Realistically, what can we do on departure day?

[Carebare609]

Our flight leaves at 5:35 pm on our departure day (so I assume we'll need to be there by at least 2:30/3) We are staying in a villa off site, about 30-40 min away from Orlando international.

I'm wondering if it's reasonable to try to do a park in the morning. We've got three children (5 1/2, 3 and 4 months) and we're early risers. I was thinking if we were packed up the night before and had cases in the car that night then maybe we could make rope drop somewhere, but i just dont know if this is asking for trouble.

REally interested in some seasoned DISers advice though!

 

[stba2006]

We always try and do a park in the morning on our departure day. The last time we only spent 2 hours there, but it was worth it (especially for my boyfriend, as there would have been tears on the plane from me if not )

We always try to make splash mountain our first and last ride of the trip, so we go to MK on our last morning . We normally manage to do SM, maybe 2 other rides if it is a good day and a last look in the christmas shop before we start making our way back . This has never been a rush for us.

There are only 2 of us though, which can sometimes make a big difference in the logistics.

 

[Carebare609]

Thanks stba, so in theory it seems possible I was thinking it would be nice to end in MK, let the boys choose one thing each they want to do again and any left over time after that to just enjoy the surroundings/shops to avoid trying to cram too much in.

The only spanner is the day we leave, June 7th is an EMH in the morning at Mk. If we still make normal rope drop is it still worth it or should we try another park?

 

[stba2006]

In theory

I'll be honest, i can't remember if we went on EMH mornings or not but i know that we didn't get there for rope drop and still managed it.

My though is that if you have a plan before you go then you should be fine, but it may be that some-one else has a different opinion.

For us MK is the perfect end to our trips and i think we would feel cheated a bit if we didn't manage to do it

 

[disneyholic family]

with kids as young as yours, it seems to be asking for trouble..
they're going to be EXHAUSTED when you head off for the airport...
just exhausted would be good, but exhausted and cranky isn't so good..

i don't know...

you don't say how far you are from WDW...
you said 40 minutes from the airport, so you'll have to leave for the airport at about 2 PM...

you also don't say what time of year you're going...

if it's hot summer...that will add to the exhaustion...

i don't know..

i suppose you could go for 2 hours...
when is regular opening? 9?
so you'll get there at 9 and leave at 11...

i suppose...

maybe just to go and say hi to the characters....
and maybe the winnie the pooh ride...

but you'll have to very carefully watch your time...

and get out exactly at 11...so that you can go back to the villa, eat lunch, load up the car and leave...

when will you refill the rental car?

and there's EMH....welll you can rule out any of the killer line fantasyland rides...you won't be able to do dumbo...that's for sure.

 

[disneyholic family]

how about instead doing a character breakfast at one of the resorts that morning?

 

[Bonnie151]

We always plan to but then can never be bothered. We usually end up spending some time at DTD just having one last wander around the shops and getting some snacks for the airport.

 

[fairytale]

Our flight leaves at 5:35 pm on our departure day (so I assume we'll need to be there by at least 2:30/3) We are staying in a villa off site, about 30-40 min away from Orlando international.

I'm wondering if it's reasonable to try to do a park in the morning. We've got three children (5 1/2, 3 and 4 months) and we're early risers. I was thinking if we were packed up the night before and had cases in the car that night then maybe we could make rope drop somewhere, but i just dont know if this is asking for trouble.

REally interested in some seasoned DISers advice though!

We have four children who are now DS9, DS8, DS5 and DD4 but we have been visiting WDW for the past few years so can share having young, young ones in tow.

From a personal experience the first year we decided to check in and off load our luggage at DTD at 8am on our departure day, (something you may wish to consider if your flying VA) we then went for breakfast at DTD and had a walk around the shops, that took us to about 11.30 and then ended up struggling to decide what else to do, we then went for a walk around the mall (which we had already visited) but couldnt really buy anything else as all our luggage was now with Virgin. We then went for lunch and headed off the airport. Looking back I had planned the whole trip to the hour (near enough) but we all felt the last day was a disappointing end to our last day.

The next year we checked in the same at DTD, had breakfast at Wolfgangs and then spent the day at Gatorland which is on the way to the airport. Our children really enjoyed it here, its not Amazing but definately good for soaking up a half day.

This year we plan on again, checkin in at DTD and heading off for Animal Kingdom for the day.

IMO, definately plan to go somewhere and do something, even if your only there a couple of hours, you'll remember those couple of hours as much as any other part of your holiday

Annette x

 

[Carebare609]

Lots of good things to consider there Disneyholic!!! If we did it, i think we'd have the car all ready to go, have lunch at the park (or on the way to airport to save $$) and go straight to the airport. But yes it could still be tight, and potentially stressfull!! Add in to that possibly erratic times of the baby needing feeding at it could all go wrong!

I like you're idea of a character breakfast! It might be a bit late now but i'm off to see if i can nab any ADRS

We're going May24th - June 7th, so it will be quite hot for us!

Bonnnie, sounds like perfect last day to me, but my two boys hate shopping, even when it involves toys and things for them their attention span for shopping is still amazingly short!

 

[Pegasus928]

You haven't mentioned who you are flying with.
If you are with Virgin you can check and get rid of your luggage at DTD as early as 8am.
We stay in a villa when we go and do this every time - luggage is then out of our hands usually by 9am giving us a good few hours to decide what we want to do.
We have sometimes done a park, others just gone for a wander down I-drive or stayed at DTD and lunch - but it very much depends on the whole group as to what we do.

 

[Carebare609]

We're flying with BA Pegasus. It seems there are some real benefits to flyign with Virgin but didn't know it when i booked. Oh well.

Thanks for that perspective Fairytale, some good options too, will have a look at Gatorland. As an aside, i've just finished reading Steve and Me (Terri Irwins book) so very facinated by Gators at the moment!

 

[Dave_uk]

Last time we went departure day is day 15, does this mean we can not go to a park if we only have 14 day tickets?

Thanks

 

[Nadia_disfan]

We've always done this, I'm pretty sure any crankiness we've incurred as a result would have happened regardless, and is worth it, my kids have always treasured their last chance at Disney, we've never found it a problem, and it distracts from the sadness that it's our last day, you wait so long to get there, I think you should squeeze every last happy drop

 

[Mickey2013]

How 'bout packing up and getting out of your rental by your 10 AM checkout and having a late breakfast at an Epcot resort and doing the Boardwalk? Or Chef Mickey's, riding the monorail and exploring the resorts there. Ride to MK gates. boat to Fort Wilderness and explore the animals, horses, paths, playground. Are you still able to use the pool at your rental resort after checkout? You could hang at the pool and do lunch, then get dressed and head to airport.

 

[orangetiggs]

Last time we went departure day is day 15, does this mean we can not go to a park if we only have 14 day tickets?

Thanks

tickets are valid 14 days from first use so if you dont use them on arrival day you should be ok to use them on departure day

 

[catherine]

Previous trips we've checked our luggage at DTD and then headed over to Chef Mickey's for breakfast and then we've gone to MK. Now our DDs are older they prefer to go to Epcot on our last day. So this year we're going to check in at DTD go and get breakfast (we've not decided where yet) and head over to Epcot. We love having a character breakfast on the last day. Perhaps Chef Mickey's is something that you could do. That way your children can spend some more time with the characters and you won't be rushing around as much!

One thing though I'm not sure that I would leave the cases in the car. We just leave our carry on stuff in the car (minus passports tickets etc.) and that makes me nervous.

 

[dixonsontour]

We did luggage drop at DTD as we flew with virgin. it was busy and took a while to get checked in (Oct school hols).

Then a character meal for DD at Grand Floridian at 10.30 followed by a loop on the monorail which was nice.

Then a bit of time at DTD then airport.

 

[DCLMan]

We do luggage drop at DTD and then go to DisneyQuest, have lunch at Earl of Sandwich and have a wander round the shops.

 

[Elise79]

Our flight is usually later as we take the late VA flight (19.30) so we check in at DTD then back to MK where do a last couple of rides then we have lunch at The Plaza (ADR booked in advance) and usually have time to catch the afternoon parade

Btw we have being doing this with our DD since she was 9 mths. At a younger age she napped I. The stroller and now she tends to sleep in the car on the way to the airport. Although I am hoping this year she won't sleep at all so she sleeps all the way on the plane

 

[london75]

We also do DTD check in then a few hours in MK. We're on the late flight this year but to save a day's car rental we're heading to the airport for 3:30 so in MK until about 2. You can soak a lot of memories in 4 hours at MK and the kids are tired for the flight then.

EDIT: After reading that I've realised that's 5 hours in the airport, yikes. Best look at extending the car rental