Magical Express Timings

[MaleDisneyBeliever]

Can anyone help me?

I land on an international flight in at MCO at 3:35pm. Im booked on to the DME to travel to CBR. I intend to use an internal Disney bus to travel to Disney Springs after checking in. At what time would you say is safe to make my ADR?

 

[angierae]

Honestly, I wouldn't. There's way too many things that could go wrong on a travel day like that.

 

[ErinsMommy]

6:30.

 

[Peppeperoni]

You can just wing it at the springs! Lots of good tasty stuff that you don’t need a reservation for!

 

[siren0119]

I'd be hesitant to make an ADR just because with a late landing you don't have a lot of wiggle room if anything causes a delay.

But assuming things go smoothly and you land on time, for domestic flights in the US it usually takes around 90 minutes from landing to arriving at the resorts. I would add 30-60 minutes to that for an international flight that has to go through additional entry checks. So around 2.5 hrs on the long end to get to your resort. Once you get settled into your room (maybe another 30-45 minutes between walking to and from the lobby, freshening up, etc), plan on a 20-ish minute ride from the resort to Disney Springs. At this point we're at 4 hours from landing. The earliest you could safely make an ADR assuming everything went smoothly would be around 8pm. If you are pretty intent on dining in DS that night, you might want to consider using Uber/lyft or another car service instead of DME so that you can cut some time off your transition between the airport and the resort.

 

[garris3404]

7:00, but I agree with PPs that you might not want to make an ADR? Some restaurants accept OpenTable reservations. Not sure of the cancellation policy with OpenTable?

 

[bumbershoot]

7:00, but I agree with PPs that you might not want to make an ADR? Some restaurants accept OpenTable reservations. Not sure of the cancellation policy with OpenTable?

OT reservations can be cancelled in the app or rescheduled. It’s the only way I make raglan road reservations.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Moving to the Transportation board.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Unless my flight is supposed to land in the morning or early afternoon I don't book an ADR since you just never know.

I guess if I were in your situation and wanted to make an ADR I'd make it for 7pm maybe?

But really I'd just wing it instead. Maybe see what time I actually arrive to MCO and while on DME look for an ADR.

 

[Searc]

OT reservations can be cancelled in the app or rescheduled. It’s the only way I make raglan road reservations.

Unless that has changed with the newest update, I was unable to cancel or modify ADR's last week via the app. I would have had to call and I wasn't wasting vacation time on the phone to do it. Hopefully, they restored that option with the newest update.

 

[siren0119]

Unless that has changed with the newest update, I was unable to cancel or modify ADR's last week via the app. I would have had to call and I wasn't wasting vacation time on the phone to do it. Hopefully, they restored that option with the newest update.

ADR's through MDE and OpenTable reservations are two different things.

 

[cedricandsophie]

Most of the restaurants at Disney Springs can be made thru Open Table
No penalty for cancelling but if you just don’t show up they do send an email chastising you a bit. And I suppose if you did it enough you could get banned. We’ve started doing more reservations on OP just to avoid worrying about wanting to change plans at the last minute

 

[bumbershoot]

Unless that has changed with the newest update, I was unable to cancel or modify ADR's last week via the app. I would have had to call and I wasn't wasting vacation time on the phone to do it. Hopefully, they restored that option with the newest update.

I’m referring to the reservations made in the Open Table app.

 

[ncc1701]

Most of the restaurants at Disney Springs can be made thru Open Table
No penalty for cancelling but if you just don’t show up they do send an email chastising you a bit. And I suppose if you did it enough you could get banned. We’ve started doing more reservations on OP just to avoid worrying about wanting to change plans at the last minute

I have read Open Table does have a policy of dropping you after X# of no shows. But you can easily go online or on the App to cancel . Had to do it a few time with local restaurants when work messed up our plans. We booked The Boathouse on Open Table the night before when MDE was showing no availability. I would either wing it the 1st night, book with OT before your trip or check MDE once you are on DME ( or at least in line) for an ADR. There are some very good QS at DS also. We are frequent Wolfgang Puck Express every trip at least twice and enjoyed Polite Pig on our last visit.
Also bar seating depending on your party size and makeup is a possibility.

 

[nkereina]

If you arrive at 3:30, you can reasonably expect to be at your resort around 5pm. Check-in, get settled in your room, catch a bus to Disney Springs - I would expect to arrive there around 6-6:15pm. I would make an ADR no earlier than 7pm, to give yourself some flexibility. And I would also be prepared to lose $10 per person in case you encounter travel delays and don't make it. You have to cancel by midnight the day before to avoid penalties.

I tend to agree with PPs that I would not make an ADR, and would either eat QS, try a TS as a walk-up, or check the MDE app when you're there to see which ADRs are available at that time.

 

[siren0119]

If you arrive at 3:30, you can reasonably expect to be at your resort around 5pm. Check-in, get settled in your room, catch a bus to Disney Springs - I would expect to arrive there around 6-6:15pm. I would make an ADR no earlier than 7pm, to give yourself some flexibility. And I would also be prepared to lose $10 per person in case you encounter travel delays and don't make it. You have to cancel by midnight the day before to avoid penalties.

I tend to agree with PPs that I would not make an ADR, and would either eat QS, try a TS as a walk-up, or check the MDE app when you're there to see which ADRs are available at that time.

The OP is traveling internationally, and getting through the international checkpoints adds time that domestic travelers don't have to worry about. 90 minutes is pretty standard resort arrival time for us domestic folks

 

[cmwade77]

Can anyone help me?

I land on an international flight in at MCO at 3:35pm. Im booked on to the DME to travel to CBR. I intend to use an internal Disney bus to travel to Disney Springs after checking in. At what time would you say is safe to make my ADR?

Start of business the following day. No, seriously, I would not make ADRs on the travel day, especially when international travel is involved, so many things could go wrong and you might not be at your resort until 8 or 9 at night if they do.

 

[pixiedustedme]

Make the ADR and if you run late, just modify the ADR to take place on another day, rather than outright cancelling it. And if that other day ends up not working for you, you can cancel that ressie in advance.