Dropping off car at Car Care center and ADR timing, also MK parade taping question

[Happyjen27]

I'm planning our first Disney trip, and we plan to arrive by rental car at the Poly at 8:30 AM on 11/30. DH will drop me, kids (DS5 and DD5)and luggage off at Poly and then drop car off at Car Care Center and shuttle back to Poly.

Can someone give me an idea as to how long it would take to drop a car off at the Car Care Center and shuttle back to the Poly?

A side question for the experts:

I just read on wdweasy.com that 11/30, our arrival day, will be a Mk parade taping day.

Plan A includes ADRs at Chef Mickey at 10 AM? Would that be cutting it too close? It was my original plan to pop over to MK after Chef Mickey's so we can see the castle and poke around. Serious ride chasing and FP'ing will happen on Sunday.

Plan B would be to go to the Tusker House for breakfast at AK instead, and do AK on Friday instead of MK. If you would recommend plan B, what time is reasonable? If we arrive at Poly at 8:30 AM and DH gets to Car Care center how long for him to return to the Poly and all 4 of us (I will check in while DH handles car) to get to AK for ADRs at Tusker House?

Thank you in advance for feeding my planning addiction. If being at Disney is half as fun as planning this trip, I'm in for a great time!

 

[ndfi78]

I assume you can't just do Magical Express rather than renting a car?

 

[Chellymouse]

I would recommend ME over renting a car for that purpose. If you're renting a car to stop for groceries on the way there are 2 very good grocery services available that will deliver right to your resort. You're going to be hard pressed to make a 10am ADR anywhere regardless of whether you rent a car or use ME. Probably the best choice would be Chef Mickey as it's on the monorail line and will require the least amount of travel time. It can take up to an hour to drop off a rental car and get back to your resort. We've used the car care center a few times and that hour of morning is VERY busy regardless of day of the week. You're probably not saving any time between renting a car and using ME.

 

[Happyjen27]

I should have included, we're coming from our ILs winter home which is about an hour and a half away. We need a car while we're at ILs because the 4 of us (DH and I and kids) can't fit into their sedan.

If we were flying in without the ILs stopover, we would definately do ME. And, we're doing ME on the way home. They really do make it easy!!

Thanks for the timing info! I'm trying to get a grasp on how long it takes to get from A to B. From what I see a lot of beginners underestimate how long things take, and I don't want to start the vacation stressfully (I mean, more stressfully than staying with ILs ).

We could always leave super early, I'll have to run that by DH, who is NOT a morning person. A 9 AM arrival at Poly was with a 6:30AM departure time from ILs, giving a half hour traffic cushion. I might be able convince him of a 5:30AM departure, arriving at Poly around 7:30 (and missing some of the morning traffic). With that timetable would we make 10:30 ADRs at Tusker House? Or should we just do snacks and QS at Pizzafari for lunch instead?

I kind of wanted to start the vacation out with a character meal. And with the parade taping I didn't want to do MK on arrival day, which makes Chef Mickey's less attractive. But, it might be my only option given the proximity.

How long does it take to get to AK from Poly?

Thank you in advance!!

 

[gator girl]

I've never had to return a rental car so I don't know how the timing of that works out but I have another suggestion to shave time.

Why don't you and the kids hop the monorail to the Contemporary while he's returning the car & have your husband just shuttle directly to the CR from the rental car center? That eliminates you waiting at the Poly for him to come back - you'll already be at the restaurant. You guys can hang out, look in the shops, etc. while you wait.

I don't know if this is your first trip or not, but I'm suggesting basically the easiest transport in WDW. You literally walk out the door at the Poly onto the monorail & then get off at the CR right by Chef Mickey's. You shouldn't be nervous at all about trying to do it by yourself with the kids. Just hang onto them when the monorail makes a pitstop at the Magic Kingdom first, in case they make a run for it!

 

[capegirl]

Our first experience with returning a rental to the Care Care Center this past October was excellent. We pulled up in front, and an agent appeared by our car; scanned it, and told us to hop on the shuttle....and we we're off to the MK.
We could not believe how fast it all happened..not even 5 minutes ! With that said, perhaps they have their busy days when things are slower, but we were VERY impressed.