Fun things to do in Walt Disney World on your arrival day

Arrival day at Walt Disney World can be filled with so many different emotions……but below I will list some fun things to do on your arrival day.

As international guests we arrive tired but excited. Having sat down for 9 hours on a plane, go through security and arrivals, then we then have to find our luggage and sit on a coach for 30 minutes before we even have even arrived at our resort, (this can easily take 2 hours depending on how busy the airport is). After we have checked in to our resort, walked to our room and put down our luggage, by now its been around 3 hours, however, we are straight out the door again.

One of our favourite things to do is visit Disney Springs, look in the shops and maybe grab a meal or some snacks. We usually have a look at the new merchandise and decide what we will buy later on in our trip. I like to buy sweet treats like cupcakes and chocolate where as Sam will want to head to get a burger or something similar.

But here are a few ideas on what you can do on you arrival day.

• Head straight to the parks – this is possibly the most popular choice by guests depending on what time you arrive, I would suggest to do this if you have arrived, checked in and at one of the parks by lunch time. However, if you don’t arrive until after 3pm, please do not waste a one of your ‘park days’ for minimal time within the parks.
• Tour your resort, lots of Disney hotels offer loads of activities to fill your day, whether its games by the pools, a late night movie, making smores or even making tye dye shirts. There is are plenty of grounds to explore, gift shops to look in a also restaurants/ food courts to eat in.
• Go for a swim, all on property resorts have pools, some even have two or three. Take a dip and relax before spending the rest of your stay on the go.
• Go and watch Happily Ever After from the beaches of The Grand Floridian or The Polynesian, it is extremely relaxed watching the fireworks from here, the crowds usually aren’t big and there are deck chairs and hammocks to sit on.
• Book a late night dinner at Disney Springs or a Resort near by.
• Play a round of mini golf at either Fantasia Gardens or Blizzard Beach. UK tickets include a free round of gold every day. Otherwise 1 round costs $14 for an adult at $12 for a child.

I do think that arrival day should be taken at a leisurely pace and not filled with a lot of activity, especially if you have travelled far. You might arrive in Disney and not want to do anything other than relax in your room.

What are your thoughts on arrival day, what do you like to do when you check in to your resort on or off property? Do you relax after your journey or dive straight in to visit a park? Let me know what you do and your thoughts on arrival day in the comments.