How much faster would I get to resort using towncar vs. MDE?

[Angeliki19]

Hi! I love using MDE, but we are coming in late this year (4:30 pm) and I really want to make an ADR at our resort (AKV-Kidani.) I have read about MDE taking an average of 90 minutes which would be cutting it really close for a 7 pm ADR. So now I am wondering if we should hire a car instead? But then we have to get our own bags so I wonder if it really saves much time?

Anyone have an estimate of how much faster it would be to hire a ride?

 

[wilkeliza]

Even with grabbing my bags I feel like I save almost an hour using a town car. Just the drive alone was 90 minutes our last trip (we were the last drop off) and that didn't include the wait at the airport for the bus.

 

[Alesia]

Generally speaking, 0 to 30 minutes.

 

[Minnesota!]

It depends on what # stop your resort is. If you get right on a bus, take off right away, and are first drop off, you are not saving any time with a town car (you will still be waiting for your luggage when the bus departs). I would say the time would be equal if your resort is the second stop. Anything beyond that, I would say the town car would save you about 10 minutes per resort. So, if you are the 4th stop, town car would save about 20 minutes.

Free > than 20 minutes, IMO

 

[cedricandsophie]

When we were there in March, the bags took almost 30 min to get but we walked right up and got on the bus to AK. We were there 70 min after we landed.

 

[dancin Disney style]

My trip last month we arrived after 10pm so we had to collect our bags before going to the bus. Our bags came out within approx. 3 minutes of getting to the carousel. That is rare at MCO. Many, many times we have waiting 20-30 minutes for the bags to start coming out(I travel to MCO 2-3 times per year). Last year on a trip in March they changed the carousel once or twice before the bags evens started coming out. That particular trip we waited more than 40 minutes to get our bags and it was around 4pm. I went down to the car rental counter, got my car all sorted out and came back and the bags still had not started coming out.

So my answer to the question is that in general you save at the VERY most 30 minutes by taking a town car over DME. IMO, not worth the added expense.

 

[goofy4tink]

Some of my times, with various modes of transportation..as best as I can remember anyway....gate to resort...

1. DME...checked bags.....60-85 mins..most often about 75 mins.
2. Car service...checked bags.....60 mins (15 min stop for the bags)
3. Car service...carry on only....45 mins.
4. Mears...checked bags.....90 mins
5. Mears...carryon only....80

For a car, I would say probably depends on your baggage situation. I would budget about 60 mins.

 

[Angeliki19]

So do you think allowing 2 hours to get to the resort for an ADR will be ok? I know that the flight can get delayed and I have no control over that, but is it reasonable to plan an ADR for 2 hours after landing and hope for the best? Its the only night we could fit Jiko in so I am willing to take a chance on the flight being delayed.

 

[dancin Disney style]

So do you think allowing 2 hours to get to the resort for an ADR will be ok? I know that the flight can get delayed and I have no control over that, but is it reasonable to plan an ADR for 2 hours after landing and hope for the best? Its the only night we could fit Jiko in so I am willing to take a chance on the flight being delayed.

You would be better off making it closer to 3 hours.

 

[Alesia]

So do you think allowing 2 hours to get to the resort for an ADR will be ok? I know that the flight can get delayed and I have no control over that, but is it reasonable to plan an ADR for 2 hours after landing and hope for the best? Its the only night we could fit Jiko in so I am willing to take a chance on the flight being delayed.

Maybe. It's cutting it very close. Be prepared to end up paying the cancellation fee.

 

[alliecat523]

I've done a town car quite a bit and would say between landing, luggage and the drive it's probably about an hour total. It feels so much quicker because there isn't a lot of standing/sitting around and waiting. It's anywhere from 30 - 45 min faster I would say.

 

[goofy4tink]

You might make it. Here's how the time tends to break down...
Flight lands at 4:30... Hopefully
Off the plane around 4:45
To main terminal...5:00
Walk to baggage...5:05
Bags come out....5:20
Into Towncar...5:25
Arrive at resort...6:00

If you use DME...
Same up to baggage...from main terminal to DME...5:10
In bus line...5:15
Onto bus...5:30
To resort...6:00

Now, these times are very fluid!! The DME can change by 10 mins either way. Same thing with a car service...baggage timing can vary. My bags are always among the last bags to come out!!
The time between a car service and DME is probably not going to be more than 15-20 mins total. So, you should have time to make it. I just hate being stressed in that first day!!