Check My Work...Transport Between Port Orleans and Grand Floridian

[Little E]

Hi Disboard Friends!

We are staying one night on property before our Disney cruise. We are staying at Port Orleans Riverside and we have a dinner reservation at the Grand Floridian Cafe. We fly in around 4:15 pm and take the Magical Express from MCO to POR. Our dinner ressie is at 7:10 pm.

I assume we'll have enough time from the time we land at MCO to get checked in to POR and then to get to our dinner reservation on time. My plan is to take a bus to MK and then take the monorail to the GF for our dinner.

Is this the fastest and most direct way, using Disney transportation? I'm not interested in Uber-ing or using a Minnie Van...we are one of those weird families who actually sort of likes using Disney transportation. Since we're only on property one night, we want as much "Disney" as we can get, since we won't be going in to the parks.

Please check my work...is my route the most direct way, or is there a Disney transport way that's more direct to get between these two resorts?

Thanks so much!

 

[seashoreCM]

If, when walking from the Magic Kingdom bus area to the monorail, you see the little boat for Grand Floridian and Polynesian (not the big ferry) down on the left just before the monorail platform, take that instead. If that boat is not there chances are the monorail will get you to GF faster.

You are going to be anxious. On average you will just make it. Which means that if something goes wrong even a little, you will miss your reservation.

Average Magical Express time from airport gate to Disney is 80 minutes without bathroom break. Suggested time from one resort to another resort is 90 minutes. Recommended arrival time for ADR is 10 minutes in advance. Which adds up to the time you have. Note that on average one in 4 flights lands more than 15 minutes late so you have something else working against you.

 

[Little E]

@seashoreCM thanks so much for your info. I thought I had given us enough time to get from the airport to the hotel to our dinner ressie. I sent my TA an email to see about moving our dinner back a bit to give us some breathing room.

I forgot about the boat. We'll keep our eyes peeled to determine which seems the faster route...boat or monorail!

 

[shocker]

Don't forget, if you arrive at MK by bus then switch to boat or monorail you'll have to go thru security (unless you're bagless), this will add more time if there's a wait. But, I wouldn't hesitate one second to show up late for an ADR, others may report being turned away, but I've been late many many times since ADRs began & WDW has always found a way to take my $$

 

[Little E]

@shocker Ugh! I didn't factor in security. Yikes! That WILL slow us down, and we can't get into the parks...we won't have park tickets. I really wanted to use Disney transportation but now I'm thinking it just makes more sense to use an uber.

If we do Uber to the GF, how long does that take? Would we be safe to leave our ressie time if we Uber?

 

[focusondisney]

We only have taken ME twice, the last time was early February. We landed at MCO at 9:30 am. Didn’t get to YC til close noon. We were in the 6th row on the plane, so we got off pretty quick (we are only 2 adults) , made a quick restroom stop then right to the check in. There was no one in front of us there & only 1 family waiting in our resort line. We probably waited at least 20 minutes to get called for a bus, then once on the bus, it kept loading people for another 20 minutes. And then we were the last resort dropped off. So it was close to 2.5 hours from landing to resort.

If you get delayed with ME like we did, you might not make it by using Disney transportation. I would just keep that in the back of you mind & plan what you will do if that delay happens.

 

[focusondisney]

@shocker Ugh! I didn't factor in security. Yikes! That WILL slow us down, and we can't get into the parks...we won't have park tickets. I really wanted to use Disney transportation but now I'm thinking it just makes more sense to use an uber.

If we do Uber to the GF, how long does that take? Would we be safe to leave our ressie time if we Uber?

You don’t need park tickets to get thru security. The monorail or boat transportation is between security & the MK entrance. If you don’t have any bags, the security check will be much quicker because you can go thru the “no bag” line. You’ll probably stil have to go thru the metal detectors, but that is pretty quick. If you do have purses or backpacks, it will take a little longer. Returning, you get screened at GF before boarding the monorail, no further security screening before the busses.

 

[GoofyCoaster]

That is a tight timetable. My least pleasant ME arrival experience was for a stay at POR. It took 2hr 45min from the time the plane landed until I arrived at the resort. I used the luggage tags so skipped baggage claim. Waited for the ME bus for 10-15 min, then waited on the bus for 25 or 30 min while it filled. Then the bus stopped at OKW, SSR, POFQ, then finally POR. While this is longer than average, it can and does happen.

That’s a great idea to see if your TA can push the dinner ressie later.

 

[bumbershoot]

Yep.

I had a perfectly pleasant without long waits anywhere trip on DME last month, and time from airplane to hotel was longer than that.

I started my garmin at 8:48pm, with a scheduled landing at 8:35, so that is likely when it was my turn to get up get my carryon and get off the plane.

I *did* get my luggage, so that took a short amount of time getting it then going to dme. But in total it took 1 hour 44 minutes.

No long delays, the driver didn’t go slowly, nor did he get lost. I was the fourth resort.

But it still took that long in total.

 

[Little E]

Thanks, friends! I hadn't even considered that a 4:05 MCO arrival might not mesh with a 7:10 dinner ressie. I was more focused on figuring out the best way to get there using Disney transportation.

My TA is awesome, and she was able to move our dinner back to 8 pm. I'm hoping I'm all set. Thanks so much for all of your advice!