So, we're flying in on May 24th in the evening and staying at the airport hotel. What time do you think we should take the DME the next morning to get to POR for a May 25th check-in? How long does the process usually take to get from the airport using DME and getting to your resort, and getting our park passes and such? For example, if we had an 8am DME reservation,what's a realistic time we could actually be walking down Main Street at MK? What do you think?
Just so you know, when you are going from the airport to the resort, you don't have a specific reservation time ... you check in at the DME counter, and then they direct you to a bus queue, and from there to a bus.
Anyway, let's say you get to the DME counter at the airport at 8:00 a.m. The average time from plane to resort is 70 minutes. You won't be starting from the plane, but figure you'll get to POr around 9:15 a.m. Although there aren't set routes, it's a good bet you'll stop at POFQ (if there are any POFQ guests "arriving" at the same time you are) before stopping at POR.
Anyway, checking in at any Disney resort is hit and miss. Personally, I've never had a speedy check in process regardless of time of day or method of arrival. Realistically, if you arrive at 9:15 a.m., expect to be done check in by 9:35 or 9:40 a.m. (could be sooner). You never know, your room might be ready. Even if it is, if time is of the essence for you, don't go to your room, just have Bell Services store all your bags for you, and go out to the main bus stop.
You could wait up to 15 minutes or so for a MK bus. So you board the bus at 9:55 a.m., pull up at MK at 10:10 a.m., walk to the gate by 10:15 a.m. Bag check, line for turnstiles, breathing in the MK air ... 10:20 a.m. Walking down Main Street 10:25 a.m.
Of course, your mileage may vary ....
