We arrive at MCO on 10/30 at 9:30am. By the time we make it to the parks, my guess is it will be 1-1:30. I’m consdering hanging out at the resort all afternoon instead & maybe doing the Halloween Party instead. Honestly #1 reason is so DD3 can meet Moana. I’m just not sure how long the kids will make it that evening. It just seems like a fun way to start the trip. I’m hoping that if the kids take it easy that afternoon they might make it until 10pm.
Anyone done the party with younger kids?
What time does your travel day start? I think that is a deciding factor. Are you going to have travel-tired, Disney-excited kids? You might be setting yourself up for disaster. Especially if you are planning on early start the next day.
Flight takes off at 7:10, so leaving home around 4am. We would land around 9:30, so the goal would be to rest until we headed to the parks.
Although as I type this I am realizing it is unlikely we will have a room to rest in…
Pack swimsuits in your carry-ons. Then lounge by the pool until you get notified that your room is ready. 
We did it last year on arrival day. We arrived at 0930 as well, leaving on a flight around 0630, meaning our day started by 0400.
All of us except DS took a nap in the afternoon; he was DONE by 9pm. Like begging to go back to hotel.
I would not do it on arrival day again. But if you are, the kids MUST take naps. It’s just too long a day.
Pool is sometimes more exhausting than park!
Yes, recently many people are reporting room not ready before official check in time at 3pm - and even then sometimes folks are waiting beyond that. If you are headed to park for 4pm opening available to party guests, very possible no room.
True enough. Depends whether you (and the preschooler) can contain yourself to lounging or plan to be super active.
I did the party with my son when he was 4 in 2015. We did it after a partial park day (park in the am, back to hotel to change into costumes and then MK for party). I felt like it wasn’t necessarily worth the additional cost with one so young that he didn’t really “get” the idea that it was a party versus any other day in the park.
The lines for trick-or-treating seemed long and he didn’t even care about the candy. We didn’t really watch the Hocus Pocus show - he wouldn’t know who the Sanderson sisters are anyway. I think the best part for him was riding more rides - he rode Thunder Mountain about 10 times in a row during one of the parades.
I’m not sure that he even made it all of the way to the end of the night - I know we saw the fireworks and the parade afterwords so I guess we were pretty close. He was definitely exhausted on the way home. The next morning was not a RD morning I am sure of that.
We are going back in October this year and I’m not sure I really want to go again. But, like you, the number one draw for me is Moana for my now 3 year old daughter who will have just turned 4 before we go. She loves Moana - but is it worth the price of four tickets for her to meet Moana? I’m not sure.
No way would I do this!! Travel is exhausting for just about anybody. You would almost need to be awake for 21 hours for this to happen. Your group would be completely wiped the next day.
Yeah, we will be skipping this. It wouldn’t be bad if I knew I could get into a room for all of us to rest, but that isn’t likely. So I think we will just head to MK, enjoy a low crowd level for a few hours then head back early for bedtime so we can do RD at 8am the next day 
The line for Moana was crazy in 2017. Like 2 hours long. I’d have a relaxing pool afternoon if I was making the choice.