What time would you make reservation if landing at 6:07 PM?

[maryj11]

We land at MCO at 6:07 pm taking the magic express to Caribbean Beach. We want to eat at Sebastian’s Bistro after we get settled in our room.
What time would you make the reservation? I was thinking 8:45?

 

[gharter]

That should be ok.
I wouldn't count on your bags being in the room by that time though.
From when you leave the airport, it could be 90 minutes to get to your resort, so by 8. And your bags will arrive some time after that.

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

The next day for me. We've made it to the resort within about 90 minutes after landing but also had it take well over 2 hours from airport to resort.

 

[maryj11]

That should be ok.
I wouldn't count on your bags being in the room by that time though.
From when you leave the airport, it could be 90 minutes to get to your resort, so by 8. And your bags will arrive some time after that.

We are only taking carry on bags so we will just keep them with us

 

[VAfamily1998]

I wouldn't make reservations for that night unless I was willing to possibly forfeit the $10/person no-show charge.
I've had too many flights delayed by several hours so I never make any important plans for my first day, just in case.

 

[westie55]

Flights, especially late in the day, can be delayed. Since Sebastian's isn't an impossible to get ADR, I would wait until you know if your flight is on time and then try to book something for later in the evening.

 

[Calee]

I wouldnt. Too many variables on a travel day with late arrival. SB may not be hard to get as A same day ADR if you check when you land. In July we were able to get an 830 at about 6 pm. We declined bc it was too late for our kids, but it was an option

 

[maryj11]

I think I will wait until we get there. I don’t think it’s hard to get a reservation there .

 

[marielynn724]

I'd be weary of making a reservation if my flight was arriving that late in the evening, you never know if there will be delays. If you miss the reservation you'll get stuck with the no-show fee. I'd almost rather wait until I land or am on the DME bus, then log into the MDE app and see if there's a same-night ADR available, or try for a walk-up. It's a gamble, but you are likely to get a table, as Sebastian's isn't a difficult reservation to get.

 

[Oneanne]

Making an arrival day ADR is the kiss of death for me... no ADRs = smooth on time travel, ADR = some sort of random issue/delay. I've learned my lesson and don't book anything any more.

 

[holden]

I wouldn’t make reservations that day.

 

[Orionreplay]

In my story of landing at MCO in November: we landed on time at 5:10pm. Our flight had a load of wheelechairs and SW got them off first, so the disembarking seemed to take forever, but probably was a 15 minute wait on aircraft. We were then at Level 1 Concourse B, checking in with Disney and in line for Art of Animation at 5:35pm. We were first in line, which thrilled my kids, but I knew we had just missed the bus. That WDW roller they play on the TV screen gets old pretty quickly. People stacked in around us.

According to my notes, we then waited until 6:15pm for the bus to arrive. We then sat on the bus and waited while I could hear other guests arguing with the bus driver about bags. The bus filled. We finally were off and at AoA by 7pm. It was a hair shy of 2 hours from landing to Resort.

So if applied to your timeline, you'd basically get to the resort around 8pm. Reservations for 8:45pm would work, but any slow downs would really press into that time and you'd still be on Magical Express feeling pretty stressed about it, starting your vacation feeling crummy.

 

[DrunkJam]

I never book an ADR on my flight day, if I did, it would just mean I was worrying about getting there on time and flights are delayed all the time.

 

[nkereina]

I also would not make a reservation. You should be able to walk up to Sebastien's that late in the evening, or even grab a last minute ADR from the app while you're riding in on DME. There are too many variables that may cause you to not make it on time, which would make you subject to the $10pp cancel/no show penalty if you were to book in advance.

If you land on time at 6:07, average DME time is roughly 90 minutes. We often have it take longer than that, especially in the evening, so figure a resort arrival time of around 8-8:30pm. If I were going to make a reservation, it would probably be for around 9:30 to give myself a buffer, and some time to get settled in the room. Its also expected you check in for an ADR 15 minutes early, but if you're running ahead of schedule, we usually have luck checking in even earlier than that.

 

[GoingSince1990]

I would fully expect the no-show fee to be waived if it was due to a flight delay and you called to explain why you couldn’t go. On our last trip we decided on the same day to skip our Tiffins dinner reservation and go to Ale and Compass instead, and when I called to cancel Tiffins I got a lecture about how she could charge me the fee, but would waive the charge, and I didn’t even have a good excuse.

 

[nkereina]

I would fully expect the no-show fee to be waived if it was due to a flight delay and you called to explain why you couldn’t go. On our last trip we decided on the same day to skip our Tiffins dinner reservation and go to Ale and Compass instead, and when I called to cancel Tiffins I got a lecture about how she could charge me the fee, but would waive the charge, and I didn’t even have a good excuse.

Waiving the fee should never be an expectation. Will they do it if you call and ask nicely? Quite possibly, but it would be done as a courtesy. No one can rely on it, so its still a risk to take.

 

[Pumbaa_]

Air travel has issues. It’s my personal policy to make no reservation on arrival day.

I would check what is available when I would be on DME (or in my towncar )

 

[sullyfam]

As many others have said, I would cancel the reservation and wait until you get there. No need to start the trip with extra stress of worrying about getting to an ADR. Many things can happen to delay your travels and check in process so what may seem like now is very possible, may not be when you're on Disney time.

Another option would be to take an Uber from the airport as opposed to magic express. That would certainly get you to Caribbean Beach quicker. FYI - I just logged on to MDE and there are reservations available for Sebastian's tonight.

 

[MomOTwins]

One time we booked a 7pm ADR at our resort based on a 4pm flight arrival time. Florida thunderstorms intervened and we arrived at the resort close to 10pm. I don't do arrival day ADRs any more unless I am flying in in the morning.

 

[evlaina]

I don't think Sebastians is that popular of a spot. I'm willing to bet you can make an ADR from the airport (or ME even). I would not make one in advance if you're due to fly in that late.