You made it; you’re at Walt Disney World! It is your arrival day, now what do you do? And, while you have carefully planned your
vacation, you may not have planned your arrival day. There are a few things to take into
consideration to make your arrival day go smoothly.
Let me begin with the caveat that we don’t or shall I say,
haven’t followed all of the advice that is about to follow. Sometimes successfully and sometimes
not. And, we have changed our arrival
day plans a bit over time.
For the sake of ease, these arrival day considerations are
based on the fact that you have flown into Orlando International and are using
Disney’s Magical Express service to get to your resort. Adjust if this doesn’t apply to you
and your traveling party.
Consideration: It may
be best to not make ADR’s for your arrival day.
Especially with the new 24 hour cancellation or you’ll be charged a no
show fee policy. The last thing you’ll
want to worry about is flight delays/cancellations and missing your ADR. Wait and schedule ADR’s for the following
days in your vacation.
Again, we have done just the opposite. We’ve eaten at Mickey’s Backyard BBQ, Chef
Mickey’s, Mama Melrose, on our arrival day.
We’ve even had tickets to ticketed events such as Mickey’s Very Merry
Christmas Party. If our flights had been
delayed we would have been out some money.
Gratefully, that didn’t happen and now we typically schedule ADR’s for
the other days in our vacation.
Consideration: The
resort pool may be just what the doctor ordered. This has been the case for our last two
trips. No parks until we hit the pool. I can’t tell you how many times we walked by
pools to our resort rooms with the boy asking if we could swim. The answer has been yes for the two most
recent trips. We just make sure the swim
suits and any other needed items are packed in our carry-on bags so we don’t
wait for the luggage delivery to our resort.
After a dip in the pool and possibly a snack, we are re-energized and
ready to hit the parks.
Consideration: Have
needed items in your carry-on luggage. Disney’s
Magical Express’ luggage service can take up to 5 hours to arrive in your room
after your flight. Depending on the time
of your flight arrival, it could be bedtime before the luggage arrives. We make sure to have jammies, swim suits,
items needed for park touring, and clothes for the next day, just in case, in
our carry-on bags.
Consideration: No
need to wait for your luggage, or your room to be ready for that matter. Walt Disney World Resort official check-in time
is 3:00 pm. If you arrive prior to that
time, your room may not be ready. No
worries. Just get what you need from
your carry-on bags and let Bell Services hold your bags. There are locker rooms near the pools for
changing if you want to swim. Or you can
explore the resort or grab your Key to the World cards and hit the parks. If you have what you need, there’s no reason
to wait for your luggage to arrive. It
is a magical feeling to arrive back in your resort room and discover your checked
luggage has arrived.
Consideration: You don’t
have to use a day of your park ticket on your arrival day. There is plenty to do outside the parks—explore
your resort, visit Downtown Disney, or explore other resorts, so there is no
need to use a day of your park ticket, unless of course, you have planned to do
so.
Consideration: It has
been a long day, get some rest. This may
mean a nap poolside or in your resort room or turning in early. Your Disney vacation is going to require lots
of energy. Rest up and be ready!
Again, we haven’t followed this consideration very
well. We’ve seen parades, fireworks,
etc. on our arrival day. There was one
trip, however, that we napped on the bus to the park, after swimming in the
resort pool. It wasn’t planned, but
still felt great.
If you are anything like us, your arrival day means that you
have been traveling since early that morning and possibly the day before. At this point, we are feeling a mixture of
excitement, anticipation, and exhaustion.
It’s easy to just run on adrenalin at this point, and we have done that,
too.
We have learned that by managing our arrival day in terms of
time, energy, and needed items, the rest of our vacation goes much more
smoothly; dare I say magically. If you
think I’m kidding, check out how we lost the boy at Orlando International on
the arrival day of our most recent trip—click here.
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