The first day of your vacation can set the tone for the entire vacation. Here are 5 mistakes not to make on your arrival day at Walt Disney World:
1. Dressing incorrectly – It is human nature to dress for the weather you wake up in versus the weather where you will go to bed. Make sure you don’t dress too warmly for the Florida heat especially if you will be spending quite a few hours in it before bed. The best bet is to pack a change of clothes for everyone in your carry on. Don’t forget to throw bathing suits in there too if you want to go swimming at your resort.
2. Trying to fit in too much – Traveling is exhausting. Don’t plan a schedule heavy day in the parks. If you want to visit a theme park on your arrival day, make sure you tell everyone in your party ahead of time that you will be going at a leisurely pace. Take in the ambiance, ride a few rides and then head to bed early to start the rest of your vacation fresh and renewed.
3. Scheduling a dining reservation – I don’t recommend scheduling a dining reservation for your arrival day. If you aren’t able to make it, they will charge you $10 a person for not showing up. It also adds in extra stress as you watch the clock and worry that delayed flights or traffic from the airport will keep you from making the reservation. If you are arriving early in the day, you would be safe booking an ADR for about 6 hours after your flight lands. I wouldn’t book it any sooner than that though!
4. Ignoring your resort – You aren’t just paying for a place to lay your head on Disney property so don’t treat it as such. Take the time to view the details and ambiance of your resort. Utilize the amenities and try out the restaurants. It’s so easy to get sucked into the fun at the parks that you forgot that your resort has a ton to offer. The arrival day is a great time to explore the resort.
5. Not eating enough – Traveling can make everyone hungry. Make sure that you and your family eat enough. Being hungry and/or thirsty can lead to temper tantrums and spats. Take it from someone who learned this one the hard way. Anytime someone gets fussy, feed them. This is especially true for kids. That is our first line of defence when our kids get whiny.
What mistakes did you make on your arrival day?
Learn more about planning your Walt Disney World vacation. Plus overwhelmed with all the planning? Destinations in Florida can help you plan your perfect trip.
Janette Roberts says
Yeah I booked a meal for my arrival day, the plane was delayed and I was expecting to have to pay $10. Luckily the receptionist at the hotel called them and they move my reservation back a couple hours. Love Disney staff for doing this, what I am trying to say is ask if you’re feeling stressed someone at the resort or park will be able to help.
Joyce smith says
We always drive to Disney. I always work the day we leave and stop before Orlando around 10 pm ish and spend the night at a motel with a continental breakfast. We arrive at Disney by 11 and even with an 8 hour drive and loosing an hour due to time zone change, it works for my crew.
Amy says
Our mistake was utilizing the baggage delivery to our room when our flight arrived in the late afternoon/early evening. Our bags didn’t arrive to our room until the middle of the night! We were sleeping in our beds when they arrived. We learned our lesson and if we arrive to the Orlando airport that late we take the Magical Express but we get our bags ourselves.
Kristyn B. says
The only little mistake we felt we made was we got there too early, and couldn’t get into our room. We got to the resort a little after noon and since check in isn’t until 3pm we had SO much time to kill. Our room wasn’t even ready until 4pm. We explored the hotel but that didn’t take long and it was too cold to swim. We should have taken the time to go to Disney Springs for dinner and walk around. We had all been up since 4am and wanted to take naps so we didn’t want to go far from the hotel in case we got the text saying the room was ready. We should have just bit the bullet and went someplace ☺️
Jaleesa says
I made the mistake of trying to do Disney Springs and T-Rex. We were so tired from the 15 hour drive overnight that we just made it through dinner and didn’t get to explore as much as I hoped. I think that spending arrival day resting would have put us in a better space for the fast pace of the park days.