What happens if we're a little late ... UPDATE post 37

[Coconuts]

I loved Ohana and I wouldn't want to skip it, so I suggest trying to reschedule for another time in your trip because I don't think you'll make it.

I would try for an ADR at Shutters or just grab something at the food court, grab a pina colada at the pool bar and enjoy the resort--either take a walk or sit by the pool!

Have fun!

 

[lacy1101]

I say keep the ADR and see what happens. If you are a no-show for a 9:35ADR, you aren't going to impact the restaurant one way or the other. Make a family game out of trying to make it on time, sort of like the Amazing Race. Could be a good way for the family to all pull together to start the trip. (Wasn't sure if this is a trip with or without kids). This may sound odd, but I actually enjoy these kinds of "meaningless stresses". It might seem stressful to try to pull this off, but there is no downside to trying and no negative ramifications for failing. Unlike the real world where stressful situations can have real consequences. And if it is really important to you to make it, then just take a cab and skip the ME leg of the jouney. You will have absolutely no problem if you do that.

Thanks, JimmyV. This is kinda where I am. We'll do what we can do and see what happens. BTW, it is just a couples trip - me, DH, and another couple who are very good friends of ours.

I think its foolish to put this kind of pressure on yourself for the arrival evening. Just get to the hotel, get a bite at the hotel restaurant and go to bed.

if you are this stressed already about this dinner...seems like it is not worth it and you will not enjoy it. You will be running around to get off of the plane..probably bickering with your travel companions in the process..My advice is that if you are getting in this late, just eat dinner at your resort that night and get an early start the next day.

I'm not sure how my posts left you with the impression that I am being "foolish" or am "stressed" about this. I'm not. I'm simply asking opinions on whether my plan will work and, if not, for any suggestions on ways to make it work. I've already said that I have a back-up plan in place. If we make it, great! If we don't, its not the end of the world and in no way will spoil the trip.

Thanks everyone for the replies. I'll be sure and let you know how it works out!!

 

[TDC Nala]

Do you think the fact that we are coming in after 7:00 p.m. would help our chances at all?

No. In fact, if you are coming at a later and less busy time I think it will hinder you. DME tends to wait until they get as many passengers on the bus as possible before leaving the airport. At least you are not after 10 PM and you don't have to pick up your own luggage.

I'm relatively certain that DME will not take you to a resort other than the one at which you are registered. You also need to be checked in at CBR if you want to receive your luggage. Otherwise you may be in the situation where you have to wait very late for Bell Services to bring your luggage, or you may have to arrange to go to the main building and pick it up, which at CBR is no picnic. If you're not checking any luggage it won't matter.

If you want to eat at 'Ohana badly I'm going to suggest that you schedule it another night as well, in case you don't make it. Or, as another poster suggested, forego using DME entirely and hire a direct car service from the airport, and have them take you to the Polynesian.

 

[lacy1101]

I am working on a back-up plan right now: 1) Take a bus to the Boardwalk area and just stroll around, and possibly get something to eat at ESPN or go over to Beaches & Cream at the Yacht/Beach Club; or 2) Bus to DTD and eat somewhere there.

Anyone care to comment on my back-up plan? The idea being to go somewhere where the places are open late and do not require an ADR . . .

 

[TDC Nala]

Most everything closes at DTD by 11. I believe Raglan Road is open until midnight.

 

[PEANUT1]

I'm not sure how my posts left you with the impression that I am being "foolish" or am "stressed" about this. I'm not. I'm simply asking opinions on whether my plan will work and, if not, for any suggestions on ways to make it work. I've already said that I have a back-up plan in place. If we make it, great! If we don't, its not the end of the world and in no way will spoil the trip.

Thanks everyone for the replies. I'll be sure and let you know how it works out!!

never thought or said you sounded foolish at all...just seemed like a stressful situation..sorry you took my advice the wrong way..have a wonderful trip.

 

[lacy1101]

never thought or said you sounded foolish at all...just seemed like a stressful situation..sorry you took my advice the wrong way..have a wonderful trip.

No harm - poster above you used the word "foolish." And it very easily could be a stressful situation if I let it be. But I ain't gonna - I'm at Disney!!

Thanks for your post.

 

[Minnesota!]

Nope - wouldn't do it. I like to not have to rush my first evening.

I would take ME to CBR and schedule a later dinner at CBR - Shutters! You will have the time to make it, still a sit down dinner, and the food is actually pretty good!

Or, do what we did and grab something in the food court at CBR (the beef and bleu sandwich was REALLY good), grab a seat out by banana cabana, and a fun drink from the bar, and just unwind and people watch. It was a great first night!

 

[lacy1101]

Nope - wouldn't do it. I like to not have to rush my first evening.

I would take ME to CBR and schedule a later dinner at CBR - Shutters! You will have the time to make it, still a sit down dinner, and the food is actually pretty good!

Or, do what we did and grab something in the food court at CBR (the beef and bleu sandwich was REALLY good), grab a seat out by banana cabana, and a fun drink from the bar, and just unwind and people watch. It was a great first night!

If you could compare Shutters to another WDW restaurant, what would it be?

 

[purple figment]

I am working on a back-up plan right now: 1) Take a bus to the Boardwalk area and just stroll around, and possibly get something to eat at ESPN or go over to Beaches & Cream at the Yacht/Beach Club; or 2) Bus to DTD and eat somewhere there.

Anyone care to comment on my back-up plan? The idea being to go somewhere where the places are open late and do not require an ADR . . .

Buses don't go from resort to resort so to get to the Boardwalk you'll have to go to DTD or a park that is still open and transfer. If DHS is still open you could go there and take the boat or walk to the Boardwalk. You could also catch a taxi at CBR.

Besides the Boardwalk, there are restaurants at the Yacht and Beach Club and the Swan and Dolphin. Or... if Epcot is having EMH that night, you could add a day to your tickets and walk over there.

 

[lacy1101]

Buses don't go from resort to resort so to get to the Boardwalk you'll have to go to DTD or a park that is still open and transfer. If DHS is still open you could go there and take the boat or walk to the Boardwalk. You could also catch a taxi at CBR.

Besides the Boardwalk, there are restaurants at the Yacht and Beach Club and the Swan and Dolphin. Or... if Epcot is having EMH that night, you could add a day to your tickets and walk over there.

Epcot closes at 9:00 p.m.; everything else closes at 8:00 p.m. (evening EMH is at AK). If Epcot closes at 9:00 p.m. and we don't even arrive to our resort until that time, I guess the chances of catching a bus to Epcot to go to the Boardwalk are slim, right? That leaves taking a bus to DTD (unless we took a cab to the Boardwalk and I doubt we'll do that). I guess my preference of the two would be the Boardwalk just because the atmosphere sounds so nice. How time consuming would it be to take a bus to DTD and then transfer to the Boardwalk?

If we end up at DTD, where should we eat? The only place DH and I have eaten there is Wolfgang Puck Express and, while it was good, I think we'll want something besides counter service.

 

[ctnurse]

We have the same problem our 1st night. Our flight gets in at 815pm. We are staying at the Swan but will have a car. We are eating at the Sushi restaurant at the Swan. I still haven't decided if I'm checking a bag or just packing a carry on to save some time. Good luck but I dont thing you would make the ADRs just based on using the ME in the past. I always worry about the flight being delayed too.

 

[ngvenice]

Epcot closes at 9:00 p.m.; everything else closes at 8:00 p.m. (evening EMH is at AK). If Epcot closes at 9:00 p.m. and we don't even arrive to our resort until that time, I guess the chances of catching a bus to Epcot to go to the Boardwalk are slim, right? That leaves taking a bus to DTD (unless we took a cab to the Boardwalk and I doubt we'll do that). I guess my preference of the two would be the Boardwalk just because the atmosphere sounds so nice. How time consuming would it be to take a bus to DTD and then transfer to the Boardwalk?

If we end up at DTD, where should we eat? The only place DH and I have eaten there is Wolfgang Puck Express and, while it was good, I think we'll want something besides counter service.

most people agree that by time you ride ME and check in to you resort your looking at about a 2 to 2 and half hour time span. Seriously, I think you are cutting too close but you never know there's always Magic in the air at Disneyworld so if Ohana's is really important to you I would keep the ADR and see what happens. As for a backup plan my thoughts are this--our arrival is at 7:09 pm, I would rather eat something at our resort and get a good nights sleep to try and start our 1st day well rested. I too wanted to take the bus Downtown and maybe grab dinner there but seriously by the time we caught the bus, ate, then caught the bus back, I'm thinking we would be back at our hotel around 10:30 the earliest but really more like 11, and if you have kids, I really doubt they'll get enough rest. Esp if they are little ones. My suggestion to you is just eat at your resort and call it a night and start fresh. Thats what we're doing and my flight is at least 30 minutes ahead of yours and my kids are older. I know Ohanas is hard to come by but you could try and see if there's another time available that getting there wont be such a hassle.

Good luck though and have a great trip!!

 

[TDC Nala]

the OP doesn't have kids. They're two adult couples. If they want to risk a mad dash trying to get to Ohana, they might actually have fun doing it. If they're going to be exceedingly disappointed at missing the reservation, I'd suggest planning something else.

At DTD, the place open latest is Raglan Road. If you want to relax and stay awhile I'd pick that one. If you try to get to 'Ohana and miss, by the time you turn around and ride to DTD from the Polynesian it'll be going on 11.

Don't take a bus to Epcot to go to the Boardwalk. You can't get there from Epcot's bus stop unless you walk through the park. If the park is closed you can't do that no matter what kind of ticket you have. Take a bus to Studios, from there you can either walk the path or ride the boat to Boardwalk without entering the park. The boat and buses operate up to an hour after park closing. If you catch a studios bus late, and there's no one else on it, mention to the driver you are going to Boardwalk. If they're able to, they might just take you there.

Also if you are so inclined, you can drop in to the bars at the Swan/Dolphin resorts for drinks.

Taking a bus to DTD to travel between resorts is ALWAYS time-consuming. Do it only if you have no other options, or one of the resorts you are traveling between is Saratoga Springs.

 

[ngvenice]

the OP doesn't have kids. They're two adult couples. If they want to risk a mad dash trying to get to Ohana, they might actually have fun doing it. If they're going to be exceedingly disappointed at missing the reservation, I'd suggest planning something else.

oh ok well that changes alot! I would say yea then go for the Mad Dash! Things are so much diff when they are no kids involved!

 

[lacy1101]

Taking a bus to DTD to travel between resorts is ALWAYS time-consuming. Do it only if you have no other options, or one of the resorts you are traveling between is Saratoga Springs.

As I suspected . . . sigh . . .

Its enough to make you question whether the cheaper airfare with Airtran is worth it or not. An earlier flight with Southwest, although more costly, would have made things so much easier. Oh, well, what's done is done and we'll make the best of it - if we can just figure out what that is!

 

[lacy1101]

I just wanted to report back on our experience with this ADR. As some of you mentioned could happen, our flight into Orlando was delayed by about 15 minutes. By the time we got on the ME bus and traveled to CBR, we were checking in at 9:30 p.m. I was ready to accept the fact that we weren't going to get to eat at 'Ohana on our first night, but my husband was not willing to give up. As I was checking in, my husband went to the concierge desk to explain that our flight had been delayed and we had a 9:35 p.m. ADR at 'Ohana. The cast member spoke with the manager at CBR, who then called 'Ohana to explain the situation and they told him to send us on. And then, CBR paid for our taxi ride to 'Ohana! A magical way to start a great trip.

I have to add that our experience at 'Ohana was outstanding, despite the lateness of the hour. The food did come out rather quickly as opposed to being spaced out, but I liked it that way. I didn't fill up on salad and appetizers and was quite hungry by the time the meat arrived. OMG, it was soooooo good!

Just another example of why I love Disney so much!

 

[Nadjalu]

How excellent! Glad to hear it all worked out for you. And yes that is a magical way to start your vacation!

 

[Minnesota!]

Awesome!!! What a nice way to start your vacation! Hope the rest of it was just as magical!

 

[Tinkerbellie16]

We also had a reservation for Ohana at 6:30 and our flight landed at 4. We had plenty of time to get our luggage, get on ME (even sat on the bus for 20 minutes before it moved), checked in, unpacked, and freshened up for the dinner. BUT our flight wasn't late, there was no traffic (not sure if there ever is though), no checkin line, and we are pretty efficient travelers.

We could have made it in 2 hours, but without the time to freshen up and unpack.

I would say it is cutting it close but if your flight is not delayed and you take a cab, I think you'd be fine.

Also, put the Disney reservation number in your cell phone. If your flight is delayed, you can call them.

Good luck and have fun!