First day exploring

[mymickeymouse]

Ok! With 13 days to go, i need some ideas from some of our experienced folks on how to enjoy the half day we will have on arrival! Hopefully with online checkin, we can drop our luggage, freshen up and go see some resorts or sights we have never seen. In the past(13 trips) we have never gone strictly sight seeing, we have always spent all our time in the parks. Well, this trip, we have some extra time built in that we can use outside the parks! Any ideas?

[Cinderelley]

When I'm with the kids, we usually head to Downtown Disney for our first evening. We live in Arizona and spend most of the day flying to get there, not to mention the 3 hour time difference. I had made an ADR for dinner at O'hana's on our very first trip. The dinner was nice, but we were all exhausted and would have enjoyed it more on a different night. Now that I know better, we just relax in the room a little (only a little because I'm too excited to wait) , head to downtown disney and eat whatever looks good when we get hungry.

When I'm with my friends, we head out to the parks. :D

[DVCBob]

We usually pack our bathing suits in a carry on bag. If our room isn't ready when we arrive, we have the option of using the changing room at the pool and relaxing from the traveling. Of course, this all depends on the weather.

[Kairi_7378]

I'd combine the first two posts... take some time to explore your home resort and swim. Then go to DTD or the Boardwalk if you're feeling up to it in the evening.

If you have a little more energy, I'd consider visiting the monorail resorts, maybe getting a snack at each of the quick service places (like your first Dole Whip of the trip at Captain Cooks!)

[RBrooksC]

When we have gone sightseeing, we usually made our way to the CR resort, looked around there, including window shopping at the Grand Canyon Concourse. Then we would hop on the monorail and visit the Poly and the GF. At both of those, we would get out and look around the resort.

[steamboat willy]

Much of the Above!
Check In.
Pool Time If Possible.
Bus to Magic Kingdom, but don't go in.
Catch Your First Monorail Ride Of The Trip.
Evening...Catch EWP and Wishes on the Poly Beach.
That DOLE WHIP Sounds GREAT!
Back To Resort For A GOOD NIGHTS SLEEP Before Going To MAGIC KINGDOM....Now WE HAVE ARRIVED!!!:mickey::cool::mickey:

[mymickeymouse]

Oh yeah! Now we're talking! Lots of GREAT ideas! I think maybe a monorail tour of the area, visit a couple of resorts, then head back to hotel for a dip in the pool before we head to DTD for our WONDERFUL dinner at Fultons!! And of course, shopping at DTD!! Woohoo!!!!:cloud9::party::thumbsup:D

[ANG]

We like to go to DTD.

Ride the monorail.

We pick one resort that we want to stay at next time and go explore it. Usually it's a new place for us.

Eat dinner at another resort.

Go for a swim.

[Gregandmel]

On our two previous trips we arrived at our resort around the 1pm time frame. Since we have typically caught the red-eye flight in the morning and run the risk of becoming overly tired throughout the day (have been up since 3am) we love to have lunch, check-in, then immediately hit the pool for some R & R. We make dinner plans somewhere close, then manage to be in bed by 9pm. It works for us since we want to be well rested and this takes the stress out of trying to rush from place to place. WE build in a "down day" mid week so we can explore DTD or other resorts. We love to stay 7-8 days so we can see and do a lot without rushing and over-doing it. Everyone is different and although we don't do or see nearly as much as everyone else might, it works for us! Enjoy your trip!!!!!! You'll get some great ideas on this board!

[JRocker]

Ride the bus to MK.
Catch the resort monorail and hop off at the Contemporary.
Explore there, and then catch the boat to Fort Wilderness. (be sure to inquire about the 'bear face' you can see at Wilderness Lodge from the boats)
Explore a bit, then either hop the boat back to the Contemporary and jump on the theme park monorail, or catch a bus over to MK and catch the theme park rail.
Jump off at Epcot and catch a bus to Port Orleans.
Explore that resort, and then jump on the boat to DTD.

[TinkerbellT421]

Didn't notice if anyone else mentioned the boardwalk in the evening. But I find that to be a hidden gem, then you can stroll over to beach club and watch the movie on the beach which is always so cool and fun.

[buzznwoodysmom]

When we first started going we'd spend part of our first day at Downtown Disney. Then we realized that if you can get to DTD right when it opens it's practically empty, so we no longer fight the masses mid day to night time.

We tend to always end up leaving a day before our "official" reservations. We have a 12 hour drive and like to get to WDW the night before, usually kind of late, so we really count that first full day as our arrival day. What we've been doing on our "official" arrival day for many, many years is checking into our resort. Taking time to explore the resort, especially if it's our first time staying there. We usually grab lunch and head to the pool for the afternoon. Then we get dressed for dinner and head to the Poly. We try to arrive early enough for either a spin on the monorail or a walk on the beach before dinner at Ohana's. After Ohana's it's back to the beach for Wishes, then perhaps a spin on the monorail (if we didn't have time to do that before dinner). It's our favorite way to start our Disney trips. We have never rushed into the parks as soon as we arrive. We love our slow start to Disney and wouldn't have it any other way.

[BKBrinkman]

When we fly from Texas, we typically get to the resort early afternoon which leaves enough time. We never try to tackle too much that first day because the travel takes a lot out of you. However, you are paying for that day so we try to take advantage of as much as possible. Our family tradition has always been to take the bus to Magic Kingdom and take a slow leisurely walk down Main Street and head over to hit a few rides....Pirates, Jungle Cruise, and Haunted Mansion are musts for the first day. Then we'll grab some dinner or a snack and head back to the hotel to unpack, maybe swim, and relax and get some sleep before hitting the ground running full speed the next day!

[Wolf]

We used to always try to marathon soon as we got off Magical Express but no more, after realizing all it does it wear us out now we usually check in, poke around our room and Mom unpacks, I fiddle with things in the room (I live out of my suitcase) then we usually go to EPCOT and get a drink or two cause flying scares me...alot. lol so its my recoup time and we both really love World Showcase, its so relaxing. This trip we are coming in about 3-4pm so we will do that for a hour or two then head back to POFQ and we are walking to Riverside for Boatwrights at 830pm, I intentionally booked that time so we could force ourselves to have a relaxing night lol

[minnie-mouse]

Definitely take the time to explore other resorts, and maybe a new restaurant for dinner.

[wellsm]

In May was our first trip, and we had also asked around about what to do on the "First day."

We didn't get our tickets as part of a package, so we didn't have park admission for that first day. This was planned, as we also had just finished a 12 hour drive and didn't want to burn a day in the parks for just a few hours.

So, we got to POR at 3pm or so. Checked in, checked out the room (a royal room surprise for my 5yo princess!) and the headed out.

Our trip was:
Bus to MK (so DD could see the castle)
Monorail to TTC to Epcot. Just to sightsee. (Bonus - so cool how the Epcot monorail goes THROUGH the park!)
Bus from Epcot back to POR
Dinner at POR food court
To bed early - to be at the gates before opening!

If we had tickets as part of a package that included our entire stay I would be more inclined to go hit the parks that first day and wear out early. Instead, we got to see some Disney and still got some rest and recovery time.

[homeschool mom]

A previous poster mentioned the Boardwalk. We have never gone there on the day of our arrival, but that is our plan for this Dec. We plan on getting an early flight and having most of the afternoon and evening to look around. Then an early dinner and check out the Boardwalk.

[Tigerinvestigator]

I would check out the AKL, and maybe have dinner at the Mara, Boma, or Jiko. After dinner you can walk the resort and watch the animals thru nightvision or sit around one of their firepits. It is an easy ride to DTD after that. The other option we like is to go to the Poly and eat at Kona Cafe or Ohanas and then tour the grounds and watch wishes from the beach. Its also fun to ride the monorail and visit the resorts on the track!:thumbsup: