamps]

My kids will be 7, 4, 4 & 2. I am most concerned with the 4 year olds. My 2 year old will easily sleep just about anywhere stroller etc. My thought for the wary flight was to do a character brunch, then go back to the resort for pool time until room is ready then naps. hopefully wake up in time to hit a park for a few rides and fireworks. Do you think a 10:30 ADR would be possible at 1900 Park Fare coming from AOA?

You have more kids traveling with you than I did, but here's my list of the pros and cons of a very early flight -
Con- The time. 5:35am departure. Airport 95 minutes from my house.

Pros- Airport security lines-non existent.
Flight- kiddo slept. (That doesn't happen on 9am or later flights with him)
DME line- non existent.

I chose that flight because it saved me $900 over flying RT out of our city. We did a one way to Orlando from the "away" airport, and another one way back to our home airport.

Last year we did a 9:50am flight, arrived to a crowded DME bus and then hit the parks right after we checked in to our resort.
This time we didn't do any parks on arrival day. Though that was mainly because I wanted to avoid Thanksgiving weekend crowds.

I think your plan sounds good, and you should definitely be able to do 1900 PF at that time. Just take an Uber from AoA to GF. If you haven't used them yet your first ride will be free.

 

[Smiley/OCD]

A little different option for us...we have done the first flight from NJ, and land at around 8:30 am...what we have found works better for us is to take the LAST flight out and get to our resort at 10pm...the kids can go to school that day, and still have enough time to get to the airport. We relax, get a good night's sleep and start our day with breakfast at Crystal Palace in MK. Going home, we take the LAST flight out of Orlando, (usually around 8 pm and it's an hour ride to/ from the airport to our home) which gives us a good, solid 8 hours in the park before we leave. You wouldn't buy tickets for the first night, just the resort room and you wouldn't pay for the room on your departure day because you're checked out early. We get a rental car, so the morning we leave, we check out of the resort, pack everything in the car, leave the car at the resort, and spend the whole day at whatever park we want or park hop to get our last rides in. It might not work for you, but we have found this makes the best use of our time at WDW.

 

[dis_adventures]

Are you staying on property? If you are... I would recommend the morning flight and have the hotel hold your bags until your room is ready! That way you can have some breakfast, walk around the hotel and hit one of the parks! We did this on our last trip and it worked out great. We jumped on a bus and went to Animal Kingdom for a couple of hours, knowing it wouldn't be a long day for us anyway (since its our least favorite park right now). Then when our room was ready, we went back to the resort to unpack and relax before dinner.

Alternativly, if you get the later flight... I would suggest relaxing at your hotel then making a dinner reservation. One of our favorites is to go to Chef Mickey's, we've done that twice on our first day. Its a great way to get in the Disney spirit by hanging out with Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy and Donald without using up a park ticket.

Hope this helps! Good luck and have a magical vacation!

 

[Parrothead4life]

We always attempt to get one of the earliest flights and we pack a carry on with our bathing suits so when we get to our Resort and our room is not ready we will usually eat a breakfast at Olivia's and than change into our bathing suits and hangout at the pool for awhile until the room is ready. If the weather is bad we will take transportation to Disney Springs and walk around and do some shopping. We never go into the parks on arrival day.

 

[Weather_Lady]

As someone who's taken two kids multiple times, I would go for the later-arriving flight so that everybody gets adequate sleep the night before. Plan on a laid-back evening (perhaps with a dinner ADR - make it 6pm or so, so you don't have to rush), doing "anytime" attractions (and some headliners with FP+) in just a couple of "lands." (For some reason, my family always likes to start at MK and do Adventureland, Frontierland and part of Liberty Square on our arrival day -- getting to the park between 2pm and 5pm (depending on our own flight arrangements) and staying no later than 9pm.