Advice needed on arrival day ADR

[jodeeb]

We arrive at the airport at 5:41 pm on June 5. We are using ME and staying at the contemporary. We have an ADR for Kona at 7:50.

Do you think we have enough time to get there? When I booked I was thinking that we would use the Resort Monorail to get to the Poly but I thought now I heard that the Monorail stop at the Poly was now closed. I cant find it though. If it is closed how do I get over there from the Contemporary? Go to TTC and walk from there? How long is the walk from TTC to Poly GCH?

Sorry if this has been asked before. I feel like I have read it somewhere but can not find it.

In the past when we had ADRs on arrival date and were running late, we would just call and let them know we were running late, and had no trouble. I know there is now a new policy on canceling the day before so I don't know if they would be lenient on being 15 min or so late if you called.

TIA

 

[MudQueen22]

I would be concerned that a flight delay would set you back quickly. That's not even considering room not being ready, or ME being delayed, etc.

 

[LSUfan4444]

Magical Express will stop at the Polynesian before the Grand Floridian, Wilderness Lodge and finally the Contemporary/Bay Lake.

If you use the luggage tags and have your luggage sent to your room, just get off at the Polynesian and you should be fine (barring any unforeseen delays that are unpredictable).

 

[nkereina]

You should expect to arrive at the Contemporary anywhere from 60-90 minutes after your flight lands. This includes the actual 30 minutes of driving time from the airport to WDW. This has been our experience typically, however we did have an instance where it took us a little over two hours from the time we got off the plane due to lines at DME. But if all goes well, that would put you at CR around 7-7:15pm barring no flight delays. If you're on the dining plan, you'd have to check in before proceeding to Poly. If you're not on the dining plan, you could technically go straight to Poly after you exit DME. To me it's cutting it a little close and I'd either try to push the ADR back or be ok with paying the cancellation fee in the event timing doesn't work out to your favor.

 

[katt789]

I would say your best bet would be:
-have disney pick up your luggage from the plane for you
-get off the ME at the Poly

It's pushing it otherwise, if you LAND at 5:41, I'd say you might not even be off the plane by 6. Factor in getting on the train and over to the ME stop, then loading up all the passengers, then 30 min trip to wdw, stopping at other resorts, checking in, and then getting over to the poly, it'd be REALLY tight

 

[nkereina]

I would say your best bet would be:
-have disney pick up your luggage from the plane for you
-get off the ME at the Poly

It's pushing it otherwise, if you LAND at 5:41, I'd say you might not even be off the plane by 6. Factor in getting on the train and over to the ME stop, then loading up all the passengers, then 30 min trip to wdw, stopping at other resorts, checking in, and then getting over to the poly, it'd be REALLY tight

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you can only take DME to the resort you are a registered guest at. When they scan your band at the DME entrance, they will direct you to the bus to your resort (Contemporary in this case). Now, if Poly and Contemporary happen to be the same bus (not always the case), I don't know how the driver would know which stop you get off at. That would be different. But you wouldn't know which resorts your bus is going to until you're on the bus.

 

[LSUfan4444]

Yes, they are the same bus. The bus that goes to the contemporary first stops at poly, then grand floridian, then wilderness lodge all before contemporary/bay lake.

 

[nkereina]

Yes, they are the same bus. The bus that goes to the contemporary first stops at poly, then grand floridian, then wilderness lodge all before contemporary/bay lake.

In my own experience, I have found the DME buses to vary as to which resort they visit. Seems to be based on the needs of the day and volume, and which routes make sense based on that. I don't know if that route would always be the same...

 

[ericstac]

if your ADR is at 7:50 then you really have until 8:05pm to check in at the Kona as they give you fifteen minutes to check in.. and if you are running behind you can always cal and let them know the deal and how long you estimate your arrival to be.. thats been our experience anyway.

 

[vicb]

I would be concerned that a flight delay would set you back quickly. That's not even considering room not being ready, or ME being delayed, etc.

So on my arrival day last week I had planned to check in at the Dolphin around 4pm and head to AK to ride Everest, Safari and eat at Yak and Yeti. I debated and debated about booking an ADR for 4 people in case there was an airline issue and ultimately decided against it.

So glad I did because we had a 3 hour delay out of Detroit due to "mechanical issues" uggg. I was frustrated because we totally missed our window for the quickie AK visit but atleast I wasn't frustrated over losing $40 in penalty.

We got to the Dolphin around 6:30pm, ate at the pool bar (which was very good) then headed to HS for the last two hours of park time then stayed till midnight for the eve. emh. I had lost my first fast pass time but it was only for Star Tours, was still able to make our ToT and TSM FP+.

Luckily we squeezed in two rides on Everest later in the week. We were only there four full days (and that arrival evening) and had decided we really wanted a day at TL which was the reason for squeezing in AK.

I guess it is really what ever your comfort level is.