Your First Day at the
“Most Magical Place on Earth”

As we discussed in our last issue the time of your arrival will quite arguably have the single greatest influence on your first day at Walt Disney World®. We have decided to divided our discussion into two sections entitled “Early Arrivals” and “Late Arrivals”. Having already discussed in our previous issue “Early Arrivals” we will now turn our attention to “Late Arrivals”.

It is our intention that by reading this article you will discover a couple of simple suggestions that will work for you and your family and hopefully enhance your vacation experience.

Late Arrivals
By late arrival we are referring to those that have made the journey and find themselves standing in their hotel lobby by 3:00pm or later.

Theme Parks
If you have theme park admissions for your first day and the parks are open late then by all means go to the theme parks. Epcot’s World Showcase is generally open until 9:00pm and offers Illuminations, which is Epcot’s outdoor nightly presentation that integrates laser lights, fireworks and music for a first rate show. Make yourself a 6:30pm dining reservation at one of Epcot’s restaurants, and after dinner stroll out onto the World Showcase’s promenade and enjoy the show. A first choice for prime viewing locations is the open air dining area of Cantina de San Angel, the counter service restaurant located across from the Mexico pavilion.


Late Arrival but Not Heading to the Theme Parks
One consideration is to schedule a character dining experience at either Chef Mickey’s or 1900 Park Fare. Both of these restaurants are located at a Walt Disney World monorail hotel and will not require theme park admission. As an added bonus, either before or after dinner you can go for a ride on the monorail for a round trip to the Magic Kingdom, or Epcot, or both.

Another great destination that does not require theme park admission is Downtown Disney.
Downtown Disney with its wide promenades of fun, shopping, first class live entertainment, recreation, restaurants, nightclubs, movies and street performers is a great way to start your vacation. Downtown Disney plays host to Cirque Du Soleil, La Nouba, Pleasure Island, Disney Quest and other fun entertainment venues. Bus transportation is available from all of Disney’s hotels and makes reaching this nighttime shopping, dining, entertainment district easy and convenient.

Many of Disney’s vacation packages have a “Choice Feature”, which could be used for, among other things, a round of miniature golf. If this option is not included in your vacation package, for about $10 per person, a round of miniature golf at one of the two Disney courses is a great relaxing evening activity. Fantasia Gardens and Winter Summerland are both elaborately and beautifully landscaped, and offer a beyond the ordinary experience.

Another great choice is one two dinner shows offered nightly at the Walt Disney World® Resort.

The Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue is one of the longest running dinner shows at Walt Disney World. Six Wild West performers present several shows nightly at Pioneer Hall in Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground.

Disney's Spirit of Aloha (formerly The Polynesian Luau), is a Native Polynesian Island dinner show displaying authentic dancing, which highlights a dancer with twirling flaming batons presented in a PG Disney fashion.

Both Dinner Shows may reserved up to 2 years ahead of time! Tables are assigned in the order in which reservations are made. Shows can sell out during busy times of the year.