DME Timing?

[Cinderelly117]

We'll be taking our first trip to Disney in September & are only there for 5 days (4 nights). Our flight gets in on Thursday at 11:50am and we're planning on going to MK for a half day. Our final day we'll be at HS and our flight departs at 6:30pm. Trying to figure out how much park time we can realistically look at getting on those two days if we take Magical Express or if it would be worth it to take a cab. Thanks for any tips/input!

 

[Frankiemack]

You should get to your resort and checked in around 1:30ish on your arrival day. Not that bad. For departures, the ME usually departs your resort around 3 hours prior to your schedule departure time. I think you will be just fine taking ME!

 

[stitchlovestink]

We'll be taking our first trip to Disney in September & are only there for 5 days (4 nights). Our flight gets in on Thursday at 11:50am and we're planning on going to MK for a half day. Our final day we'll be at HS and our flight departs at 6:30pm. Trying to figure out how much park time we can realistically look at getting on those two days if we take Magical Express or if it would be worth it to take a cab. Thanks for any tips/input!

It's hard to answer the second part of your question as to how much park time you will get on your departure day as you don't mention where you are staying and that can play a large factor. We usually go to DHS on our departure day (for multiple reasons...but mostly) because it is the park closest to POP which is where we stay. We also don't have to take into consideration that our bus is going to other resorts. But if you are staying at a monorail resort, you would need to consider that. Or if you have to take the boat back to an Epcot resort, that can be a bit more lengthy in time IMO. Like for us, once we board the bus, our ride is literally less than 5 minutes back to POP as POP is right around the corner from DHS. So we get a good bit of park time in on departure day by choosing DHS. We allow time to go to Luggage Assistance to pick up our carry on bags and get to the ME bus stop which are very close to one another at POP...another reason I like POP.
You just have to figure out how much time you need to get back to your resort, pick up your carry-ons (if you have any), take care of a bathroom break (if you want to at the resort rather than at the airport), and refill your mug one last time (if you want to...we like to sip on ours on the ride back and at the airport up until security). Then I usually pad that amount of time with about 10-15 extra minutes just to be safe in case the ME is early. In our 2 dozen trips, my ME bus has only ever been early once and honestly is rarely even on time, but still, I don't want to miss it. And I tend to run on the late side under normal circumstances!!

 

[sam_gordon]

As mentioned, you should be checked into your resort by 1:30p (possibly 15 minutes earlier than that, but 1:30p is a good 'budget' time). So you should be able to get to a park by 2:15-2:30p (depends on the park you're going to and the resort you're staying at).

DME will schedule you for a pickup 3 hours before your flight +/- 15 minutes. You need to be at the DME stop ready to go (bathroom breaks done, shopping done, carryons picked up, etc) 15 minutes before your scheduled pick up time.

So, if your flight is at 6:30, the earliest you'd need to be at the stop is 3pm. The latest you'd need to be at the stop is 3:30pm. Assuming you get a relatively early start in the morning, I don't see why you couldn't be at a park for 4-5 hours.

 

[Cinderelly117]

I suppose our resort info would be helpful! We're staying at POFQ.

Arrival day info is very helpful. Our TA was saying we'd arrive at the resort between 2-3pm and that sounded extreme. I was mostly worried about this one since a 3pm arrival at the resort would mean a 4pm arrival to the park and that's starting to cut the day very short.

Thanks so much for all the input!

 

[maxiesmom]

I suppose our resort info would be helpful! We're staying at POFQ.

Arrival day info is very helpful. Our TA was saying we'd arrive at the resort between 2-3pm and that sounded extreme. I was mostly worried about this one since a 3pm arrival at the resort would mean a 4pm arrival to the park and that's starting to cut the day very short.

Thanks so much for all the input!

There is really know way to know for sure when you will arrive at your resort. We can only give you the average time from airport to resort, which is around 90 minutes. It can be quicker and it can be longer. I've used DME and had trips where I have walked right onto a bus, and the bus takes off immediately. I've had trips where I've had to wait in the queue for a while before being able to get on a bus, and then sat there on the bus for a while.

As for your trip home, I would be leaving the park no later than 2 pm, depending on your pick up time. I have had trips where the DME bus shows up early, and Disney now tells you to be at the DME bus stop, ready to go, 15 minutes before your scheduled time.