Departure day help

[LKMAMA]

Hi - our last day on our upcoming vacation is Saturday, September 30th. We are staying at the Poly, and our flight leaves from MCO at 3:50. We will be taking the MDE, so I am guessing that they will want to depart at 1:45ish. Family of 4, me, DH, DD(8) and DS(10). Also this is our second family trip to WDW (but have done DL many times). As CA residents, it is pricy to do a WDW trip so this will probably be our last for a few (or more) years.

What are your best suggestions for our departure day? Add another day to our tickets and go to the park? Not really interested in Character Breakfasts (I don't think...), unless they are mind blowingly amazing. I have seen a lot of suggestions on other posts to do a last trip around Disney Springs, but it seems that nothing really opens there until 11ish. Is there anything going on earlier? I don't want to feel rushed to go back to the Poly to catch the MDE. Resort hop to the GF, WL, and Contemporary (assuming we don't do that earlier in the week)....? What exactly is there to do once we get to the other resorts?

What would you do??? Convince me...

Lastly, unrelated question, I am getting close to having to make my dining reservations. I am going to try for Ohana, but I wanted to try one other when we are there. My top choices are Raglan Road (I think my daughter would enjoy the dancing), or Homecoming (the food looks amazing). What would you pick? Are walk up reservations to be found at either of those restaurants? Or do I need to plan 6 months out?

Thanks!

 

[AntJulie]

I believe you need to be there to catch MDE at least 3 hours before your flight...I would not go to a park...I would go to another resort for a late breakfast then back to resort to catch MDE...I know you do not want to do character breakfast but 1900 Park Fare was enjoyable (food and character interaction was good)...Trattoria Al Forno has new character breakfast (Flynn Rider, Rapunzel, Prince Eric, Ariel)...We missed our MDE by 5 minutes and had to call a taxi/van to bring us to MCO...Cost was 65 dollars plus a tip...We will not do that again...We usually do a park because our flights are later at around 8pm...We will watch the clock more carefully in the future!

 

[ConnecticutNonna]

What would you do??

Personally I would go to one last great meal that you can only get at,WDW. Last time we went to Cali Grill Brunch (but I think that's only on Sundays)
We love character meals and enjoy character interaction, so we would plan a leisurely late breakfast with some of the gang!

 

[CounselorX]

You'll need to be sitting on the bench, waiting for the DME bus at 12:35. I hate feeling rushed which we did to ourselves on our first trip. We got in our room after midnight before our departure day and had to be up early in the morning to catch the DME bus. It wasn't fun. Ever since then, I schedule a casual relaxation day of packing and possibly going to Disney Springs the day before our departure, and the day of departure we just sleep in and take our time.

 

[bryanb]

I like choosing a water park for my last day. Just sitting in a tube, relaxing stretched out around the lazy river says "I'm still on vacation" like nothing else. Grab some fresh donuts for the little ones and a tropical libation for yourself.

The best thing is that you can shower off before you head to the airport, so you're not crammined into a flight full of sticky sweat and sunscreen.

 

[shm_helene]

You are staying at Poly for a reason - proximity. So I would do one of two things - go over to1900 Park Fair for the character buffet breafkast. It's pretty good, and a nice walk over there in the AM (Kona is also good) and then go to the pool for the remainder of the morning OR go to MK. You would have 3 hours if you got there at rope drop and that would still give you a nice buffer to get back to Poly.

 

[Ambehnke]

I also would go to MK. It's nice to say goodbye and won't take you too long to get back to the Poly. They will give you your DME departure time but it won't be any later than 12:50.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

Lastly, unrelated question, I am getting close to having to make my dining reservations. I am going to try for Ohana, but I wanted to try one other when we are there. My top choices are Raglan Road (I think my daughter would enjoy the dancing), or Homecoming (the food looks amazing). What would you pick? Are walk up reservations to be found at either of those restaurants? Or do I need to plan 6 months out?

Thanks!

Raglan Road and Homecoming should not be too hard to get. Raglan Road can also be booked through Open Table. Homecoming from what I've heard does have some walk ups available (depending on when you're going).

Have you thought about doing Ohana on your departure day? Maybe a late breakfast after you check out to kill the time until DME pick up.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I would probably go to MK one last time or hang out at Poly in the morning and have an early lunch somewhere on the monorail. I would not venture past MK or the monorail resorts for fear of being rushed to get back to Poly. You could also request late check out the night before and just hang out at the resort before DME pick up.

 

[nkereina]

I would take your time packing up and do a mid-morning breakfast somewhere on the monorail line. If you don't want a character breakfast, we love Kona at the Poly or The Wave at CR. If you still have time to kill, just strolling around any or all of the monorail resorts is fun for us. You'll want to be back at Poly by 12:15ish so you can grab any carry on items you store with bell services and get to the DME waiting area by 12:35, as PP mentions above.

 

[IrishNYC]

I would either pack the night before and go to MK for a final stroll up Main Street, making sure to leave MK by 11ish, or I would have a late breakfast at either Ohana or another monorail resort.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

I'd have a nice relaxing morning at the Poly. Eat breakfast at Kona, then enjoy the pool or stroll around the grounds. Maybe take a monorail ride to one of the other resorts on the loop. Everyone has different ways of approaching things, but the last thing I'd want to do is bring undue stress on the the end of the vacation.

 

[LKMAMA]

I like choosing a water park for my last day. Just sitting in a tube, relaxing stretched out around the lazy river says "I'm still on vacation" like nothing else. Grab some fresh donuts for the little ones and a tropical libation for yourself.

The best thing is that you can shower off before you head to the airport, so you're not crammined into a flight full of sticky sweat and sunscreen.

So you shower off at the water park? I skipped the water parks last time, but we do have a day scheduled for it this trip. I really don't want to smell like a pool on the flight home! I will add this to my short list of ideas.... Thanks!

 

[LKMAMA]

Raglan Road and Homecoming should not be too hard to get. Raglan Road can also be booked through Open Table. Homecoming from what I've heard does have some walk ups available (depending on when you're going).

Have you thought about doing Ohana on your departure day? Maybe a late breakfast after you check out to kill the time until DME pick up.

We have dinner plans (if I can get the ressie) for Ohana earlier in the week. My kids are not huge eaters, so the cost of Character breakfasts and buffets in general has never really felt like a good use of our funds!

I think I am going to try for Raglan Road one night during our trip, and maybe do the grab and go option for Homecoming on our arrival day (since we plan on being at Disney Springs). Thank you for the info!

 

[nkereina]

So you shower off at the water park? I skipped the water parks last time, but we do have a day scheduled for it this trip. I really don't want to smell like a pool on the flight home! I will add this to my short list of ideas.... Thanks!

In September, the water parks open at 10am. Since Magical Express will pick you up around 12:40, that doesn't give you much time. The bus situation between water parks can be dicey too, so you'd need to leave by 11ish in order to get back to your resort with enough time to claim your carry on bags and get to the DME bus stop.

 

[scrapquitler]

Hi - our last day on our upcoming vacation is Saturday, September 30th. We are staying at the Poly, and our flight leaves from MCO at 3:50. We will be taking the MDE, so I am guessing that they will want to depart at 1:45ish. Family of 4, me, DH, DD(8) and DS(10). Also this is our second family trip to WDW (but have done DL many times). As CA residents, it is pricy to do a WDW trip so this will probably be our last for a few (or more) years.

What are your best suggestions for our departure day? Add another day to our tickets and go to the park? Not really interested in Character Breakfasts (I don't think...), unless they are mind blowingly amazing. I have seen a lot of suggestions on other posts to do a last trip around Disney Springs, but it seems that nothing really opens there until 11ish. Is there anything going on earlier? I don't want to feel rushed to go back to the Poly to catch the MDE. Resort hop to the GF, WL, and Contemporary (assuming we don't do that earlier in the week)....? What exactly is there to do once we get to the other resorts?

What would you do??? Convince me...

Lastly, unrelated question, I am getting close to having to make my dining reservations. I am going to try for Ohana, but I wanted to try one other when we are there. My top choices are Raglan Road (I think my daughter would enjoy the dancing), or Homecoming (the food looks amazing). What would you pick? Are walk up reservations to be found at either of those restaurants? Or do I need to plan 6 months out?

Thanks!

I would do a park on the last day. You'll have several hours to enjoy the park, and since you'll be getting DME at the Poly, it's a quick trip back there to get on the ME so you can really maximize your park time that morning.

 

[pbb322]

Our last Poly stay we had a similar schedule with a 4 pm flight. We decided to add a day to our park ticket. We had bags packed before bed the last night, we woke up, dropped bags at the airline check in, hoped on the monorail to MK for rope drop, each kid had picked one ride (and we had managed to grab a FP while on the monorail for one of the two) and we did maybe 2 more rides with short lines, we grabbed a Mickey Ice Cream bar and hopped back on the monorail to the Poly. We gave ourselves about an hour just in case the monorail was having problems, so once we were back we got the kids lunch at the QS in the hotel and then caught our bus at 1. It was a nice way to end the trip.

 

[tiggerluver12]

My group is leaving on our departure day on a flight at 4pm. Figuring we have to be back at our resort by 1pm, we are going to either MK with a pre-rope drop breakfast at BOG or to Epcot. We want to get in as many rides as we can before we head home. So I say do what your group WANTS to do, if they prefer breakfast and chill, then do it; if they prefer riding rides, then go to a park; if they prefer swimming, then swim. It is your vacay!!

 

[maryj11]

I have been thinking about the same thing. We are staying at the Poly and our flight leaves at 5:35. Right now we have a 10:30 breakfast at Ohana. I love their breakfast. Still trying to decide what else we should do. If we ask for a late check out how late do they let you stay?

 

[MaleficentRN]

You can ask for a late check out and spend the day at the pool. That way you can shower off the pool smell. You can sleep in and then monorail hop and have lunch at Contempo Cafe and peruse gift shops. I'd be hard pressed to spend the money for an extra park day if I'd only be there three hours.