Help with a mistake I made in booking dining the day we arrive

[Lsheer25]

I have no idea what I was thinking when I did this and I am so angry at myself for not thinking it through BUT here is the situation. We fly in and land at 11:05, we have lunch at Royal table booked for 1:30. We have to take magical express to French Quarter and then get to MK. Is there any possibility that we will make it?

I just called Royal Table and of course they are totally booked the rest of our trip:-( Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

[mickeyluv'r]

I doubt it.
You'll increase the odds if you can find a cheap rental car, but I think your best bet is to cancel.

Once my sister made it from plane landing to a park via ME in 50minutes, but she did not check-in. All the timing just happened to work perfectly. At the airport, there's a monorail from the gates to the main terminal. She did carry -on bags- add a good fifteen minutes if you need to pick up any checked luggage (of course you an also use ME luggage service). The ME bus timing was perfect. She was the last to board. If you are the first, you can easily wait half an hour for the bus to fill. Once I wated a good fifteen minutes just to get ON the ME bus, (usually it's faster) then another 30 for the bus to fill. The drive from the airport takes a solid 20mintes. She was the first stop...add a good twenty minutes if you are not the first stop. Getting a rental car is usually faster, but also variable. Sis dropped off her bags withthe bell hop/luggage services and hopped on a MK bus. Checking in could be done in about 15minutes, or it could take quite a bit longer, depends a bit on the line. Add quite a bit more time if you want to go to the room.

Then you could easily wait half an hour for MK bus to arrive, probably less, but the wait coudl eaily be half an hour. Mid day, I've often waited 30+ for a bus to arive. The ride form FQ is not very long, about ten minutes, but if you get on a bus that loops POR- add another 10-5minutes.

Then you need to walk from the bus stop to the gate, and into MK. It depends how quick you are at walking, which bus stop, bag check lines, and if you have new RFID or a paper ticket. Add another ten minutes min to walk to the castle, and whether you'd want to take a few pictures.

And all of this is assuming you don't have a flight delay. Last year, I had a short flight delay, about 15minutes. Which is did not nkow about until I was on the plane. I was suppose to land a little about 4:15pm. It was after 7pm when we pulled up to ASMo. Usually it's more like 90 minutes-2hours from gate to hotel. I remember distinctly because just before boarding the plane, I had considered a 7pm appointment at SSR. Normally I avoid arrival day reservations for that very reason, but I did not have time to get my nails done beofre th trip. the only opening at SSR was at 7pm. I thought, "my flight lands around 4pm. That's plenty of time to get to SSR." Boy, was I wrong. I hesitated, becuase they wanted me to prepay. I thought I'd call back once we arrived. Glad I waited!

What you can do, is keep your eyes peeled for a cancelation. Honestly, CRT is not biggie, and I'd really hate to be charged as no show for THAT one! I also would hate to stat my vacation in a rush. But that's me.

How about one of the other princess meals? 1900Park Fare or Akershus? I think those two are just as good.

[stargazertechie]

That's cutting it entirely too close for a pre-paid meal in my book.

[mm1971]

Originally Posted by Lsheer25

I have no idea what I was thinking when I did this and I am so angry at myself for not thinking it through BUT here is the situation. We fly in and land at 11:05, we have lunch at Royal table booked for 1:30. We have to take magical express to French Quarter and then get to MK. Is there any possibility that we will make it?

I just called Royal Table and of course they are totally booked the rest of our trip:-( Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

My suggestion would be to take a taxi from the airport and skip the ME. You can get to the hotel right away and have them put your luggage in your room when it is ready.

Sometime ME is quicker than others. I wouldn't rely on the bus to get you there quick enough.

[jennyjinx3]

Originally Posted by Lsheer25

I have no idea what I was thinking when I did this and I am so angry at myself for not thinking it through BUT here is the situation. We fly in and land at 11:05, we have lunch at Royal table booked for 1:30. We have to take magical express to French Quarter and then get to MK. Is there any possibility that we will make it?

I just called Royal Table and of course they are totally booked the rest of our trip:-( Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

What about getting your own bags, and taking a cab to the resort instead? And then cab it to MK? Just a thought. Sounds like it will be pretty tight though. Keep checking for cancellations at CRT though. It does happen.

[Janepod]

Originally Posted by mm1971

My suggestion would be to take a taxi from the airport and skip the ME. You can get to the hotel right away and have them put your luggage in your room when it is ready.

Sometime ME is quicker than others. I wouldn't rely on the bus to get you there quick enough.

Also:

• Do carryon luggage only, so you're not waiting at baggage claim. Every minute counts.
• As soon as you get your keys, send the fastest runner in your group ahead.
• Call CRT to let them know you're running late.

Good luck!

[Reese D]

I wouldn't risk the possibility of your flight being delayed. Even if you take a cab, you're counting on the airlines to be on time, which is a big risk.

I would keep trying to get a later reservation. If you can't get one, I don't think I would risk it.

[stargazertechie]

My other suggestion would be to only take a small carry-on, tag your bags for ME, and take a cab straight from the airport to MK?

If you're not on the dining plan and you buy your tickets separately, this would be your best option to make this reservation.

Of course if you have to pick up your tickets/dining plan at the resort... then you're out of luck with this suggestion.

[LaurenT]

In theory, you'd be ok. I've never waited more than 30 min for ME and it's only about 1/2 an hour to the resort. So, that would give you another hour and change to get yourself over to MK.
But....one small delay from your airline....one overcrowded line at ME, arriving at the resort bus stop to see that it just left....and you're out of luck!
When are you traveling? If I were you, I'd be on the phone with guest services every day between now and then trying to get a later time or another day. Things do open up, and a sympathetic CM might be able to pull a string or two. DVC member services got me a BOG ADR when I was coming up with no availability at all.....
I came in on Feb 16th. Flight arrived at 3:25. We were offsite. I got my bags, rented my car (National, so I just picked a car and drove away), checked into my resort, ran over to Target for a 30 minute grocery haul, threw things in the fridge and drove over to Beach Club. I was 10 minutes early for my 6:40 Cape May ressie. That was with everything working flawlessly. I was prepared to drive straight to Beach Club and do everything else later if need be....

[joe1946]

This is probably a stupid suggestion, but can you get an earlier flight?

[catra121]

Originally Posted by mm1971

My suggestion would be to take a taxi from the airport and skip the ME. You can get to the hotel right away and have them put your luggage in your room when it is ready.

Sometime ME is quicker than others. I wouldn't rely on the bus to get you there quick enough.

I agree...if the meal is a must then take a taxi. On a previous trip we were scheduled to land at 10:20...actually landed at 10:05. Went to magical express and walked right onto the bus that then went immediately on it's way. Our room was ready (we had done online check in) and dropped off our carry on bags and went directly to the bus stop. Right as we got there the Epcot bus arrived (our reservation was at Coral Reef in Epcot). By 11:30 we were standing inside Epcot. One of those very strange set of pixie dust situations where EVERYTHING fell into place. Our reservation wasn't until 2pm and we did everything in the land, seas, and imagination that we wanted to do before we even had to go to lunch.

So I would say it IS possible that you could make it with magical express...you would probably be much safer (and relaxed) if you took a cab (or limo...whatever) to the resort directly from the airport (I would still let ME take care of any checked bags though to save you time). It's an extra cost...but depending on how important the meal is to you it could be worth it.

[WizardLarz]

This may be a silly idea. Take the taxi to POFQ and drop the bags with Bell Services keeping the meter running while doing it. Hope back in that same taxi and get delivered to the Comtemporary Resort rather than TTC ( tell them your there for Lunch) and then walk over & into the Magic Kingdom.

Of course this only works best if you have APs and don't need to get your room key/ticket.

[mickeyluv'r]

Minimum, even taking a taxi- is about 50min- assuming the stars align, you are a quick walker, and you don't have any checked bags.

Many times I've been on flights that were delayed 90 minutes.


I have never tried...and it maybe wouldn't be an issue...but I don't think you are supposed to use ME baggage unless you use ME. Maybe they don't check, but when I asked, I was told you had to actually use ME to use the luggage service. I'd hate to find out the hard way that my luggage was not transferred.

[sydneysmom]

Personally, I'd cancel it and just keep checking to see if something comes up during your week. It seems like WAY too much stress for just one meal. And if you're having to jump through hoops to get there, are you really going to enjoy it? Cancellations happen all the time... I'd keep checking a few times a day until your trip and you might be surprised.

[Annie78]

Originally Posted by WizardLarz

This may be a silly idea. Take the taxi to POFQ and drop the bags with Bell Services keeping the meter running while doing it. Hope back in that same taxi and get delivered to the Comtemporary Resort rather than TTC ( tell them your there for Lunch) and then walk over & into the Magic Kingdom.

Of course this only works best if you have APs and don't need to get your room key/ticket.

I was going to suggest this, except pre-arrange the trip with one of the limo/car service companies. They usually throw in a grocery stop for free, so they may be willing to do this for their usual airport-to-resort rate, or not too much more. I think you'd have time to check in and get your tickets if you do this option (unless check-in is incredibly busy or you have complicated room requests).