Magical Express to the Polynesian

[jeffk410]

Hey all,

I am stuck in a bit of a proposition and was hoping for some advice. Currently, our schedule has us landing at MCO at 8PM. Do any of you think it is feasible to take the magical express and make it to the Polynesian by 9:40.pm for an ADR at O’hana?

We’re staying at the poly, but wouldn’t check in or go to the room until after dinner. The more I think about it, the less likely it seems. I think it could work if everything worked out in my favor, but when thinking back to prior MDE experiences, the time to reach the hotel seems to deviate quite a bit.

EDIT: We've canceled the original ADR and were lucky enough to have one open up on later on in the week. Appreciate all your thoughts, sounds like I was being too optimistic thinking we would make it our first night.

 

[4disneylovers]

You would think it would be enough, but only if everything lined up in your favor. MCO is very large. It will take quite a while to get from gate to ME. Then you have to wait for bus (maybe). Then you have to drive to hotel and it might not be the first stop. Too stressful for me.

 

[NYwdwfan]

You're also counting on your plane not being delayed/arriving late. It would probably work out, but I'd find out how late you can arrive for dinner without being charged as a no-show. I'm sure someone here knows.

 

[Tinkerbell397]

Sounds like a pretty stressful way to start a Magical Vacation. Even if you arrive on time, it will still take you a while to deplane and then there is a long walk to DME. You can probably get to DME by 8:45. If your bus is sitting here waiting and it leaves right away, you may be in luck provided that you are the first stop. I would not take the chance....just sounds too stressful for me and a recipe for a less than enjoyable dinner or a $10 per person "no show" charge. If I were you, I would change the reservation....you will be happier.
Have a Magical Trip!

 

[Weather_Lady]

I would change the reservation, too, not so much because of the timing, but simply because the last thing I'd want to do after landing is rush, rush, rush to go eat a huge, heavy and time-consuming meal at 10:00pm, before I'd even had a chance to unpack.

We've always made it to our resort within 90 minutes of our plane touching down. However, that was because we always landed on time, we know how to get around MCO so it takes us no more than 10-15 minutes to get to the DME area from our gate, and we've never had to wait more than 20 minutes for a bus, or had a bus ride longer than 50 minutes, even with one or two stops at other resorts along the way. Still, if we'd ever been held up at any one of those stages, it could easily have taken 2 hours or more to get to our resort.

Captain Cook's (the Poly's counter-service restaurant) is open 24 hours a day. If you're hungry at that late hour, I'd suggest a casual and informal meal there, instead.

 

[jeffk410]

Thanks all -- it is looking like we are going to cancel it and hope O'hana opens up for another night. I would be interested to know how long you have to arrive after your scheduled ADR before incurring the 10 dollar fee for future reference, though.

I was hoping there would be one crazy person telling me to keep it. Looks like i'll have to get lucky to get into O'hana. Completely booked for the first week of May.

 

[jeffk410]

So, I canceled our May 2nd ADR and was able to get one on May8th for 7:50 PM. We are aiming to still catch wishes at 10PM. I've never been to 'Ohana for dinner, how long should I plan on the meal taking?

 

[Mukta]

How many of you are there? After we get seated, we usually take about 45 minutes to eat ourselves sick and have to be rolled out of there. I have only gone with small parties that just ordered water and ate everything that came out. if you ask for specialty drinks or items, it can take longer.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Not impossible, but unwise to plan your trip around ideal travel times.

First off, every time I've been on DME...the routes and resorts seem to change. This past trip, we stayed at the Poly, but our first 2 resorts for drop off were Ft. Wilderness and WL...which ate up quite a bit of time. And where was this when we stayed at WL? We were nowhere's near to close to the top of the dropoff list for that DME trip.

Secondly, as others have noted, you have no idea what other factors could impact your travel time. While we've had perfect travel days, we've also had weather...traffic...mechanical issues...and one awful car accident. So, you always have to keep this in mind.

Third...you don't know how long you'll be waiting on a DME bus for them to fill it up. I've boarded sometimes and we leave for WDW in 5 min or less. I've had other times where it's been another 20+ minutes of waiting for them to fill up the bus.

Lastly...it's not as quick as you'd think...even if you are the first stop, have no travel issues, and leave fairly quickly. We stayed at the Poly last trip and had a fairly early flight in. I believe we arrived around 8:45 am and things were going smoothly. I was hoping we'd be at the Poly between 10a and 10:30. I think we got there around 10:15...we were the third stop and the bus left just a couple of min after we boarded. This is about as close to ideal with DME as we've ever come and it's all pure luck.

 

[jeffk410]

How many of you are there? After we get seated, we usually take about 45 minutes to eat ourselves sick and have to be rolled out of there. I have only gone with small parties that just ordered water and ate everything that came out. if you ask for specialty drinks or items, it can take longer.

Just two of us, so it sounds like we should be fine to keep our 7:50 PM adr and still make it to MK for wishes at 945... I figured it wouldn't take more than an hour, but wasn't sure if 'Ohana is notorious for running late.

 

[Tuvalu]

Just two of us, so it sounds like we should be fine to keep our 7:50 PM adr and still make it to MK for wishes at 945... I figured it wouldn't take more than an hour, but wasn't sure if 'Ohana is notorious for running late.

And absolute worst case scenario, if you get seated late or dinner runs long, you can watch Wishes from 'Ohana or the lobby (music is piped in both locations) or the beach (which has speakers for the soundtrack).

I always choose watching Wishes from the Poly rather than inside MK

 

[jeffk410]

And absolute worst case scenario, if you get seated late or dinner runs long, you can watch Wishes from 'Ohana or the lobby (music is piped in both locations) or the beach (which has speakers for the soundtrack).

I always choose watching Wishes from the Poly rather than inside MK

Oh really, I heard about the music being piped in (I've done Cali grill a few times for this), but wasn't sure if it was still a great viewing. Good to know, may just end up staying at the resort since it'll be our last night there. Thanks again for your thoughts, Tuvalu.

 

[R W B]

I would change the reservation, too, not so much because of the timing, but simply because the last thing I'd want to do after landing is rush, rush, rush to go eat a huge, heavy and time-consuming meal at 10:00pm, before I'd even had a chance to unpack.

We've always made it to our resort within 90 minutes of our plane touching down. However, that was because we always landed on time, we know how to get around MCO so it takes us no more than 10-15 minutes to get to the DME area from our gate, and we've never had to wait more than 20 minutes for a bus, or had a bus ride longer than 50 minutes, even with one or two stops at other resorts along the way. Still, if we'd ever been held up at any one of those stages, it could easily have taken 2 hours or more to get to our resort.

Captain Cook's (the Poly's counter-service restaurant) is open 24 hours a day. If you're hungry at that late hour, I'd suggest a casual and informal meal there, instead.

Are you saying you're against eating there that late in general or just because the rushing from the flight?

 

[Weather_Lady]

Are you saying you're against eating there that late in general or just because the rushing from the flight?

Actually, both. I was saying that for me, either having to rush to the meal, or having to eat a big meal that late at night, would both be "deal-breakers." I love 'Ohana, but I'd save it for a time when I could really savor the experience. Obviously, that's just my subjective opinion, and if you don't mind the late hour or the possibility of some stress getting there, there's no reason you shouldn't go for it. Just keep the necessary phone number in your pocket, in the event you think you're going to be late and need to see if the ADR can be pushed back.

FWIW, another "trick" I've heard if you can't make it at the last minute: call the dining line and if they won't cancel for you due to your inability to get there on time, "modify" your reservation instead of canceling: reschedule it for another day, later in your trip (more than 24 hours out). Then call again and cancel your [rescheduled] ADR, and you'll avoid the fee for late cancellations. I know this has worked for some people but it could be a loophole Disney eventually attempts to close -- YMMV.

 

[Tuvalu]

Oh really, I heard about the music being piped in (I've done Cali grill a few times for this), but wasn't sure if it was still a great viewing. Good to know, may just end up staying at the resort since it'll be our last night there. Thanks again for your thoughts, Tuvalu.

We had intended to watch Wishes from the Poly Beach a couple weeks ago, but it began pouring about a half hour before Wishes began. We stood just inside the lobby doors on the first floor (though the second floor area just above it would work too) and stayed dry while watching the fireworks ~ the soundtrack seemed to be playing inside the entire GCH.

 

[R W B]

Oh really, I heard about the music being piped in (I've done Cali grill a few times for this), but wasn't sure if it was still a great viewing. Good to know, may just end up staying at the resort since it'll be our last night there. Thanks again for your thoughts, Tuvalu.

And absolute worst case scenario, if you get seated late or dinner runs long, you can watch Wishes from 'Ohana or the lobby (music is piped in both locations) or the beach (which has speakers for the soundtrack).

I always choose watching Wishes from the Poly rather than inside MK

This happened to us on our last trip. I forgot the exact times but we scheduled a later ADR at 'Ohana but then we were also sat about 40min late. About half way through our dinner, the fireworks started and personally I thought it was great! We had a good table to view them from, don't remember the soundtrack playing but it might of been. Overall, I'd like to try and time it that way again.