How much time do I need to allow?

[asfarrell]

Our flight lands at 3:45
No checked bags.
We are staying at All Star Movies and if the ADR gods are good to us we are hoping to eat at Storybook Dining or Chef Mickey that night.

Question...What time should I try to make the ADR for? How much time do I need to allow, to land, get on Magical Express, check in the hotel and try to get to one of those restaurants? Do you think 6 to 6:30 is pushing it? We want to hit Disney Springs after dinner...Thanks!

 

[sponica]

Honestly for arrival day, I'd book dinner at disney springs on opentable (no cancellation fee).

There are too many variables you can't control that determine what time you'd make it to dinner.

 

[Kip Herner]

Figure 1 to 1.5 hours for ME. If you check in online, you will hopefully have your room assigned and you can just go right to your room to drop off your bags. Then I would take a Uber/Lyft/Minivan to the restaurant. You should be able to make the 6:30 time.

 

[gharter]

As others have said, a lot of variables.
If you plane lands on time, expect 60-90 for DME. That puts you to the resort about 5:15 or earlier. If you didn't check in online and the line isn't too long, in your room by 5:30.
There is no direct way from resort to resort, so Uber/Lyft may be your best option.
You should be able to make 6:30. Personally, I would make it later (7-7:30) just in case the times don't work as well.

 

[sullyfam]

The process from getting off the plane to arrival at your resort can take up to 90 minutes. Assuming you want to check in to your resort, freshen up etc. and then figuring in the time it will take to get to your ADR from All Star Movies, I wouldn't plan anything that didn't give you at least 3.5-4 hours of grace time between flight arrival and ADR. The last thing you want to do on your first day of vacation is be stressed and frantic trying to rush to make an ADR. Lots of things can cause delays and I personally would rather have more time than less. I think an ADR of 7 or 7:30 might be more reasonable and to me, it's ambitious to also plan Disney Springs for afterwards after a full day of travel. If Disney Springs is a priority, I would just plan to dine there instead of Chef Mickeys or Artist Point.

 

[Alesia]

You might make it by 6:30, but if you have any delays at all, you're going to be stuck paying the $10 per person no-show fee.

 

[kaytieeldr]

8 PM or later.

 

[tjmw2727]

IMHO traveling is stressful enough that we never make firm plans the first day. What if the plane is delayed, someone is airsick or just really tired from a day of traveling?

We just head to DME without worrying how long the trip will take and when we get to our room we see how everyone is doing and plan from there. Sometimes we hit the pool and do QS dinner at the resort if everyone is on the tired side, other times we hit the app to see if we can get an ADR on the spot if everyone is running on adrenalin and ready to go!

If your ok with loosing the per person fee and won't stress over it all day then I would make an ADR for no earlier than 7pm, mainly because resort to resort travel time requires a park transfer. If you are ok with rideshare that will cut down some on your travel time.

 

[asfarrell]

Figure 1 to 1.5 hours for ME. If you check in online, you will hopefully have your room assigned and you can just go right to your room to drop off your bags. Then I would take a Uber/Lyft/Minivan to the restaurant. You should be able to make the 6:30 time.

Uber might be our option....thank you.

 

[asfarrell]

The process from getting off the plane to arrival at your resort can take up to 90 minutes. Assuming you want to check in to your resort, freshen up etc. and then figuring in the time it will take to get to your ADR from All Star Movies, I wouldn't plan anything that didn't give you at least 3.5-4 hours of grace time between flight arrival and ADR. The last thing you want to do on your first day of vacation is be stressed and frantic trying to rush to make an ADR. Lots of things can cause delays and I personally would rather have more time than less. I think an ADR of 7 or 7:30 might be more reasonable and to me, it's ambitious to also plan Disney Springs for afterwards after a full day of travel. If Disney Springs is a priority, I would just plan to dine there instead of Chef Mickeys or Artist Point.

Lol...you are right, Disney Springs may be a bit much afterwards...thank you for the advice.

 

[asfarrell]

IMHO traveling is stressful enough that we never make firm plans the first day. What if the plane is delayed, someone is airsick or just really tired from a day of traveling?

We just head to DME without worrying how long the trip will take and when we get to our room we see how everyone is doing and plan from there. Sometimes we hit the pool and do QS dinner at the resort if everyone is on the tired side, other times we hit the app to see if we can get an ADR on the spot if everyone is running on adrenalin and ready to go!

If your ok with loosing the per person fee and won't stress over it all day then I would make an ADR for no earlier than 7pm, mainly because resort to resort travel time requires a park transfer. If you are ok with rideshare that will cut down some on your travel time.

Thank you....I'll shoot for the later reservation & maybe re-think trying to do Disney Springs afterwards.

 

[beccasmom]

We usually don’t make any overly ambitious plans for our first day, but if it’s a short trip you probably feel the need to hit the ground running. We are arriving at the resort hopefully right around noon on our upcoming trip - we normally arrive in late afternoon - and it’s a short trip, so we’re looking at our options. I never like cutting anything too close, but things happen - slow transportation, traffic, etc. Traveling has its own stresses - give yourself some leeway and hope for some pixie dust!

 

[NYCgrrl]

We tend to stay close to the resort we are staying at for arrival day/night meals.
I don't know how close ASM is to DS but since that is where you want to chill later in the evening that's where I'd chose to eat. Lots of choices and as PPs pointed out a reservation made at opentable is easier to make and has more availability and less restrictions than Mickey's ADR system.