First Trip Next Week - A Few Questions

[leholcomb]

Hello all!

I will be leaving in one week for my first trip out to DLR! WDW has been my home for over 15 years and am eager to get out to the place where it all started. I have read the majority of the planning forums here (so helpful) including HydroGuy's DLR guide for WDW vets and Sherry's Holiday thread. I just have a couple of random questions to ask:

1) How does the ticket photo process work? Is this something I can do in advance or do I have to wait until I am at the turnstiles? Time consuming or no?

2) What are the wait times like at Trader Sams on a Tuesday/Wednesday late night (9/10)? When it opened at the Poly, wait times were up to 3 hours and have now settled into 45 minutes (as of Halloween night).

3) We have an 8PM BB F! package. Would you suggest a 7PM check in for a waterside table?

4) I am moving from DLH Sunday night to Motel 6 Maingate. My plan is to store luggage at DLH until I head to M6M via Uber. How late is Bell Services open?

I may have more in the next few days but wanted to throw these out there while I was thinking about it.

TIA!!

 

[Bud Ice]

1) Photo people are just after the entry. Very quick.

2) Trader Sams pretty good. There's an indoor and outdoor to it. Maybe 15 mins tops on an indoor wait. Generally bar area is available for standing room.

3) 7pm reasonable.

4) 9pm most nights.

 

[5forMickey]

I will be leaving in one week for my first trip out to DLR! WDW has been my home for over 15 years and am eager to get out to the place where it all started.
TIA!!

YEAH!!! We will also be arriving at the DLH next Monday . Looks like your questions were answered just wanted to say have fun -- hoping for good weather and manageable crowds.

 

[figment_jii]

3) We have an 8PM BB F! package. Would you suggest a 7PM check in for a waterside table?

I don't know/think they'll let you check-in that early for your 8:00 pm ADR. In most cases, you can usually check-in about 15 minutes early, but not necessarily much before that. You can stop by at 7:00 pm, but I'd be prepared to be told that you'll have to come back around 7:45 pm.

 

[ADLFAN]

While we waited for the Blue Bayou F! Package I heard table after table request a waterfront location and the hostess told each and every one of them that it would be a 45 minute wait! It made me suspect that as long as a table was occupied currently, even if it was the beginning of their meal, that they tried to move you through in 45 minutes! And since the BB isn't exactly a big venue, they would have to have some sort of goal for turnover so they could accommodate as many as possible. So I'd predict an 8:30 reservation after a 7:45 check-in!

We LOVED our BB F! Package dinner! It was easily the best meal of the trip! And the seating area was not crowded, we had a super awesome front and center view, too!

Have fun!!

 

[figment_jii]

In my experience, the host/hostess will almost always say that the wait for a waterside table is at least 45 minutes, but a fair number of guests have reported that the actual wait wasn't that long. Now that being said, there have also been plenty of reports saying that the wait was indeed 45 or more minutes. So, OP, it's just something you'll have to decide for yourself when you get there - whether you want to potentially wait that long for a waterside table or not.

 

[DnA2010]

Re: BB F! Package:

We had a 4:20 reservation for Saturday Oct 24th.
I got into a line of around 20 people at 4:00pm- at 4:10 I reached the front and was told 30-45min for a water table.
Was given a pager and walked around the area for a while. Was called back at 4:30 and lead to a table in the middle of the room. Mentioned we were waiting for a water table.
About 4:40pm was sat at the farthest water able on the right.
Our cushions were brought right away. Our server gave us the option on which show we wanted tickets to.

Enjoyed the meal, we were not rushed at all (we were enjoying the break from the heat) and didn't leave till close to 7pm. Enjoyed our food.

 

[leholcomb]

New question!

What is the closest beach to DLR and best/cheapest way to get there and back for a solo traveler? Not looking to spend much time there but to stick my toes in the water and maybe lunch. lol

AND another, call or fax in room requests and when? At WDW we fax requests directly to the hotel and usually get what we want plus more (I know it isn't a guarantee).