Departure day question

[disney4dan]

On our last day of our upcoming Fort trip, our son and his friend will be taking a flight out of Orlando airport. Obviously, I don't want to tow the trailer to the airport if I don't have to.

Will they let me leave the trailer in the overflow lot temporarily while I bring the teenagers to the airport and see them off? I figure Nancy and the little ones can enjoy that time in the Magic Kingdom, and meet me back at the trailer as I reconnect and get ready to leave.

I'm figuring that they won't let me drop the trailer at the Magic Kingdom parking lot, but thought that the Fort might be understanding?

We just got back from a weekend trip to Maine and had a blast. But it was only at two and a half hour drive and probably had to listen to the kids ask 100 times when we'll get there. Here's hoping I can keep them entertained for three days!

 

[ntsammy5]

I would imagine so, but have you considered Magical Express.

 

[AuburnJen92]

You have the whole last day of your stay to use the overflow lot. We used the last day of our trip this time to go to the outlet stores in Orlando, parked the RV, trailer and golf cart and took the jeep. We came back that evening and left for South Florida. Nothing was ever said. The only time they ever get in a hissy is if you are in the MH and are camping in the parking lot overnight.

 

[clkelley]

How old are the teens?? If they are 15 or older, I would say put them on DME. Just go to the Outpost desk a couple days before they depart, give the desk the flight numbers, date of the flight, and the names of the guests, and they will give you a pickup time. If they are on a participating airline, then they can even get their boarding passes at the Resort Airline Desk at Ft. Wilderness between the hours of 5am and 1pm.

 

[disney4dan]

The Magical Express sounds good, will have to look into it again. The kids are flying Southwest, so not sure if they participate in DME or not? They won't have any luggage to check, just need their tickets and boarding passes.

Of course, not sure if the DW will approve. It took a lot to convince her to let them fly alone. If she could find a way, she would have me hold their hands until they were on the plane

I'd much rather be spending that time in a park.

 

[clkelley]

All resort guests can use DME regardless of airline. SW does not participate in resort airline checkin, but since they won't have any bags that is not a problem.

24 hours before their flight, go to any resort desk, or any park guest services and tell them you want to checkin online with SW. Give the desk person the kids confirmation numbers and they can go online to southwest and print their boarding passes.

Then they can go straight to security when they arrive at the airport.

 

[mamaloya]

My son and nephew, 16 and 15 at the time, used DME for our trip in Feb. They arrived really late, I was already asleep when they got to the camper. We contacted the front desk for their return time a couple days before their leaving. On departure day, we got up and parked the camper in the overflow lot and took a bus to DTD. About an hour before their time, they left DTD and headed to the fort. Got their bags from the camper and took DME to the airport. Not a problem at all.

I do have to say that my sister would not have allowed her son to do this w/o my son. My son has been a solo flyer for 3 years now and has many trips under his belt and has used Orlando airport before. He is also familiar with the fort so when I got our site number, I just texted it to him and he was able to get to the camper on his own with no prob.

Has he flown before? Has he flown alone? Would he be able to find the check in and gate on his own? I would not go so much by their age (although that have to be 15) but by how they get along w/o adult assistance. I have to say that if my son had never flown alone before and was not familiar with the airport, I may have been hesitant about him departing with DME.

 

[disney4dan]

Thanks for the clarification, the only other time we used DME, we had flown and had bags to take. Justin has flown several times, first trip was when he was 3 and I had to go on a business trip. Then a few trips to WDW and one out west, so he's seen a few different airports.

Luckily, he's very mature for his age in some ways. Has held the same part time job since 14 and has learned a lot about people (good and bad) with that job - so I guess I'm saying he should do fine. I'll discuss it with the "Boss" and see if she agrees. We come from different backgrounds; I returned from the Middle East to the US with my 16 yo brother (I was 15) spending a week in Europe, making our way with cash and no credit cards (last century) and managed just fine. DW still had a curfew while a senior in college.

3 Days 21 Hrs 48 Mins 22 Secs until we leave!