First day arrival planning help

[quix]

Hey again, I promise to TRY not to make too many of these

So, we will be in Orlando prior to our first day in Disney and our first day in our Disney resort (staying off site before the Disney part of the trip begins). But the first day of both will start on Monday. We will not have our own vehicle to get there. So I'm trying to figure out how to:

a) get the bags dropped off at resort hotel and
b) do a M&G with Rapunzel first thing in the AM

I'm worried that by the time we get ourselves to the resort, drop off the bags, get ourselves to MK, the lines for the M&G for Rapunzel will be crazy.

The good news, is all of my FP+ stuff is in the afternoon, but I'd really prefer to not have to spend our first chunk in Magic Kingdom waiting in line. In part, because I'm pretty sure my daughter will just get frustrated waiting and we'll just end up walking away and she'll be disappointed.

Is there any way to hack this that doesn't involve us getting up crazy early to get everything done beforehand?

 

[melodonnell]

There is a character breakfast, Bon Voyage Breakfast at Trattoria al Forno at the Boardwalk Resort. You get to meet and greet Rapunzel and Flynn Rider, plus Ariel and Prince Eric. We had so much fun there last year, it was our favorite meal of the trip. The food was great, and the character interactions were wonderful - Flynn Rider was a character and kept us laughing. It is included in the dining plan, but if you are paying cash, breakfast is one of the cheaper meals to pay for, and this meal doesn't require any park admission.

 

[Nick Pappagiorgio]

Not sure if this would work, but I have read several reports of people leaving their luggage at the Contemporary on arrival and departure days and then going to the Magic Kingdom. My understanding is that bell services does not check or really care if you have a reservation at that hotel.

So you could get a cab or Uber from off site to Contemporary, drop off luggage and walk to the park. After you are done at MK you can retrieve luggage. Then (and I have actually done this) hop a Disney bus with your luggage to the nearest park to your resort and then transfer to a resort bus. What Disney resort are you staying at?

 

[RememberWhen]

There is a character breakfast, Bon Voyage Breakfast at Trattoria al Forno at the Boardwalk Resort. You get to meet and greet Rapunzel and Flynn Rider, plus Ariel and Prince Eric. We had so much fun there last year, it was our favorite meal of the trip. The food was great, and the character interactions were wonderful - Flynn Rider was a character and kept us laughing. It is included in the dining plan, but if you are paying cash, breakfast is one of the cheaper meals to pay for, and this meal doesn't require any park admission.

Was going to say the same. If you’re driving, you can check in and drop your stuff at the hotel before driving over to Boardwalk, then drive to your park of the day.
Edit: my bad. I misreading thought you would have a car. So, uber or a Minnie van might be the best options. I would feel a little weird leaving my bag at the contemporary if I wasn’t staying there, but I don’t think it’s against any rules or anything.

 

[quix]

There is a character breakfast, Bon Voyage Breakfast at Trattoria al Forno at the Boardwalk Resort. You get to meet and greet Rapunzel and Flynn Rider, plus Ariel and Prince Eric. We had so much fun there last year, it was our favorite meal of the trip. The food was great, and the character interactions were wonderful - Flynn Rider was a character and kept us laughing. It is included in the dining plan, but if you are paying cash, breakfast is one of the cheaper meals to pay for, and this meal doesn't require any park admission.

Yes! Thank you! Just got buy-in from DW. Checked, and there was a reservation for 11:50 AM for the day before our first Disney day, which obviously is a pretty late breakfast, but we'll just make it a brunch That means we can remove that from the schedule on our day in MK which will mean we can take it (relatively) easy getting in and getting started Great tip, thanks again!

 

[quix]

Was going to say the same. If you’re driving, you can check in and drop your stuff at the hotel before driving over to Boardwalk, then drive to your park of the day.

Unfortunately, the only reservation available on our first Disney day was at 10:30 AM, which would mean an awkward trip out of MK and then back again, which would be a huge time suck.

 

[quix]

Not sure if this would work, but I have read several reports of people leaving their luggage at the Contemporary on arrival and departure days and then going to the Magic Kingdom. My understanding is that bell services does not check or really care if you have a reservation at that hotel.

So you could get a cab or Uber from off site to Contemporary, drop off luggage and walk to the park. After you are done at MK you can retrieve luggage. Then (and I have actually done this) hop a Disney bus with your luggage to the nearest park to your resort and then transfer to a resort bus. What Disney resort are you staying at?

Great tip! Thank you! If Rapunzel isn't at the character breakfast the day before, than I will definitely do this. I'll probably give Contemporary a call and see what they say.

 

[RememberWhen]

Unfortunately, the only reservation available on our first Disney day was at 10:30 AM, which would mean an awkward trip out of MK and then back again, which would be a huge time suck.

Yes. That wouldn’t make much sense. You can keep checking for an earlier reservation. Touringplans has a great reservation finder we have used with success several times.