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

[Orionreplay]

The one time we tried having FPs after landing and getting to the resort by Magical Express, we ran into all sorts of issues. From late flight to long lines to even traffic on the way into the resort. We missed our first two fast passes at HS and got off on the wrong foot for the week's vacation.

Now we just coast in and enjoy the resort and relax. Take in a Skyliner run or two. Get that first Mickey bar.

 

[jdisnut]

Log onto the app when you arrive at the airport and see what's available. You'll be surprised at how many options you have. The need to make reservations far in advance at the vast majority of Disney restaurants is a myth.

 

[maryj11]

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.

Yes I checked reservations at Sebastian’s also yesterday to give me an idea on availability. There were plenty. I’m going to wait until we get to CBR to check on a reservation.

 

[GBRforWDW]

Our first trip, I booked an ADR in Disney springs. Flight out wouldn’t start up, by the time it did and we were on our way, we were late for our connection. I called the reservation line, explaining the situation and they waived the fee, thankfully. We ended up at the CBR quick service restaurant - we actually tried, not on purpose, to get into Sebastians, but they had a 30 minute wait. It was fine, we were looking for the quick service anyway.

This time, we’re gonna plan for dinner in the airport And grab a Disney snack when we arrive at the hotel. Definitely too many variables to make it worth it to plan to eat on site when arriving at night. But, if a Disney table service is a must do, I agree with others, check out available ADRs. It’s almost 8pm EST on a Friday night and Sebastian’s still has a couple slots available after 8, so it’s possible you can still get in if everything flows smoothly through the airports.

 

[Disneypapa]

Like so many others, I would not make a reservation for the first night that locks you into a certain place and time. Just to many things can throw a kink into your plans, leading to stress.

 

[Dean Marino]

Deleted

 

[maryj11]

What we do .... Your transportation may be different.

1) Touchdown at X o'clock.
2) Allow 20 minutes to get to ME.
3) Allow 30 minute wait for ME departure.
4) Allow 45 minutes for ME Hotel arrival.
5) Assume "Room not ready" - add 20 minutes to get all set will Bell Services.
6) Cab or UBER to Restaurant... 10 minute wait, 15 minute transit.

So, from touchdown.... 20+30+45+20+25 = 140 minutes. I would pad this out to 2.5 hours.
6:07 PM touchdown? 8:45 PM dinner res is what we would go for.

We won’t need an Uber to the restaurant because we are staying at CBR. I was thinking 8:45 but think I will just wait until we are on the ME to check for reservations. If we don’t get one we will go for another day.

 

[nkereina]

What we do .... Your transportation may be different.

1) Touchdown at X o'clock.
2) Allow 20 minutes to get to ME.
3) Allow 30 minute wait for ME departure.
4) Allow 45 minutes for ME Hotel arrival.
5) Assume "Room not ready" - add 20 minutes to get all set will Bell Services.
6) Cab or UBER to Restaurant... 10 minute wait, 15 minute transit.

So, from touchdown.... 20+30+45+20+25 = 140 minutes. I would pad this out to 2.5 hours.
6:07 PM touchdown? 8:45 PM dinner res is what we would go for.

I think these are fair estimates, but for #4 - I would budget an hour for DME. Its a 30 minute commute, and then we have been on the unfortunate end of having to sit through two other resort drop offs before getting to ours. The driver has to get off, get all the people's luggage off from under the bus, etc. It can be time consuming.

 

[goofyintoronto]

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.

Exactly this. I would not book an ADR for that night. I'd walk up to Sebastians without an ADR. I cant imagine that place is jam packed all the time? At the very least, you can try to make an ADR when you've arrived at MCO.

 

[Brian Noble]

I wouldn't make an ADR. I never know how a travel day is going to go. I wouldn't be worried about a late flight--I suspect Disney would waive the no-show fee if the flight is delayed and you miss the ADR. But, I would be worried about my own state of mind. Some arrival days I am ready and raring to go, and an ADR would be fine. Other arrival days the stress of travel takes too much out of me (or the kids) and at that point we're better off just doing something easy like CS at the resort, etc.

In fact, with a 6P arrival, I'd be tempted to just eat in the airport rather than wait until I arrived at WDW. At the very least, I'd consider it based on how hungry we were when we landed.

 

[kiford]

I think checking the website for an ADR once you're on the way on DME is the best bet or trying a walk up once there. We were 4.5 hours late arriving at MCO 2 weeks ago due to mechanical issues and while it's a longer delay than we've had in the last 6 trips over the last 18 months, it's not the longest and it's not the only one (so far only one time in those trips have we left and arrived on time and that was on the leg home last week). Even a delay of an hour to 90 minutes could make it tight. These days, I'd be happy for only a 60-90 minute delay.

 

[Wild4Walt]

We always do ADRs for flight day and, to date, haven't had an issue. We usually plan for 4 hours after departure just in case but since you are dining at the resort I think you are OK with what you have planned.

You could make an ADR and cancel the day before if there is weather projected for either your departure city or Orlando and cancel if you feel it might be an issue.

 

[Orionreplay]

For us the Travel Day is so stressful already trying to lug around the 2 kids and not forget things at the house, followed by the mandatory two hour drive to the airport, followed by bored kids for two hours at the airport, followed by any potential delays, followed by "When will get there?" only 5 minutes into the three hour flight, followed by the landing which makes my wife go nutty, followed by the jog through MCO to Magical Express, followed by potentially missing the bus like we did in November... I don't personally feel I need another stress of not making an ADR or FP.

So we roll into to the resort and slooow dooown. Full stop. We rode the Skyliner and got our first Mickey ice creams. My wife went to the room and I took the kids to the arcade and let them burn through $5 on games and air hockey.

 

[NashvilleMama]

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.

^^And this is why we now rent a car or Lyft every single time. We had this same experience one time and it was a really frustrating start to the trip knowing what else we could be doing with that time at the resort.

 

[Orionreplay]

^^And this is why we now rent a car or Lyft every single time. We had this same experience one time and it was a really frustrating start to the trip knowing what else we could be doing with that time at the resort.

I will admit I know little about Lyft or Uber. How much does that cost to book for a family of 4? Do leave your bags with Magical Express or do you bypass Magical Express all together and carry bags into the Lyft?

We still want Disney transportation, so I just need to get to the resort. Hmm... oh, and I would need ME for the departure day too. The only direct flights we have home are very early and ME always gets us there without issues.

 

[NashvilleMama]

I will admit I know little about Lyft or Uber. How much does that cost to book for a family of 4? Do leave your bags with Magical Express or do you bypass Magical Express all together and carry bags into the Lyft?

We still want Disney transportation, so I just need to get to the resort. Hmm... oh, and I would need ME for the departure day too. The only direct flights we have home are very early and ME always gets us there without issues. We bring our bags with us to the Lyft but we're not heavy packers.

I just plugged it in and looks like $47 one-way for a Lyft XL right now. $36 for a "regular" lyft which would be tight with luggage and 4 people. When we've taken Lyft (i don't do uber) we can be at the resort within an hour of the plane touching down, which is well worth it for me.

As far as I know, I believe you can still sign up for return ME once you're checking in or anytime at the resort even if you didn't use it on arrival.

 

[Orionreplay]

I just plugged it in and looks like $47 one-way for a Lyft XL right now. $36 for a "regular" lyft which would be tight with luggage and 4 people. When we've taken Lyft (i don't do uber) we can be at the resort within an hour of the plane touching down, which is well worth it for me.

As far as I know, I believe you can still sign up for return ME once you're checking in or anytime at the resort even if you didn't use it on arrival.

Thank you! I know my wife wouldn't mind doing this for sure.

 

[eeyoreandtink]

I wouldn't. Not on arrival night. Flights get delayed, stuff happens ect.