Arrival Day

[beedee12]

My husband and I are arriving at 1:00 PM at the Orlando airport in December. We will be taking the magical express to Coronado Springs to drop our stuff off and head to magic kingdom. My first question is when can I reasonably expect to be in park? And second... Do you think it's worth making an ADR? The only places available (that we aren't eating at another day of our trip) are the plaza and tony's. Or should we just stick with QS that day?

 

[mesaboy2]

My husband and I are arriving at 1:00 PM at the Orlando airport in December. We will be taking the magical express to Coronado Springs to drop our stuff off and head to magic kingdom. My first question is when can I reasonably expect to be in park? And second... Do you think it's worth making an ADR? The only places available (that we aren't eating at another day of our trip) are the plaza and tony's. Or should we just stick with QS that day?

I'd figure to arrive at a park around 4:00p. I don't see the down side of making an ADR if that's what you want.

 

[jsebsirois]

Hey there!

If you're landing at 1:00 PM, you'll probably leave the airport on board the Magical Express around 1:45 PM. With a driving time of 30-45 minutes, let's say you could be at your resort around 2:30PM, arriving at Magic Kingdom maybe one hour later.

So, all in all, I'd say you could be in the Parks around 4:00PM.

Now, all of this can change : do you pick-up your luggage, traffic, check-in process, change yourself, bus to the Park...

So, I would not do an ADR for that day, just to keep your options open.

 

[ifjf414]

My husband and I are arriving at 1:00 PM at the Orlando airport in December. We will be taking the magical express to Coronado Springs to drop our stuff off and head to magic kingdom. My first question is when can I reasonably expect to be in park? And second... Do you think it's worth making an ADR? The only places available (that we aren't eating at another day of our trip) are the plaza and tony's. Or should we just stick with QS that day?

IF your flight is delayed or something happens then you might miss your ADR and get charged $10 per person.

 

[Disfan1968]

For what it's worth, people can be critical of Tony's Town Square, but my wife and I actually liked it just fine.

 

[Disfan1968]

IF your flight is delayed or something happens then you might miss your ADR and get charged $10 per person.

Very good point. I would not make an ADR for before 6:00 PM. And if you are flying out of a major airport that has frequent delays maybe more like 7:00.

 

[RDawn]

Only because it will be less stressful if there is any type of delay, I would suggest a quick service meal.

 

[boltfan]

With doing ME, I'd agree with the 4 pm time. We always do a car service and we're in the parks by 3 pm with a 1 pm airport arrival. And it's up to you with where to eat. We never do an ADR the first night, preferring to leave it up to when and what we feel like that night.

 

[beedee12]

Thanks for all the great advice everyone . Besides the risk of losing $10, I might be too excited to be at the parks to sit down and eat since it's our first day! I think we will just let it be a go with the flow kind of day!

 

[Aliceacc]

Also, consider the resorts on the monorail loop when looking at ADRs. They're VERY easy to reach via monorail from the Magic Kingdom; in fact, you can walk to the Contemporary in even less time.

I would absolutely make an ADR. (Ours is for Chef Mickey's-- it always is-- on our arrival day. Have I mentioned yet that it's only 9 days away????? )

 

[maxiesmom]

I love the Plaza. Make an ADR if you are confident you won't have any flight delays, but don't make it for any less than 3 hours after you are scheduled to touch down. Four hours is even better.

 

[jco_direwolf]

First off Disney can and does remove the $10pp charge for missed ADRs if you call them (or even on check-in) let them know you missed it because of a flight delay. Better if you can call enroute and let the place know but that isn't always possible.

Second, 3 hours is reasonable. Because
o get off the plane at MCO
o make it from the Gates, to lower level of Terminal B
o scan in @DME wait for a bus to load and leave
o 45 minutes to WDW plus what ever random stops you make before CS
o check-in/pick-up
o drop carry-on off at the bell or go to your room
o wait for MK bus
o get through park bag check
o get through turnstiles/gate
o go to your destination

All the steps involved are pretty fast 10-15 minutes (except for the drive which is about 45).

Every time there is a post like this someone says "Oh I got from my plane to the first ride on SpaceM in an hour and 22 minutes" (or some incredibly short time.) It's like driving in town, if you hit all the lights and everything is with you it's only a 10 minute drive, but don't count on it.

On arrival day I mostly just do CS, or if I do want TS, I do walk up/same day ADR. You can get walkup TS if you know when and where. You can look in MDE, or call 407-WDW-DINE or go see a concierge and ask who has TS ADRs left for the day.

Where you are coming from and heading to I would suggest, The Wave, or Kona, as my first two choices for walk-up. The Plaza would be a good choice too, but I would try for an ADR day of arrival (likely though MDE on while I was traveling on DME).

 

[LaurenT]

If it were me, I'd make a 6:00 ADR for The Plaza. Just cause I love that place and I think it would be great to do a few attractions and then sit down to a relaxing meal after the hustle of my long travel day.
As a pp said, Disney is very forgiving about travel delays as long as you bother to tell them. I had a very expensive tour scheduled for first thing in the morning the day after my arrival (Wild Africa Trek). Our flights were so badly delayed that we didn't get in until the middle of the night. I was sure that the tour would be miserable with my 8 yr old operating on three hours sleep. I called Disney from the lay over airport and they were great. They were able to move me to an afternoon tour.