Torn between and early and late flight heading home from WDW

[PeasandCarrots]

I'm torn between an early and late flight to return home after a week at WDW (Saturday - Sunday). The early flight is really early so we'd have to get up probably at 5am or so to leave - the upside is I'd have most of a day at home to rest, do laundry and such before starting the work week the next day (Monday). The late flight would get me home around midnight (that's accounting for waiting on luggage, the drive home, etc, but not accounting for the flight being late). I'd have to get up for work at 5am the next morning. However that gives me another almost full day in the parks.

I'm really torn. I'd love another day at WDW but I don't know if I want to be that tired at work all week and have no clean laundry, etc. I have AP so it's no extra cost to stay that day. However, I'm mid-40s and just don't do well pulling an "all niter" like I could when I was younger. And before someone asks, no I can't take that Monday off work. There are no other flights that day with our airline (Southwest) so it's either early or late. So hard to decide. What would you do?

 

[larryz]

I find I can't really enjoy a "waiting day" at WDW, knowing I've got a hard deadline to get back to the resort, pick up my stuff, and then head out to the airport. And with some of the horror stories about being stuck on the monorail for a couple of hours, unpredictable traffic in and around the parking lots, etc, I'm just more sanguine with declaring departure day as solely focused on getting out of WDW and back to LZW.

So if there's an early option, I take it.

 

[JaimeK]

I think since you wake up so early for work I'd do the early flight home.

 

[Tiki Sean]

Come on Carmen, suck it up and have fun. But I understand. I always do the later flight and just deal with the lack of sleep at work the next day.

 

[Hootch]

We usually get back a day early so we can get the kids settled and get our mindset right for work. I would take the earlier flight.

 

[goodeats]

I wouldn't want to pay for a night at a Disney hotel just to leave at the crack of dawn. We always take the later flight home. You can do a lot in a partial day.

ETA - Although I always prefer a day to recuperate at home before going back to school/work.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Weather would play a factor for me honestly.

We did a Saturday - Sunday in late June of 2014 and got home at midnight. It was a HUGE regret. With the insane heat all week we were a little worn down by Sunday and basically spent the day wishing we could just go home. We had accomplished everything we wanted to see and just spent the day trying to stay cool and get rid of our headaches. The next day at work was ROUGH to say the least.

We've also taken the late flight home on trips in Jan/Feb/Mar/Nov and all were awesome! We have enjoyed our last day and had one final chance to say goodbye to the castle. 70-80 degrees makes a huge difference for us!

Another thought...Have you considered taking a late flight home Saturday and saving a little on the hotel?

 

[Nohal]

As you we have been to Disney many times and find the early morning flight the best fit for us. We come home on a Sat and don't have to work till Monday. I would rather leave early and have the rest of the day at home to unpack and do laundry and still have another down day before work. Also because there are so few flights back the early flight gives you options if there was a delay or something was wrong with the plane. This happened to us with US Air years ago our flight was for 8am and we didn't leave until 6pm. I would be a mess for the week if I didn't get home until midnight and had to be up at 5am.

 

[han22735]

We used to take the last flight home as well but the sitting around all day in the park or hotel and then grabbing the bus all tired isn't worth it to us anymore. We compromise in the middle and take an afternoon flight home getting us back around 4-6pm.

 

[kj2mom]

If I don't have a day (or sometimes two since this past trip was Friday-Friday) to get things settled once home then I would definitely want the early flight (and I am a night owl so this would be a struggle for me, especially going home since it is not a happy reason to wake up soo early). I would not regroup well getting home soo late on a work night.

This past trip we did get home at midnight but it was Friday into Saturday so I still had the weekend to recover plus our laundry was pretty much done since we had laundry facilities at the time share.

 

[PeasandCarrots]

Come on Carmen, suck it up and have fun. But I understand. I always do the later flight and just deal with the lack of sleep at work the next day.

LOL Sean!

 

[PeasandCarrots]

Another thought...Have you considered taking a late flight home Saturday and saving a little on the hotel?

We're renting DVC so we can't change the hotel now.

 

[PeasandCarrots]

We used to take the last flight home as well but the sitting around all day in the park or hotel and then grabbing the bus all tired isn't worth it to us anymore. We compromise in the middle and take an afternoon flight home getting us back around 4-6pm.

That would be ideal unfortunately there's only a very early and very late flight that day.

 

[hamilkm]

We took the early morning flight out once and said we would never do it again! We are not morning people and being on the magical express at 5 am did us in, but I always "try" to schedule one off day at home before heading back into work. In your situation I would probably head on home early because getting home that late then going right back into work is no fun!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

We're renting DVC so we can't change the hotel now.

I always like to look at a decision and look at what can go wrong and determine which option will I regret more...

- will I regret not having one last day at a park...will I miss out on an experience or ride...will I regret having to get up at an INSANE hour to catch my flight...how soon will I be back to WDW?
VS.
- will I regret having my flight possibly delayed...getting home ultra late...will I end up having a terrible week at work...will my last day be magical or stressful...

Obviously these are questions your personally have to answer but I think a lot more can go wrong and there will be a lot more potential regrets on the late flight than if you go with the early flight. You've obviously been to WDW many times and I would assume have plans to go back. If I were in your shoes I'd go with the early flight.

 

[PSUGuy]

If we had a Sunday return I'd probably want to be home to decompress. That said, we really enjoy milking the last day, we make a 2 pm or so flight home, wifey has a relaxed morning coffee, I have coffee and a cigar next to the Atlantic Dance at Board Walk and we get to MCO to have a few drinks before the flight.

Bill From PA

 

[larissawbb]

You can always sleep on the plane! Also, if your renting DVC the laundry is free anyway. Just do a load first thing that morning.

 

[ktlm]

We would do late! We like to squeeze as much time as we can at WDW. More than once we have gotten home at about 11:00 p.m. (or later if the flight was delayed) and then had DD to school at 7:50 a.m. the next morning. I'm sure her teachers love us! My question for you would be what happens if something happens with your flights and you don't get home that night- are you okay missing work in that circumstance? We take that risk as it would not be a big problem for my work and DD has been an A+ student, so I'm not worried about the school.

 

[Quellman]

If you are renting DVC (as you mentioned) then all rooms have a washer and dryer (except for the studios). Even if you have a studio, spend 2 hours doing a little bit of laundry before your last day and spend more time in the parks. Having a Disney hangover at work on Monday is the best kind to have if you must.

 

[SFMommy]

We had the exact same dilemma and opted for the 7:00 a.m. flight back to San Francisco. We will have been there for 8 nights (Saturday - Sunday) with 6-day park tickets. I think by Sunday morning, we will be ready to go home. The flight gets us back to SF at 10 a.m. local time, so we have most of the day to unpack, do laundry and prepare for the school/work week ahead.

Personally, once I am in "travel mode" it is difficult for me to enjoy one last ride, one last show, etc. I am just too stressed and worried about getting to the airport and catching our flight. And I start to think about all of the stuff I have to do when we get home!

So we will have a great week, celebrate one last fantastic night on Saturday night, then wake up at the crack of dawn on Sunday and head home! Good luck whatever you decide!