Fly or Drive?

[ChipNDale79]

So I'm debating flying vs driving for our trip in March, if we fly we have then our flight out of orlando to home wouldnt leave until 7pm. Which makes me think we would be able to get almost a full day in the parks if we do that.

Anyone have any experience with Magical Express and have any idea on how much time we should leave ourselves to get from the parks to magical express and then catch our flight.

I'm thinking 3 hours, is that enough time or do you guys think im crazy? We've never done done Magical Express.

[Disney4us2]

Our only option is to fly. This past trip our flight left at 7pm. We were to be at the DME pick up 3 hours prior to our flight time. I actually took and earlier DME to give me more time to get through TSA with a walker.

We spent the morning/early afternoon at MK, returning to our resort around 1:30pm. We just hung out at the resort and relaxed before leaving for the airport.

[ChipNDale79]

im also curious as to how long it takes to get from the airport to our resort. Will that take us like an hour or 2?

[PopPhan]

Magical Express will pick you up at your resort approximately 3 hours before your flight time. (Anywhere from 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours.)

You will need to give yourself at least 30 minutes more than that depending on: 1) where you are staying and 2) where you will be before having to return to your resort.

Also, take into account that you will need to pick up any carry on bags, which, depending on how busy the counter is, could take some time itself.


For arrival: Once you arrive at the airport, give yourself about 10 - 15 minutes to get from the jetway to the main terminal and find the DME counter. From that point, it can take up to about 1 1/2 hours to get to your resort depending on: 1) Which resort you are staying at; 2) How soon you are able to board a bus; 3) How soon after you board that bus is able to leave the airport; and 4) How many stops between the airport and your resort (I believe the maximum number of stops is supposed to be 3, so if you are the 3rd stop on the route, it would take longer than if you are the 1st stop on the route.)

We stay at Pop Century, in September, which is typically either alone or shared with Caribbean Beach on the DME route, and we are generally at our resort and completely checked in within 90 minutes of landing.

[KeriWDE]

I've done both. I live in NE Alabama, which is probably a comparable length drive to yours from Charlotte NC. It wasn't terrible. I had an 8 y-o and a 2 y-o. We did our best to combine meal and potty and fuel stops, but it still took about 10 hours. (I don't remember exactly. Just a guess.)

We have flown 3 times and are flying this time (end of Feb, early March). I MUCH prefer flying.

As for DME, they're awesome. One of the reasons I prefer flying. Yes, bell service will unload your bags from your car and take them to your room. Yes, that's more "immediate" than DME, but I LOVE handing my bags over at the airport and never having to touch them again until I'm in the room.

Another plus for flying and using DME, you can do airport checkin - including checking your luggage and getting your boarding passes - AT your WDW hotel! That's a potentially HUGE time-saver.

As for timing your last day and getting back to the airprort... That's a different matter, entirely. If your flight LEAVES at 7pm, you need to BE AT the airport at 5pm, ready to go through security. Which means you need to be ready to board your DME bus 2hours and 45minutes before your flight leaves.

So, no. You won't get a FULL day in the park before leaving on a flight. But you'll be home SIGNIFICANTLY faster and with much less effort by flying.

Have fun!

[forever a child]

We did both last year. Flew from Lexington, KY to Orlando in May:plane: and then in Dec we drove.:car: I can say that I prefer to drive. It was about an 11 hour drive (but we stopped at rest stops and I took naps since I am the only driver in the car).

I liked driving better because we didn't have to deal with airline flight schedules and arriving hours ahead of time to check in and deal with luggage. We could take whatever food we wanted and stop at local places if we liked along the way. I liked being able to bring as much clothing as we needed (for December we needed a lot more clothing than during May too!). But my favorite part about the driving was on the day we left. We checked out and headed to DTD and stayed until 4pm before we headed out of town. With flying I have to give up over 3 hours of my vacation to ME and airport.

It was the first time that I have not flown and it was the most relaxing for me for arrival and departure days. We were living in Michigan when we did our earlier trips (prior to 2010) so flying was really our only option then. As long as I can do it in a day....I think I will continue to drive.