Lunch reservation on arrival day

[ellone]

Do the experts think we could safely make it to a noon reservation at Crystal Palace on our arrival day? We get into MCO at 9:40 on a Saturday. We'll be staying at BLT so we can walk to the MK.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

You should be able to. Just remember that if something does happen, you will be charged $10 per person for the no show.

 

[ghtx]

I think that's pretty close, and there is a non-negligible chance that you would miss it. Doesn't mean you need to cancel it, but be prepared for having to miss it (and pay the cancellation fee).

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

Are you planning on taking Magical Express? If so, that likely means you won't make it to BLT until around 10:40. Figure 30 minutes for check in and that puts you at 11:10. Walking to Magic Kingdom is another 10 minutes so that has you there at 11:20. You are supposed to check in 15 minutes ahead of time so you have about 25 minutes to play with if your flight is delayed, ME takes longer, or there is a long line at check-in. I think you would likely make it, but I would still be a bit nervous and might see about moving it to 12:30, just to be safe.

 

[ellone]

Well we don't have to check in when we get there - we have paper tickets so we don't need the room keys to get into the park. We can drop the bags and go right to the park.


So it sounds like we should be fine.

 

[jlsmith376]

I think you'll be fine. We've been to Crystal Palace for lunch and didn't check in 15 minutes early - we checked in right on time and they still honored our reservation. Then we still waited for another 15 or 20 minutes before they sat us.

 

[grimley1968]

Are you planning on taking Magical Express? If so, that likely means you won't make it to BLT until around 10:40. Figure 30 minutes for check in and that puts you at 11:10. Walking to Magic Kingdom is another 10 minutes so that has you there at 11:20. You are supposed to check in 15 minutes ahead of time so you have about 25 minutes to play with if your flight is delayed, ME takes longer, or there is a long line at check-in. I think you would likely make it, but I would still be a bit nervous and might see about moving it to 12:30, just to be safe.

Agreed, but if the OP is renting a car instead, there should be plenty of time. If OP does use ME, I'd recommend pushing the ADR back an hour if possible.

 

[danceintherain]

Well we don't have to check in when we get there - we have paper tickets so we don't need the room keys to get into the park. We can drop the bags and go right to the park.


So it sounds like we should be fine.

That's exactly what I was thinking. Heck, if ME drops off at a different monorail resort first, you could just get off there. Though I don't know if that would be significantly faster, since you can walk from the Contemporary.

My biggest concern would be a flight delay, but I have really bad luck when it comes to flying.

 

[ellone]

My biggest concern would be a flight delay, but I have really bad luck when it comes to flying.

We're on one of the first flights of the morning plus it's a direct flight. Heck last time Southwest (flying them again this time) got us in 15 minutes early on this flight.