Arrival Day Restaurant

[goofyintoronto]

If i dont have a park ticket on arrival day I always go to Disney Springs. Raglan Road or Wolfgang Puck Express are my faves. Yes i know one is TS and the other QS....but WGPE has amazing food quality for a QS. All depends what i feel like eating/doing.

 

[Unvoiced_Apollo]

What is your favorite arrival day restaurant for lunch (assuming no park ticket that day)?

I don't have a favorite "arrival day" restaurant yet. However, I have planned an evening at Disney Springs with Raglan Road as our arrival day dinner.

 

[CJJenkins]

Agree with a lot of what has already been said...

DS has tons of options, and Wolfgang Puck Express is a great choice that is fast an convenient. It's quick service so it requires no ADR, but the food is as good as some sit-down meals around property.

Hoop Dee Doo Review is such a fun experience, but one of the detractors it has is the travel time to it. Being a nonpark day eliminates this issue.

'Ohana will be our first night ADR on our next trip. I chose it because it's more mellow than some of the high energy meals we will be doing later in the trip (HDDR, CM). If my DD5 (first timer!) is worn out from the days travel, she could pass out and it would be manageable at 'Ohana. If she awake and energetic, she will enjoy the meal and then the fireworks afterwards. She was my main consideration when making first day plans. I almost did HDDR, but with as expensive as it will be for a party of 5, I wanna do it when I know everyone will enjoy it, so we'll do it later on in the trip on an off day when she can have a good nap.

 

[tobikaye]

I have no traditional must do places to eat at WDW. If I have a non-park day on arrival, I wait until I am on-site before I determine where I am going to eat. There are too many variables on a travel day to what I am going to feel like doing.

The last arrival day without going to a park, we were at POFQ so took the boat to DS for lunch/shopping. We pulled up the available ADRs once we got to DS and picked one for about 15 minutes later, Raglan Road.

The time before that, I was just very tired and so just grabbed food at the resort QS and took it back to the room to veg out. If the room had not been ready, I probably would have still just done the QS and eaten in a quiet corner.

 

[Nvrgrowup]

Our traditional arrival day meal is Trails End. We fly from the northeast and sometimes its o -dark-30 when we fly out. It's nice relaxing boat ride from our 'home" WL. Food is good. If the spirit moves us afterwards we head to MK for some of the magic.

 

[Edna K. Mode]

When staying at OKW we love Olivia’s, it’s a perfect comfort food menu following a busy day of travel. Also Raglan Road and Homecoming are great options. Trattoria al Forno at the Boardwalk is also a great way to start off the trip with an excellent dinner, followed by a stroll along the Boardwalk.

 

[Scubadaddy32]

Boathouse is our favorite restaurant in Disney Springs. Boma at AKL is a must at some point for us regardless of what resort we are staying at. Most of the previously mentioned restaurants above have good food as well and HDDr is a great show and has good food.
There are a lot of factors to consider in dining decision, just like there are tons of factors to consider in everyone's Disney vacations.
Budget, time and location are all factors that need to be accounted for by individual families.

 

[MomOTwins]

After missing ADRs three trips in a row due to 5 hour plus travel delays we no longer make arrival day ADRs. So my answer is “whatever looks good that has last minute availability in the app”

 

[Unlimited N2O]

Anything in Disney Springs. D-luxe burger or Polite Pig if you can't find a last-minute reservation. Afterwards, do some shopping and get that out of the way before hitting the parks.

 

[MissionMouse]

It all depends on when we arrive, if we have a rental car or are just transferring over from Universal or Sea World. We often on arrival have park tickets to get right onto it. If we were to arrive in the afternoon and have no park tickets we would stay close to the resort. Take advantage of the pool and other options (ie shops, entertainment, explore, get settled in, etc.) MK area: Chef Mickeys or Ohana with kids. Otherwise Citricos or California. Epcot resort: Flying Fish on Boardwalk or others in YC or Dolphin or Swan...we mix it up, but often have tickets to start the Disney portion of our vacation with the spirit of the park which is on proximity to our resort

 

[wdw&sonny]

Not a tradition, but last time we went to DS for the Morimoto's counter to get those unbelievable ribs. We will be doing that again in 6 days.
Next trip (Jan 2020) we have Sanaa booked for arrival day lunch just to share the bread service.

 

[Jefftr66]

Arrival day in Jan 2020 will be in late afternoon (coming from Cali) so we have a 8 PM at Topolino's Terrace.

 

[Mr. Higitus Figitus]

Since we arrive at our Resort (Poly or Wilderness) around 3 in the afternoon we never hit up a park. Instead we check in, then (either by boat or Monorail) mosey to the Contemporary to grab our favorite lounge table at the California Grill. We have never bothered to make reservations since the lounge is first come/first serve and we are usually the first to be seated in the lounge. We always sit at the same table next to the window with an awesome view of the MK. The lounge offers the same menu and our table beats every other table in the restaurant. After a few cocktails, sushi and perhaps their seasonal soup we head back to the resort and enjoy what I have trademarked as a strolltel (a Hotel stroll). We hit up the gift shops, the beach and almost always end the night with a nightcap at either Trader Sams or, if staying at the Wilderness, the Territory Lounge. We realize 90% of our time will be spent in one park or another after that first day so we like to keep our arrival day simplified, relaxed and full of great food, good drinks and an early(ish) return to our room, which is around 10.

 

[Specter]

After trying it for the first time a little over 10 years ago Raglan Road has become our arrival day dinner. Sometimes, if we're flying in early we add an extra park day and spend a few hours getting into the trip but other times we just relax or resort hop. Then we head to DS, we do a bit of early souvenir shopping, and head to Raglan.

 

[hes122]

We ate at Whispering Canyon on arrival day in 2018.

 

[samsteele]

I never book an ADR on arrival day as too many uncertainties with flight delays and late arrival. If I can check into my resort before 7pm, I usually go to Disney Springs and find a good quality counter service like Polite Pig or Wolfgang Puck Express. Not worth the stress or worry of missing that ADR.

 

[kwdw]

We don't have a tradition for arrival day because there is so much variability in that! Do we have a car or not? What time are we arriving? How long is the trip? Where are we planning to eat during the trip?

In general, though, we have learned to not book TS on arrival day unless its at least 6 hours from our flight intended arrival time. Adding the stress of potentially losing money while also facing flight delays is just no fun.

I did book my favorite lunch spot sitting on the Magical Express waiting to leave the airport on my last trip! That was nice.

 

[Mazz519]

On Arrival Day we usually do a Restaurant in Disney Springs....different all the time... This past Sept we did Victoria and Alberts our first day

 

[java]

I am hoping for Space 220

 

[Always teaching]

Disney Springs - either Polite Pig or Wolfgang Puck Express... something without an ADR just in case we arrive later than planned. That was before we had annual passes and can now just pop into a parking for a few hours on arrival day if we want.