Boardwalk or Epcot on arrival day?

Chami

Mouseketeer
Joined
Mar 4, 2017
My husband and I booked our first ever WDW trip. We chose to stay at the Boardwalk for the first half of our vacation. Since we are west coast people, it is likely that we won’t arrive at the airport until 5:00 in the evening. I am guessing that we would be checking in around 7:00.

Given the timing, would you eat somewhere on the Boardwalk and just enjoy the night life there? Or would you head over to Epcot, grab something from counter service, and watch the fireworks?

Being totally new to this, I would appreciate any insight you have. Is it difficult to eat around the Boardwalk without a reservation? Is my timeline too optimistic?
 
My husband and I booked our first ever WDW trip. We chose to stay at the Boardwalk for the first half of our vacation. Since we are west coast people, it is likely that we won’t arrive at the airport until 5:00 in the evening. I am guessing that we would be checking in around 7:00.

Given the timing, would you eat somewhere on the Boardwalk and just enjoy the night life there? Or would you head over to Epcot, grab something from counter service, and watch the fireworks?

Being totally new to this, I would appreciate any insight you have. Is it difficult to eat around the Boardwalk without a reservation? Is my timeline too optimistic?
I’d probably just hang at the boardwalk. Even if you’re checked/settled in by 7, Epcot is usually only open until 9.

Although boardwalk is really close, so if you did wanna see the fireworks, you could walk back and still enjoy some of the boardwalk nightlife
 
I can't answer all questions, but I will definitely say it's best to make a reservation than to walk up hoping if you truly want a relaxing sit down meal. I recommend that for any restaurant on property.
 
It depends. I have an AP, so I might duck into Epcot for a bit and then head back. However, I certainly would not burn a park ticket for just a couple hours.
 


With our trips, we always land around 5:00 pm, get our luggage, rental car, make our way to the Boardwalk, get our grocery delivery, head over to EpCot and still make a fast pass. We then eat at Electric Umbrella or something casual like that. Nothing beats the first night at Epcot!

You can then still head back to the Boardwalk after the fireworks and enjoy the Magicians, or grab a drink from Margarita Joes.
 
Go to Epcot via the International Gateway (my favorite way to enter the World Showcase) from the Boardwalk and eat at the Yorkshire County Fish Shop. Grab a spot to sit and enjoy the fish and watch Illuminations. We always do Epcot our first day, arriving usually by 11 am, and have the fish for lunch. You will love that whole area! Our first family stay was at the Boardwalk, and we LOVED that whole area! Have a magical time!
 
I stayed at Boardwalk as recently as Summer 2016 and we could see Epcot fireworks from there.
So it is really up to you whether you want to use a ticket on that.
 


Oh and to address your food question without an ADR.....ESPN Club is not hard to get into. Of course I don't know what food choices you would want. :-)
 
It would depend on your tickets. Not sure I would burn a ticket for just a couple of hours unless you are there long enough where days become cheap to add one.

Either plan is a good one. You can see both the Epcot and HS fireworks from the boardwalk. You could wander around the lake, eat at the BW or YC/BC and just relax/take everything in. Go for a swim.

If you do have the ticket to use though, heading into world showcase via the international gateway is awesome. One of our favorite parts of staying in that area is heading over to Epcot in the evenings. Grab a fast pass or two or 3, but really eating in and wandering the countries is so much fun.

No wrong answers here!
 
My husband and I booked our first ever WDW trip. We chose to stay at the Boardwalk for the first half of our vacation. Since we are west coast people, it is likely that we won’t arrive at the airport until 5:00 in the evening. I am guessing that we would be checking in around 7:00.

Given the timing, would you eat somewhere on the Boardwalk and just enjoy the night life there? Or would you head over to Epcot, grab something from counter service, and watch the fireworks?

Being totally new to this, I would appreciate any insight you have. Is it difficult to eat around the Boardwalk without a reservation? Is my timeline too optimistic?
Do you have annual passes? If not, I wouldn't spend a day's ticket on just an hour or two at Epcot.
 
We landed last year at 4 and we were eating dinner at Epcot by 5:30 (we stayed at BCV). We also did magical Express and checked in online so we just went directly to the buses, had our room number texted to us, went directly to our room to drop off luggage, and then walked to Epcot.

Depending on how long you are staying, the incremental cost of a ticket may be pretty minimal. The difference for my family of four between a 6 day park hopper and a 7 day park hopper is $40, so it was a easy choice to book an extra day’s ticket for our first day.

I would also make a tier 1 FastPass reservation for 8 pm so you have another opportunity to hit the more popular rides.
 
You can have it all. The ESPN Club and Big River are usually walk-ins, especially for 2 and we enjoy dining at the bar when possible. You can then wander over to WS to view Illuminations or just catch the aerials from several spots around the lagoon. Don't miss the magicians, jugglers etc on the boards.

Bill From PA
 
I’d play it by ear and see how you feel from your travels. If you’d be burning a day on your passes thet you’ll need later I’d say just stay at the bw.
 
My husband and I booked our first ever WDW trip. We chose to stay at the Boardwalk for the first half of our vacation. Since we are west coast people, it is likely that we won’t arrive at the airport until 5:00 in the evening. I am guessing that we would be checking in around 7:00.

Given the timing, would you eat somewhere on the Boardwalk and just enjoy the night life there? Or would you head over to Epcot, grab something from counter service, and watch the fireworks?

Being totally new to this, I would appreciate any insight you have. Is it difficult to eat around the Boardwalk without a reservation? Is my timeline too optimistic?

:welcome: to DisBoards!

DW and I have stayed at the Boardwalk many times and have faced this question before. When we would arrive a bit earlier in the day we would always head over to Epcot for our first evening meal. By the time you arrive and get settled in your room it will be after 7pm. Tough call. You didn't say how long you would have been up and going for the day and how much energy you would have left to walk around Epcot. Traveling always wears me out so I think if it were me I would follow Bill from PA's advice and find a meal on the Boardwalk. We are partial to the Big River, we would always have at least one meal per trip there. Basic food, but convenient. Then get some ice cream from Ample Hills and relax and enjoy the ambience of the Boardwalk.

If you arrive with plenty of energy and have the ticket by all means head over to Epcot. Walking over to Epcot and entering via the International Gateway is quite special. Illumination would be a great way to celebrate your first night at WDW. One word of warning... We stayed at the Boardwalk for our first trip to WDW. After that we never wanted to go anywhere else. The Epcot resorts have a special draw, especially for adults.
Wishing you a pixiedust: visit!
 
I probably wouldnt use a day's worth of park ticket on only a few hours because of the low value, but Boardwalk or if you're up to a bus ride, Disney Springs are a good use of time on an arrival day.
 
I wouldn't make an ADR. I would decide that day depending on how tired you might be.

I would prefer to hit Epcot, get QS and watch Illuminations.

You can usually get a same day ADR at some of the restaurants in the area, especially Swan and Dolphin hotels. If you aren't up to hitting Epcot this can work for you.

Or just grab Boardwalk Bakery and hang out in the room if you are that exhausted.
 
There are many great options to eat around Boardwalk. Flying Fish or Trattoria on Boardwalk. Big River also has good food.
Il Mulino, Shulas, Blue Zoo at the Swan and Dolphin.
Options at Yacht and Beach club as well.
Unless you have an AP, I wouldn't waste a day of your park pass .
 
I also fly from the west coast and my last trip I had your same timing, landing around 5pm. For the first time ever I made an arrival day ADR for dinner at Teppan Edo. The flight was late leaving Seattle, late landing and when we were pulling up to the Orlando terminal the pilot came on the PA and said we were going to sit there for a while because a "TSA event" had taken place in the terminal (turned out some camera batteries had exploded and sounded like gun shots so they had shut everything down). When they finally let us de-plane the terminal was packed with people and the sky-trams weren't running, so we walked from the satellite to the main terminal (which was actually really cool). All this is a long winded way of saying I didn't make it to my ADR and don't think I'll ever book one on arrival day again, at least not until I'm actually at the resort.

So my choice would be to play it by ear, and see what's available and what you feel like doing once you get there. It is often easy to find last minute ADRs, so you wouldn't necessarily be restricted to counter service if you don't book ahead.
 
Last edited:
As mentioned multiple times above, I don't think I would use a park day ticket for a few hours at Epcot. Have a meal on the BW, enjoy some of the entertainment, maybe watch the higher fireworks of Illuminations and get to bed early for a big day in the morning.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top