What park do you suggest going to on the day you get to WDW?

[DisneyLover10]

Ok so i'll try and give as many details about what we like and what time we will be arriving.

We will be leaving at 10:30 (minutes may be off) in the morning from Toronto Canada. We should be arriving at 1:36pm if all goes well, who knows with the weather here in Canada!

We will probably be tired since it may have been a long night (falling asleep etc) and we are looking to go to a park and have something to eath.

Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[mouselvrmom]

We like to go to magic kingdom as soon as we arrive, because nothing gives you that disney feeling like walking on main street and seeing the castle. you know you've arrived. Now what you decide to eat depends on if you are looking for table or counter service. I would suggest a character meal if it is in your budget, just to get you even more in the magical mood.

 

[sbkline]

Personally, I would suggest not entering any of the parks on the first day you arrive. Use that day to get situated, explore the resort, etc, and then dive in the following morning. IMO, it's almost a waste of one of your days on your multi-day pass to use on a partial day.

When we go in April, we plan to arrive roughly the same time of day that you are arriving, and plan to do what I said above, and have supper at Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary, then some mini-golf that night and then hit EPCOT bright and early the next morning.

 

[frazierle]

This will be our 20th trip to Disney on Friday and every trip starts at Magic Kingdom and the trip ends at MK. Creatures of habit I guess.

 

[reptar77]

I always like to start our trip with the MK.

 

[IneedaWDWfix]

Personally, I would suggest not entering any of the parks on the first day you arrive. Use that day to get situated, explore the resort, etc, and then dive in the following morning. IMO, it's almost a waste of one of your days on your multi-day pass to use on a partial day.

I agree with sbkline, though we have gone to the MK on our first day in the past. You admit that you'll probably be tired---why waste a day (pass) on a partial day? Relax at your resort, spend some time in the pool, go to sleep at a decent time, wake up early the next day nice and refreshed and head for the park!!

 

[dreamscometrue]

We've always started with Magic Kingdom and go eat at The Plaza...it's tradition now. We just feel that is the best way to realize we're really back at WDW. We debated starting our next trip (in 4 months) with Animal Kingdom, which we adore, but we'll have my mother-in-law and my daughter's best friend from high school and we believe first timers should visit MK as their first park.

Could someone please explain the comments about not going anywhere the first half day so that a 'day' pass isn't wasted. We always stay on site and our tickets are always what my travel agent calls 'length of stay passes', valid from the time we check in until midnight of the day we check out. I just assumed that everyone who stays on site has the same type of ticket.

BTW, we've taken that 10:30am flight from Toronto a few times as the second leg of our trip, and it's always been on time . We take Magical Express, check in at the resort and are always at MK by 4pm

 

[slappy magoo]

Could someone please explain the comments about not going anywhere the first half day so that a 'day' pass isn't wasted. We always stay on site and our tickets are always what my travel agent calls 'length of stay passes', valid from the time we check in until midnight of the day we check out. I just assumed that everyone who stays on site has the same type of ticket.

Well, I'm not sure when the last time to went to WDW was, and there might still be length-of-stay passes, I don't know. But it seems that, for the most part, Disney is pushing the Magic Your Way passes instead. You start with a base ticket, & choose the amount of days you want on your pass. It allows you entry to one park a day, and expires 14 days after you first use it. The more days you add-on, the cheaper it is per-day, to the point where there's only a 2 dollar or so difference between a 6-day pass and a seven-day pass.

From there you can add on options like Park-hopping, access to water parks and Pleasure Island, and No Expiration. A lot of people, at the very least, pay for the No Expiration option, which is why so many people are talking about "not wasting a day." This way, if they don't use all their days, they've got some days for future use, no matter when they go back, years or even decades from now.

So I guess the big question we should ask the OP is, what kind of tickets do you have? Would you be conceivably "wasting a day" if you get to a park in the mid-to-late afternoon?

If you have options galore, I'd say go for a water park, hit the slides if you have the energy, soak in the lazy rivers if you don't. They close early, have dinner at your hotel, explore the grounds a little, then get up nice and early the next day for MK.

If you gotta hit a park, I'd say, first see if you can reservations for Rose & Crown in Epcot's England Pavilion around 8 o clock. If you can, got to Epcot. Ask to sit outside if at all possible for dinner, so, even if you're excited, you'll have a nice place to sit and relax during Illuminations.

If you can't get R & C, & if you have a rental car, I'd say try to get ressies for Boma at AKL, and go to AK, which closes early, and then have dinner at Boma.

No matter what, enjoy yourself!

 

[summergirl32]

If AK has pm extra magic hours that day, you could cover the whole park and possibly have time for dinner at Rain Forest Cafe. We always plan on not going anywhere on arrival day so we will be rested for the rest of the trip but when we get there, we have to go hit the parks or DTD at least. We just can't wait!

 

[KrazyKowboy]

Although I tend to agree that you might feel better after a good night's rest before heading off for all the fun at the parks, I follow dreamscometrue's thoughts about hitting them as soon as you can get to the resort desk and pick up your passes.

If you're staying over 5 days those added days on your Magic Your Way tickets are only costing you $3 or $4 more for each added day. Not exactly what I'd call a waste.

You have the option when ordering to set the number of days you want for your ticket, but when we stay 7 nights I always get an 8 day MYW with Park Hopping. Those extra couple of days let us hit the parks on our first evening, and stay most of the day that we check out and it's only about $8 more for the 8 day tickets than what we'd pay for the 6 day tickets.

That's about the best bargain I ever saw !!

 

[dreamscometrue]

Well, I'm not sure when the last time to went to WDW was, and there might still be length-of-stay passes, I don't know. But it seems that, for the most part, Disney is pushing the Magic Your Way passes instead. You start with a base ticket, & choose the amount of days you want on your pass. It allows you entry to one park a day, and expires 14 days after you first use it. The more days you add-on, the cheaper it is per-day, to the point where there's only a 2 dollar or so difference between a 6-day pass and a seven-day pass.quote]

Thanks for the info. We were last there 10 months ago. We purchased Magic Your Way Tickets plus dining with the water parks and more option. When we checked in to POP, we were told that our park passes were valid until midnight of our check out day, 10 days later. I used the old terminology 'Length of stay passes', but our Magic Your Way passes worked the same way. I now understand it's because we purchased the 10 days and some people might choose not to. (It was only about $9 more (total cost) for 4 of us to have 10 days instead of 9, so why not?)

 

[Mimi]

I always make a point of going into a park on the first day and I suggest you do the same (if your ticket situation allows for it - and I assume it does or you would not have asked). I feel like I would be wasting my time, and money, if I did not.

I never do the Magic Kingdom on that first day - I guess I feel that it would be too sad to not spend a full day there on my first time that trip. Also, I like to take it easy the first day because we are usually tired from traveling and I like to make sure we are fully charged for MK the next day.

So if I were you I would go to one of the other parks. I would avoid Animal Kingdom if it has extra magic hours that day because that usually means more crowds. I think MGM or EPCOT is your best bet. Take it easy, have a relaxing dinner, leave early and as someone else suggested get to know your resort.

Have a great trip!! :wave:

 

[L Fisher]

After we check in we explore the resort, and then head over to Downtown Disney..Then the next day we start with the Magic Kingdom...You might look to see what the park hours are at MK..Also are you arriving on Saturday/Sunday? If so, don't go to any parks..Attendence picks up..I'd say most fast passes "may" be gone if on a weekend..Have fun on your trip!:wave:

 

[GoofyGuySouthFl]

We recently started a new tradition. We usually arrive around lunch time at the world. After we check-in we head over to DTD and grab lunch at Earl of Sandwich. While we eat lunch we then discuss where we want to head that evening. We usually head over to either Epcot or MK.

 

[slappy magoo]

Thanks for the info. We were last there 10 months ago. We purchased Magic Your Way Tickets plus dining with the water parks and more option. When we checked in to POP, we were told that our park passes were valid until midnight of our check out day, 10 days later. I used the old terminology 'Length of stay passes', but our Magic Your Way passes worked the same way. I now understand it's because we purchased the 10 days and some people might choose not to. (It was only about $9 more (total cost) for 4 of us to have 10 days instead of 9, so why not?)

Yeah, I can see your point. Certainly no big deal, but the info you were given at check-in isn't exactly true. Since you didn't buy the no-expiration option, your tickets would've expired 14 days after check-in, not on the day you checked-out. Let's say, for example, you paid for a 10 day pass, but you only went to the parks 7 of those days. You could've either
a: extended your stay, on-site or off, and still used your remaining days;

b: paid the extra fee to make your remaining days expiration-free. I think that costs 65 dollars US or so, so I guess it all depends on how many days a person would have left to decide if its worth paying the extra fee.

 

[dreamscometrue]

Yeah, I can see your point. Certainly no big deal, but the info you were given at check-in isn't exactly true. Since you didn't buy the no-expiration option, your tickets would've expired 14 days after check-in, not on the day you checked-out. Let's say, for example, you paid for a 10 day pass, but you only went to the parks 7 of those days. You could've either
a: extended your stay, on-site or off, and still used your remaining days;

b: paid the extra fee to make your remaining days expiration-free. I think that costs 65 dollars US or so, so I guess it all depends on how many days a person would have left to decide if its worth paying the extra fee.

I didn't know that. Thanks for the info. It's always great to know all of the options available.

 

[scottnj1966]

Ok so i'll try and give as many details about what we like and what time we will be arriving.

We will be leaving at 10:30 (minutes may be off) in the morning from Toronto Canada. We should be arriving at 1:36pm if all goes well, who knows with the weather here in Canada!

We will probably be tired since it may have been a long night (falling asleep etc) and we are looking to go to a park and have something to eath.

Anyone have any suggestions?

If you all are going to be tired dont go to the parks.
Go to one of the resorts to eat. Polynesian resort has ohanas, wodnerful place, great food. So many other chocies too. Then get to bed early and have a great time at the parks the next day.

 

[wdwforus]

Ok so i'll try and give as many details about what we like and what time we will be arriving.

We will be leaving at 10:30 (minutes may be off) in the morning from Toronto Canada. We should be arriving at 1:36pm if all goes well, who knows with the weather here in Canada!

We will probably be tired since it may have been a long night (falling asleep etc) and we are looking to go to a park and have something to eath.

Anyone have any suggestions?

I would say that we need more info on what your prior WDW experience is. If you have been before and know your way around or if your a newbie and will be in awe of what you are seeing and dont know the short cuts and tricks to get more done. My family has to go into a park the first day no matter what, and we plan our arrival accordingly. Its too hard for the kids to have this build up for months knowing we are going and then tell them they cant see a park as soon as we are settled in. In my family, if you dont come home from a WDW vacation exhausted then you wasted your money!!! If I had to pick one park it would MK hands down.

 

[ImagineAtl23]

I like to go to MK or Epcot personally

 

[eroyee]

:wave: Why not get checked in and head to DTD for some food? that way you dont waste a day of park ticket and can get to know your resort later and get some rest. Then.....off to the MK. where else??? 23 days till our next magical vacation at the world. woo hoo!!!!:xmas: :sohappy: