First Day at Disney

[Clark Griswold]

It has been a tradition for the last 12 trips of ours to go first to the Magic Kingdom and start riding rides in Adventureland. Later that night we go to Epcot and watch Illuminations. It has been the same routine for a long time. Does anyone else do something like this on their first day?


"...Wishes...Dreams...Magic..."

 

[KCBroadway]

Last summer my husband and I arrived at our hotel (Pop Century) around 1ish. We got somewhat settled into our room and then headed to the food court for lunch. After that it was off to the parks. We decided to head to MGM first since it was close to our hotel and there weren't too many attractions we wanted to do right away. We basically spent a few hours there - rode Tower of Terror, Rock n Roller Coaster, Star Tours, and Muppets....walked around a bit, etc. From there we headed to Downtown Disney for some dinner at the Rainforest Cafe and a little shopping.

We thought this was a great way to spend our first day. We like to spend our first full day at the Magic Kingdom so that's why we wait to go there. We're heading down in less than 2 weeks and will probably start off the same way since it went so well! Hope that helped! Have fun!

 

[col]

i go to AK the day after i arrive -i arrive about 5pm after flying and going through airport stuff and then transfers to resort so it would be a waste going to a park at that time. so the day after ive had a long sleep i go to AK and relax from there. as soon as i hit AK i know my holiday has started but when im in AK i go straight for the safaris. i dont know why but MK is always the park i leave till last.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

On our day of arrival its usually gone 7pm local time (body clocks are 5 hrs ahead) by the time we've unpacked and settled. So the next day is our first full day and we've usually done SeaWorld first as a gentle paced opener to the hectic schedule we follow on the following days at "The World"

 

[RickEff]

Assuming that we arrive in the late morning (which is almost always the case - thank you Southwest flight 900...) we drop our bags off, go to House of Blues for lunch, then generally either pick up a rental car at the dolphin or go back to our resort to check in (assuiming it's available) then nap!

The nap is essential because we'd have gotten up at about 4AM.

Then, a relaxing evening in World Showcase with an Illuminations finale.

 

[Uponastar]

It has been a tradition for the last 12 trips of ours to go first to the Magic Kingdom and start riding rides in Adventureland. Later that night we go to Epcot and watch Illuminations. It has been the same routine for a long time. Does anyone else do something like this on their first day?


"...Wishes...Dreams...Magic..."

Usually, on our first day, we fly in in the morning, check in, unpack and head to Downtwon Disney for a walk around, an early dinner and then back to the hotel for an early bedtime.
The next morning we head out to the first Park of our visit.
Our first day in the Parks is a lot like yours!
Always the Magic Kingdom first.
Always Adventure Land first.
Pirates of the Caribbean is our first ride.
We'll spend the better part of the day in the MK and then around 5:00PM we head over to EPCOT where we end our evening with Illuminations.
Always the same. Don't know why for sure. It's just what we do!

 

[disneytati]

Well, it all depends on the flight I get. I usually like to take evening flights, so that I get to sleep on the plane and don't waste 9 hours of my day. When that happens, I get to Orlando in the morning, check in, and go straight to the MK. Splash Mountain, Big Thunder, Philharmagic... if I am by myself, I go to Liberty Square. Stay there until the fireworks. If I take a morning flight (whihc happens a lot, since they are cheaper), I arrive in Orlando in the evening, check in, have dinner (normally at Downtown Disney, if I am not too tired), and go to bed early, to go to the MK the next day.

 

[kreiderr]

Our first day is always in the Magic Kingdom. Before we had kids my wife and I would always make Pirates of the Caribbean our first ride. Our BIG tradition is on our last day. We always have lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table before leaving Disney and heading for the airport.

 

[Chape19714]

I ride the monorail and see at least 1 firework show, even if from the Ft. Wilderness Beach!

 

[disneytati]

I ride the monorail and see at least 1 firework show, even if from the Ft. Wilderness Beach!

Oh, yeah... If I can't go to the MK on the first day, I take a monorail ride. I just love it!!!

 

[Rockin Roller]

I first head over to Splash mountain and ride that twice, and same with Big thunder because the lines are only about 5 minutes. Then I spend the rest of my day hitting the many other great attractions that Magic Kingdom offers. I hit Splash and Thunder first because during the day they are hard to hit because of all the lines and they are my faves. I end my day at magic kingdom at around 3 o clock. I end with Space Mountain because its close to the entrance at its a GREAT ride to end my day there. Later before dinner I go back to the resort and relax and swim in the pools. For dinner then I go to another park (usually Epcot) and hit some rides there and watch the Fireworks!
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I leave tommorow for DISNEY WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[shaelyn]

I always have to go to MK for the first day! Even if it's just for a couple hours at night, I have to see the castle and ride the Jungle Cruise and the HM (and PotC, when it's not being refurbed haha). The first MORNING, it's EPCOT, all the way

And to Rockin Roller -- Have fun!!

 

[bjlc57]

why would you......

why would you want to waste a day of your ticket on a partial day? when it costs up to $60 per day.. or even as low as $29 per day, why would you give up a WHOLE day for one or two hours? this doesn't make any sense to me.. unless, you can get into the parks late without using up a day.....

I couldn't justify spending a day off my ticket for just two hours in the park..

 

[WaltzingMatilda]

I've enjoyed reading this post, as we are trying something new this year. The "whole" family is coming, so once we all get settled in (around 1:00 pm on arrival day), we are heading to Downtown for dinner and shopping. Since we are doing MNSSHP on our last night, we figured arrival day would be the perfect time for the little ones to pick out their Princess costume gear, unwind from the long trip, and get an early bedtime in order to hit MK early the next day.

Can't wait!!!!!

 

[shaelyn]

why would you want to waste a day of your ticket on a partial day? when it costs up to $60 per day.. or even as low as $29 per day, why would you give up a WHOLE day for one or two hours? this doesn't make any sense to me.. unless, you can get into the parks late without using up a day.....

I couldn't justify spending a day off my ticket for just two hours in the park..

Because once you get over a 4 day ticket, adding on an extra day only costs a couple bucks. For instance, the last time we went down, we had 6 FULL days, not including arrival or departure day. A six day park hopping ticket was 250 dollars. A seven day PH ticket was 251, and an eight day was 253. So for 3 dollars more, we had the option of going into the park on our first and last days, and if we didn't use em, it wouldn't be a heartbreaker

The whole "as little as 29/day" thing is misleading, because it's not that every day you add COSTS 29 dollars, it's just that it affects the average cost of a day in the parks

 

[Craig & Lisa]

Before we got into the DVC we would always go to EPCOT and go on SE, But now we started another one. We go at alittle later flight and arrive in early evening, then we go over to DTD and if it's early enough we hit the AC, for the early show. Then afterwards we go for some ice cream, then back to AS or POP where we stay the night before we go to the DVC resort, then the next day we go to MK, but this Nov. we may have a different thing, because we have a total of 11 peole in our group, so this will be a challenge, because outside of the family (4), everyone else will be there for the first time. So this should be alot of fun.

 

[disneytati]

I always have to go to MK for the first day! Even if it's just for a couple hours at night, I have to see the castle and ride the Jungle Cruise and the HM (and PotC, when it's not being refurbed haha).

That's exactly how I feel about the Magic Kingdom. I just have to see the castle, walk around the park, hit my favorite rides...

 

[shaelyn]

That's exactly how I feel about the Magic Kingdom. I just have to see the castle, walk around the park, hit my favorite rides...

It just doesn't hit me that I'm in The World til I'm walking up to the entrance gate at MK

 

[eeyoremum]

This will be our second trip to WDW. Last time we went to Epcot first and that is were we will spend our first day. Our boys love Epcot. They are now 12 and 7 but love to look in the shops. Strange because they won't go to a mall at home. The youngest is old enough for MS this year and can't wait.

 

[KaliSplash]

Our routine varies, but there are trends.

If we're staying at Wilderness Lodge (yeah!), we almost always go to Magic Kingdom first. Soak up the atmosphere, enjoy uncrowded rides, etc.

If we're out at All-Stars, we might go to Disney MGM or even Downtown Disney first.

Last two trips we've headed to Epcot first, to see Soaring (last year) and Missions:Space the previous year.

But traditionally, based on the early entry hours, we seem to have often started at Disney MGM, hitting Rockin Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror early morning before the lines are monstrous.