11:10 am flight on departure day?

[Poncey]

You could always go to Disney World for one night & just stay in a hotel & relax & ignore the parks. We did that & would do it again in a heartbeat!

 

[apathetic]

Don't think you will have any problem. You just can't use their baggage service. We've gotten to the airport at 10am without even trying.

 

[Shanti]

Hi all! I messed up my flights for the day we disembark and now I have us going home the following day because the flights home on the day we disembark were crazy expensive. However, I am now seeing a flight for the same price we paid for the following day but it leaves at 11:10am. If we did express walk-off, and hired a car, would we make it?? Thanks!

Do express walk off and take Disney transfers. You'll be fine. I wouldn't hesitate to book that flight.

Sorry, just a couple more questions. Let’s assume I am keeping this flight and want to disembark as quickly as possible. Should I keep my luggage with us? Southwest does not participate in airline check-in, is that correct? I guess having it with us is better than having to search for it in the terminal?

Yes, keep your luggage with you. No, SWA doesn't participate in onboard airline check-in, but even if they did, you couldn't check bags that way as your flight leaves too early for that service.

 

[Dug720]

One other thing to note... Keep an eye on the flight you've booked to make sure they don't move the time up even earlier. If they do, I'd call and tell them the new time doesn't work - and they should work with you to change you to one that does. But I think it has to be up by more than 30 minutes to an hour before they're required to move you at no charge. So I would really weigh if I was comfortable with a departure time up to an hour earlier or was willing to pay a change fee before booking.

 

[Weedy]

FYI: Cabanas opens at 6am on the last morning but just serves continental breakfast until 6:30
Or Room Sevice closes at 1am?ish the last night. You can order a continental breakfast (croissants, donuts, cereal juice and coffee) the night before and have it in your cabin for morning. Reports are the coffee stays pretty hot in the carafe

 

[TRTRguy]

As long as everything goes well with the ship getting back in time, etc. It should not be a problem. I had an 11:25 AM flight booked, did express walk off, waited for the Disney bus to fill up, made it to the airport, checked in (Since it was before Disney's 11:30 cut off time for onboard check in) shopped at the stores at the airport, though security and still was at the gate about 2 hours early.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Sorry, just a couple more questions. Let’s assume I am keeping this flight and want to disembark as quickly as possible. Should I keep my luggage with us? Southwest does not participate in airline check-in, is that correct? I guess having it with us is better than having to search for it in the terminal?

I would keep it with you. We don't put our luggage out at night anymore. The last time we did, one of the bags became separated from the others and while we eventually found it, it took quite a long time. If you are looking for a quick, streamlined process, keep your bags with you and try to be off the ship as early as you can.

 

[buzzrelly]

I think we'll keep our bags with us. It's not a big deal since my kids are teens and all of our luggage has wheels.

I'm an early riser so I'll probably run up to Cabanas at 6:30 and grab some breakfast for everyone and bring it back to the room. That's what we did on our last cruise anyway…we hate having to sit in the dining room on the last morning. If I hire a car service and ask them to be there by 8, I think we'll be okay.

For those who said to go back to WDW that day, we've done that after our 4-night on the Dream and the kids were just plain exhausted. It wasn't fun for anyone. We'd rather just get home that day and settle in before heading back to school/work on Monday

Thanks, everyone!

 

[Otimon]

No one really knows for sure if you'll make it cutting it close until it happens! Hopefully you would. However, there's always the possibility you may run into traffic on the Beachline backed up for miles from an accident down the road. Yes it's unlikely it would happen just when you were there, but consider the stress if it did. Would recommend enjoying another day in Fla. and fly home relaxed the next day.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

No one really knows for sure if you'll make it cutting it close until it happens! Hopefully you would. However, there's always the possibility you may run into traffic on the Beachline backed up for miles from an accident down the road. Yes it's unlikely it would happen just when you were there, but consider the stress if it did. Would recommend enjoying another day in Fla. and fly home relaxed the next day.

I agree. Will any of the possible problems that can delay you getting to an earlier flight happen on that day? Probably not. That would be an accident, ship late to port, delayed customs/immigration checks, fire shutting down highway (yes, it happens).

But, for me, I don't want to have the stress of "what if" happening.

It's a good idea to have a plan B (or even plan C) in mind if the flight is missed.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

One other thing to note... Keep an eye on the flight you've booked to make sure they don't move the time up even earlier. If they do, I'd call and tell them the new time doesn't work - and they should work with you to change you to one that does. But I think it has to be up by more than 30 minutes to an hour before they're required to move you at no charge. So I would really weigh if I was comfortable with a departure time up to an hour earlier or was willing to pay a change fee before booking.

I know that many airlines do this but SWA rarely changes their schedule once its released except for weather or mechanical delays. I only recheck a SW reservation with the hopes that there's a price drop. Of course, that could change but it's very unlikely.



To OP, I would book the earlier flight. The thought of dealing with WDW crowds is not very appealing after the relaxation of a Disney cruise. I'd also rather just get home. TSA pre check isn't perfect but it's a huge help. Intentionally planning to spend 4 hours at the gate because something might happen somehow is a bit extreme imho. I would book a private transfer to MCO. This way they drop you off right at your terminal and the focus is all about getting you moving along, not a herd of 100. The driver unloads your bags quickly with no waiting around at A side/B side/wrong side for bags to be unloaded by the driver before anyone can start getting off the bus which is what happens on a Disney bus. Fine if you have time to kill....

I think a flight before 10:30 am is really pushing it. I'd feel completely confident that we'd make it with plenty of time for any flight after that. JMHO.

 

[buzzrelly]

Intentionally planning to spend 4 hours at the gate because something might happen somehow is a bit extreme imho.

Thank you, I completely agree. And it would be more like 12 hours just hanging around because the 1pm flight that I would REALLY want is $486. We'd be looking at changing it to 8:55pm which I think makes a way worse last day for us since I'm sure we'll be tired and just wanting to get home.