Do you prefer getting a earlier flight on the last day of your trip?

[captaindavidhook]

Most of the flights on my last day day at Disney are very early flights, with great fares and non stops. The afternoon/evening flights are much more higher priced and have lay over's as well. Not sure what to do, but I was curious. Do most of you prefer a earlier flight on your last day of your trip?

 

[NJRRK]

Latest non stop. That way more time in Disney. Luckily that is usually about 8 pm, not too late.

 

[seashoreCM]

The morning flights may cost less but you need an extra night in the hotel.

I personally avoid the really early flights (leaving before 10 AM) both going and returning. Don't like to get up so early like 3 AM to get to the airport on time.

 

[guitarob]

We usually do the latest non-stop flight available as well. We have to have as much time as possible in WDW!!

That being said... on our last trip, we paid for an extra night (room only) and left at 7:00 AM the next morning and that worked out well too. We did this because of available flights and pricing of said flights.

What it basically boils down to is, if we have tickets and DDP for 6 days, we're leaving as late as possible on the sixth day or as early as possible on the 7th. I actually liked having a full last day, but it is a bit of extra money just for that one night and I'm not quite sure if I find it worthwhile. I'll have to experiment further

 

[palhockeymomof2]

We try to fly out mid afternoon ....but given the choice between morning or last flight of the day..I'd book morning...we always go back to work the next day and like to have time to get everything organized when we get home

 

[Jenny3]

Late afternoon/early evening direct flight works best for us. That way we can still have that extra day - our most of it. Last year, I told the kids they could shop all week for their souvenirs but I wasn't purchasing until the last day. We went to MK, did their favorite rides one last time and spent the last hour or so shopping on Main Street.

 

[vicki_c]

We pick the latest non-stop that gets us home in time to get the kids in bed no later than 11 for school the next day (we usually only fly for short weekend trips and return home Sunday night)! We take every possible minute in the parks that we can get.

 

[Muhlenberg]

We do what works best for us. The most important thing is that it needs to be a non-stop flight. Next factor is time of day. It needs to be an afternoon or early evening flight. We live an hour from our airport, so it's 1 1/2 hours, at the very least, from when the plane lands til we get home. I'm a morning person, my DH is a night person, and we have my elderly mother with us, so very early or very late flights don't work for us.

 

[pooch]

I am fortunate in that SWA always has a non-stop from MCO to BDL (Hartford CT) leaving between 7 & 8PM arriving at 10ish. I also live 10 min from the airport. Even using ME, I can spend a good deal of time at a park on departure day!!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We try to fly out mid afternoon ....but given the choice between morning or last flight of the day..I'd book morning...

This.

But for us, our preference is a result of:

A. We want to have enough time to sleep well before embarking on our travels home, so that everyone is rested in a a good mood (or the best one we can muster under the going-home circumstances). So early morning flights home are avoided if at all possible.

and.....

B. We want to arrive back at the airport early enough to allow us to arrive home before its too late at night. We typically fly from US airports (a 3-4 hour drive from our home in Canada, depending on whether we choose Syracuse or Buffalo) so once our flight lands, our journey is still only half over. If we can arrive at the airport by 4-ish, we can generally be home by 9 pm (taking into account a wait at the border and stopping to eat).

 

[NJRRK]

This.

But for us, our preference is a result of:

A. We want to have enough time to sleep well before embarking on our travels home, so that everyone is rested in a a good mood (or the best one we can muster under the going-home circumstances). So early morning flights home are avoided if at all possible.

and.....

B. We want to arrive back at the airport early enough to allow us to arrive home before its too late at night. We typically fly from US airports (a 3-4 hour drive from our home in Canada, depending on whether we choose Syracuse or Buffalo) so once our flight lands, our journey is still only half over. If we can arrive at the airport by 4-ish, we can generally be home by 9 pm (taking into account a wait at the border and stopping to eat).

That makes sense. It is just me and my partner, we live less than 30 minutes from the airport and neither of us start work until 10, if we have work the next day. So if we get in at 11, we can be home by midnight and that's fine with us. When my kids were small, different story.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

I avoid early morning flights. In fact, I can't remember the last time I took any flight before 10:00 a.m. I like to fly around noon when possible, whether it's the beginning or the end of a trip.

A 7:00 a.m. flight might seem like a good idea, until you count backwards to figure out how early you would need to get up. Having an alarm clock go off at 3:00 a.m. is not my idea of a good night's sleep.

 

[dburg30]

Going down I always do buttcrack of dawn flights.. It gets me there early, almost never delays in the am unless weather, gets me a full day at the parks, I'm not going to get any sleep anyway being too excited..

Going home late AM / early PM with the family is what I do. In dec I'm taking a LATE LATE flight home since it's just me and that will give me a full day on the last day in the parks

 

[DebbieB]

I usually do late afternoon/evening to get one more park day. If I go in the winter, I will sometimes go for late morning/early afternoon in case of bad weather.

 

[NancyIL]

I prefer morning flights going to Orlando and late morning or afternoon flights going home. However, if there's much of a price difference between EARLY morning and later flights going home, I'll usually choose the cheaper option.

 

[captaindavidhook]

The flight I was looking at leaves Orlando at 10:35. Guessing that you have to be at the airport by two hours before your flight. I would have to leave the resort by 8 or a little before. I believe from Pop's to the airport would be what 30-40 minutes? Will Magical Express come that early to get me?

 

[NJRRK]

For a 10:35 flight plan on ME picking you up at about 7:30ish.
In my book that's early but doable. Much before that and I'd pay all kinds of extra so I didn't have to crawl out of bed so early.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

The flight I was looking at leaves Orlando at 10:35. Guessing that you have to be at the airport by two hours before your flight. I would have to leave the resort by 8 or a little before. I believe from Pop's to the airport would be what 30-40 minutes? Will Magical Express come that early to get me?

Disney's Magical Express (DME) will take you to the airport, no matter how early or late your flight is.

DME will schedule your pickup 3 hours before your departure, give or take up to 15 minutes. You should be at the pickup location 15 minutes before your pickup time. You may make another stop or two before the DME coach heads to the airport, where it stops at two locations. You'll still get to the airport early enough, although it might be less than 2 hours before departure.

If you plan to use Resort Airline Check-in (RAC), you need to allow enough time to COMPLETE the process at least 3 hours before departure AND early enough to be at the DME pickup location in time.

 

[captaindavidhook]

Disney's Magical Express (DME) will take you to the airport, no matter how early or late your flight is.

DME will schedule your pickup 3 hours before your departure, give or take up to 15 minutes. You should be at the pickup location 15 minutes before your pickup time. You may make another stop or two before the DME coach heads to the airport, where it stops at two locations. You'll still get to the airport early enough, although it might be less than 2 hours before departure.

If you plan to use Resort Airline Check-in (RAC), you need to allow enough time to COMPLETE the process at least 3 hours before departure AND early enough to be at the DME pickup location in time.

Thank you

 

[DVC-Don]

Last non-stop for me on the way north.