DHS one day trip from ATL

[Uniondawg]

Thinking of giving our DS a one day trip to DHS for his birthday. This will be for him and a guest flying out of ATL, landing in Orlando around 8:30 and leaving back out after the park closes same day. The whole purpose of the trip is for him to experience the new Star Wars themed area. (Sorry if I didn't use correct wording, I'm not on here very much.) Is this doable? I saw a thread on the changing of getting a reservation for the area (I don't even know if the reservation is for a specific ride or just the area in general???). Anyway, I realize we may not know anything until Nov 3 when people actually get to try it out, but we are trying to nail down everything asap since days he is available are limited before school starts back. [I started looking at this about 2 weeks ago and since then all of Dec is gone!] Also, I'm concerned about seeing that he cannot even Uber/Lyft to the park too early. Any insight into how we can make this happen is greatly appreciated.

 

[yulilin3]

Since your visit is focused on Galaxy's edge merged you to the subforum
The virtual queue is to get into s boarding group for rise of the resistance not the land, read up on the rotr thread for more info on that
If his flight is landing at 8:30 then by the time he reaches the park the lot will be open so he can uber/lyft
If he wants to experience droid depot or savi he needs a reservation for those

 

[Crusader10hky]

The recent changes you are referring to are in receiving a Boarding Group for "Rise of the Resistance" (RotR), which is a ride within Star Wars Galaxy's Edge (The Star Wars Themed area of Hollywood Studios).

The Park Reservation system is where you get a reservation to simply be allowed to use a ticket to enter the park, in this case Hollywood Studios. Without one of those for the day in question, he will not be allowed in the front gate.

If you have a Park Reservation for Hollywood studios, and a valid ticket linked to the My Disney Experience App (definitely get this), then at 7AM guests will be able to join a lottery by which they are assigned a 'Boarding Group' for RotR. A Boarding Group (BG) is like a reservation for the ride que similar to taking a number at the Deli or DMV "now servicing #37" etc. They also issue a new batch of these at 2PM each day. If you are flying that morning, it is unlikely you will be in spot at 7AM where you will be able to get a BG, so your only chance will likely be 2PM.

Even if you don't get to ride RotR, that does not mean you cannot go into Star Wars Galaxy's Edge and see everything else that it has to offer. The only other ride in that area is Smuggler's Run where you fly the Millennium Falcon, but there are shops, restaurants, and other cool experiences. You don't need a BG for any other ride in the whole park other than RotR.

The parks are ~25-30 minute drive from the airport (MCO) once you are actually in an Uber/Lyft. If you are 'wheels down' at 8:30AM I can't imagine you would get off the plane, collect yourself, and actually get into an Uber before 9AM. That puts you at Hollywood Studios at say 9:30 which is 30 minutes prior to official park opening. They've probably already begun allowing people in the park at this point, and they have definitely allowed cars into the lot.

I don't know how late the last flight out back to ATL is, but you want to be generous with the time you allot to returning to MCO. If you stay till park close, there will be competition for available cars and some exit traffic. Add that to the 30 minute drive and give yourself time to check into your flight and get through security.

Staying the night before or after is always safer, but obviously more expensive. Depending on the time of year weather delays may play a role in your flights.

That said It would be a pretty fun marathon trip!

 

[Uniondawg]

Thank you for the responses! Very helpful. Still hoping we can make this happen in one day. (Being a bit old fashioned, we aren't paying for an overnight stay with the GF. ) I wonder if they can jet out close to closing and walk over to the Yacht Club or take the Skyliner over to Riviera or Caribbean Beach and catch a ride from there. The last flight out is at 8:35. Am I being too optimistic? Dates we are looking at will be 1/4 or 1/5.

 

[yulilin3]

Thank you for the responses! Very helpful. Still hoping we can make this happen in one day. (Being a bit old fashioned, we aren't paying for an overnight stay with the GF. ) I wonder if they can jet out close to closing and walk over to the Yacht Club or take the Skyliner over to Riviera or Caribbean Beach and catch a ride from there. The last flight out is at 8:35. Am I being too optimistic? Dates we are looking at will be 1/4 or 1/5.

You can uber/lyft from dhs, not sure if that's what you're asking

 

[Uniondawg]

Crusader10hky mentioned that there may be competition for a pickup as well as traffic exiting the park near closing. I wondered if getting to a resort and leaving from there would avoid the traffic issue. Might end up 6 in one hand 1/2 dozen in the other.

 

[tlmadden73]

Thank you for the responses! Very helpful. Still hoping we can make this happen in one day. (Being a bit old fashioned, we aren't paying for an overnight stay with the GF. ) I wonder if they can jet out close to closing and walk over to the Yacht Club or take the Skyliner over to Riviera or Caribbean Beach and catch a ride from there. The last flight out is at 8:35. Am I being too optimistic? Dates we are looking at will be 1/4 or 1/5.

While a really nice gesture, I feel it may be too optimistic and/or too rushed. Even though the flight itself is short .. there is a lot of time sunk and potential trip-ending delays with all the things out of your control. A delay for a week long trip is easy to swallow. A delay for a 12 hour trip could make it just not worth going at all. Especially during the winter when snow (while very rare down south) is a possibility.

Atlanta is "almost" close enough to drive down and back in one day. One of the main reasons I don't fly to WDW from NC is because between all the time needed on the front end and back-end of a flight (getting into/out of the airport) .. I could already be over halfway there in a car .. but 12 hours of driving for one day is rough too. I did crazier stuff when I was young.

My rule of thumb was always this:
If the time spent at a destination is at least TWICE the time involved traveling there and back. It is worth it.

 

[Uniondawg]

Good points I have pondered. Crazy as it sounds, I think we are going to roll the dice on this and go for it.

 

[TikiRob]

If you are traveling when the 7am boarding groups open up, you can always give someone you trust your login credentials to MyDisneyExperience to try to snag a group. You don't have to be anywhere close to the park.