DME back to airport

[Lessa1]

Our plane home leaves at 5:45pm so we will spend the day in one of the parks (I think MK). I am trying to figure out how early we need to arrive at the airport. If I understand it correctly, AKL will get our luggage onto the bus and plane for us and also check us in for our flight. So does that mean that we arrive at the airport and go straight to security?

How early do we need to be at the airport? Seems 45 minutes should be plenty.

Also - can we hop on the DME from a hotel closer to the park we are in or do we have to go all the way back to AKL first?

 

[Hopefully]

DME will pick you up approximately 3 hours prior to your flight time for domestic flights and 4 hours for International flights. I would never arrive at MCO less than 2 hours prior to flight time. It has some of the worst security lines I have ever seen and I fly a lot, both domestically and internationally for work.
AKL will not take care of your luggage and boarding passes.
Resort Airline Checkin (RAC) if you are on a participating airline can. You need to take your luggage to the RAC desk at least 3 hours prior to your flight and during their operating hours which are currently 5 AM and 12 noon. You check your bags with them. It works similarly to curb side checkin at the airport.

 

[Lessa1]

Thanks for the quick reply. Is the RAC desk in AKL? My plan was to check the bags in the morning and head off to the park

 

[cassie58]

You will have to go back to AKL, and the DME will give you a set to time for pick up the night before. It is usually about three hrs. ahead of your flight, so about 2:45 for you. They will pick you up, and then stop at AoA and POP to grab those guests before heading to the airport, so you usually arrive about 2 hrs. early, so they make sure you have plenty of time to get through security and to your gate. In the morning before you head to MK, you can call down for them bring a cart for your bags, and then you meet them at the desk to tag your bags. You can also have them hold your carry-one till you get back from the park.

 

[cassie58]

Thanks for the quick reply. Is the RAC desk in AKL? My plan was to check the bags in the morning and head off to the park

Yes, the baggage desk is right by the doors where you enter the hotel.

 

[Alesia]

You'll need to be leaving the park by 1:15.

 

[dancin Disney style]

You'll need to be leaving the park by 1:15.

I agree. You should be at the bus stop to get back to the resort by 1:15 at the latest.

Remember that you must be at the DME stop no less than 15 min before your pick up time. Also, if you have stored carry on bags you will need approx 15 minutes to get those.

 

[seashoreCM]

I would say, plan on being at the park bus stop by 12:45.

Shoot to be back at your resort an hour before you need to meet your Magical Express bus back to the airport. A little sooner if you need to get carry-ons back from the bellhop.

In actuality or in practice, you might end up missing that time by several minutes.

 

[bumbershoot]

How early do we need to be at the airport? Seems 45 minutes should be plenty.

Only if you want to miss your flight.

 

[Alesia]

How early do we need to be at the airport? Seems 45 minutes should be plenty.

It's not unheard of for the security line to take 45 minutes.

 

[alliecat523]

It's not unheard of for the security line to take 45 minutes.

Also, the boarding door closes approx 10 minutes before the flight so that can cut you down to 35 minutes. Definitely not enough time for MCO.

 

[Lessa1]

Ugh, you guys are making me miss Disneyland. It's so much easier.

 

[goofy4tink]

For a 5:45 flight, you will get a DME p/u time of between 2:30 and 3:00. You should be at the bus stop, ready to go, 15 mins prior to your p/u time. So, you would need to be leaving the park no later than 1:30...gives you plenty of time to get to the AKL bus stop, get back to the resort, use the bathroom, check out the gift shop one last time (everybody does!!), get your carry on bags from Bell Services and get out to the stop 15 mins prior to p/u time.
When you head to the park in the morning, just take your bags down to RAC, outside the front lobby, and get them checked and get your boarding passes..then head off to MK for the day. The RAC counter opens at 5, so you can head there fairly early.

You don't get to choose the pickup time for DME. They pick you up about 3 hrs. prior to flight time. If you want to get to the airport later than 2.5 hrs prior to flight time, you will need to take a cab or towncar service. 45 mins isn't enough time! You could spend 30 mins in security!!! Not a fun way to end your stay. When I take DME back to MCO, I have about 45 mins to wait at the gate. If your flight departs at 5:45, they will start boarding around 5:10ish.

 

[AngiTN]

We've taken to taking Uber back to the airport, straight from the park. We do RAC that morning and just put our carry on bags in a locker outside the park and enjoy our day. It gives us 2-3 more hours (depending on what time you need to leave to get back to your resort) park time for about $20

 

[bumbershoot]

Ugh, you guys are making me miss Disneyland. It's so much easier.

Busy airports are busy airports. Getting to an airport 45 min before a flight is never a great idea. We get to SNA 2 hours before, too, though that can include rental car return. LAX as well, and that takes at least an hour's drive plus time to return the rental car.

Even when we have a car at WDW we leave around the time, if not earlier, that dme picks up. Noon departure, 10am arrival at doors of MCO, 9:45 latest to return they car, 9:30 get gas, 8:45ish leaving the resort (not going to the car but driving out)...

We have zero interest in ever missing a flight. We nearly did at lax once and don't want a repeat. We would rather be bored out of our skulls at an airport than be running from security with pants falling off and untied shoes flapping.

But really we like being able to relax and get something to eat. Not that that's always possible with lax and MCO, even arriving early.

 

[Alesia]

Busy airports are busy airports. Getting to an airport 45 min before a flight is never a great idea.

No kidding! Our local airport is tiny - 1 terminal, 2 gates. When you walk in the door, you can literally see everything. That is the only airport I will show up 45 minutes early for.

 

[maxiesmom]

No kidding! Our local airport is tiny - 1 terminal, 2 gates. When you walk in the door, you can literally see everything. That is the only airport I will show up 45 minutes early for.

Due to my nephew insisting we didn't need to leave when I thought we should, we made it to the Flint airport 40 minutes before our flight last fall. I was about to come unglued, and he was just sauntering around. It ended up being plenty of time for that tiny airport, but I was a mess the whole drive over. One car accident on the highway, and we would have missed our flight. Never again are we cutting it that close.

OP--I use a town car to go back to the airport in Orlando. And I still have them pick me up over 2 hours ahead of our flight.

 

[bumbershoot]

No kidding! Our local airport is tiny - 1 terminal, 2 gates. When you walk in the door, you can literally see everything. That is the only airport I will show up 45 minutes early for.

OK, I'll allow it for that airport.

But as Maxiesmom mentioned, if you leave with that in mind and hit traffic, you probably won't make it.

Poeple on the Disneyland board likely scoff at me taking SNA so seriously, but we find it best to just not mess with airports.

Nearly missing the flight at LAX happened because of me, and it freaked out my son SO much. And flight timing still freaks him out despite us trying so hard to help him with it. So we do the flight-time math with every flight, and it gets us to of the parks (if relevant) or hotel with all those stops in the right amount of time.

We do realize that airlines will help out if you miss a flight. But we don't WANT to miss one. Unless we have nothing to do and they feel like getting volunteers for a bump. That's OK. Like the bump we took Superbowl sunday 2014. That was faboo. (hotel, money for food, and $400 vouchers for each of us) Except despite nearly 2 hours of lead time they "couldn't" get our bags off the plane.

 

[nkereina]

PPs have it well covered and I agree with all of them. Only thing I will add is that if you are flying Southwest, they begin their boarding process about 30 minutes prior to the departure time. For those concerned with getting a good seat and not missing their boarding position, they will want to be at their Southwest gate 30 minutes prior to departure.

 

[sam_gordon]

No kidding! Our local airport is tiny - 1 terminal, 2 gates. When you walk in the door, you can literally see everything. That is the only airport I will show up 45 minutes early for.

We also have a small airport, but not that small. The last 4-5 times I flew, it took me 15 minutes from when I parked the car to leave the parking garage, get through security, and walk to the gate. I still allow at least an hour (an extra 15 minutes or so if checking bags).

One time we were heading to the airport and ended up having to stop because a tire was low on air. Fortunately we just had to pump it up (arranged for roadside service to fix the van while we were on vacation), but if it would have been something more serious... ?