What do you do on departure day from WDW?

[mrsincredible3]

Just curious, as our flight is around 3pm, so i'm assuming Disney Magic Express will pickup around noon. We are staying at the Yacht club - is it worth it to go to Epcot on departure day from like 9-11am? Is it too much hassle to go for just two hours? My kids will be up early and i don't want to have to rely on any disney transportation that morning, so i thought two hours at Epcot would be perfect to either re-ride a couple of things, or leave a couple of pavilions for that morning to give us more pool time another day. Is it a hassle to go to a park on departure day? Last time we had similar flight times and was literally just killing time hanging around AKL (which is a lovely place to kill time, so i'm not complaining), but just thought we could squeeze in a couple of epcot attractions that morning. Is this doable? The cost to add on one more day to the park ticket is negligible at that point. Is there something else great to do that morning around the Yacht/Beach/Boardwalk area instead without going to Epcot? What time do the boat rentals open? we could do Cape May breakfast and a boat rental? any other ideas that don't involve getting on disney transportation that morning? thanks.

 

[mrsincredible3]

Hmmm, how long is the walk from Yacht club to Fantasia Gardens mini golf? How long would it take to play one round of mini golf (with 7 and 2 year old boys)? Thanks.

 

[missangelalexis]

I always say opt for park time! But honestly it depends on what you're comfortable with. I definitely think it's do-able to do Epcot for 2 hours. If you're there for rope drop you can get a bunch done, and have some FP+ scheduled on top of that. WS doesn't open until 11am so I would focus more on Future World attractions if you do decide to go.

A late Cape May breakfast also sounds nice. And since it's a character meal, it would be a nice final hurrah!

 

[momto1]

We do Downtown Disney and Earl of Sandwich for our final meal.

 

[Frozen2014]

We had a 2pm flight and so we just booked a breakfast ADR at Chef Mickeys. Then we returned to our resort to finish package and headed to the airport. But we like to be there a bit early to play it safe.

 

[stinkpickle]

We do Downtown Disney and Earl of Sandwich for our final meal.

LOL! That makes it sound like they execute you when you leave.

 

[mommyboys3]

Usually we just hang at the resort & grab breakfast but on our last trip, MK had EMH so we had about 2.5 hours there before we needed to head back. It was great! We'll def do this from now on. We even had some QS credits to burn so I let my boys each get a breakfast at Starbucks that included large fraps. They were in heaven (helped soften the blow of leaving). We have such great pics & video of them lounging on the empty bus back to the resort enjoying their "fancy" drinks. I say go to Epcot & enjoy.

 

[PSUGuy]

Lately we've been doing 9 park day WDW stays at the Board Walk, flying out on a Sat around 2 pm. After that amount of time there we're pretty fulfilled so we just savor the last morning as we do any other day. Each morning I grab a coffee and have a cigar on the bench near Atlantic Dance and just enjoy the sunrise and the Friendship boats starting their route while wifey has her quite time on our balcony. We leave at 11, get to our MCO gate in time for a little Happy Hour at whatever bar happens to be there. As for our last taste of Disney, we milk the last full day there, ending with Illuminations then catching the entertainment on the 'boards.

Bill From PA

 

[mrsincredible3]

Anyone know about the boat rental hours? I can't find it anywhere, seems like a fun last day activity that would be easy to do after breakfast.

 

[puffkin]

We always do a park, but we always have a rental. We load up the car and head to a park for a few relaxed hours of fun. We came home this past Saturday, and we did AK that morning. It worked out really well. We got in the park right at 9 am opening and did the Safari, 10am Lion King, Everest(FP), Primeval Whirl (FP), Its Tough to be a Bug (FP). Then we we ate lunch at Flame Tree before heading out to the car. We pulled out at exactly 1pm and headed to the airport for our 4:15 flight (Tampa). We got to the airport at 2:15 and were at our gate in about 15 minutes. It was great and not stressful at all. Tampa is a much more relaxed airport though and we didn't really have traffic to deal with on a Saturday.

When we were walking in we noticed most of the cars in our row were packed to the gills with luggage. I guess a lot of people had the same idea we did

 

[rgormley09]

Anyone know about the boat rental hours? I can't find it anywhere, seems like a fun last day activity that would be easy to do after breakfast.

I'm pretty sure they are all day. One year we took one early in the morning to fish in the lagoon and another we rented one to see Illuminations. I assume they run in between those times as well.

 

[lustergirl]

Have you considered a breakfast or early lunch ADR somewhere?

 

[ghtx]

I like the idea of 2 hours in Epcot, but keep in mind that World Showcase won't open until 11, so it will have to be future world.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

We would have no problem doing some park time on that last day. We usually do end up going to a park on our last day for just a few added hours of magic. We never have a set park in mind and just go wherever we feel we need to visit just a bit longer. On our most recent trip, though, we did breakfast at 'Ohana instead. We were planning to sleep in, but my family just doesn't sleep in. We were up at 7:00 so we sat out on our balcony and listened to the geyser go off (we were at Wilderness Lodge), explored the resort some, packed up our stuff, and then headed to 'Ohana for our breakfast reservation at 9:30. I got a great photo of my husband and daughter getting on and off the monorail because we were the only people taking the monorail FROM Magic Kingdom that early in the morning. We really enjoyed the breakfast. My daughter loves Lilo and Stitch so this is one of her favorite meals just for the characters and my husband and I love the food. The atmosphere of Polynesian also really adds a lot to the experience. Anyway, we came back to the resort and enjoyed some time in the lobby and doing a bit of shopping. We decided to do one last ride on the Epcot monorail before heading home so we did that and then caught Magical Express.

One of these days, I plan to go to Downtown Disney to do Characters in Flight early (they have a discount before 10:00) and will probably have Wolfgang Puck Express for lunch and do a little shopping at World of Disney and Goofy's Candy Co. for our final day.


Wow, that was a real ramble of an answer, wasn't it?

 

[angierae]

If I had to be back by noon for DME, I'd probably just hang out around the resort - maybe have lunch there around 11 after dropping off my luggage, etc. Last trip we didn't leave for DME until 4pm so we went to Downtown Disney and used the free Disney Quest passes, which was nice.

 

[DVCkidsMOM]

We almost always do whichever park has morning EMH, but we drive to that park. Depending on timing, we sometimes check out very early or return to the resort in time to check out. When we are at BCV, the morning EMH park is usually HS which we walk to for a few last rides. Without a car and amEMH; I would airline/backage check-in, resort check-out early, leave (carry-on) luggage with bell-services, then spend a couple hours in FW at Epcot enjoying a few last rides. A promised treat at the airport (in our case, on drive home) is a strategy we use to make leaving the park that last day less upsetting.

 

[redsbe]

We usually head into the MK for a walk around, pictures we missed, shopping on main street and if possible hit a few of our favorite rides.

 

[hsmamato2]

at Yacht club I vote for a relaxed morning, pack up, have a lovely brunch somewhere in that walking area (so many choices) let the kids play in that fantastic pool, maybe rent a little boat if you have time..... I am considering my own options,as our flight home doesn't leave till after 7 p.m., so we basically have all day to relax,I am thinking a great brunch somewhere along with just enjoying the property is what we'll end up doing, a few years back we have great memories of a brunch at the Poly followed by time on the little mouseboats with our kids...we had a great day!

 

[georgina]

I have non-expiring park tickets, so no way would I use a park day for 2 hours! Our trip next week we have a breakfast ADR at the Grand Floridian Cafe, then we will check out the holiday decorations at the resorts before we head to the airport. If I was at the Yacht Club in nice weather, I would go to the pool. I have a lot of extra fun visits from trips over the years, so I have gone to a water park when my flight home was later, like 5 PM.

For the OP's situation, I don't think it's a hassle to go to a park for a few hours in the morning. I can't remember what time Innoventions opens because I never go there anymore, but there could be some interesting exhibits in there.

 

[puffkin]

One of these days, I plan to go to Downtown Disney to do Characters in Flight early (they have a discount before 10:00) and will probably have Wolfgang Puck Express for lunch and do a little shopping at World of Disney and Goofy's Candy Co. for our final day.

Just don't count on Characters in Flight being open! We stayed at Saratoga Springs last week and were directly across the lake from it so I watched it a lot and it was grounded way more than it was in the air. We have been wanting to try it two different trips now (to take advantage of the morning rates) and it has yet to be flying when we want to do it. At least this trip I was glad I could just look out the window rather than driving over there. So I would definitely have a backup plan for if it isn't able to fly that day.