Plane lands at 9am?

[kitkat4622]

we are arriving at 9am @ MCO and my question is what would be the earliest time you would make an ADR for as a lunch reservation. we are staying at POFQ. thanks

 

[hllb]

Personally, I wouldn't make a lunch reservation. We are arriving around 10 am and I did make a dinner reservation for 5:15. I had a late lunch at 3:00 and decided I didn't want to worry about making it.

 

[hllb]

The other option, is to make a reservation not through Disney. Restaurants that use open table (or that you have to call) won't have the cancellation charge. Our dinner reservation is at T-Rex, but I called the restaurant directly so we won't get charged if we have to cancel the day of.

 

[scrapquitler]

we are arriving at 9am @ MCO and my question is what would be the earliest time you would make an ADR for as a lunch reservation. we are staying at POFQ. thanks

I wouldn't make a lunch ADR, too many things can go wrong. I'd go for an early dinner one instead (4:00 ish).

For perspective: two weeks ago our flight landed at 9:30 AM, we took ME to our resort, left our bags in our room, ate lunch at the food court (Pop), then took the bus to HS We were in HS at 1:00, BUT our flight was on time, we only waited a few minutes for ME, and our resort was the first stop that ME made. You can't count on anything going smoothly.

 

[dkrauss]

I agree with @hllb. Why add pressure to your "happy" arrival. There are enough quick service or snack locations that can keep you satisfied until dinner...........5pm is a good time for dinner since its early.

What ever you do have a wonderful trip.

Doug

 

[WishICouldSpeakWhale]

I agree with PP, I wouldn't make a reservation. If all goes perfectly, you might be at POFQ at 10:30. Or your flight could be delayed, and traffic on the route to the hotel.

Here's the other reason too. We flew in on a Saturday night, stayed at the airport Hyatt, then took ME at noon to our Disney resort. By the time we got there, we were starving and walked over to the brewery on the boardwalk and had a nice lunch. Well, by the time we were done, our 6pm dinner reservation was 3 hours away. There was no chance we could eat again. I was able to cancel by pleading our case at the podium, but it was a pain.

As for timing, the drive from the airport to Disney property is about 40 minutes. When you get on the bus, the driver will tell you the drop-off order. I'd plan on it taking 1-1.5 hours to get to a restaurant after you get to your resort. So if you are on the ME bus already, you can use that as a rough estimate of when you'd be able to make a reservation. Disney springs and Epcot are good options for finding reservations last minute. Disney springs would probably faster to get to from POFQ, and you wouldn't need a park ticket. Quick service in your hotel is a good, easy option too.

 

[bumbershoot]

I would do quick service.

 

[unrequited23]

I would wait and make a day of ADR if you didn't want to do QS.

 

[Oneanne]

I've only booked an ADR on day of arrival once, and missed it because my flight was late and there was a TSA event at the Orlando airport... so I won't do it again. Going along with what other PP's have suggested, go for CS or check and see what ADR's are available after you've arrived at your resort, and so many of the variables have been eliminated.

 

[kitkat4622]

Thank you everyone.

 

[BarbieGal457]

The other option, is to make a reservation not through Disney. Restaurants that use open table (or that you have to call) won't have the cancellation charge. Our dinner reservation is at T-Rex, but I called the restaurant directly so we won't get charged if we have to cancel the day of.

I second this! I use OpenTable a ton and have used it for restaurants in Disney that accept it. We are very good about making it to ADRs but I like the flexibility OpenTable provides (you also get dining points towards rewards). You can cancel with no penalty until very close to the reservation. The app is also very easy to navigate and use. I use OpenTable especially for Morimoto at Disney Springs! One small word of warning, if you don't cancel and just don't show, you can be warned and eventually have your account suspended.

 

[tlmadden73]

Personally if I arrive any time in the morning, I wouldn't put the pressure to meet an ADR time. TOO many factors potentially out of your control .

I would just eat at the resort (quick, convenient) when you check in, and then head over to Disney Springs where you have a wide selection of eating choices.

 

[wdw&sonny]

On the other hand, if you really want a particular ADR, I would not hesitate to make one for noon.
Yes, there are many variables...which include the Airline, your seats, if you checked bags, city you are flying from, the weather, your transportation etc.

I checked my past trips, for fun: We have made an ADR on arrival day for first meal on three trips (of about 12).
1. 8:50 AM arrival, made Yak and Yeti ADR for Noon (checked in at CSR before going to AK!)
2. 10:43 AM arrival, made T-Rex ADR at 12:30 PM.
3. 5:25 PM arrival, made Captain's Grille at 7:00 PM!!
For those trips, we didn't check bags, were flying in summer, the flight had a good record for being on-time, we were renting a car, and from Dollar Express (no waiting at counter), are familiar with the drive from MCO to WDW.

Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to convince you or disagree with the advice above. We usually do CS upon arrival. BUT, others may read this post and worry less about an ADR 3-5 hours after arrival.

 

[Dr.Mickey]

If you hold your plan loosely, and you don't mind eating the cancellation charge if it all goes south, then I say go for it.

Two weeks ago, we had a 3 o'clock landing with a 7 o'clock Raglan Road (our first time to try it). But I had a backup Raglan Road ADR for later in our trip in case we missed the first one. Most of our flights are within 15-30 minutes of on time, and this one was, too. We were in Disney Springs by 6:30. But with the backup ADR, we weren't stressed at all - just hopeful that our trip started easy.

 

[AngiTN]

If you do make the ADR and something happens you can't make it, you can always change it on the app or on the website using the Change Reservation feature. This can be done up till about (emphasis on about) 2 hours before arrival. So you'd know in plenty of time if you are going to make it or not in most cases. We don't like must of Disney QS so we are normally the type who make our ADR just before we are ready to eat but every once in a while we've made them in advance. And use the change feature often when our plans change along the way.

We have an arrival day ADR for our March trip because we are hoping to make Epcot to catch Illuminations and booked an ADR at Rose and Crown to do so. It's the only night we have to see it (short trip). If our flight is late leaving I'll change the ADR before we even take off. If we leave on time, we'll make it.

 

[StageTek]

my question is what would be the earliest time you would make an ADR for as a lunch reservation.

The earliest I would make a dining reservation with my flight landing at 9AM would be 1:30PM.

 

[kniquy]

Any ADR on day of arrival are questionable simply because you can not predict any flight delays (weather or mechanical). The earliest i would do would be dinner. Like PP mentioned it gives you time to modify the reservation if you can't make it. There is no need to start your vacation stressing about getting to an early reservation. Even without flight delays you could encounter a longer wait or traffic with magical express getting to your resort.

 

[sachilles]

Since you are at Port Orleans, skip a reservation. Take a boat to Disney Springs, plenty of options there which should be able to seat you with a minimal wait.

Of course if you intend to hit the parks asap, then I'd suggest doing a quick service in park. No need to rush around on your first day of vacation, especially if you were up early enough to arrive at MCO at 9am.

 

[Gehrig1B]

If you do make the ADR and something happens you can't make it, you can always change it on the app or on the website using the Change Reservation feature. This can be done up till about (emphasis on about) 2 hours before arrival.

This is worth noting as many do not know this. You can save the cancellation fee by modifying your reservation day of. We have had to do this on several occasions due to illness or park hopping strategy changes. You are not locked into your ADR even day of. I have even had to change an ADR (day of) to another day and then cancelled the ADR later for legitimate reasons without penalty.

The point is you can make an ADR for arrival day and if your flight is delayed or cancelled you can still use the app to change the ADR so as not to forfeit the cancellation penalty, even from 30,000 feet if your plane has wi-fi!

 

[stink]

Our plane arrives at 10:30, staying at AKL Kidani, using Magical Express, have a 1PM ADR at Sanaa. I am not stressed about making it. If something should delay arrival I will notify Disney, try to adjust the time of the reservation. I have had to do that on another occasion and they were more than accomodating.