Arrival night, Disney Springs or MK?

[Lesli Terzo]

Curious as to what you would recommend.
I'm planning our second trip to Disney for October.
Sat - Sat, first 3 nights at Art of Animation and 4 nights at a Timeshare.
My kids will be 5, 5, 7, and 9.
Would you do pool/Disney Springs (we've never been) or MK on arrival day/night?
Sun-Friday plan to visit each park 1 day, Halloween Party and "free day" on the Tuesday when we switch to the timeshare.
Trying to decide between 4 day park tickets or 5.

 

[AshleeH]

It depends on what time you're arriving. I've gone to the parks when we get there between noon-2:00, but if it's a late arrival, I would head to Disney Springs.

 

[Lesli Terzo]

It depends on what time you're arriving. I've gone to the parks when we get there between noon-2:00, but if it's a late arrival, I would head to Disney Springs.

We plan to split the drive as we did last year which would put us there about 12. Just curious if Disney Springs would be a bit of a let down or a nice low key start.. thanks for the help

 

[AshleeH]

We plan to split the drive as we did last year which would put us there about 12. Just curious if Disney Springs would be a bit of a let down or a nice low key start.. thanks for the help

We split our drive in October and arrive at that time and ended up doing two parks that day (it was Magic Kingdom's anniversary, so we went there for a photo op and the free pins they were handing out and then had a Chef Mickey reservation and went to another park that evening). Disney Springs is a lot of fun - we always make time to go there once every trip. It's much busier on the weekends than the weekdays, but with the addition of the parking garage, that helps at least find a parking spot now.

 

[glk2009]

I was trying to decide between the pool/resort, DS, MK and AK (the closest park).

My kids (9,4) decided on MK so that they could have extra time to play Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom. I'm planning for a low key day with an early return to the resort and won't push to get a lot "done."

HTH!

 

[siskaren]

I'd wait until you get there and then ask the kids what they're up for. You can book FP for that night just to be safe.

 

[CAS239]

It seems like you're going to be there for a good amount of time. If your trip was only say 4 days then I'd say head to MK or another park on your arrival day.

Since you guys will still be able to hit every park, doing a Halloween party, and another free day..I would just hit up Disney Springs. Could catch a movie there, go bowling, shopping, tons of restaurants. I'd go that route especially depending on how far you're driving from.

 

[Praying Colonel]

If I were going Sat-Sat but only 5 park days, I'd make arrival day more laid-back. Check in, unpack, pool time, leisurely dinner/Disney Springs. After 2 days of travel, better way to start IMHO, less chance of overdoing it early.

 

[littledebbie335]

I'd do pool in the afternoon, followed by Disney Springs for dinner, shopping, and exploring. Then off to bed early so everyone wakes up refreshed and ready to go for their first full day in the parks!

 

[maryj11]

It seems like you're going to be there for a good amount of time. If your trip was only say 4 days then I'd say head to MK or another park on your arrival day.

Since you guys will still be able to hit every park, doing a Halloween party, and another free day..I would just hit up Disney Springs. Could catch a movie there, go bowling, shopping, tons of restaurants. I'd go that route especially depending on how far you're driving from.

I agree since you will have a whole day at MK and the Halloween Party there. You could do both, you could go to MK for a bit and get on the bus for DS. They now have or going to have buses from all the parks to DS

 

[Lesli Terzo]

I'm leaning towards the pool and dinner at DS with a nice "leisure" start. T-Rex dinner?? Good choice? Although if I ask they kids they'll say ride rides.

 

[tlmadden73]

I split the drive often on my shorter trips and its been a tradition to go to Downtown Disney when we arrive (usually shortly after lunch). It gives us a quick Disney fix after a morning of driving. We can buy things maybe we want for the park (shirts, accessories) .. go to Guest Relations and get a fun meal without "wasting" a a park day (and feeling like you need to be rushing in the morning to get there).

I just like looking at the Disney Store without wasting time doing that inside a park.

Grab an early dinner, and then have an early evening to get to the hotel, pool, rest up and prepare for the big (early) day the next morning.

My son loves Disney Springs for the Lego Store and Disney store alone. For our next trip we will do that and while we have zero interest in the "shopping mall" part of Disney Springs we hope to try one of the many new food offerings as most of the others we have tried before in some place or another.

 

[anniemae]

Disney Springs! This is our tradition. We usually arrive early afternoon and go to the pool for a bit while we wait for our room. We then get our room, change and head to DS for dinner. Either Boathouse or WPE. Then we stroll around through the stores and head to Ghiradelli's.

 

[SuperTink]

Things that would impact my decision: length of stay, age of kids, length/time of travel.

 

[Skywise]

Disney Springs is, for all intents and purposes, a shopping mall.

It's a nice shopping mall with a teeny-tiny amount of Disney magic (tm) (r) but it's still a shopping mall!

That said it all depends really - Dinner at T-Rex or Rainforest cafe could be fun as well as spending some time at DisneyQuest.

But I'd also argue just a laid back evening at MK (with the extra ticket costs! ) could be just as fun, checking out the fireworks and shows and getting in a few rides.

 

[CAS239]

I'm leaning towards the pool and dinner at DS with a nice "leisure" start. T-Rex dinner?? Good choice? Although if I ask they kids they'll say ride rides.

Planet Hollywood is our favorite spot to eat at DS. Can't wait to go back after the renovation.

T Rex is also pretty good, as well as a Rainforest Cafe

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Why not just wait until you get there and decide? You can purchase the 4-day ticket now and if you decide to go to MK that night, you can simply upgrade it to a 5-day. You won't be able to make FP+ for that 5th day until you upgrade, but as soon as you do the upgrade, you can book FP+. You may not get 7DMT at WDW last minute, but other, less popular rides would be available. If you go to DS, yes, TRex is fun, but really loud (no reason to make ADR's through WDW, by the way, call the restaurant directly so you don't need to do a CC hold or just get a Landry's Select Card and you don't need a reservation at all). Raglan Road is also fun and my DS9 loves the Boathouse. There are some good new QS at DS as well! Pool and DS are always fun IMHO!

 

[Beer Me]

Curious as to what you would recommend.
I'm planning our second trip to Disney for October.
Sat - Sat, first 3 nights at Art of Animation and 4 nights at a Timeshare.
My kids will be 5, 5, 7, and 9.
Would you do pool/Disney Springs (we've never been) or MK on arrival day/night?
Sun-Friday plan to visit each park 1 day, Halloween Party and "free day" on the Tuesday when we switch to the timeshare.
Trying to decide between 4 day park tickets or 5.

We are planning a 6 night stay so I was looking at 5 day park hoppers. Arrival and departure days would be non park. Then I discovered on Undercover Tourist that 7 day park hoppers were only $6 more than 5 days. No brainer. I may not use the extra days but might as well have the option to duck into a park for a couple of hours.

 

[loves to dive]

I would decide when we got there so you can gage the kid's feelings. We always go to a park the day we get there but if we didn't we would just hang out at the resort and swim and relax. We aren't big fans of DS, for us it's just a big busy shopping mall and we prefer to shop in the parks.

 

[momtwoboys]

I would vote for pool time at the resort and a dinner at the resort or close to it. OR MK for a little bit and then dinner and relax back at resort. I am not a fan of DS's and the shopping mecca that it feels like. Trying to wander through even one store is a sensory nightmare.