Worth going to EP/MK for only a couple of hours?

[Aflyingbuttress]

Our plane lands at 6:00 PM on a day EP and MK both close at 10 PM. We're signed up for the magic express so our bags will be sent to our room. Turns out it's only $30 more to add the extra day in the park and we'd get 3 more fastpass, so I'm wondering:

• Is it possible to go straight to a park or do we need to go to the hotel first?
• How long should we anticipate that taking?
• Would it be worth it to to go with only a few hours available to us?
• If so, any suggestions which park would be better? Both touring plans and Easy WDW say its not a good day to go to either park, but if we're just doing fastpass it seems we could manage that.

 

[DAKL101]

Your plane lands at 6, but your magical express may not leave 30-hour after that. Then, once it leaves, it will make several stops at other resorts (depending on where you are heading). Do you have extra time on the day you depart to use this extra day in case you have the above situation or longer? If that is the case, then yes. If the only time to use it is day of arrival, then I would wait to buy it until you have arrived (which would make your fp options limited). There have been cases where people have been on the Magical Express for 2 hours. Plan accordingly.

 

[yaya74]

If your plane lands at 6pm and you are taking ME, you probably won't get to any theme park until 8:30 - 9pm with the assumption that your plane arrives on time.

 

[1lilspark]

As a local I'd say yes it's doable ( went to Epcot for a quick 5 hour trip last week just to ride soarin, frozen, and for DSis and future DBil to drink at la cava) as someone traveling however I feel there are too many variables (flight delay, traffic from the airport to the world...) so I'd say don't

 

[Praying Colonel]

Our plane lands at 6:00 PM on a day EP and MK both close at 10 PM. We're signed up for the magic express so our bags will be sent to our room. Turns out it's only $30 more to add the extra day in the park and we'd get 3 more fastpass, so I'm wondering:

• Is it possible to go straight to a park or do we need to go to the hotel first?
• How long should we anticipate that taking?
• Would it be worth it to to go with only a few hours available to us?
• If so, any suggestions which park would be better? Both touring plans and Easy WDW say its not a good day to go to either park, but if we're just doing fastpass it seems we could manage that.

--If you're taking ME from the airport, they'll take you to the hotel and not the park.

--I usually *hope* to get to my hotel 60-90 minutes after disembarking. I've had it be 60, but you have to hit everything just right. Probably more like 90, give or take. Then if you turn right around and get on the shuttle to a park, add another 30-60 minutes depending on when you catch the shuttle, how long the bag check/security check is to get into the park, etc.

--Personally, I wouldn't go to a park that night. Not enough time to get to the hotel, check in and get to the parks to make it meaningful. Besides, you'll need to eat dinner. I think I'd eat at the hotel, unpack, swim & relax. If I really wanted to get out & do something, maybe I'd go have dinner at Disney Springs.

 

[Aflyingbuttress]

Hmmm, ok. Some things to think about. Assuming we don't have a flight delay, would it just be faster to take a taxi to the park? If I do that, will disney still pick up our bags?

 

[Aflyingbuttress]

--If you're taking ME from the airport, they'll take you to the hotel and not the park.

--I usually *hope* to get to my hotel 60-90 minutes after disembarking. I've had it be 60, but you have to hit everything just right. Probably more like 90, give or take. Then if you turn right around and get on the shuttle to a park, add another 30-60 minutes depending on when you catch the shuttle, how long the bag check/security check is to get into the park, etc.

--Personally, I wouldn't go to a park that night. Not enough time to get to the hotel, check in and get to the parks to make it meaningful. Besides, you'll need to eat dinner. I think I'd eat at the hotel, unpack, swim & relax. If I really wanted to get out & do something, maybe I'd go have dinner at Disney Springs.

Great tips!

 

[DAKL101]

Hmmm, ok. Some things to think about. Assuming we don't have a flight delay, would it just be faster to take a taxi to the park? If I do that, will disney still pick up our bags?

as long as you have the yellow tags. it does take 2-3 hours for luggage to arrive

 

[karalecia26]

I agree with the other posters that you may be cutting it close to get to a park. We had great luck when we came in July with ME. We got off our plane, walked over to the ME area, walked straight onto a full bus and was on the road immediately and dropped off first. Total time was about 45 minutes. But for the rest of the full bus I bet they waited for a while to fill up and had 3 resorts they were dropping off, so their experience was different than ours. Don't expect that when we go in December though!

 

[scrapquitler]

Our plane lands at 6:00 PM on a day EP and MK both close at 10 PM. We're signed up for the magic express so our bags will be sent to our room. Turns out it's only $30 more to add the extra day in the park and we'd get 3 more fastpass, so I'm wondering:

• Is it possible to go straight to a park or do we need to go to the hotel first?
• How long should we anticipate that taking?
• Would it be worth it to to go with only a few hours available to us?
• If so, any suggestions which park would be better? Both touring plans and Easy WDW say its not a good day to go to either park, but if we're just doing fastpass it seems we could manage that.

If our flight landed at 6 and the park was open until 10, my family would definitely go to MK, even if we did nothing more than walk up and down Main Street and get a snack and soak in the atmosphere for a little while. I'd probably get a fp from 7-8, one from 8-9 and one from 9-10, knowing that there was a very good chance that I wouldn't be able to use the first one, but that I had it just in case.

Expect it to take 90 minutes plus or minus a bit to get from the airport to your resort. ME will drop you at the resort, then you can hop on a bus to the park of your choice. I'd definitely do online check in so you will most likely be able to bypass going to the lobby. You will need to either put your carry ons in your room while you are the resort, or leave them with bell services. My family would probably designate one of the adults to do that and catch up with the rest of us in the park.

As to which park, my family's choice for the first day is always MK, even if it's just a couple of hours. Of course if there's a MNSSHP or MVMCP, that won't work. We never pay attention to which park is recommended or not.