Am I allowing enough time to get to meal at AK?

[Amusement]

I'm planning a very last minute trip which means I'm working on fitting things in around meal and ride times that are still available. I'm pretty flexible, but I would like to leave a little sleep in time on our AK day (1/25). My kids would like to try Rainforest Cafe for lunch and I was able to get a very early reservation at 10:45. Like I said, we are pretty flexible and we're fine eating lunch so early.

The challenge is figuring out if I am allowing enough travel time in the morning. We will have gotten up very early the previous morning for our flight and while I hope I can get the kids to bed at a decent hour, I'm also allowing for the fact that they may be a bit hyped up after getting in a little Magic Kingdom time on our arrival day which may make it harder for them to get to sleep early. With that in mind, I would like to arrive for our early lunch at 10:45 at Rainforest Cafe and then schedule all of our fast passes for AK after we eat lunch.

However, this is our first time using Disney transportation and I'm trying to figure out how much time to plan for travel time. We're staying at Saratoga Springs. I won't know what section we are in until we check in. How much time should I allow for bus transportation to AK? 45 minutes? an hour? I'd like to let the kids sleep as late as possible, but not to the point that we stress about getting there in time. I keep checking in the hopes of a better time for the lunch reservation, but I want to be prepared if 10:45 is the best we can get.

 

[jimandami]

Yes, I would allow about an hour. If you want to try to make your ADR later, I think you can call Rainforest Cafe directly and request a priority seating. I know you can at the other Landry restaurants.

 

[Amusement]

I didn't think about calling the restaurant directly. Can you still use the dining plan if you book that way? That could certainly give us a little breathing room in our schedule. i'd much rather have a slightly shorter park day and well rested kids than have them tired and cranky and not having fun.

 

[Dawnlight]

Travel time via the bus will be about 20 minutes according to this site.

You could wait for a bus for 5 minutes or 20 minutes- maybe even longer.

I think the safe bet is to factor an hour travel time.

 

[jimandami]

I didn't think about calling the restaurant directly. Can you still use the dining plan if you book that way? That could certainly give us a little breathing room in our schedule. i'd much rather have a slightly shorter park day and well rested kids than have them tired and cranky and not having fun.

Yes, you can still use the DDP. The Landry's restaurants only open a certain number of slots for Disney to book ADRs so it's usually easier to just call. We have done that at TRex and Yak and Yeti....haven't at RFC though...we usually just walk up there. Another option is to get a Landry Select card ($25 but you immediately get a $25 credit). That card moves you to the front of the line.

 

[WDWFanForLife]

SS is a pretty large resort with several bus stops. An hour seems about right.

 

[Amusement]

Thanks for the information! I may try to call them tomorrow and see if we can get a later lunch time which would make the bus ride a lot easier.