Is this realistic?

[soniam]

When are you leaving? Different days may be busier than others. Do you have TSA pre-check? I don’t know if the buses back to the hotels are bad or not. I keep reading horror stories about the buses, but it mostly seemed at park opening and close.

 

[Heather07438]

Southwest canceled our later flights.
So now the latest we can get is 5pm.

is this realistic in current park times:

AK rope drop 9am
Ride FOP
Ride Navi river
Ride Everest

lunch at yak and yeti at 11 or so

leave AK 1230-1pm

arrive back at pop by 2 (At the latest) to catch magical express to the airport.

I guess my biggest question is should I ditch yak and yeti..

I think you'll be just fine. We like making a back-up plan to put us at ease so it doesn't distract from our park time. A ride share instead of the bus back to Pop would work well as a back-up just in case you get held up somehow. If it's getting close to 1pm and you're too far behind schedule then catch an uber.

 

[kwdw]

So - assume you have to be at Pop at 1:30 in order to catch your ME - which will probably be right about 2 pm. Could be 1:40 for ME, though. And yes - you need to give no less than 15-20 minutes at the resort to get your bags and swing by the restroom. I have DEFINITELY waited more than 10 minutes to get my bags at a resort many times.

Based on being at Pop at 1:30 - I would plan on exiting AK no later than 12. And by exiting - I mean walking out the entrance gates - not - starting your walk from Asia towards the front of the park.

Note - I PERSONALLY always judge needing to be exiting the park gates 1:45 before my ME pick up time. And if I plan to change clothes at the resort before boarding ME - 2 hours.

 

[fly girl]

On paper it sounds like it could work. However, you are dealing with Disney dining and transportation. Any number of things could cause a hiccup.

Personally, I wouldn't want to stress during my lunch about hurrying and getting out of there. But I am admittedly Type A.

Therefore, I would go to AK at rope drop, ride the rides, eat at Satu'li Canteen for lunch (its my personal favorite QS), then take an Uber/Lyft back to hotel to get Magical Express to MCO.