Arrival day plan

[CanuckGirl78]

We fly into MCO at 9am on Mon, Dec 18. Since we live in Toronto, customs will be done before we board the plane. Depending on the kids, we may grab a quick breakfast at MCO. Our plan is to take the DME to POFQ, complete our check in, grab our magic bands, & store our luggage. The we’d either take a bus or Uber to DHS. We have to show our passports to get our Cdn-discounted tickets & have them linked to our MBs.
If we didn’t eat anything at MCO, we’ll do lunch at ABC Commissary (around 11:30am); if we did, we’ll just explore DHS until our first FP (TSMM @ 12:20pm).

Is this a realistic plan to get into the park around 11:30 or 11:45am? How long of a wait should we expect there to be to get into DHS mid-day?

 

[sharonabe]

We fly into MCO at 9am on Mon, Dec 18. Since we live in Toronto, customs will be done before we board the plane. Depending on the kids, we may grab a quick breakfast at MCO. Our plan is to take the DME to POFQ, complete our check in, grab our magic bands, & store our luggage. The we’d either take a bus or Uber to DHS. We have to show our passports to get our Cdn-discounted tickets & have them linked to our MBs.
If we didn’t eat anything at MCO, we’ll do lunch at ABC Commissary (around 11:30am); if we did, we’ll just explore DHS until our first FP (TSMM @ 12:20pm).

Is this a realistic plan to get into the park around 11:30 or 11:45am? How long of a wait should we expect there to be to get into DHS mid-day?

If your flight lands at 9:00 AND you grab breakfast at MCO, I don't see you getting to HS until closer to 12:00-12:30. If you can skip the breakfast stop, you'll be at POFQ earlier and then to HS earlier. There shouldn't be much of a line, if any, to get into HS. Personally, I'd pack some kind of breakfast snack in my carry-on to eat while waiting for ME.

 

[Princess KP]

I don't think you would get to HS by 11:30 even without stopping for breakfast at MCO. By the time you de-plane, take the shuttle to the main terminal and walk to the bus, it'll probably be 9:30. You may have to wait for a bus and with the travel time, earliest you would get to POFQ would be 10:30. If you took an Uber, you may get to HS by 11:30 but with getting your tickets and going through security I think you would be in the park by noon.

Are you flying Air Canada? There's a Tim Hortons in Terminal 1 where you can pick up some food or like the PP suggested, pack some snacks.

 

[CanuckGirl78]

Thanks. I was thinking of picking up some McDs at MCO for the kids to eat while we wait for the DME, but, yes, we are flying on AC through Terminal 1, so I’ll pick up some food from Tim Hortons to eat on the plane. Great idea!

At least there shouldn’t be much of a line to get into the park!

 

[MegMouseketeer]

When we flew into MCO from Houston last September, we arrived around 11:15 am if I remember correctly. I just looked back at my phone photos. We were on the DME by 11:50 am and checked in at POR. Our rooms were ready so we dropped our stuff and I show we were at DHS by 1:30-1:45 pm. I was rushing my family because we had a late lunch/early dinner at Mama Melrose for 3:45 pm. We really had plenty of time to run through a McD's or something and grab some breakfast sandwiches. We were one of the first ones on the DME and waited awhile for it to fill up. Everyone kept saying they could be eating a quick breakfast while waiting...