Flight times - what would you do?

[TikiGoddess]

Let's say you're going down to WDW for a long weekend -- Thurs-Sun. This question concerns arrival day.

Choose Plan A or Plan B or Plan C

Plan A - wake up 4am, flight 6:30-9:50
Arrive at hotel (via Magical Express) 11-11:30
Hope your hotel room is ready
settle in, have lunch
head over to MK for Christmas Party at 4pm
back to resort (after a very long day) around 9 (no fireworks)
Park time: 4pm-9pm

Plan B - wake up 7am, flight 11:50-2:50
Arrive at hotel (DME) 4:00-4:30
Check in and head straight to MK
Arrive at MK 5:00ish, stay until 10:00 (see fireworks!)
Park time: 5/5:30-10:00

Plan C - wake up 4am, flight 6:30-9:50
Arrive at hotel (via Magical Express) 11-11:30
Check in, have lunch, then go to a park 12:30-8:00
(skip Christmas Party)

Which would you choose? I'm not keen on getting up at 4am (especially since I will probably be up late the night before) but I would rather get to WDW earlier than later.

And I would like to see the Christmas Parade, but the only day we can do the Party is our arrival day...

If we go with the later flight, we may miss some park time and won't have a chance to settle into our room until we get there around 10:30 pm.

Thoughts?

[NJGIRL]

B would be my only choice. Getting up at 4am wouldn't be something I would do to go to Florida.

The only time I do an early flights like A & C is when we fly to the West Coast, because I don't like to arrive at a new place when it's dark if we have to drive anywhere.

[Gregandmel]

I'm sure you will get a variety of answers on this but I would go with A. We always take the earliest flight we can get (6:30am - 7:00am) which means getting up early (can't hardly sleep anyways). If you pre-check in your hotel room might be ready (we did this on our last trip and got to our hotel at 11:45am and our room was ready - probably because we did on-line check in and knew we would be there around 11:30am- stayed at POFQ).

We enjoy having 3-4 hours after check in to get settled, have lunch, freshen up, then head out around 3 or 4pm for whatever "night time" activity we have planned. If you are doing the Christmas party this would be a nice pace to take on the first day.

EVERYONE is different with what works for them though. One thing my husband and I both dislike is RUSHING from one thing to another - it makes us anxious and can't really enjoy stuff.

So - that's my vote but you will get a variety of answers. Again - we personally enjoy having a large stretch of time between check in and our activity on the first day. Keeps us calm.

[Janmac]

And I would like to see the Christmas Parade, but the only day we can do the Party is our arrival day...

If we go with the later flight, we may miss some park time and won't have a chance to settle into our room until we get there around 10:30 pm.

Thoughts?

Sounds as tho you have your decision. It's plan A. If the only day you can do the Christmas Party is your arrival day, and the Parade is a priority, then you should get the earliest flight out.

Sometimes, especially at that time of year, there may be delays. Planning extra time into your schedule could work for a better chance to see the Parade.

Jan

[Pirate Granny]

I'd pick "a" and take a nap once I got to the resort...you pay good $$$ for a party ticket, I'd stay the entire time and sleep in the next day

[Imalismom]

I pick "A" and sleep on the plane....

also, possibly take a nap from 3 to 4, (earlier if room is ready) and stay until 10pm and see the fireworks.

[Goofeygal]

I agree I would go with A.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

I'd go with A, but stay for the entire party. Can you make a later morning the next day?

[BriarRose0708]

If it were me traveling by myself or with a friend I'd go with A, but if you'll have your family with you I might go with B. If it's important to feel more rested and then have energy to make it through the party to fireworks then I'd go with that!

[natedog24]

Personally, I'd go with A and watch the fireworks, but I don't know what your family is like and how you like to vacation.
My concern with option B would be if a flight is delayed or something happens to delay you, you could miss a lot. Taking the earlier flight allows for more margin for error if flight is delayed, or luggage is lost, or DME is late... There's a lot of things that can happen to delay you. Just my $.02...

[TikiGoddess]

OP here.

So far we are staying with Plan A. I am traveling with my two daughters, ages 11 and 10. It's a short weekend, so I want to make the most of the time. (It's also a surprise, so I'm not mentioning it anywhere but here!)

I did think about possible flight delays. In December the weather can be anything.... So chalk up another reason to fly early.

We will play it by ear on the first day... Hopefully I can convince the girls to at least rest in the afternoon, but I know they will be excited to get to a park. They will be fine at night but the next day I know we will all be tired. I'm planning on doing AK the next morning, and if we need to we will sleep in. DHS in the afternoon with prebooked FP for rides. Friday night will be an early one for us. We will see either Fantasmic or Osborne lights and be back to the hotel by 8:30.

Kathy

[DisneyDadfromPittsburgh]

Without a doubt - A

[Mickey'sGirl]

Since you have older kids, I would go with Plan A and stay at the park for the fireworks and to enjoy the party.

[LandFan]

Plan A

[MargaretMessler]

Plan A but stay for the fireworks. Definitely do online check in to maximize your chance of room being ready upon early arrival.

If you pay for the party tickets, use the entire time. You can rest a little on arrival with the early flight, and sleep in a bit the next day.

[Katzateer]

B. Sounds like our past trips with grandma . the only difference is we would eat at Kona's before the party and stay for the second parade.

[BigRedDad]

I would go in with D. Take a flight the night before, stay at a hotel near MCO with free shuttle. Get a decent night's sleep (say 6AM-7AM). Head over to DME (with your luggage) and get on when you want.

For DME, you can just give a different flight number that comes in about the time you want to get there. They do not check flights. We did this, got a 4* hotel for $50, got to DME at 6:30AM, at resort at 7:30AM, checked in, on bus to parks at 8:15AM.

[TikiGoddess]

Update:

So here's what we decided. We were going to visit Universal next summer, but since crowds (and weather) will be better in December, we are spending some time there!

Thursday: early flight, drive to Universal, do IOA (staying onsite at Royal Pacific)
Friday: Universal Studios, check into Pop Century in evening
Saturday: AK, then Epcot
Sunday: MK until leaving for airport at 4

Thanks for all the advice!
Kathy

[CanadianWDWFan]

You will like the Royal Pacific! We were just there in August and really enjoyed the resort. The complimentary Express Passes were awesome and well worth the cost of the resort.

I would recommend the Park-to-Park passes though, other wise you won't be able to use the Hogwart's Express. Which is IMHO is worth the added cost of the pass. We rode it back and forth a couple times between the parks just to make sure we saw everything.

[minnie04]

I'm sure you will get a variety of answers on this but I would go with A. We always take the earliest flight we can get (6:30am - 7:00am) which means getting up early (can't hardly sleep anyways). If you pre-check in your hotel room might be ready (we did this on our last trip and got to our hotel at 11:45am and our room was ready - probably because we did on-line check in and knew we would be there around 11:30am- stayed at POFQ).

We enjoy having 3-4 hours after check in to get settled, have lunch, freshen up, then head out around 3 or 4pm for whatever "night time" activity we have planned. If you are doing the Christmas party this would be a nice pace to take on the first day.

EVERYONE is different with what works for them though. One thing my husband and I both dislike is RUSHING from one thing to another - it makes us anxious and can't really enjoy stuff.

So - that's my vote but you will get a variety of answers. Again - we personally enjoy having a large stretch of time between check in and our activity on the first day. Keeps us calm.

exactly what I would do..