Monorail'ing' around the lagoon, 1st day plan?

[Zaz936]

Hi,

Coming in a month, and we are getting excited. Not a full Disney trip, but we managed to sneak in 2 days of parks, and few Disney activities and meals in the evenings when not doing parks.

So, we land at MCO at 12h11. I assume we'll be at our hotel in Kissimmee around 2 PM. Then we'll lounge around the pool and wait for our grocery delivery service.

We have a reservation at Chef Mickey at 7:55 PM.

I was thinking of leaving our hotel around 5 PM for the Grand Floridian. Visit the lobby, then boat to MK, and get our tickets and purchase magic bands at the Guest Service outside MK.

Then Monorail to the Polynesian to visit the hotel and maybe grab a quick drink at Trader Sam's. I have never been since the water huts have been added, anything to see there?

Then Monorail to the Contemporary around 7:30 for our meal.

Do I have enough time? Still doable?

Thanks!

Isabelle

 

[Hopefully]

I think you have underestimated the time needed

 

[Hopefully]

Sorry. Duplicate

 

[Ben E N]

I think you have underestimated the time needed

Agreed. Give yourself a full half hour travel time between each monorail stop. Bag check security is a lot more intensive than the last time you were there if you haven't been since the bungalows went up.
Why not move the Trader Sam's stop to an after dinner drink? Then you are doing one full loop of the monorail as opposed to 1.75 loops, or whatever it may be.

 

[Micca]

How are you getting to property from your offsite hotel? I ask because if you have a rental car you will want to park at the Contemporary because you have an ADR for Chef Mickey. You may be denied parking a rental car at Grand Floridian.

I think you're timing is ok, you might just want to change the order a bit. If you start at CR you could walk to MK to take care of tickets. etc and then board the monorail for your tour.

My other concern is Trader Sam's. It opens at 4pm and fills up immediately. You might have a long wait to be admitted. As an option you might consider Tambu Lounge nextdoor to 'Ohana. Or you could go to TS to get a buzzer and wait in the Tambu Lounge.

 

[Zaz936]

Thank you! We have a 5 yrs old that is used to an early night, and the next morning is our AK day, so the Trader Sam's stop would need to be prior to the meal. We'll try and leave earlier, and if that doesn't work, we'll skip the Poly. Yes, not used to bag checks....

 

[cgattis]

Trader Sams may not be quick. It’s tiny so can have a long wait. You can get a drink on the patio pretty quickly though, but you wouldn’t get to see the inside. I’d agree with PP to save that for after.

ETA: looks like we posted at the same time. Are children allowed in Trader Sams? I don’t remember seeing any...?

 

[Zaz936]

This is very helpful, thank you.

We will take an uber in. Maybe we could do this the other way around? Get dropped off at the Polynesian, go for a drink at Traders OR Tambu OR patio depending on amount of people. Et on the Monorail to go visit the Grand Floridian. Boat to MK GS for our tickets then walk or monorail to Contemporary?

Ps, on its website, it says that Trader Sam is open to children until 8 pm.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Are children allowed in Trader Sams? I don’t remember seeing any...?

Yes, all ages are allowed prior to 8pm. After 8pm it's 21+.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

My other concern is Trader Sam's. It opens at 4pm and fills up immediately

Quick clarification, Trader Sam's now opens at 3pm. It used to be 4pm but changed awhile back (sometime over the last year'ish). I have trouble remembering this myself as my mind always wants to say 4pm.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

and get our tickets and purchase magic bands at the Guest Service outside MK.

Dissecting this a bit, you can't buy Magic Bands at Guest Relations outside of MK. There are two gift shops on either side of the MK entrance that might sell Magic Bands (I don't know this for certain) and if they do you'll be limited to whatever selection they have. You can find various assortments of Magic Bands in any of the resort gift shops - that would be another option based on your travels.

And important edit to add upon further thought, those two gift shops at the MK entrance are both inside the ticket gates, so you'd have to use a park admission to access - FYI.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

This is very helpful, thank you.

We will take an uber in. Maybe we could do this the other way around? Get dropped off at the Polynesian, go for a drink at Traders OR Tambu OR patio depending on amount of people. Et on the Monorail to go visit the Grand Floridian. Boat to MK GS for our tickets then walk or monorail to Contemporary?

Ps, on its website, it says that Trader Sam is open to children until 8 pm.

I would start at the Poly. If you really want to go inside Trader Sam's, your best bet is to be there 15-30 minutes prior to opening (which puts you arriving around 2:30/2:45 pm) which is going to give you a ton of time to kill before Chef Mickey's and may not be ideal. If you are flexible with where you get your drink (and are happy with Tambu or the outside patio at Trader Sam's), I would arrive at Poly around 4:00 pm. This will give you ample time to look around Poly, get a drink somewhere (maybe get lucky with Trader Sam's if they have space available), and then get through security to take the monorail to GF. There is a new lounge at GF as well (Enchanted Rose) which may be worth checking out as well. After you leave GF, keep in mind, you will have to go through security again (either prior to entering the monorail or after you exit the boat at MK). You also want to leave ample time to possibly wait in line at guest services outside MK. If you cannot purchase MBs at MK, they have a fairly big selection at the Contemporary Resort in the gift shop just a short ways away from Chef Mickey's.

 

[CastAStone]

I’d strongly suggest saving some money by buying tickets ahead of time on a 3rd party using the Touring Plans Cheapest Ticket tool.

https://touringplans.com/walt-disney-world/ticket-calculator
You can also buy magic bands ahead of time at shopdisney.com if you want to save some time.

 

[Zaz936]

I have tickets bought from the Disney site, but need to get the card. If I buy the MB at the contemporary, can they link it to my my account in My Disney experience where I have my tickets, FP and memory maker? That would save me from going somewhere else.

Unfortunately, I don't have time to receive the MB in Canada in three 3 weeks, so I need to buy onsite.

I'll research the enchanted rose!

 

[CastAStone]

I have tickets bought from the Disney site, but need to get the card. If I buy the MB at the contemporary, can they link it to my my account in My Disney experience where I have my tickets, FP and memory maker? That would save me from going somewhere else.

Unfortunately, I don't have time to receive the MB in Canada in three 3 weeks, so I need to buy onsite.

I'll research the enchanted rose!

The employees at the Contemporary should be able to do that, you can ask when you checkout. Otherwise you can link them yourself after purchase on the mydisneyexperience mobile website (you can’t do it in the app). It Takes about 3-4 minutes per band, it’s Something to do on the monorail.

You can also buy magic bands at the Disney store in the Orlando airport.

 

[Polydweller]

FYI, the boat route at the GF is:

MK -> GF -> Poly -> MK

So taking the boat from GF is the long way around and not quick. Might want to revise that and take the monorail from GF to MK. MK is the next stop from GF.

I’m Canadian as well and MBs are not shipped to Canada or anywhere else outsid the US. So, if you are staying at a Disney hotel they will be shipped and ready for pickup at your hotel. That’s how we get them every year and you can go ahead and order them and they will be ready for you. However, if you aren’t staying at a Disney hotel you will have to buy them there.

 

[Zaz936]

Thank you everyone for your help. I'll save a step and buy my MB at the airport or the contemporary. And visit the hotels starting the the Poly, and then direct to the Contemporary from the GF.