How busy is the DME after 10:30 PM?

[Stitch83]

We have a late evening flight to Orlando next month, which we don't normally do, and weren't sure how long things could take. I know that we will have to pick up our own luggage, but we weren't sure if they combine even more resorts on the route or if there would be less buses that time of night. Does anyone know?

 

[Alison S]

Well we got there around 9:30 and it was dead. Like 4 other people in line. We waited at least 30 minutes for a bus and it had about 4 other groups on it. We stopped at 3 resorts before getting to the poly around 11.

 

[Stitch83]

Well we got there around 9:30 and it was dead. Like 4 other people in line. We waited at least 30 minutes for a bus and it had about 4 other groups on it. We stopped at 3 resorts before getting to the poly around 11.

Awesome. Thank you for the information. We don't arrive until 10:17ish and I am so very hoping that with a bathroom stop for 2, luggage pickup and DME we will get to Pop before the restaurant closes. I want to be able to eat in the room the next morning before going to Magic Kingdom for EMH.

 

[nkereina]

Awesome. Thank you for the information. We don't arrive until 10:17ish and I am so very hoping that with a bathroom stop for 2, luggage pickup and DME we will get to Pop before the restaurant closes. I want to be able to eat in the room the next morning before going to Magic Kingdom for EMH.

The Pop food court is open until midnight, I believe. With a 10:17pm landing, assuming all goes well, you'd be cutting it close. If you get off the plane at 10:20, get your luggage/bathroom break over to DME by 10:45. Then its a 30 minute drive to WDW, not including the time you'll spend waiting on the bus to leave and any other stops that may come before yours.

I would make other arrangements for breakfast the next morning. Maybe bring some granola bars or something easy from home that you can do on your first morning. Or you can take an Uber from the airport which will be faster that time of night.

 

[KPeterso]

I arrived about 10:30 last month (think we landed about 10:20 or so which was early). The airport itself was pretty dead. My luggage was already on the carousel by the time I stopped in the bathroom and took the monorail to the main terminal. There was a small line at DME (someone was having an issue and was at the desk the whole time while others went through other lines). I was travelling to AS Movies. The bus was maybe half full when I got on and then we waited maybe about 20 more minutes for more people to board, and it did get pretty full. AS Movies was the last stop after the other 2 all stars and the majority of people got off at Movies. I got to the resort about 10 minutes or so to midnight, and headed straight to my room. Almost eerie how quiet it was at the resort. I think the food court was open still which surprised me, but I was off to bed.

 

[Stitch83]

The Pop food court is open until midnight, I believe. With a 10:17pm landing, assuming all goes well, you'd be cutting it close. If you get off the plane at 10:20, get your luggage/bathroom break over to DME by 10:45. Then its a 30 minute drive to WDW, not including the time you'll spend waiting on the bus to leave and any other stops that may come before yours.

I would make other arrangements for breakfast the next morning. Maybe bring some granola bars or something easy from home that you can do on your first morning. Or you can take an Uber from the airport which will be faster that time of night.

Yeah, I figure it will be really close, but I am keeping my fingers crossed. Maybe I'll be lucky. I was hoping that something at the airport would be open, but sadly most close by 8 or 9. We will not use UBER due to personal issues which I am not comfortable talking about here.

 

[Stitch83]

I arrived about 10:30 last month (think we landed about 10:20 or so which was early). The airport itself was pretty dead. My luggage was already on the carousel by the time I stopped in the bathroom and took the monorail to the main terminal. There was a small line at DME (someone was having an issue and was at the desk the whole time while others went through other lines). I was travelling to AS Movies. The bus was maybe half full when I got on and then we waited maybe about 20 more minutes for more people to board, and it did get pretty full. AS Movies was the last stop after the other 2 all stars and the majority of people got off at Movies. I got to the resort about 10 minutes or so to midnight, and headed straight to my room. Almost eerie how quiet it was at the resort. I think the food court was open still which surprised me, but I was off to bed.

Thank you. You give me hope I'll be lucky.

 

[bumbershoot]

Awesome. Thank you for the information. We don't arrive until 10:17ish and I am so very hoping that with a bathroom stop for 2, luggage pickup and DME we will get to Pop before the restaurant closes. I want to be able to eat in the room the next morning before going to Magic Kingdom for EMH.

I really would not count on it, and would be prepared with another option.

Feb 20 flight landed around 8:15, and I remembered to start my watch (to time it) near luggage carousels. From there to arriving at Boardwalk it was 1 hour 44 minutes.

Now I will say that pop and AoA were first. And I think we also stopped at CBR. But if I’m looking at my garmin app right, there were only 32 minutes from stopping at pop and getting to BW. So that’s still a decent amount of time from the carousel (where I waited much longer than I’ve ever waited for luggage).

We will not use UBER due to personal issues which I am not comfortable talking about here.

Ideas. No need to respond: Cab? Towncar? One day car rental from Alamo or National, to be returned to car care center?

 

[pixiedustedme]

We arrived at the MCO airport around midnight (flight delay) during our last trip to WDW. We waited on the bus about 20-30 minutes, then were taken to our resort. We were staying at Beach Club, and there were 2 or 3 resort stops before us, no more than usual. It was never a full bus. We were the only guests getting off at Beach Club and we were the last guests to exit the bus. It was a little after 1am at that point.

 

[Lewisc]

If I had a very late flight I'd consider staying at an airport area hotel the first night. Definitely if I was staying at a $$$ deluxe hotel.
I think your airline makes a difference. After 10 Southwest passengers have to go to level 1, claim their luggage, schlep their luggage back up to level 3, walk to the opposite end of MCO, go down to level 1 then wait for DME.

Ride Share pickup is on level one right outside Southwest baggage claim. Good chance you'll be in your resort before your DME bus even leaves MCO. You have some issues taking Uber. Uber gives you details about the car (including plate number) and the drivers name (with picture). Easy to make sure you're in the car assigned to you. Prefer not using ride share. Consider booking a car service or even a taxi.