What would you do?

[Rosemickey68]

Sat Jan 8th will be our day of departure (the day of the Half Marathon) so we expect traffic to be a little tricky in the morning.
Our flight will be at 3:20pm, so I can assume we would have to be in front of Pop Century at the ME waiting spot by 1:15pm.
We will be on the deluxe dp and will have 2 meals left (one for brkfst, one for lunch).
So those of you who have gone before during this time what would you do to get the most use of your time?

[CleveRocks]

Sat Jan 8th will be our day of departure (the day of the Half Marathon) so we expect traffic to be a little tricky in the morning.
Our flight will be at 3:20pm, so I can assume we would have to be in front of Pop Century at the ME waiting spot by 1:15pm.
We will be on the deluxe dp and will have 2 meals left (one for brkfst, one for lunch).
So those of you who have gone before during this time what would you do to get the most use of your time?

Your DME pick-up time will be around 3 hours before your flight time, so figure it'll be anytime between Noon and 12:40 p.m. On the day before your departure day, you'll receive written notice of your assigned bus time.

The instructions will tell you to be there 15 minutes before that, and you really should heed that. The time is, technically, the time the bus is supposed to leave the resort and not the time it's supposed to arrive. There have been reports of people missing their bus because they got there right at the listed time ... Disney is dead serious about the "arrive 15 minutes before" thing.

And if you'll go out to eat you'll probably have your bags stored with Pop's Luggage Assistance, meaning that you'll need to leave some time to retrieve your bags, as well. So if your assigned bus time is, say, 12:15 p.m., you'd need to be at the bus area by Noon, which means you'll want to retrieve your bags by 11:45 a.m., since it can take some time if it's crowded.

You'll want to plan a meal so that you can be sure you'll be back at Pop by 11:45 a.m. If you're not interested in taking a taxi anywhere, then you'll want to plan the meal at a theme park rather than at a Disney resort, as the transportation will be quicker/more efficient from a park. Including wait time, I'd leave 45 minutes to get back to Pop (just in case), so you'd want to be out of the park by 11 a.m. and keep in mind that you'd need to walk from the restaurant through the park and out the entrance and to the Pop bus stop. So you'd want to make sure you're done your meal by 10:50 a.m. I wouldn't want to feel rushed, and I wouldn't want to plan on the meal taking any less than 75 minutes, so you're talking making an ADR for not later than 9:35 a.m.

But that's just me .... :cool:

[DizneyRox]

ME departure times are a killer. The 3 hours takes a large dent out of the day. The aboe times are probably OK, EXCEPT, getting a bus back to a resort in the AM is a little tough at times. Maybe since it's closer to noon you'll be lucky, but I would allow more than 45 minutes... We waited for 45 minutes once for a bus, then had the drive time, etc.

You may be able to swing an extra hour if you get a towncar. We usually leave 2 hours before
take off, and with a 30-45 minute ride it ends up much closer to one hour. Maybe we're playing with fire, but MCO is usually pretty good and security doesn't take too long.

If you can do the airline check-in at the resort you'll save some time. Carry-ons will still need to be checked as you'll need to be out of the room by 11am.

You may want to use those credits before your last day. You'll only be able to get a breakfast in really. As mentioned, a park is also your only option, MAYBE a Contemporary breakfast, you may be able to sneak in Cape May, but the walk could kill you.

Taxi will help a lot!

[aurora, ariel, and bell]

Why not use the credits prior to the last day for a signature restaurant, or Hoop de Doo, or the Luha. Then the last day have breakfast at POP and enjoy the pool and relax before heading back. You could even go downtown disney for last minute shopping.

Personally I think it would be too much of a hassle to try to get to a park eat and get back, worring about the time instead of enjoying your last day.:thumbsup:

[#1disneyfan]

Why not use the credits prior to the last day for a signature restaurant, or Hoop de Doo, or the Luha. Then the last day have breakfast at POP and enjoy the pool and relax before heading back. You could even go downtown disney for last minute shopping.

Personally I think it would be too much of a hassle to try to get to a park eat and get back, worring about the time instead of enjoying your last day.:thumbsup:

I agree with this poster. Why take the chances and have such a rushed morning. Why not use those credits prior and enjoy relaxing at your resort before heading out. Maybe have a breakfast at the resort, some pool time and some last minute shopping at the resort store. You will probably feel alot less stressed! Not a good way to end your vacation IMO. Have a great trip!! :mickey:

[forever a child]

I agree with this poster. Why take the chances and have such a rushed morning. Why not use those credits prior and enjoy relaxing at your resort before heading out. Maybe have a breakfast at the resort, some pool time and some last minute shopping at the resort store. You will probably feel alot less stressed! Not a good way to end your vacation IMO. Have a great trip!! :mickey:

I would also suggest using those credit before your day of departure. We were not thrilled with Pop's food court but for breakfast it would be fine. I would use them earlier during your stay and save 1 QS for breakfast. Or take a to go lunch with you. Our flight was about the same as yours and we basically had enough time to sleep in, pack and get a meal in before we needed to check in (on line check in for flights are great!) and wait for ME. It was disappointing but time to go.

[faline]

I agree with the other posters. I don't think your schedule will allow you the time for a nice lunch on your departure day. Use your lunch meal credit prior to your departure day. You could still get in a breakfast somewhere on your departure day.

[Rosemickey68]

Thanks for all the replies!
After reading the replies, we decided to wake up and utilize the resort airline check in (since it is now available for southwest! Yeah!!!) grab breakfast at Pop Century and then catch the bus to Downtown Disney for some last minute shopping. We thought we could grab a sandwich to go at Earl of Sandwich and then head back to Pop Century to wait for the ME bus.