Timing of dinner on arrival day

[jo-jo]

When it's just DH and I, we tend to get the first nonstop of the day, so dinner isn't a problem. But now this next trip in May with DS and family, we may not do an early morning flight. The next nonstop on SW would get us to Orlando at 2 pm. I made a 5:10 ADR for Ohana, but now I'm second guessing that plan. We are staying at BLT. What do you think, ....too close?

 

[Nancyg56]

I would be nervous because I cannot control any delays that occur. You are close to the Poly, so your travel time once you arrive at your resort and check in will be fine, but if there are any delays in transit, you may be rushing more that is comfortable.

I refuse to begin a trip rushing to get to an ADR. I will say that others have indicated that a 3 hour window is generally safe.

 

[3Gsandme]

That's as close as I would make it and it would still be iffy. SW DOES pad their flight times, so it would swallow a little delay. If you land at two, don't have to wait for DME and don't have a lot of other stops on your us, you could be at BLT before 3:30. But, you're not in control of any of that.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Unfortunately on arrival days, you have very little control over the timing of your day if there are delays or cancellations. If all goes according to plan, you will be fine. If not, you need to be ok with paying the no-show fee. I'm in the same boat. I really want to do Club Villain on our arrival day (land at 1 pm, show is at 5 pm), but I'm already stressing over the idea of our flight being delayed so will most likely cancel. On arrival days, I typically don't make ADR's until we actually land or are in our hotel lobby. That way I have a much better idea of when we will actually be able to make the reservation. Obviously, this probably won't work for O'hana as it's so hard to get, but if you are flexible with where you are willing to eat, you will most likely find something available.

 

[figment_jii]

The general rule of thumb that I've read, is allow 3 hours from when you get to DME to when you're walking into a theme park. So, assuming your flight lands on time and there are no delays with traffic, checking into your hotel, catching the monorail to the Poly, etc., you should be able to make it, but it'll probably be pretty close. That being said, you have to decide if you're willing to pay the no show fee if something happens and you can't/don't make the reservation ($10 per person on the ADR). Personally, I would look for a later time, just to be safe. I find that travel days are stressful enough, without having the added stress of worrying about making it to an ADR.

 

[mikeyg1479]

I would say if things go as planned with your travels/flight, you will be at Ohana no problem. That said, you hit the airport at 2, get in magical express line(or get your rental- would get to your resort by 3:30 if not much even quicker- even allowing a generous hour to check in (or simply give bags to bell services at hotel), and get on the monorail from Contempary to the Polynesian, I'd say you have time.

BUT of course any major flight delays, problems with magical express/rental arrangements/monorail delay- that could make it dicey. Probably won't happen, but it could.

Up to you, really- you probably won't be rescheduling Ohana any other day/time given its popularity- since its you and husband traveling, you stand to lose $20 on the reservation if you keep it and it doesn't work out. If you really love Ohana, keep the ressie, you will probably be fine, and if not you are out $20 which stinks but isn't catastrophic considering what these trips cost.

 

[Hopefully]

Since I see you are travelling with DH, DS and his family, I believe you would be out more than the $20 mentioned above.
I am with the others. If everything goes exactly on time you would make it. But travel day is full of uncontrollable delays.
I never make an ADR sooner than 5 hours after scheduled arrival and only if I am comfortable with possibly paying the no show fee

 

[jo-jo]

That was my thinking, getting to BLT about 3:30. I was planning on nothing else that day except maybe swimming. No parks at all. I'll keep an eye on any ADR that might come up a bit later. Right now the only time slot is 8:10. That's too late. I'd be up all night, not a good way to start a trip.

Or I can convince my DS and family it's fun to get to the airport at 5:30 AM with 2 small kids.

 

[IrishNYC]

I would just travel earlier. It's our preferred way to travel, and has been since well before we had DD. She's flown once or twice a year for the last 7 years since she was 6 months old, and with only 2 exceptions we have always taken the first flight of the day. Once we took a 6pm flight after a drive that should have been 3 hours and took us 6 hours. We were rushing to the gate as the door closed. The only other time we didn't take a first flight was our last trip home from Disney because that would have had us leaving on DME at 3am.

Kids are resilient. If you take the first flight, you'll be at BLT by 10 or 11, and you can relax, even if you don't get in your room right away. You're there, you don't have to worry about not making it to your ADR, and if you keep that earlier ADR you can go back and get a good night's sleep and be up and ready early the next day.