Just curious about what family traditions people have for visiting WDW.
For us (visiting from the UK) we always go to MK day one and then must have lunch at the Crystal Palace (my main task beforehand being to get us an ADR). Stems from our first visit with our son age 4 and a tip about how to get him used to the characters, as dining less rushed than a meet & greet. We did the same with our daughter on first visit aged 2 and now (at 21 and 16) they insist we maintain the “tradition” come our next visit in August as we have every visit since!
Wondered if other people have similar “must do” family rules?
I think everyone pretty much has a past procedure they tend to stick with at least as a guide. Now, since the opening of BOG most try for that instead of Crystal Palace.
While we prefer MK on day 1 we don’t always get to do it that way. Still, whenever we do MK, Dumbo is our first ride together. It has been every trip since forever
Also, we dine at our resort on the first night and spend time settling in. This year we are at Poly! So we are doing Ohana followed by dole whips on the beach for fireworks
Our family tradition has been to have afternoon tea at the Grand Floridian on our arrival day. After all the hustling through airports, Magical Express and resort check in that is how we relaxed and knew we were finally on vacation. That nice glass of Port helps as well.
Hoping our travel plans will allow it for our next trip.
We always arrive at the resort, wait for me to do a quick bed bug check and then I take the kids and go explore the resort while mommy settles us in for the stay. She likes the quiet time even though it means all the work but then she knows where everything is. The kids and I like to explore the resort and the. Give a report back to Mommy when we return.
I always feel guilty that she does the packing and unpacking but in the end, it makes the trip better because she needs that security if knowing where things are. It does make it fun for me to be the explorer, however. I’m the more adventurous one and the kids enjoy seeking out new things to tell mom about.
Our arrival day tradition is a meal at Le Cellier in Epcot, then returning to the resort to get settled before a night time visit to the Magic Kingdom…
We like to head to Disney Springs after arrival. Also MK day 1 I broke this tradition on a recent trip and it felt very strange. When leaving Epcot for the day I traditionally ride Spaceship Earth on my way out, this tradition was also recently broke the cast members working turned around to fix a mat on the ground ignoring the 2 families that were trying to line up and then turned around and said it was now closed when technically we were all in line at 1 minute till close. I was sad and went to talk to guest relations they offered to let us ride however I felt the moment was lost
Hoop Dee Doo Revue has become our traditional arrival day activity. It is a great way to unwind and get in the Disney bubble. Also, it doesn’t take a park ticket and doesn’t take park time away from a day you are using a ticket. Basically, you are using up about 4+ hours of time by the time you get out there, eat, and get back to your resort.
We did Mickey’s Backyard barbeque the first night we went in November 2016. When we go back, we are going to do another sit down meal with show included (maybe Hoop- Dee- Doo or the show at the Poly). That may be the only sit down meal we do this next time, but it was so much fun and such a good way to start our vacation.
