Will 11:00am SW flight out be ok using Disney transfer?

[Donna M]

Sorry, I can't make the search work for me. I have an 11:00 flight booked and I think I should be ok if I get off the ship as soon as possible. I am using the DCL transfer, will only have carry on and it's only me. It"ll be a Monday in Aug. What do I need to know? I will need to give DCL different flight number since they don't like the 11:00 time.

 

[MunFam]

What port?

 

[Prose]

Be aware that the DCL bus will not take off as soon as you are aboard - you will wait for the bus to gather other passengers.....I would seriously consider a car service.

 

[Happy100]

The earliest flights we booked out of MCO was 11:50 using DCL transfers. We got our parents out at 11:30 via DCL transfers. An 11:00 flight would be cutting it close with DCL transfers especially on a Monday with morning business travelers. I would either change my flight to a little later or use a car service and walk off ship as early as possible.

 

[mylittlebuttercup]

That's cutting it too close. Either get a later flight (recommended in case there are delays getting into port) or ditch the DCL transfers, do the earliest possible express walk off time (or whatever it is called), and get on the road in a hired town car or rental car ASAP.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

It's doable, but DCL recommends you don't book a flight any earlier than 11:30. On my first cruise, I bypassed an 11:00 flight and took the next nonstop which wasn't until 4:00. I regretted not booking the 11:00am flight. I had second seating for dinner and went to my 8:00am breakfast seating. We were done and I was walking off the ship around 8:50. Customs went fast and I was on a DCL bus by around 9:05 or 9:10. I was walking into the airport terminal at 10:00am. I would have had no problem making that 11:00 am flight if I'd skipped breakfast or grabbed something quick from Cabanas so that I could exit the ship with express walk off.

You would have to be ready to go with express walk off as soon as the ship is cleared. The biggest obstacle I see is getting through security at MCO. I've never had a quick experience there.

 

[clten]

We have been in the airport in plenty of time to get on an 11am flight (using DCL bus transportation). If I were you, I wouldn't stress too much but know that if something slows down disembarkation, you may have some issues. If you are among the first off the ship (with no checked bags, you can do express walk-off.) Disney recommends flights after 12:30, will do onboard airline check-in (not available for SW flights) for flights after 11:30 but doesn't say you can't have a flight at 11. When you give them your flight information, give them the accurate flight # and time. If there is an issue in them getting back into port on time, they will need to have the correct info.

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

We have an 11:05am flight on Xmas Eve and based on my past experience with Port Canaveral and MCO we should be just fine. I would have preferred a closer to 12:00pm flight time but they didn't have one and since it's Xmas Eve (we've never flown on Xmas Eve) we want to get home ASAP and not take the later flight around 2pm I believe. My last flight from MCO after a DCL cruise was 11:20am and we made it with no issues.

As noted, for Port Canaveral, DCL recommends 11:30am so it's not that far off. I agree MCO and security/TSA is among the "worst" as far as the amount of people and being very slow but the last time I swore it wouldn't take us any less than an hour to get through there, we were fine and they opened up more lines and then did the express check through where no one took off any shoes.

We have always had Main dining and eat in the MDR the last morning and have been off the ship no later than 8:00am at the latest and if the bus isn't full when we get there, they fill up at a decent pace and we leave within 10 minutes. We have always arrived NLT 9:15am to the airport so that's in theory, plenty of time to get through everything. We still check luggage with SWA but the shorter line (if you have printed your boarding passes) moves pretty quickly.

You mentioned you'll only have a carry on so I think you'll be just fine. Just don't "dilly dally" on the ship that morning and ensure you get to the airport ahead of time and if things go according to plan it should all work out. I know we can't predict anything and if there will be delays, but so far, *knock on wood* we've never experienced any major delays, except at MCO with security which in my opinion is normal

I'm not usually a "risk" taker while traveling so I'm basing this on my past experience through MCO and Port Canaveral which I think I've done at least 8 times now.

Heather

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

It is a long shot and if anything goes wrong you will likely miss the flight. Though rare, many things can happen, the vessel docks late, Customs holds up letting passengers off the vessel. The ME hits traffic or construction or accidents or has a break down. Then add TSA security being backed up.

To close for us, but I hope it works out for you!


AKK

 

[Donna M]

Thanks everybody for your input. I feel less stressed. It's only an optimistic me with a carry on bag who walks fast! I'm not going to worry about all the what ifs since a lot of them could happen with a 4pm flight too.

 

[phinz]

I've seen traffic backed up for miles westbound, completely stopped, on the Beachline/Beeline because of an accident, and once you're between exits there's absolutely nothing you can do about it but sit. In fact, this exact thing was going on when we did our Land/Sea adventure last year. Bad accident. We were headed eastbound. Traffic westbound was at a full stop, with DCL buses in the middle of all that mess.

 

[UCLAVES]

We still check luggage with SWA but the shorter line (if you have printed your boarding passes) moves pretty quickly.

Heather

Does MCO have curbside check in for Southwest? Thank you

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

Does MCO have curbside check in for Southwest? Thank you

You know, I'm not sure! I was referring to inside MCO there are two lines and a SWA employee will ask if you have boarding passes and if yes, you get in the shorter, express type line to just check in luggage and it moves pretty fast. The other very long line seems to crawl.

Hope this helps and hopefully someone can confirm curbside check in

Heather