7:30pm MCO Arrival; MK closes at 12; Do-able??

[JimmyV]

Go grab a cocktail at one of the Monorail resorts and watch the fireworks from there.

 

[RustManFan]

I personally do not think it is worth a day on my ticket to only visit a park for a handful of hours. So we never visit a park on arrival day whether we arrive in the morning, the afternoon or the evening.

Simply the approach that works for us

 

[mickeyluv'r]

For one, flight delays are always possible. If said trip is in summer months- afternoon/evening thunderstorms are often a problem. In winter, a blizzard any place in the lower 48 can muck a flight.

If said family has never been to MCO, they also have to get from the gate to the Disney ME area. First there's the walk from the gate, then the MCO monorail, then finding the bus area. Sounds simple but the distance is quite a bit, and the bus is on lower level of a large airport. Also add time if they plan to get their checked luggage.

Or- if they use ME tags, we'll need to assume they don't want to wait for checked luggage to arrive at the room.

If they do online check-in they can bypass front desk, but they might want the welcome packet that has the hotel map, and hotel information. Myself I always like the resort activities list. Also, if they have DDP, they might appreciate an explanation of how that works.

They might be the first stop, or they could be the third stop.

So if all goes VERY well - they MIGHT be at their hotel an hour after landing. If just the ME bus timing is slow + they are the third stop= it may take a full THREE hours form landing to hotel arrival.

So I wouldn't PLAN on arriving in time for fireworks, but it MIGHT happen.

If you are going for 5+ days, then adding a day to their tickets isn't that much $, but don't buy the extra day in advance. modify the tickets MID trip. You can't add extra days to tickets once they are fully used any more, so they must do it BEOFRE the last day.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I personally do not think it is worth a day on my ticket to only visit a park for a handful of hours. So we never visit a park on arrival day whether we arrive in the morning, the afternoon or the evening.

Simply the approach that works for us

Simply, the last hours of the day in MK are often the most valuable, especially since you can NOW book 3 FP. Under new FP+, assuming a multi day ticket- I'd say this strategy = missing out.

Now, half days make much more sense if you've got an AP. to be sure.

Once you've got like 4 days on your ticket, adding one more is not that much $. the difference is only like $10 per ticket. Nowadays a movie ticket is almost $10, so if you can get 3+ hours, I think it is worth adding a day. I'd much rather have three + hours in MK with 3 FP than see a 80minute movie. but that's me.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

I personally do not think it is worth a day on my ticket to only visit a park for a handful of hours. So we never visit a park on arrival day whether we arrive in the morning, the afternoon or the evening.

Simply the approach that works for us

It sounds like this is a free day on their tickets that they don't have an option to use any other time. I say use it, don't lose it.

Plus, they can do more in the last 2 hours at MK than any other time of day.

 

[AThrillingChase]

Simply, the last hours of the day in MK are often the most valuable, especially since you can NOW book 3 FP. Under new FP+, assuming a multi day ticket- I'd say this strategy = missing out.

Now, half days make much more sense if you've got an AP. to be sure.

Once you've got like 4 days on your ticket, adding one more is not that much $. the difference is only like $10 per ticket. Nowadays a movie ticket is almost $10, so if you can get 3+ hours, I think it is worth adding a day. I'd much rather have three + hours in MK with 3 FP than see a 80minute movie. but that's me.

Jurassic World in imax cost me $20! (Worth every penny)

It sounds like this is a free day on their tickets that they don't have an option to use any other time. I say use it, don't lose it.

Plus, they can do more in the last 2 hours at MK than any other time of day.

That last 2 hours usually lets me get done the same amount of things from say 12-5! Plus MK is so beautiful at night. If I am spending heaven knows how much to go to disney world, why not add a day for $10 and ride things again in low crowds? Especially if you dont go often.

I definitely see the value in spending resort time. In fact, I have a last minute weekend trip for 4th of July and we are only doing 1 park hopper day and 1 water park day because I have an AP but my cousin has to buy a ticket. With MK EMH to 3am we are just going for broke and the next day doing a straight resort day since adding a 2nd day is closer to $40-50. If it was $10 we would just go for the evening for sure. So I get the relaxing resort day, I just disgree that anything other than a full day is a waste. I would pay $10 to ride space mountain 10 times in a heartbeat!