Planning Our Last Day and Magical Express

[kennezgirl]

On the last day of our trip, we have an 8:25 pm flight out of Orlando. We will be going to a park that day and it is going to be a busy one on the crowd calculator.
I would like to plan one last nice dinner at a restaurant, but I am not sure what time we will be expected to be back at our resort to catch the Magical Express.
What do you think would be the latest dining reservation time we could get in a park and be able to ride the bus back to our resort to catch the Magical Express to the airport?

 

[disneymayz]

I believe that ME will pick you up 3 hrs before your flight. So that would make it 5:25PM that you would have to be back at your resort. You may be better off having a nice lunch.

 

[PoohsHunnyBee]

I'd do a last nice lunch. Magical Express pickup is typically 3 hours before your flight for domestic travel, and IIRC you must be there 15 minutes before the scheduled time or risk losing your spot. The latest advisable reservation time depends on a lot of things like which park and resort, does the restaurant you choose often run behind on seating people, how long will it take you to eat, will you be checking your bags at the resort airline desk, will you have carry-ons with you or need to pick them up from bell services before catching the ME bus, etc.

 

[kennezgirl]

Thank you so much. Lots to think about. I am hoping we can check our bags at the resort. We are flying on Southwest. We are planning to visit Animal Kingdom that day and it sounds like we should eat lunch there rather than go to another resort or something.
Do you think Rainforest Cafe at 3:00 pm would work? I am not sure if they run behind or not. We have never eaten there.

 

[disneymayz]

Thank you so much. Lots to think about. I am hoping we can check our bags at the resort. We are flying on Southwest. We are planning to visit Animal Kingdom that day and it sounds like we should eat lunch there rather than go to another resort or something.
Do you think Rainforest Cafe at 3:00 pm would work? I am not sure if they run behind or not. We have never eaten there.

Where re you staying? Also allow time for the bus to show up and travel back to the resort.

 

[Alesia]

If your flight is at 8:25, your pickup time will be somewhere between 5:10 and 5:40. You need to be at the platform, completely ready to go 15 minutes before that. Wherever you go that day, you need to be on a bus back to your resort by 3:45 at the latest. Don't make an ADR for after 2:15.

 

[kj2mom]

We had a similar flight time and our last meal reservation was 1:45. We took our time and completely enjoyed ourselves with plenty of time to get there with no stress.

 

[PoohsHunnyBee]

Thank you so much. Lots to think about. I am hoping we can check our bags at the resort. We are flying on Southwest. We are planning to visit Animal Kingdom that day and it sounds like we should eat lunch there rather than go to another resort or something.
Do you think Rainforest Cafe at 3:00 pm would work? I am not sure if they run behind or not. We have never eaten there.

Southwest lets you check bags at the resort. Unless you're willing to take a taxi if things take a bit longer than you anticipate, I'd say no ADR later than 2 pm.

 

[Nancyg56]

Whatever you do, please remember that the time on your DME tag is the departure time for the bus. I made that mistake my first time and arrived as the bus was pulling away. Most stressful Disney departure ever!

I would plan a nice lunch. We generally hit a park or DTD and have a CS lunch, but have als planned a nice resort character breakfast as well, then stop in at a park or DTD. If we are hungry before departure time, we will just stop at resort CS.

 

[cgattis]

Personally, in that situation, I'd have one last meal at Boma...mmm!!

 

[KNovacovschi]

What park are you planning and what resort are you staying at?

Our flight is at 7:15pm and I have an ADR at Sci Fi for 2pm. We are staying at POP and going to HS on departure day as that is the closest park to POP and is only a few mins away on bus. We will eat and then go directly back to POP, which should give us more then enough time for the ME. We however usually do MK so book a later breakfast at Chef Mickeys.

 

[Hopefully]

No 3 PM is way too late. As the others have said, you need to be back at your resort a good 3 hour, 15 minutes before your ME pickup time. Before that you need to allow time to pick up any stored carry ons and a bathroom break.
Good Luck