Disney World Quick Tips – Should you visit the parks your first day?

In the next few Quick Tips posts I want to talk about the first day of vacation. One question that comes up is should you go to the parks that day or save your ticket.  Let’s first look at it from a perspective that’s easy to get an handle on–how much is it going to cost you. 

For annual passholders, the answer is easy:  Go when you want. It won’t cost you any more or less, although some people don’t like to activate a pass on a day when they’ll only get a few hours in the parks.

For those holding regular tickets, it’s a little trickier.  If you arrive early, say before noon, going to the parks makes financial sense, although you may be in for an early night.

If you arrive after 1:00 in the afternoon, you have to weigh the costs more carefully. If your ticket is over four days long, you’re paying almost nothing per day to visit the parks, so blowing a few dollars on just a couple of hours in the parks isn’t a huge deal. Besides, if you’re like most people, you really want to go!

If you’ve got only 3 days on your ticket but  you’ll be in Orlando longer than that, don’t waste that day.  There are plenty of fun activities you can do at your resort.

If you’re going to be in Orlando longer than 10 days but you only have a 10 day ticket, don’t burn that day, because while those last five or so days cost very little, you can only purchase a 10 day ticket, which means if you have additional days in town, you’ll want to save your ticket for that day.  After your 10 day ticket is used up, you’ll need to start all over again.

Some other things to consider:

• If Fantasmic (or some other important event) is only playing on that night of your trip, consider going if it’s important to you regardless how cost-effective it is. 
• Winter hours are shorter, so going to the parks in the late afternoon makes less sense.
• If you’re staying off site and can’t take advantage of Extra Magic Hours, you’ll have less time in the park at night.
• Your energy level might not be up to a day in the parks, especially if you’ve been driving all night.

Tomorrow I’ll talk about what not to do your first day.

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