Arrival day- how early would you schedule lunch?

[MinnieMommyof2]

Hello.

We’ll be arriving at MCO via flight at 11:00 (assuming we’re on time). The plan is to take DME to POR just to drop off luggage and then head to Beaches and Cream for lunch. How early of an ADR would you try to get? Nothing is available yet- but hypothetically if something opens up- would 1 pm be a safe bet for lunch or should I expect several hours before we’re ready to actually go by the time we get to POR, unload and then get to Beach Club?

Just don’t want to waste money not cancelling in time but also really want to try and eat here on arrival day.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I wouldn't book anything before 3 pm. I would just do POR QS. We are staying at POFQ and our plan is grab something to eat there before heading to the MK. I like both of the menus at their food courts.

 

[FCDub]

1 p.m. is an aggressive timeline. You should budget a max of 90 minutes for DME, then probably another hour to get to the restaurant.

It's better to be early than late, after all.

 

[MinnieMommyof2]

I was afraid of that. I guess we will just stick to a quick service that day and be able to move at a more relaxed pace. Thanks.

 

[Hopefully]

Hello.

We’ll be arriving at MCO via flight at 11:00 (assuming we’re on time). The plan is to take DME to POR just to drop off luggage and then head to Beaches and Cream for lunch. How early of an ADR would you try to get? Nothing is available yet- but hypothetically if something opens up- would 1 pm be a safe bet for lunch or should I expect several hours before we’re ready to actually go by the time we get to POR, unload and then get to Beach Club?

Just don’t want to waste money not cancelling in time but also really want to try and eat here on arrival day.

You are SCHEDULED to arrive at MCO at 11. Travel day is wrought with delays that are not in your control.
I never schedule an ADR sooner than 5 hours after scheduled arrival.

 

[Shanti]

With an 11am arrival, I would only schedule a 1pm ressie for a restaurant at my own resort.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I would head to DS and get QS and Ghiradelli's instead!

 

[DisneyHardin]

For our November trip we arrive at MCO at 10:30 and have a 1:35 ADR at Rose and Crown and I am a little worried about making that.

 

[MinnieMommyof2]

Yes I’m going to skip making anything. I don’t want to start vacay mode in a panic or staring at my watch - as I’ll be doing plenty of that on park days lol

 

[Nancyg56]

Yes I’m going to skip making anything. I don’t want to start vacay mode in a panic or staring at my watch - as I’ll be doing plenty of that on park days lol

I agree. We never schedule lunch on arrival day, and we always take the earliest flight out. The last thing I want is to begin vacation racing through the airport, hoping DME is not running long, and then hyperventilating all the way to the resort becuase I have a meal in place.

We schedule dinner and that is at least 7 to 8 hours later.

 

[sanapp]

I arrive at 10:30 and booked dinner at 7:00. Don’t want to risk delays and being stressed out.

 

[gharter]

2 at the earliest. 3 is a safe bet. With ME, it all depends if you are one of the first or last resorts in the list. The ride could be 40 minutes or 90 minutes.
Arriving at 11, luggage at 11:30 at the earliest, probably not. Walk to ME, hope the bus is there. Ride to WDW. If you are at your resort by 1, thats a win. Then getting to Beaches and Cream. Unless you do Uber, Taxi, Minnie Van, there is no direct route for POR. You much go to a park and then transfer to a bus to Beach Club. 60 minutes if you are lucky.

 

[Nancyg56]

2 at the earliest. 3 is a safe bet. With ME, it all depends if you are one of the first or last resorts in the list. The ride could be 40 minutes or 90 minutes.
Arriving at 11, luggage at 11:30 at the earliest, probably not. Walk to ME, hope the bus is there. Ride to WDW. If you are at your resort by 1, thats a win. Then getting to Beaches and Cream. Unless you do Uber, Taxi, Minnie Van, there is no direct route for POR. You much go to a park and then transfer to a bus to Beach Club. 60 minutes if you are lucky.

With DME it also depends on how many others are boarding at teh same time. The last trip for me was a december trip and holy long line! In over 13 years of WDW travel I have never stood in a lone that long, in excess of 30 minutes, and once we got through the DME check in the wait for a bus to our resort was about 20 more minutes.

 

[Tonberry]

My general rule is to have nothing booked for 6 hours after our scheduled landing. I don't need or want any stress on my vacation.
What I like to do now is after we get to our resort and check in, head down to Disney Springs and go to T-Rex, show our Landry's card, and be seated within 10 minutes.