What do do the 1st evening?

[BW Fan]

If your kids are sports fans, you might try the ESPN club on the Boardwalk. Even have cold beer for parents. Also, the Boardwalk atmosphere gets you in the Disney mood.

[mudpuppysmom]

Originally I was thinking of O'hana b/c of the kids.....otherwise Kona. I gotta say, the Poly is really relaxing!!!

Then you mentioned the kids birthdays and immediately Chef Mickey's came to mind.

Either way, depending on when you are finished you can see the fireworks after diner more than likely.

From the CR, after you finish at Chef Mickey's you an walk out to the platform and watch from there.

From the POLY you can walk out to the beach and see the fireworks from there, plus the kids can play on the beach. Also, if you are there on a night when the Electical Water Pageant is going on, you can catch that one too from the Poly beach!!

[pwdebbie]

We will be arriving at POFQ on a Tuesday afternoon. My original plans were dinner reservations at Cap'n Jacks in DTD after a relaxing boat ride there from the resort. Now having read your replies in this thread, I am wondering if it would be wiser to not have reservations and just eat somewhere in DTD on a whim? What do you all think? I'm new at this and have learned so much by reading what you all write.

Oct. '07, POFQ

[kaylamag]

Did you say you were going in Jan. I tried to book my Jan. trip with Disney and they said i had to wait until June or July! Did you have any trouble booking?

[Momof2boys]

We have dinner at Whispering Canyon at the WL. Followed by a boat ride to the Contemporary and a couple loops around on the monorail. Always gets us in the Disney mood.

[AZ Disney]

Yes, We're going in January, and will be going through MJ. I was told that packages would be available around August. I haven't called Disney, but did get the vacation planning DVD in the mail yesterday. We're so excited.

[King Triton]

You're getting in pretty late in the day...if you're in at 4:45 into MCO, I'd guess you wouldn't get to the resort until around 6, and thats if you're on time. Travel days are rough; I'd be inclined to take it easy. If you're at a mod or deluxe, there's likely a nice restaurant onsite that would be good for dinner. Unpack, wind down from the trip, have that dinner and hit the pool for awhile...then get to bed at a decent time and you'll be all set to hit a park at a decent time the next morning.

[DVC2004]

Start your trip with dinner at O'Hana. Great food and a fun and unique Disney atmosphere. Have a Lapu Lapu (great tropical drink) for me!

[wdw_bound]

You don't mention if you're renting a car. If you are relying on Disney transportation, a resort meal is going to take longer to get to, and after travelling all day, may not be worth dealing with (my DH gets grumpy when hungry, too). If you are staying at Pop without a car, I'd recommend finding something at DTD since you can get a bus directly there and then can take your time walking around the stores (World of Disney would be a great place for birthday treats for your kids, and they could get their birthday buttons at Guest Relations).

If you'll have a car, I'd suggest Whispering Canyon at Wilderness Lodge or 'Ohana at the Poly. Both are great meals, WCC would be a lot of fun for the boys (they make a big deal about birthdays), and you could go to the beach at either place and watch the Electric Water Pageant.

[Nekochan]

I would vote for Chef Mickey's, then head over to the Polynesian and have drinks on the beach while you watch the Electric Water Pageant and fireworks. If Wishes are at 9 pm that night you'll get both the EWP and fireworks at about the same time.

[tys_mommy]

Since we are driving down we aren't planning to do a park our first day there, depending on our arrival time we are thinking about going miniature golfing, our son loves to play putt-putt. This is something we wanted to do on our last visit but with trying to visit the parks as much as possible, we never seemed to find the time.

[PiratesCove]

We head to Down Town Disney! We walk around to soak up the Disney magic , eat...uasally @ Rain Forest Café, and shop!!!
It's something we do every time, we love it!!

[murphy1]

I agree on Chef Mickey's!! Nothing says "Welcome to Disney" like this! I do think you need to do O'hana at some point, but start it off with a bang!