Advice on Check-Out Day

[keepswimming76]

I'm looking for opinions on what we should do.

We're checking out of BLT on 5/27 and our flight out of MCO isn't until 5 p.m.

We have a rental car, so my thought is we need to leave WDW property by 2 p.m. to get the car returned and to our flight on time.

I can't decide what we should do with our time in between. We currently have an 11:35 a.m. reservation at Chef Mickey's but we're actually not that keen on keeping it. We did it four years ago and we were not that impressed. We have a Garden Grill reservation earlier in the week, also CRT and 1900 Park Fare so we may be feeling like we're "over" character dining at that point. But then I think it might be fun to end the trip on that note.

My other idea is to instead head to Disney Spring for a few hours, maybe do lunch at T-Rex or Rainforest Cafe. We're not huge shoppers but do enjoy window shopping. We plan to attend Disney Spring one other day earlier in the week. Our kids are 9 and 6 so either option would probably be fun.

Which would you do to kill time before a flight? Thanks!

 

[Hootch]

We used to head to do Chef Mickey's and Disney Springs our last day before heading to the beach. Our kids were younger back then. Disney Springs, nee Downtown Disney, was never busy early in the morning. I assumed it was because people were at the parks or sleeping in.

You could sleep in/pack and head down to DS for shopping or browsing. A simple meal at Wolfgang Puck Express or the elusive Beaches and Cream ADR could set you up for a meal before departure.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

If you are already doing Disney Springs another day in your week then I wouldn't go there again specially with kids that age they might not want to do all that shopping, LOL...I know every time I plan Disney Springs my DS9 and Hubby complain the whole time we are there...they seriously hate Disney Springs...on our next trip I have planned some time at Disney Springs to eat dinner at Raglan Road, but I am hoping my MIL will also be with us, that way after dinner if hubby wants to head back to the resort with the boys I can do a little shopping with my MIL, lol...anyways last year on our departure day we did character FPs in the AM, so we did Princess Fairytale Hall, Tinkerbelle, and Talking Mickey and we also did some rides in between in tomorrowland...My DS9 was obsessed with Space Mountain so he rode that 2 more times and also road the go cart things 2 more times as well...then we had lunch at Tonys (although I would not end of this, LOL). I guess it depends on what you are looking to do...my toddler loves Chef Mickey's...DS9 not so much but he realizes that we do some meals for him and we have to do some meals for his brother too. If you don't have access to park time maybe do some resort hopping. Thats always fun for kids to see what the different resorts look like plus you can always check out the gift shops in each of the hotels as well...so its like your window shopping in Disney Springs but your really not, lol. I am not sure which meals you have planned that aren't character meals but a few good meals that aren't characters that are at resorts are Kona Cafe, Whispering Canyon Cafe, Beaches & Cream, Boma, Sanaa, Trails End, The Wave, Olivia's, or you could go to the Disney Boardwalk area, we ate at ESPN Club last year and it was really really good. I have also heard the italian place there is good as well.

 

[AshleeH]

We used to do Chef Mickey's on Arrival Day or Departure Day, but if you didn't like it, there are plenty of other resorts to choose from that have Dining. My kids love it - Chef Mickey's is always at the top of our must-do list when I ask them what they want out of the upcoming Disney vacation. We're doing it on Arrival Day on this year's trip.

 

[speeb]

This is my first time planning a trip, but our departure is also late afternoon. I'm going to try to do breakfast at Ohana and then maybe hit MK for a couple hours as a last goodbye.

 

[pagek83]

We always hit the MK for a few hours before we leave. It makes saying goodbye a little bit easier. If you don't have a park ticket for that day, then I'd suggest Disney Springs.

 

[Linleedo]

We love a morning at Magic Kingdom ( one more time) prior to leaving!

 

[speeb]

This is my first time planning a trip, but our departure is also late afternoon. I'm going to try to do breakfast at Ohana and then maybe hit MK for a couple hours as a last goodbye.

Shortly after this, I got an email from Delta changing our flight from 7PM to 1PM. Jerks.

 

[tobikaye]

I'm looking for opinions on what we should do.

We're checking out of BLT on 5/27 and our flight out of MCO isn't until 5 p.m.

We have a rental car, so my thought is we need to leave WDW property by 2 p.m. to get the car returned and to our flight on time.
....
Our kids are 9 and 6 so either option would probably be fun.

Which would you do to kill time before a flight? Thanks!

A few options:

1. Resort hop, BLT to FW to WL to MK to Poly to GF back to BLT. You could make a photo scavenger hunt of things to try and find at each location. (Bike ride at FW, watch the geyser at WL, etc...)
2. Walk to MK and get on the first resort bus that shows up, explore there and then do the same at each location until you need to head back to BLT. (Use parks to transfer to other resorts.)
   
3. Mini-golf
4. Go to an off-site attraction in the Orlando area, such as Gatorland or Celebration
5. Leave early and head to Canaveral so see the ocean, bonus if there is a Disney Cruise ship in Port. (It is only about an hour drive so you could leave around 8 am and still get a good 4 hours in there before heading back to MCO.)

 

[princessesintraining]

What about eating at the Whispering Canyon cafe at WL? My girls loved going there. They love to ask for ketchup and some other antics. The Wave is nice too. I've only done dinner there, but it's a relaxing atmosphere.

 

[thelittlemermaid2]

If my family has extra time on departure day, we always do a short little resort tour! It's very unconventional, but we love riding the monorail around to walk around the different MK resorts or taking buses to places like Yacht and Beach and the Boardwalk. We love seeing the different feel of the resorts, looking at decorations, and going in the individualized gift shops. You could easily pick a restaurant at one of the resorts too, many of them are fabulous. Just another thought to throw out there!

 

[loves to dive]

You don't say how long you are going to be there for or how many days you have planned in each park so it's hard to advise but here are my thoughts.

Since you are already doing DS on another day, I wouldn't go back there, I'm thinking as young as your kids are one day shopping is going to be enough.

You don't seem too thrilled about you ADR that morning so I'd probably head over to Poly, grab a QS breakfast (they have a pretty good QS place there) then hop over to MK for a final good bye. We always go over to Epcot our last day but we stay at Epcot resorts.

 

[happymommy]

Shortly after this, I got an email from Delta changing our flight from 7PM to 1PM. Jerks.

Call them, ASAP. That is a major change, so you may be able to switch flights.

 

[speeb]

Call them, ASAP. That is a major change, so you may be able to switch flights.

Yeah, my TA found us another. Leaves around 4, which is fine. That will still give us the morning in a park, which is really all I wanted.

 

[MinMou]

While Chef Mickey is the most convenient kids restaurant to BLT, if you are not really keen on it, why not Ohana? You get to ride the monorail, and and if you don't have a ticket for that day, you at least get a last look at MK to say goodbye. And I've heard great reports about Ohana, with respect to characters, ambiance and food. Or as princessesintraining mentioned, Whispering Canyon is a boatride away. And you could see if the stable is open for a pony ride or a carriage ride.
I would stay away from Disney Springs and the only reason is traffic. There are lots of lights between where you are staying and DS, and with it being the beginning of a holiday weekend, it could take you longer than you like to get in and out of there. Don't forget that there are also quite a few non-Disney hotels that are in the DS area