Arrival Day ADR question

[mpeanut]

We land at MCO at 3:00pm on Day 1 and currently have a 5:00 dinner reservation at the World Showcase. I plan to try to move it to a later time, but am looking for advice on how late we should plan to eat. We will take DME to the Polynesian and then head to Epcot. Would we have time to get to a 7:00 reservation?
Thanks!

 

[han22735]

I always lean on the side of no ADR for arrival night especially arriving late in the day. You never know with flight delays and then having to pay the cancellation fee. Id say 7 is more likely. When we stayed at the poly in september it took very little time from MCO to the poly. We were also the first stop.

 

[Thing 1]

We like to do dinner at the WS on our first night but we wait until we are there. We used to go to the concierge desk and see what is available, but now just do it on line. Its fun to just choose what is open for the time we want and have discovered some cool places we really enjoyed. I agree that 7:00 would be a fairly safe time.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I agree with the others. I wouldn't make an ADR until you land or even until you get to the Poly. We do this a lot and have always found something available. If you simply think about the logistics of getting from the airport to Poly to WS in EP, it's a lot of transportation modes and a lot of walking. (tram to main terminal, ME to Poly, walk to TTC or take monorail and get on EP monorail, walk all the way to WS). I would wait until you get there and see what would be a realistic arrival time at a restaurant in EP.

 

[maxiesmom]

We land at MCO at 3:00pm on Day 1 and currently have a 5:00 dinner reservation at the World Showcase. I plan to try to move it to a later time, but am looking for advice on how late we should plan to eat. We will take DME to the Polynesian and then head to Epcot. Would we have time to get to a 7:00 reservation?
Thanks!

No, you don't have time to make it. The 7 pm ADR should be ok, as long as you have no flight delays. The rule I have learned on the Dis is no ADR within 3 hours of your flight landing, if you are daring enough to make ADRs on your arrival day.

 

[tabrizia]

When are you going? If you are going in winter months I would not make an ADR and just try to find something when you get there. There is always a chance especially in December/January/February of major flight delays due to the weather. Not the weather in Florida but bad weather anywhere else in the US can throw off flight times a lot.

 

[ny0090]

I just arrived in Orlando yesterday and I can give you a rough idea about timing.

Landed 11:10PM
Taxiing around the airport 11:25PM
Took the shuttle to the luggage carousel 11:35PM
Picked up luggage 11:50PM
Hailed a cab: 12:00AM
Arrive at hotel: 12:20AM
Check-in: 12:35AM

This was really late in the evening so the airport was not busy at all. It did take some time to wait for elevators because lots of people on my flight (including me) had strollers so to get down to the luggage carousel it took a little longer. The cab came right away because most people are taking the Disney Magical Express shuttle so expect a longer wait time at this point. The roads were deserted so we got to the hotel (I'm staying near Seaworld) right away. No one was checking in when we arrived so you will have to expect a longer wait time here as well because there will be others on the DME that will be checking in at the same time as you are.

In order to make it to your dinner reservation on time you have to factor in whether or not your flight will be delayed, how many people will be on the DME and going to different resorts, how busy the roads are, how many people are checking in at the same time as you are at the hotel. That being said, I was at the airport for eight hours yesterday during our layover and I heard so many flights being delayed for all sorts of reasons. Late arrival of aircraft due to weather was the most common, followed by the airline delaying a flight so passengers coming from a connecting flight could make it through customs, mechanical failure checks taking longer than expected, but the all time best reason I heard yesterday was "raccoon tried to pry open the door to the luggage compartment and staff need to inspect the hinges".

 

[blackpearl77]

I would give yourself 3 hours from landing to getting to the resort. You never know how long it will take - especially if you have to wait for the magical express buses and if the buses have more than one resort to stop at.

 

[AntJulie]

Hmm...Our first day we had an Ohana ADR for 9:40pm...We were supposed to arrive at MCO around 5pm...Our flight from Long Island was delayed for 4 hours...never made it to Ohana that night...had to cancel...luckily we were able to get another ADR for dinner at Ohana another night.

 

[Happyjen27]

I feel like it's just extra stress you don't need. I would hope to scoop something up last minute when you're riding the ME.

 

[dreamit]

I agree with the 3 hour window. But, too, you'll likely remove a lot of stress by waiting to select an ADR once your plane lands.

 

[mpeanut]

Good ideas. We are traveling in the spring, so I don't anticipate a weather delay, but a delay is definitely a possibility. The reason for the planning ahead with an ADR is the size of our group is 10 people. If it was just my immediate family I would try to find something when we were on our way over to Epcot, but I'm not sure we will find table service for 10 on the same day. It might end up being a quick service dinner for night 1.

 

[ktlm]

Depending where you are traveling from and connecting, spring can have lots of weather delays due to thunderstorms. Plus, we have found that a lot of our delays are not weather related- they are mechanical related. I would stick to CS that first night. Prior to the charges for no shows or late cancellations we always made an ADR our first night and I loved that. We did have a couple of times where I had to call and cancel because of flight delays. I agree with the at least 3 hours from flight to ADR. We use MDE and typically it takes us an hour and a half from landing to resort- although we have had one stay at WL and one stay at the Poly where it took 2 hours. Typically, we do a quick look at the room and then head out to a park, and usually we find ourselves in the park right around 3 hours after landing.

 

[tjmw2727]

Good ideas. We are traveling in the spring, so I don't anticipate a weather delay, but a delay is definitely a possibility. The reason for the planning ahead with an ADR is the size of our group is 10 people. If it was just my immediate family I would try to find something when we were on our way over to Epcot, but I'm not sure we will find table service for 10 on the same day. It might end up being a quick service dinner for night 1.

Have to agree with prior posts as I don't make ADR's with cancellation fees for the first day. My average from landing to the resort via DME is 90 minutes, then you need to check in and find transportation to the park/restaurant. With a party of 10 that is a $100 gamble on everything going well!