First Trip to WDW - Lots of Questions!

[mjhd]

First of all, thank you for reading and helping me with this!

Question 1
We arrive at MCO at 5:34PM on a Sunday using ME - how long can I expect it to take to get to Pop Century?

Question 2
After checking in, what's the easiest way to get to Wilderness Lodge for dinner? Is 8:20PM a realistic reservation?

Question 3
Our departing flight leaves MCO at 11:48AM on a Sunday. I have Chef Mickey's breakfast scheduled for 7:30AM - if we have our bags at the ME pickup (is this how it works?) before we leave for breakfast, can we just "hop on" ME after we're done eating? Is this a realistic timeframe? I would love a fun last morning.

We are flying Airtran.

Thanks for your help!

 

[pennyplanner]

Mjhd,

I can only address the second question. The best way to get to WL from Pop would be to take the bus to MK. Then jump on the bus to WL from MK! It is a very short ride, about 5 minutes.

As far as the ADR time, I honestly can't say. Yes, I think that is cutting it close BUT I have never used ME, only a town car.

--penny

 

[Disneyjosh229]

First of all, thank you for reading and helping me with this!


Question 3
Our departing flight leaves MCO at 11:48AM on a Sunday. I have Chef Mickey's breakfast scheduled for 7:30AM - if we have our bags at the ME pickup (is this how it works?) before we leave for breakfast, can we just "hop on" ME after we're done eating? Is this a realistic timeframe? I would love a fun last morning.

We are flying Airtran.

Thanks for your help!

I will leave the first few questions for others. MCO is known by most disers and frequent travelers as the worlds slowest airport for security. I advise getting to MCO no later then 3 hours prior to sheduled departure (8:48 AM for you). AirTran is not a memeber of the "resort check in" for Magical Express, so you will still have to check your bags when you arrive at MCO. Give yourself an hour or so to get to the airport from Pop Century, so I would suggest being in the lobby of Pop Century no later then 7:45am. I don't think Chef Mickey's will work

 

[Bob P]

Hi,

Question 1: from the time you land till the time you are in the hotel will generally take anywhere between 1 and2 hours.

Question 2: EASIEST way to WL would be by taxi. Even if you take a taxi, 8:30 would be cutting it way too close for my comfort level.

Question 3: For an 11:48 flight, ME will want you at the bus stop by 8:45 or 9:00 at the latest.

 

[mjhd]

Thanks for your responses! As for question 3, do you think then that it would possibly work if we got our friend in Orlando to pick us up at 8:30 - 8:45 at Chef Mickey's, stop at Pop Century to grab our bags and take us to MCO? Or do you think that on a Sunday morning we will definitely have to be there 3 hours early? Thanks!

 

[Disneyjosh229]

Thanks for your responses! As for question 3, do you think then that it would possibly work if we got our friend in Orlando to pick us up at 8:30 - 8:45 at Chef Mickey's, stop at Pop Century to grab our bags and take us to MCO? Or do you think that on a Sunday morning we will definitely have to be there 3 hours early? Thanks!

That might work, if you can hustle quickly By car, if you had everything ready, and just stopped by the room to grab your stuff, it would take around 40 minutes....

 

[Minnie]

1st - all of this advise is if you are not using the ME. I have never done that so I cannot advise on it.

Personally I see absolutely no reason to sit around an airport for 3 hours prior to departure time Now my mom on the other hand worries about this quite a lot so she prefers to get to the aiport early.

Why not invite your Orlando friend to breakfast? Have them pick you up at the Pop and load your suitcases there. Then head over to the Contemp for breakfast and off to the airport. Plenty of time and less hurry and rush.

Otherwise just make sure to have all your luggage ready to go when you leave for breakfast. You don't have to be out of the room until 11am so you can just leave your luggage in the room head over for breakfast and then have your friend waiting on you when you return to the Pop to head to the airport.

I think a last morning breakfast would work if you don't use ME. If you do use ME then I'd plan on a food court or airport breakfast.

 

[CleveRocks]

Question 1
We arrive at MCO at 5:34PM on a Sunday using ME - how long can I expect it to take to get to Pop Century?

The reported average time from landing to resort is 70 minutes. Keep in mind that flights can be delayed, as well. I wouldn't realistically figure on arriving at Pop before 7:00 p.m. Sure, could be a few minutes earlier, could be a few minutes later, but that 70 minute figure seems to be a pretty good one.

Question 2
After checking in, what's the easiest way to get to Wilderness Lodge for dinner? Is 8:20PM a realistic reservation?

Whether or not that timing is realistic depends on whether or not you mind feeling rushed. If feeling rushed stresses you, then you have to ask yourself if that particular dinner reservation is worth it. Plan on most resort-to-resort transportation to take about one hour (including time waiting for transportation). If you get to Pop at 7:00 p.m., chances are you'll want to check-in, rather than just dump off your carry-ons with Bell Services (for storage) and then check-in later. If you DO check-in, that process might take 5 minutes, it might take 30 minutes if there's a line. In either case, I don't see where you'd have sufficient time to get to your room and then back to transportation, etc.

So let's say you get to Pop right at 7:00 p.m. and it takes you 20 minutes to check-in and get your carry-ons stored. You'll then have about 1 hour to get to WL, which might be about right (your results may vary).

If I was going from Pop to WL (never been to Pop!), I'd take a Magic Kingdom bus, and from there take the boat that goes to WL and Fort Wilderness. At that time of day, I'm not sure if WL or FW will be the first stop after MK.

Question 3
Our departing flight leaves MCO at 11:48AM on a Sunday. I have Chef Mickey's breakfast scheduled for 7:30AM - if we have our bags at the ME pickup (is this how it works?) before we leave for breakfast, can we just "hop on" ME after we're done eating? Is this a realistic timeframe? I would love a fun last morning.

Sorry for the kinda bad news ....

DME will schedule your pick-up most likely around 8:45 a.m. or 9:00 a.m. If you take the DME bus it MUST be from the resort where you are/were a registered guest. Sorry, but you can't hop on a DME bus at Contemporary.

Next, the luggage issue. Your airline, AirTran, is not a "participating airline" for Resort Airline Check-In (RAC). RAC is the service where people flying participating airlines can check their luggage at their resort's RAC desk and then not see it again until it's on their home airport's baggage claim carousel.

As a result, you must get your own luggage to the DME bus.

Sorry, there's no way to have a 7:30 a.m. breakfast at Chef Mickey's and then get BACK to Pop by 8:30 a.m. or 8:40 a.m.

To have your breakfast that morning, your only real alternative is to take a taxi from Pop to Contemporary (since luggage is NOT permitted on Disney Transport buses) and then after breakfast a taxi or car service from Contemporary to MCO. All this is assuming that Bell Services at Contemporary will store your luggage for you.

That extra paid transportation is making that one pretty expensive breakfast at Chef Mickey's.

Again, not trying to rain on your parade, just trying to answer your questions.

GOOD LUCK! HAVE FUN!

 

[mjhd]

Thanks everyone for the great advice! I think on our return, instead of taking ME, we will ask our friend to join us for breakfast picking us up from POP at 7AM, eating at 7:30 and heading to the airport right afterwards. We have breakfast at Chef Mickey's scheduled earlier in the week as well so I don't think the kids will want to spend a lot of time chatting up the characters, etc. And luckily, this friend owes me BIG! Thanks again - we are getting more excited by the day!

 

[CleveRocks]

Sounds like a great plan! Sorry I missed the part in your later thread about the friend doing the driving for you ... MUCH better than a taxi.

 

[CleveRocks]

Also, if your friend is going to join you for breakfast, you'd better call WDW back and try to get one spot added to your ADR. If you just show up with an extra person they might not seat you if it's busy. Just make the call now, get it out of the way, then sit back and watch this great plan come together.

 

[Edd]

Two hours, before departure time, is a pretty good time to use getting to OIA. It depends on the Sundays at the airport. Usually Sundays are pretty moderate. but you never know. Two hours to get through check in and on the plane is a pretty good yardstick. Have not heard of anyone missing their flight using the above.

 

[legalslave]

Thanks everyone for the great advice! I think on our return, instead of taking ME, we will ask our friend to join us for breakfast picking us up from POP at 7AM, eating at 7:30 and heading to the airport right afterwards. We have breakfast at Chef Mickey's scheduled earlier in the week as well so I don't think the kids will want to spend a lot of time chatting up the characters, etc. And luckily, this friend owes me BIG! Thanks again - we are getting more excited by the day!

If you already have a Chef Mickey's breakfast scheduled, why not try the character breakfast at O'Hana (Polynesian) on your departure day instead?

 

[Minnie]

Sorry, there's no way to have a 7:30 a.m. breakfast at Chef Mickey's and then get BACK to Pop by 8:30 a.m. or 8:40 a.m.

To have your breakfast that morning, your only real alternative is to take a taxi from Pop to Contemporary (since luggage is NOT permitted on Disney Transport buses) and then after breakfast a taxi or car service from Contemporary to MCO. All this is assuming that Bell Services at Contemporary will store your luggage for you.

That extra paid transportation is making that one pretty expensive breakfast at Chef Mickey's.

Again, not trying to rain on your parade, just trying to answer your questions.

GOOD LUCK! HAVE FUN!

Since they do not have to be out of the Pop until 11am why not just leave the luggage in the room???????? Yes have it packed and ready to go but no need to check the luggage.

 

[Minnie]

If you already have a Chef Mickey's breakfast scheduled, why not try the character breakfast at O'Hana (Polynesian) on your departure day instead?

I agree with this one! I don't think I'd do CM twice in one week for breakfast. Too many other good choices. There is also Goofy's breakfast at the BC for another outside of the park character breakfast.

 

[CleveRocks]

Since they do not have to be out of the Pop until 11am why not just leave the luggage in the room???????? Yes have it packed and ready to go but no need to check the luggage.

... because their flight leaves MCO at 11:48 a.m. If they have an ADR for 7:30 a.m., they'll be eating until, say, 8:30 a.m.

They COULD get a ride back to Pop by their friend, and realistically be back inside their room by 9:00 a.m. Call it 10 more minutes for last minute bathroom stops, etc., so now it's 9:10 a.m. If they get a ride to the airport from the friend, then that would be great, but I get the feeling that's not going to happen, otherwise there wouldn't have been the need to post the question in the first place. But let's say they get a ride back to Pop.

So it's 9:10 a.m. They'll have to carry their own luggage (rather than waiting for Pop's Luggage Assistance) to the Pop "main lobby" area. How long will that take with all the luggage and stuff? Well, that depends where their room is, but let's say it takes 10 minutes. It's now 9:20 a.m. Maybe by luck there's a taxi waiting there. SO they'll be at MCO at 9:50 a.m., about 2 hours before their flight.

That could be reasonable, but it involves a lot of rushing, and hoping it all works out well. If they take their luggage in their friend's car with them to COntemporary, they can have a more leisurely breakfast and not worry about rushing back to Pop and so on. Whenever they feel like it, they can get a taxi or car service directly from Contemporary to MCO.

So, Minnie, what you suggest COULD work, if they don't mind rushing. If it all worked out just right, with no delays, they'd make it to MCO about 2 hours before their flight, which is what the airlines recommend.