Originally Posted By 20years If you arrive late in the day and don't go to a park that day, what do you do at the resort? It seems like there are so many things to do at the different resorts in the evenings, I wanted to know people's favorites!
Originally Posted By trekkeruss I used to like to go to the clubs at Pleasure Island. Sad that that's all gone now.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss Not my cuppa tea, but the Hoop Dee Doo Revue is super popular. 'Ohana is also popular with families, and you can watch the MK fireworks from the beach. DtD has plenty of shops to browse around. The Boardwalk is also nice, and you can rent a surrey and pedal your way around Crescent lake. Minigolf at Fantasia Gardens or Winter Summerland would be fun.
Originally Posted By smedley DTD is my first night destination of choice Love to mooch around the shops and take in the ambience
Originally Posted By juicer I go to the Hoop Dee Doo the first night - it always starts my WDW vacation off with a bang!
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo I am with Trekker Russ. Also there is the awesome Cirque Du Soliel show, La Nouba in Downtown Disney, or with kids, if they like video games, Disney Quest is a great option. Fantastia Gardens mini golf and a stroll on the Boardwalk is another great option. Dinner at Animal Kingdom Lodge and viewing the animals is good too. Or hop on the monorail and tour the deluxe hotels (that can take many fine hours and you can watch the fireworks across the lagoon, also there is something called the electrical water pageant on the Lagoon that is like a smaller version of the Main Street Electrical Parade). Or if you do stay at PO Riverside, there is a very entertaining piano player in the resort. Perhaps consider doing the Luau on your first night, or Hoop Dee Doo. Fort Wilderness also has a character movie night, where the characters visit, you watch a movie outdoors, make smores and sing around the camp fire. There are lot's of options, but if I were going with kids and am a DL regular, Downtown Disney WOULD NOT be one of them unless going to Disney Quest or Cirque du Soliel. There are many unique options at WDW, and frankly, I think Disneyland has a nicer DTD experience (except the awesome Cirque or Disneyquest)
Originally Posted By u k fan I usually go for a ride on Spaceship Earth on my first night. I think the only time I didn't do that I went grocery shopping!!!
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo That is a good point Kiz, 20 years, do you know what time you will arrive? Because you only have 5 days, you might want to consider going to a park on your first night. For us coming from the UK with little ones, we often go for a swim and to bed on the first night, but given you are coming from the west, you guys could do late nights easily.
Originally Posted By Mr X Isn't that kind of like throwing away your money (assuming they buy a full priced ticket for a nighttime visit only)?
Originally Posted By FenwayGirl We always book dinner at Mama Melrose's in MGM and take advantage of the Fantasmic dinner package. This allows you to enter Fantasmic and have reserved seating without waiting in a long line. You have to reserve right at the 180 day mark. I think that The Brown Derby and Hollywood and Vine also have this offer.
Originally Posted By 20years WOW! So many things to do, I can't tell you how overwhelmed I feel. I know our trip is going to be too short, and I think we're going to have to go back again soon after because we are going to miss so much!
Originally Posted By 999HAUNTS When we go to WDW, since we are coming from Los Angeles, our flights have been pretty consistant in landing after 6PM. The first thing we do is get our case of water we sent to ourselves, put some of the bottles in our fridge, quickly unpack, then head out to DTD. We are usually pretty hungry by this time and that is a great place to have a late evening dinner. Lots of choices!
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb We usually go to down town Disney or play miniature golf. If we have a car we'll get groceries and eat in Kissimmee or at the Cross Roads. If we have a ticket for each day or an AP we'll go ahead and hit a park.
Originally Posted By Disneymom443 Walk around my resort, or go to DTD. But the last time we were there we went to play minature golf, it was fun.
Originally Posted By darcy-becker I usually keep it low key and hit DTD or the pool. Then get to bed as early as possible. I'm also coming from the West and opening the park the first day can be difficult with the time change.
Originally Posted By mousermerf <<<Isn't that kind of like throwing away your money (assuming they buy a full priced ticket for a nighttime visit only)?>>> WDW tickets aren't priced like other resorts. They go down per day in price as you go up - the idea is to get you to go more days after the initial buy-in. Park hopping is a flat rate $52 add-on. The difference between prices for the 4-5-6 days is 3 or 4 dollars each.
Originally Posted By mousermerf Btw, if you really want a "thing" to do, DisneyQuest is almost always selling tickets half price at the door after like 8pm or something, possible even earlier if they're not busy.
Originally Posted By 20years 999Haunts, from where do you send your water? Someone mentioned you can ship it from Costco, but how does that work? What I mean is, how do you make sure it's there when you get there? I know it's a dumb question, but I think there can be delays for whatever reason, or if you send it too early they won't save it. Others have mentioned Fed-Exing yourself a box to save checking bags at the airport. If we could do everything carry-on (which I don't know if that's possible for us!!!), we could send something ahead of time. I would just want to know it was going to be there for sure when we arrive!
