leaving the same day as being at the parks? help please???

[lemonears6]

we have a trip coming up and one of our park days are on the day we leave to come back home. our flight does not leave till about 6:30pm. we are going to be at AK that day. What would the best plan be? i was thinking maybe the front desk might hold the luggage and we would take a uber back to the hotel from the park to make it faster but not 100% sure.. has anyone done this before?

 

[bookgirl2632]

We always have a park day the day we leave. We have bell services hold our bags and we just make sure to be back at the resort in plenty of time to grab our bags before DME picks us up. Just know a time that you should be leaving AK and stick to it.

 

[lemonears6]

We always have a park day the day we leave. We have bell services hold our bags and we just make sure to be back at the resort in plenty of time to grab our bags before DME picks us up. Just know a time that you should be leaving AK and stick to it.

ok, thank you. how much time do you normally give yourself to get back? or do you uber too?

 

[Scubadaddy32]

ok, thank you. how much time do you normally give yourself to get back? or do you uber too?

If you are going to UBER to the airport, I'd leave your resort 2 hours before your flight just to be safe. So I'd be at AK's resort bus stop by at 4pm or grab and UBER back to the resort as you are walking out of the park. It's usually no more than 20-30 minutes to the airport from most resorts, but better safe than sorry. We flew out at 7:30 pm on a Friday at the end of last month. It took less than 5 minutes to get our bags from bag check and it's in the lobby or outside the lobby where UBER picks you up.

 

[JoelB]

We always do a park on our last day. We usually get back an hour or so before our scheduled DME departure to give us plenty of time to get our bags from bell services, do any necessary rearranging of items between our checked luggage and carry-ons, and "say goodbye" to our resort.

I would leave AK about 45 minutes before whenever you decide you want to get back to your resort. Normally that's enough of a cushion to account for the unpredictability of afternoon buses. Actually, in our two COVID-era trips, there was almost always a bus waiting for us when leaving a park for an afternoon break -- much better than in "the before times". Luckily nowadays you can just call a rideshare if the bus takes too long, so if you want to leave later it isn't a big deal.

 

[kevgraub]

Based on your timeline, I would suggest leaving AK by about 3:30. That gets you back to the resort by 4:00, luggage picked up and ready to leave for the airport by 4:30.

That is the minimum time line I would be comfortable with. I'd probably push to be out of AK by 3:00 if it were me, but I'm one to err on the side of caution when it comes to getting to the airport.

And honestly, you can pretty much knock out all of AK by that time anyway. Do the rides that have longer waits early so you are not stuck in a line when it is time to leave. You no not want to have to decide whether to wait that last 20 minutes to get on FoP, or bail on the ride and head back because it is time to go.

 

[disneydentist]

Personally, I think leaving the resort two hours before your flight is kind of tight. IF you hit normal to light traffic and IF there's no backup at check-in and security then you're good. If not, well... We always try to get to the airport two hours before the flight time. Excessive? Maybe. Safe. Yep. The photos I attached were from April 17th around 11AM.

 

[bookgirl2632]

Personally, I think leaving the resort two hours before your flight is kind of tight. IF you hit normal to light traffic and IF there's no backup at check-in and security then you're good. If not, well... We always try to get to the airport two hours before the flight time. Excessive? Maybe. Safe. Yep. The photos I attached were from April 17th around 11AM.View attachment 577278View attachment 577279

I agree. If your flight is at 6:30, you should be at the airport no later than 4:30. Are you taking Uber to the airport or Magical Express? Either way, you’ll want to be on your way to the airport by 4pm. So I’d be back at the resort by 3:15 or 3:30 to collect your bags.

 

[Shellyred8]

ok, thank you. how much time do you normally give yourself to get back? or do you uber too?

This depends on which resort you are staying at. If you are staying at AKL, it will take less time to get from AK to AKL than it will to get to most of the other WDW resorts. For all other resorts, I would allow 30-45 minutes to get back to your resort if you are taking Disney buses. Maybe a little less if taking Uber.

I would also plan to leave for the airport 3 hours before your flight. If taking DME, they will give you the departure time from your resort when you get your DME notice the day before you leave. It's usually at least 3 hours before your departure time for domestic flights. The Orlando airport can be crazy busy or not too terrible, depending on your departure date and time. If you are flying with a bigger airline, your line to check-in/check baggage might be quite long. We usually fly Sun Country and there is rarely much of a line at MCO. But we have to pass the Delta Counters to get to the Sun Country counters and those are always crazy busy! If you have TSA Pre-check, that can help with some of the uncertainty of the security screening lines.

'Tis better to be too early than too late.

 

[jimmymc]

I usually go to MK the last day, even when I have an earlier flight. Bell services will hold your luggage. I would probably suggest being at the AK bus stop 1 hour before your Magical Express time.

 

[Heather07438]

Also be sure to keep updated on your flight. We usually go to the park on departure day and many times a flight delay came in that gave us an extra 1-3 hours. One time the flight was actually pulled back an hour but in the end got delayed and left just a bit after the original time.

And don’t stress too much, enjoy your day. If you have everything sorted beforehand (like luggage & which transport you’re taking) it should work out fine. Just stick to the schedule and stay updated.

 

[jimmymc]

Also be sure to keep updated on your flight. We usually go to the park on departure day and many times a flight delay came in that gave us an extra 1-3 hours. One time the flight was actually pulled back an hour but in the end got delayed and left just a bit after the original time.

And don’t stress too much, enjoy your day. If you have everything sorted beforehand (like luggage & which transport you’re taking) it should work out fine. Just stick to the schedule and stay updated.

I want to add to this that delays can be undone, so even if your flight is delayed you should still take your Magical Express, or see if the airline will change your flight.

 

[Heather07438]

I want to add to this that delays can be undone, so even if your flight is delayed you should still take your Magical Express, or see if the airline will change your flight.

Good point!

 

[SL6827]

Personally, I think leaving the resort two hours before your flight is kind of tight. IF you hit normal to light traffic and IF there's no backup at check-in and security then you're good. If not, well... We always try to get to the airport two hours before the flight time. Excessive? Maybe. Safe. Yep. The photos I attached were from April 17th around 11AM.View attachment 577278View attachment 577279

Whewwwwwww! Kinda of off topic, but this is exactly why I never travel during high season. Wow!!

 

[Mazz519]

Not a big fan of having Park Days on days that we leave, we used to do it when the kids were small but I found myself constantly checking my watch because I knew we had to leave.... We actually now make early flights so we can get home at a normal hour....

 

[Katie1174]

I think it depends in how comfortable you are in regards to getting to the airport. We always do a park day on departure day. We check our bags with bell services. Our flights are always around 6pm(its only a 2 hr flight for us) we used to take DME and they always picked us up 3 to 3 1/2 hrs early and we sat around way to long at the airport. Drove my hubby nuts. We decided to go the private car service route and they pick you up at your resort 2 hours before flight time(but you can specify a different time if you want) Has worked out perfectly for us so far. Our last trip, we just got back a week ago, we got the airport by 4:20 pm. The lines looked insane at Southwest and security but had our bags checked, though security and were at the gate at 4:50. They boarded us at 5:30. I respect and know some people feel they need to be safer and be there earlier but we are so much happier not waiting around.

 

[jimmymc]

Whewwwwwww! Kinda of off topic, but this is exactly why I never travel during high season. Wow!!

Get precheck too if you don't have it. Well worth it if you fly once a year or more.

 

[Leigh L]

Personally, I think leaving the resort two hours before your flight is kind of tight. IF you hit normal to light traffic and IF there's no backup at check-in and security then you're good. If not, well... We always try to get to the airport two hours before the flight time. Excessive? Maybe. Safe. Yep. The photos I attached were from April 17th around 11AM.View attachment 577278View attachment 577279

@lemonears6 This is about what it somewhat looked like end of February (week after President's week). I went through Precheck with my DD and waited for our family for at least a good 30 minutes. It sounds as if things are much busier since that time.

Also, lots of people have been reporting longer waits at bell services, but this may depend upon your resort. I'd factor this in too .

 

[MomOTwins]

Whewwwwwww! Kinda of off topic, but this is exactly why I never travel during high season. Wow!!

Every season is high season in post-vaccine 2021 because it is two years worth of travel rolled into one.

Resort buses midday are spotty and infrequent at the moment. We liked to do midday breaks and routinely waited between 45-75 minutes for a bus. And at the parks, there are no screens to tell you when the next bus is due to arrive. I think you should take an uber back to the hotel or else budget an hour for disney transportation.

I agree with others to leave the hotel 3 hrs before your flight. TSA pre if you have it helps with the security line but is no help at the bag check counter and that was worse than the security line on our last trip.

 

[SL6827]

Every season is high season in post-vaccine 2021 because it is two years worth of travel rolled into one.

Resort buses midday are spotty and infrequent at the moment. We liked to do midday breaks and routinely waited between 45-75 minutes for a bus. And at the parks, there are no screens to tell you when the next bus is due to arrive. I think you should take an uber back to the hotel or else budget an hour for disney transportation.

I agree with others to leave the hotel 3 hrs before your flight. TSA pre if you have it helps with the security line but is no help at the bag check counter and that was worse than the security line on our last trip.

But still during certain times there are a lot of people who will just not pull their kids out of school. I am not one of them.