using magical express staying @ pop with 3 hours to get to chef mickeys after landing

[happypooh]

I usually rent a car but am thinking of just doing ME. Do you think I can make it to the contemporary resort in time? I land at 2:40pm at MCO and have reservations at Chef Mickeys at 5:40pm. Do you think I will have time to get to POP to check in (so my bags with hopefully be in the room when we go back after dinner???) Also, for those who use ME and the bus system during your stay with no rental car, do you like it? Or should I just get a rental car?? I'm so up in the air about it! I'd like not having to drag the car seat for my 20mth old!

 

[seashoreCM]

I think you can make it.

THe biggest problem I can think of is a late plane, a very close second problem is a line at the resort check in.

(What happens if you fail to check in to the resort until after your CHef Mickey's? Want to rely on doing that?)

You might end up having to take a cab instead of a bus/monorail from Pop to Contemp if you check in first and the fare reflects $9. through the MK tollbooth even if the driver is on his second trip of the day. From the bus platform to change to the monorail statio nat MK is about a city block and a half. You may not take ME directly to Contemp.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[CleveRocks]

I usually rent a car but am thinking of just doing ME. Do you think I can make it to the contemporary resort in time? I land at 2:40pm at MCO and have reservations at Chef Mickeys at 5:40pm. Do you think I will have time to get to POP to check in (so my bags with hopefully be in the room when we go back after dinner???) Also, for those who use ME and the bus system during your stay with no rental car, do you like it? Or should I just get a rental car?? I'm so up in the air about it! I'd like not having to drag the car seat for my 20mth old!

One of my favorite things about my Disney vacations is leaving my car key in the room safe for a week. I've never rented a car at WDW and have never regretted it. Others strongly disagree, but God Bless America, we're all entitled to our opinions.

 

[gigi1313]

i ditto cleverocks! not driving is part of what makes it a vacation!

you should be okay w/your adr time, although, when you're checking in, you could ask the cm to give a call to CMs and let them know you are running late if that's the case...

when we stayed at POFQ our plane landed at 9:30 am and we checked in, left our carryon in our rooms and were in MK by 11:30 having lunch at casey's... so 3 hours to CMs is more than do-able, imo

 

[EpcotBill]

If you use DME and Disney Resort Transportation you don't have a snowballs chance in Florida of getting from the runway to CR in 3 hours. Unless maybe you skip check-in and go straight to CR, or if your plane lands 20 minutes early. Good luck.

 

[pugdog]

Also dont take the monorail. Take the bus to MK and then just walk to the Contemp.

 

[gigi1313]

If you use DME and Disney Resort Transportation you don't have a snowballs chance in Florida of getting from the runway to CR in 3 hours. Unless maybe you skip check-in and go straight to CR, or if your plane lands 20 minutes early. Good luck.

are you saying that we could not make it from plane landing to casey's in MK in two hours (w/check in and a restroom stop in our resort room) using DME and disney transport? 'cause truly, we did!

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

The problem with relying in somebody else's best-case experience is that you may not be as lucky.

My first experience with Magical Express was that we were at the resort 50 minutes after we stepped off the aircraft, and we had our room key-cards 10 minutes after that. However, I would never tell anyone else to plan on being checked in at the resort 60 minutes after arriving at the airport. In fact, now that I think about it, our plane ran around a half hour late, so it really took us more like 90 minutes from our scheduled arrival time.

Realistically, it takes 50-90 minutes to get to the resort if you use the yellow Magical Express tags so that you can bypass baggage claim. At your resort, you should be able to check in, take your carry-on bags to your room, and get to your resort bus stop in 30 minutes. That would leave at least a full hour to get from POP to Chef Mickey's.

However, there are all sorts of timing issues beyond your control. Most flights arrive within 15 minutes of the scheduled arrival, but flight delays are common. DME is a shared service, so the timing of the dispatch to your resort is a matter of luck. Then, you could be the first stop, or you could stop at a couple of other resorts first. And resort check-in lines can be short or long. It's all hard to predict in advance.

So the short answer is that under normal circumstances, three hours should be enough time. But I wouldn't schedule anything with a financial penalty for no-shows.

 

[EpcotBill]

are you saying that we could not make it from plane landing to casey's in MK in two hours (w/check in and a restroom stop in our resort room) using DME and disney transport? 'cause truly, we did!

No, that's not what I said at all. Casey's? Two hours? No, I didn't say that.
Let me put it another way. You get off the plane, go to DME, hope the bus leaves in a reasonable amount of time, hope your resort isn't the last stop, hope the line to check in isn't too long. Then after checking in you go to the Pop bus stop and wait. Hopefully you get on the next bus, and hopefully you don't wait 20 minutes for that bus. Then you have to transfer somewhere, or walk from the MK bus stop, a good 10 minute walk at best.
If everything goes perfectly there may be a chance of making it on time, but I wouldn't want to start my vacation rushed and worried about getting to a restaurant on time. That's just my opinion. YMMV.
I'd like to hear back from the OP if the plan worked or not.

 

[shoes99]

There are 3 of us travelling middle August for a short 3 night stay. We have registered for DME, but our flight gets in at 4:59PM on a Monday. I am going to rent a car. We have reservations at Raglan Road for 7:45PM. We are staying at Pop. It will be easier getting out of PI with the car anyway.
I will cancel DME. Our flight back home on Thursday leaves at 6:45PM.
Michele

 

[goofy4tink]

Last week, it took my about 90 minutes to get to POP from MCO. I landed at about 11:00, got to the DME desk about 10 minutes later (used the ladies room first). The line was longish, took about 8 minutes to get through it. Then, I was lucky to get right on a bus. It left about 10 minutes after I boarded it. Then, we went to CSR, AKL, and then POP. I got to the POP check-in line about 12:30ish. The line took about 20 minutes to get through since there were about 35 people ahead of me.
Can you make it to Chef Mickey's in time? Probably. Your room might be ready (should be at that time of day), then you may luck out and catch a MK bus in only about 10 minutes. If I had to make it to CM's in 3 hrs, I could have done it...I would have been rushed, but I could have made it.

 

[all4disney98]

We used ME to Pop three weeks ago. We landed around 6:30 pm. Pop was the first stop on our ME bus so it was a pretty quick ride. I forgot to check my watch during the who process that evening but when I remembered, it was 7:40 pm and we were walking from our room to Classic Hall to get some dinner.

I think if all goes OK, you will make it to Chef Mickey. You are not going to have much time to freshen up or anything though. Remember if you are using your ME tags, pack what you are going to need from Chef Mickey in your carry-ons because you may not have your luggage delivered before you leave for your reservation.

Have a great vacation and if you remember, let us know your experience with this!