Longest Disney's Magical Express (DME) wait ? - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Hi ! I was just trying to figure out dining and FastPass + times for our arrival day. What is the longest wait/drive you've ever had with Disney's Magical Express (DME)? We were lucky last year and checked into our Resort about an hour and half after we landed. We are landing about 5:35 PM and going to the Wilderness Lodge. I'm wondering if that will be enough time for a 7:10 PM reservation at Artist Point in case of longer waits.
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Last edited by Belle*; 05-27-2014 at 11:00 AM..
Reason: newsletter05292014
I also think that this would be cutting it way too close. I would try for a later time or even another day. If you do cancel your ADR but still want to eat at Artist Point you can always try for a walk-up time.
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Cutting it close IMHO. You would need things to run perfectly.....and that rarely happens when traveling, unfortunately. We once landed at MCO during a thunderstorm and had a 1/2 hour wait before we could advance to the Jetway (safety precautions). In our experience DME runs pretty smoothly, but in busy seasons the wait can be longer and then you can have some waiting while the bus is loading. And there are usually multiple stops and that eats up some time. I am really not trying to be negative, but giving yourself a cushion to deal with minor snafus is always a good idea. If you end up with a little extra time to catch your breath, that's not a bad thing!
I would suggest that you try for an ADR at least an hour or so later or for another day. think it will work out much better for you and will probably be less stressful to boot. Good luck!
We normally arrive around the same time and typically just head to DTD and get something to eat there. They have lots of great places to eat that are available to walk ups.
If you really want Artist Point, I would suggest an ADR on another day....you will be living a schedule with traveling already - don't stress yourself out anymore than necessary.
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Like others have said, I think that is cutting it way to close. Your flight could be delayed, getting you into MCO later than expected. We have had luck in having short waits for the DME bus to head out, but we have also experienced long waits. On our last trip we waited at least 30 minutes for the bus to leave, and then our resort was the last one to be dropped off. From the time we stepped on to the DME and finally arrived at our resort it was an hour, and then we still had to get checked in. I'd change that ADR to a later time or another day, it's not fun starting off a trip rushing around and worried about making it on time to a reservation.
I fly from Seattle so unless I take an overnight flight (which I wont do anymore) I'm arriving late afternoon/early evening and that's with taking a that leaves between 8 and 9 am. I never plan anything for arrival day. Not only can you not be positive that your flight is going to be on time and that you'll make a connection if you're not a direct flight but even if your day goes without any problems traveling is still slightly stressful and flying across country makes for a long and tiring day. Once at my resort I check in, ditch my carry on and personal bag in my room and go get dinner in the resort's food court. After dinner it's back to my room to relax and once my suitcase arrives unpack a bit before going to bed for the night. I also agree that you're cutting it too close. I've arrived at MCO about 5:30pm and not gotten to my resort untill about 7-7:30pm when I've gone in January due to having to wait for the bus to fill up. You're going in during the busy summber months so I would imagine you could be arriving at your resort later than you think you will because of the number guests DME is transporting to/from the resorts. If it was me (and it will be in November) I would just plan to eat at the resort food court or maybe Downtown Disney, explore your resort and unpack the day you arrive. In November my flight is scheduled to arrive at MCO at 4:25pm which means I expect to be arriving at my resort between 6pm and 6:30pm add about 20 minutes to check in and get to my room and it's 6:20pm or 6:50pm add an hour for transportation to wherever my adr (that I don't really have) is and the earliest I'd be comfortable making an adr for on my arrival day in November is 8pm and that's with taking a direct/non stop flight and that everything goes smoothly and there are no delays. If I add an hour to protect against delays I'm looking at 9pm being the earliest I'd be comfortable making an adr for. By the time I get to MCO I've had little to no sleep (November it will likely be no sleep since I'm booked on the first shuttle of the day which leaves at 3:35am) so I'm tired and starting to get hungry. At this point all I really want to do is eat dinner, get ready for my first day in the parks and get a good night sleep. My patience is rapidly disappearing and by the time I've sat on the DME bus waiting while it fills up so we can I'm about ready to behave like a toddle and throw a temper tantrum. I don't but dang do I want to. I just can't imagine getting to resort and then having to turn around and leave again to get to an adr not to mention stressing out over whether or not you'll make it to beging with. Now if you don't mind eating a late dinner and are staying in a resort that has a table service restaurant that you can get an adr I might consider a later adr at your resort's table service restaurant.
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I fly from Seattle too, and unless I'm taking a red eye, the earliest we arrive is 5ish. We never make ADR for arrival night. Just too stressful. Way easier to just grab something from the resort CS.
If we are on the DDP, I save that TS credit for a 2TS meal later on our trip. Or you could have an extra TS lunch one day.
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