Hi Aaron!
I bet you are getting so excited for your upcoming trip to
Walt Disney World! While I haven't done a red-eye flight to Walt Disney World, I have left around 10:00 PM and driven all night, arriving in the wee hours of the morning.
When I made this overnight trek last month, I actually booked a
Walt Disney World Resort Hotel room for one day prior to my vacation beginning so that I could go straight to the room when I arrived. You may want to consider adding one more night to your stay so you can check in to your resort and get a few winks of sleep prior to going to the parks.
Otherwise, when you arrive at
Shades of Green from the airport, there are not many other places to wait for your room, outside of the hotel lobby, in the middle of the night.
The Fitness Center is open 24 hours, so you could get a good workout in while waiting for your room to be ready.
Once the resort starts to awaken, you will have many more choices.
The Garden Gallery, the on-site breakfast buffet, opens at 7AM. You can grab an early-morning breakfast and leisurely sip your coffee while looking over your plans for the day. The pools, including the Mill Pond Pool and the Magnolia Pool and Hot Tub, open at 10 AM. You could enjoy taking a dip and laying out by the sun until your room is ready, which should be around 3 PM. Disney's Magnolia Golf Course opens at 7:00 AM as well. You could call 407-WDW-PLAY ahead of time to set-up an ealry morning tee time if you wanted to play golf while waiting for your room.
Guests of Shades of Green can take advantage of
Early Entry into the Walt Disney World theme parks, which is 30 minutes prior to the park opening. When you are visiting on December 30, Early Entry Hours for Disney's Animal Kingdom is 7:30 AM. If you prefer to hit the parks while waiting for your room to be ready, you can leave your luggage with Bell Services at your resort while you visit the parks.
Magically,
Stacy