Buffer time between flight landing and Fastpasses

[saraheliz]

We were scheduled to land at 3:45 and I scheduled our first FP for 6-7pm, but for a ride a didn't care a ton about in case we didn't get there in time. We were walking down Main Street by 5:40. If it had looked like we were going to be running super late, I probably would have hopped on and adjusted the times, but our timing was just amazing that day (flight landed early, Magical Express pulled out 5 minutes after getting on, we were the first stop, etc, etc). I'd say 4/4:30 but make it something that's easily adjustable/that you don't care a ton about in case you're running late.

 

[kniquy]

I should land at MCO at 12:45pm. I'm planning on using Magical Express.

I would go ahead and book FP for your planned time of starting at 4 or 5p. This allows for some time if there is a delay, Pick those rides you want to ride but are not a high priority so if for some reason you are really delayed you are not heart broken that you missed FOP. You are smart not to make an ADR for that day because of the no show fees they can add on.

 

[DisneyFive]

You could start your first FP+ 3 hours after your flight arrival. That will give you a window of 3-4 hours after your flights lands to have your first FP experience.

Dan

 

[mrcase77]

I would avoid going to Chicago, even with a $200 change fee. We also live in Missouri and travel out of MCI with non-stop flights on Southwest. Maybe that could be an option for your next trip. We are arriving around 12:30 and our fastpasses start at 5:05pm. Enjoy planning your trip!

Oh wow. I didn't realize that. I guess I wasn't seeing them on the travel sites because they only seem to book those 6 months out. If I can do that cheap enough it might make sense to just eat the American flight. I think I got too trigger happy picking my flights. I'm starting to read my local airport has a horrible record for flights leaving on time too. It seemed like a good idea because it has free parking and I was going to avoid a 2 hour drive, but that won't lower the stress of it all if I only have a 50/50 shot of making connections and things. What an expensive mistake. Poor planning on my part. :-(

 

[qman6975]

Give yourself

- an hour (or two) for airport delays
- an hour and a half to deplane, get to DE and get to your resort
- an hour to check in, drop stuff in your room, get to the bus stop, wait for the bus and travel to a park
- 15 minutes to get through security

Call it all four to five hours.

I would also recommend the MK for arrival day because there is so much to do even if you miss your FP window.

 

[Antaniasmom]

I've never flown on our trips to WDW but I'm surprised by the amount of peeps here that go to the parks same day they arrive. Not criticism...just curious as to why that is. We always arrive after 3 pm and have a philosophy that if we only have 4 or 5 day tickets that it would be a waste for us to go that first day.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I've never flown on our trips to WDW but I'm surprised by the amount of peeps here that go to the parks same day they arrive. Not criticism...just curious as to why that is.

Because why not!?

We take the first flight out so we land by 9 am. Hitting a park just make sense to us.

When we did drive we didn't hit a park on arrival day. We would go to my XH's uncles house in Sanford and hang with him for a day or two. Then hit the park when we arrived to WDW resorts.

No matter what vacation I go on, we hit the sights our first day.

 

[ChanduTail]

I've never flown on our trips to WDW but I'm surprised by the amount of peeps here that go to the parks same day they arrive. Not criticism...just curious as to why that is. We always arrive after 3 pm and have a philosophy that if we only have 4 or 5 day tickets that it would be a waste for us to go that first day.

Our flights generally arrive between 9 AM & 11 AM. We would never arrive after 3 PM. That would be a waste of a day for us. We went to get into vacation mode as quickly as possible!

 

[stsomewhere]

We drive. We always go to a park on arrival day. We pick the park with the latest hours. We can go from 5pm-? Sometimes are room is ready early, sometimes not. Wegrab a bite to eat until our room is ready if it is close to check in, Its a minimal charge for the extra night after 5 days.

 

[Farro]

Oh man the DRAMA

I'm flying out of Chicago in December because I live here. Yes. You can have weather related delays. But so can Detroit. Or any other airport because a storm one side of the country does affect air traffic on the other. I wouldn't change my flights because of it.

If you have the tickets, use them! I'd give myself 3 hours but you can always modify.

I was just gonna say that!

Lived here my whole life, as millions of others. Lots and lots of people fly out of O'hare in the winter months. I have myself a number of times. We don't just close every time it snows.

 

[mrcase77]

I've never flown on our trips to WDW but I'm surprised by the amount of peeps here that go to the parks same day they arrive. Not criticism...just curious as to why that is. We always arrive after 3 pm and have a philosophy that if we only have 4 or 5 day tickets that it would be a waste for us to go that first day.

Partly because, as a solo traveller, the park tickets aren't where the vast majority of my budget for this trip went (the hotel was the expensive part) and going from 7 days to 8 isn't that much. Part of it is that I will have been sitting and staring blankly all day. Part of it is, if the travel goes badly, it might be good to blow off some steam. haha. Part of it is that (with good luck) I might get to use 3 extra fast passes. Part of it is that, if my energy good, I might could knock out one of the evening shows. Particularly since I want to see both Fantasmic and Star Wars fireworks. Part of it is that I've waited my entire life to take a trip like this to Disney and I want to make the most of the time.

I definitely think it would be a different story for me if I had driven, had kids with me who had early bedtimes, or if adding the extra day added massive cost. That's just not my situation.

 

[Antaniasmom]

Our flights generally arrive between 9 AM & 11 AM. We would never arrive after 3 PM. That would be a waste of a day for us. We went to get into vacation mode as quickly as possible!

It's because I would drive 15 hours to Georgia, stay overnight and then we take our time next day and arrive in Kissimmee or LBV around 3 ish. We always have relax days bookending our trip because of the long drive. Once we do go to the parks it's from open to close every day.

 

[mrcase77]

I was just gonna say that!

Lived here my whole life, as millions of others. Lots and lots of people fly out of O'hare in the winter months. I have myself a number of times. We don't just close every time it snows.

I'm not worried about your airport shutting down (short of a blizzard...which if you're going to get one, historically the time I'm going is when you get them). I'm honestly more worried that I only have a 40 minute layover and I'm flying out of a regional airport. So, if my flight out of Missouri is 20 minutes late, I'm screwed on my connection and I DO suspect snow and ice causes more delays in winter both in Chicago and at my local airport. If I were starting from Chicago and had a direct flight I wouldn't be worried. If I had given myself a 2 hour layover I'd be less worried. I got greedy about the arrival time and didn't look closely at the layover until after I had pulled the trigger on the ticket.

 

[Antaniasmom]

To OP, go for it ....5 pm FP seems to be the consensus. Sometimes I wish we could tour like that but for us, I cannot justify almost $300 of admission--for the 3 of us-- for only 5 hours of park time (if we were to arrive at 5 pm) that's just me. For those of you that can, I'm envious!! ☺

 

[mi*vida*loca]

To OP, go for it ....5 pm FP seems to be the consensus. Sometimes I wish we could tour like that but for us, I cannot justify almost $300 of admission--for the 3 of us-- for only 5 hours of park time (if we were to arrive at 5 pm) that's just me. For those of you that can, I'm envious!! ☺

It’s about $10 to add a day since we go for 9 nights. So $20 total. The longer the ticket length the cheaper the additional day.

 

[Farro]

I'm not worried about your airport shutting down (short of a blizzard...which if you're going to get one, historically the time I'm going is when you get them). I'm honestly more worried that I only have a 40 minute layover and I'm flying out of a regional airport. So, if my flight out of Missouri is 20 minutes late, I'm screwed on my connection and I DO suspect snow and ice causes more delays in winter both in Chicago and at my local airport. If I were starting from Chicago and had a direct flight I wouldn't be worried. If I had given myself a 2 hour layover I'd be less worried. I got greedy about the arrival time and didn't look closely at the layover until after I had pulled the trigger on the ticket.

Totally understand your concern about that! I hate connecting flights.

 

[Day-Day]

There is "something to lose" if you have more days at Disney than currently on your ticket. If it means having to skip pre-scheduling fastpasses for a later day, it may be best to skip fastpasses for the arrival day if worried about making it to the parks on time.

The good thing about scheduling FP for arrival day is that they really fit well into the schedule. No headaches with deciding whether morning FP's would be better than afternoon or evening. Arriving late at a park with no fastpasses would be okay for me but I would probably not wait in long lines for any of the big attractions.

 

[Dbktmc]

I've never flown on our trips to WDW but I'm surprised by the amount of peeps here that go to the parks same day they arrive. Not criticism...just curious as to why that is. We always arrive after 3 pm and have a philosophy that if we only have 4 or 5 day tickets that it would be a waste for us to go that first day.

We always go on the first day because it is relatively cheap to add another day once you have purchased a 5 day ticket. I don't want to spend thousands of dollars on a Disney trip and then miss the first day because I don't want to spend another $30-$40. You see, I can always add more money to the cost of my trip using this awesome Disney logic.

 

[Antaniasmom]

We always go on the first day because it is relatively cheap to add another day once you have purchased a 5 day ticket. I don't want to spend thousands of dollars on a Disney trip and then miss the first day because I don't want to spend another $30-$40. You see, I can always add more money to the cost of my trip using this awesome Disney logic.

I don't know why we never thought about this besides being so exhausted from the drive. I guess I never knew that adding a day was so cheap. Does it matter when you add the day?

 

[Cinderumbrella]

I have to chuckle at all the people who are convinced a flight going through Chicago in winter guarantees a weather delay. We deal with snow pretty well here. We’re used to it!

I’ve had more flight delays out of MCO than any other airport because of flight delay trickle down effect (and it’s definitely not snow related in the summer months )

I would make the first FP for around 4:30 and modify in the airport/DME etc if needed.