I NEVER Visit a Park on My First Day at Disney World. Here's Why I Do THIS Instead!

There’s no “right” way to visit Walt Disney World. Sure, there are best practices to follow and ways to maximize getting use out of everything from dining plans, to Lightning Lanes, to after-hours special events, and morning early entry hours. However, those are guidelines to follow when crafting your own Disney World vacation, not rigid rules to be completely planned around.

Magic Kingdom

Case in point, when I visit Walt Disney World, there’s one thing I *almost* never do the day that I arrive: Visit a theme park! That’s right, I very rarely start a Disney trip by visiting any of the parks on my first day there. So, what do I do instead, and which NEW Disney policy will likely test my normal way of going about things on my next trip? Come along and find out!

So, the first question you’re probably asking is why I choose not to go to a Disney park on arrival day? Really, there’s a couple of reasons, all revolving around air travel.

A plane landing at MCO

I will often book Disney packages — including hotel reservations and resort tickets — months in advance, long before airfare, so I like to leave a window on arrival day to allow for various potential arrival times at Orlando International Airport (MCO) or weather delays.

(Usually in these cases, I will only purchase park tickets for the amount of days that we’ll be going to the parks. For example, if our trip had an arrival/check-in on a Sunday and a check-out the following Friday, I’ll purchase 4 days of park tickets to be used Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday).

Beyond just timing, there’s also an energy factor involved. As anyone who has traveled domestically by air in the last several decades can attest, the process can be a bit exhausting. By the time we arrive in Orlando, we’d rather kick back and relax to build energy to start fresh with the parks the next day.

(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

So, what do we do instead?

Well, it depends on arrival time, but generally, hang out at our hotel, get acclimated to the environment if it’s a resort we’ve never visited, and possibly hang out at the pool. For that evening, we’ll usually make a reservation at a restaurant at a Walt Disney World Resort.

Hippie Dippie Pool at Pop Century

On our most recent trip, for example, we hopped the Skyliner from Pop Century (our resort of choice) to head over to the Riviera Resort for dinner at Topolino’s Terrace. If we don’t a reservation, we’ll head down to Disney Springs for a meal at one of the shopping district’s restaurants.

Topolino’s Terrace

For the most part, this has been the approach my family and I have taken on Disney World trips for well over a decade. However, a new offer from Disney may change that.

Disney began offering a new perk for resort guests earlier this year. Now, those checking in at a Disney hotel receive free entry to one of Disney’s water parks (whichever is open as Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach currently rotate seasonally) only valid on the day of check-in. So, in other words for my family to a take advantage of this perk, we’d need to change the longstanding way we approach our first day at Disney.

Blizzard Beach

So, will we change it up if the water park offer is still available on our next trip? Truthfully, I’m not sure. On one hand, it’s a really good offer. On the other, I don’t think we’re willing to give up all the benefits that we find come with skipping parks (theme or water) on our first day at Disney. Stay tuned to AllEars for more tips based on our Disney experiences.