Should we skip going to a park on our arrival day? HELP!

[StarfishAndStingrays]

Okay guys, I need some help for those who have lots of experience visiting Disney World and who have used Magical Express.

We will be arriving at MCO on January 8th (Marathon weekend) at 3:33pm and using the Magical Express to get to POR. My hope was to go to Hollywood Studios and stay for the Extra Magic hour, giving us until 9pm at the park.

After hearing horror stories of how it could take 2 hours to just get to our hotel room from Magical Express (and that doesn't include waiting for our bus to leave!) and that also doesn't include the time for us to check into the hotel to find our room, get to HS, yada yada, I'm worried that we will get like an hour in the park by the time we arrive at HS.
Am I being overly paranoid or should we honestly skip trying to visit a park this first day and just do Downtown Disney?

If we are skipping, can I call Disney and beg them to take a day of tickets off our package since we won't use it? It would be such a waste it seems...I'm so bummed our flight gets in so late but my parents booked the flight without realizing how long Magical Express may take.

Please just tell me I'm being silly and we'll get at least a few hours in the park *gulp*.

 

[MickeyMomV]

It never takes us more that 2 hours from the time we land till the time we leave the room to go to a park. I would say make use of whatever part time you can on the day of arrival. We always do MK and dinner at Casey's.
Looking at the calendar on the official Disney site HS actually has EMH until 10:00pm on 01/08/2015 so you would be looking at 4 to 5 hours of park time. That is more than enough time to grab QS somewhere and ride a few rides.

 

[Weather_Lady]

It never takes us more that 2 hours from the time we land till the time we leave the room to go to a park. I would say make use of whatever part time you can on the day of arrival. We always do MK and dinner at Casey's.

Good point. I know there are anomalous experiences now and then, but our total wait/ride time on Magical Express has never been more than 90 minutes (and is more typically about 60 minutes), even when we were the third stop on the route.

 

[LAKid53]

Going with the flow is one thing, but honestly it seems like a big waste to buy full-day tickets when, even with best-case scenarios, you'll only have a few hours in the parks. You'll be going from MCO to the Resort in the afternoon on a Friday, and if there's *any* kind of delay (plane departure, baggage, traffic), you cut into your already limited park time. That sounds horribly stressful. DTD or hanging out at the resort would be a much safer bet, and probably make for a more relaxing trip.

This is what I would do. We live close enough to drive and don't have the problems with flights and airport delays. However, on occasion, I-75 turns into a parking lot (why in the h*** would you schedule road work on a Friday night before a 3 day holiday weekend, oh dear Florida Department of Transportation?!!!) and can add 1-2 hours to our trip. Which is why we plan nothing for our first night other than checking in, unpacking the small kitchen I brought with us, finding something to eat if I didn't bring anything for the 1st night, maybe doing some shopping at Disney Springs (my daughter always seems to run out of bath bombs from Basin just before our trip and goes after mine) and then collapsing into bed.

 

[LAKid53]

But if I booked a package for two rooms and already made payments on it is there even a way for me to call them up and ask them to take a day off everyone's tickets? I just didn't even know if this was possible without cancelling the entire package or something. I feel like every time I want to make a change they make me jump through hoops.

As long as you are not within 45 days of your arrival date, you should be okay. After that, any changes that result in a lower cost will mean a change fee, which last I heard was $50.

 

[LAKid53]

Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to everyone once again. Work has been hectic!
I've read all the replies but I wanted to mention that I LOVE this plan! I decided to change up my plan and go with this because I realized all my park hopping was actually causing me to lose a lot of time due to travel. THANK YOU!

I do have another question though...going in January, what can I really expect with wait-times for more popular rides?
Let's say I go to DHS on the 12th and in the afternoon around 2pm want to do TOT...what would a typical January Marathon Weekend wait-time probably look like for those with experience or at least more knowledge than I? I looked at crowd calendars but I've heard from some that those aren't always very reliable, according to those with experience.
I plan to use FP+, but I'm just curious if I can expect any 60 minute waits at all during the time I'm there. I don't mind 30 minutes, but I'm curious to know if it actually does get that crazy of a wait-time during such a low season.
A Disney Cast member over the phone told me that in January he rode Space Mountain 3x's in a row mid-day during the time I'm going...just seemed off to me...could it really be possible?

During Marathon weekend? He must have meant some other time in January. 84,150 people registered for the 2015 Marathon. And then you must include participant's family members and others. And this is on top of the regular visitors. Granted, the races are run in the early AM before the parks open, but those people are going to end up in the parks throughout the weekend. So I'm thinking it will be crowded all weekend. And the following weekend is MLK holiday, which is last 3 day holiday weekend (for most people) until Memorial Day. And it also gets crowded that weekend, too.