Would we have enough time at AK?

[linana514]

We (8yo DD and I) were hoping to make it to AK on arrival day. We were planning on making it a half day anyway, and with my original plan of driving 3/4 of the way down the night before we were going to make it to AK around noon. Now we're looking into flying and the earliest flight would have us arriving at MCO at 12:30. I know we have to account for time at the airport, time waiting on the bus, time riding the bus, checking in at POP, and the bus ride over to AK. Is it possible we might still make it to AK by 2pm?

 

[ErinsMommy]

IMO that's cutting it very close, I'm thinking 2:30-3:00 is more realistic. Once you get off plane you have to walk/elevator/escalator down to DME, get on a line, wait to get on a bus, wait for bus to leave, bus travel time tot POP (may not be first stop), then you may want to check-in or at least go to check-in desk to drop off any carry on bags. Then wait for bus to AK, then go through security, etc.

 

[Accident]

on the plus side, ak is staying opened late enough to see the tree a couple times which requires it to be dark. while not everything is opened if you concentrated on what will be closed in the evening you'll have more time than you think for AK and I find the ride lines to be reasonable.

You didnt mention when your going but I would assume the schedule is not finalized unless it's in the next few weeks.

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

We (8yo DD and I) were hoping to make it to AK on arrival day. We were planning on making it a half day anyway, and with my original plan of driving 3/4 of the way down the night before we were going to make it to AK around noon. Now we're looking into flying and the earliest flight would have us arriving at MCO at 12:30. I know we have to account for time at the airport, time waiting on the bus, time riding the bus, checking in at POP, and the bus ride over to AK. Is it possible we might still make it to AK by 2pm?

Nope. It will take you a minimum of an hour to get to your resort once you land, likely longer, and it could take as much as 2 hours. Check-in is at least 15 minutes and perhaps substantially longer, then you have to wait for a bus (assuming you go directly to the bus stop) and a 20 minute ride to the park. A 5 minute walk from the bus ride to the entrance then you have to go through the gates. If everything goes perfect from a timing perspective you might make it to AK by 3:00 but it wouldn't surprise me if it was after 4:00.

 

[linana514]

on the plus side, ak is staying opened late enough to see the tree a couple times which requires it to be dark. while not everything is opened if you concentrated on what will be closed in the evening you'll have more time than you think for AK and I find the ride lines to be reasonable.

You didnt mention when your going but I would assume the schedule is not finalized unless it's in the next few weeks.

We'll arrive May 5. Sunset is around 8pm that time of year, do you think they'll be staying open later than 8? Posted time is 7pm right now but I realize that can change.

Nope. It will take you a minimum of an hour to get to your resort once you land, likely longer, and it could take as much as 2 hours. Check-in is at least 15 minutes and perhaps substantially longer, then you have to wait for a bus (assuming you go directly to the bus stop) and a 20 minute ride to the park. A 5 minute walk from the bus ride to the entrance then you have to go through the gates. If everything goes perfect from a timing perspective you might make it to AK by 3:00 but it wouldn't surprise me if it was after 4:00.

That sounds awful. I might rather drive then! Not really saving any time as we'll have to be at the airport by 8am, and the drive is only 8 hrs!

 

[Accident]

We'll arrive May 5. Sunset is around 8pm that time of year, do you think they'll be staying open later than 8? Posted time is 7pm right now but I realize that can change.

they've been changing the times about 15 days prior to the next month (so around tax time, may's times will get closer to final). I think there is a good chance as they started "AK at night" last year, nobody really knows as rivers of light was a rather large fail so far I am suspecting it'll finally come out in mid march when the view is in the park to film as their way to launch that it's opened with more info on upcoming pandora (with an opening date).

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

We'll arrive May 5. Sunset is around 8pm that time of year, do you think they'll be staying open later than 8? Posted time is 7pm right now but I realize that can change.



That sounds awful. I might rather drive then! Not really saving any time as we'll have to be at the airport by 8am, and the drive is only 8 hrs!

We drove once or twice when we lived in Atlanta and it was roughly a 7 hour drive. Not the worst drive in the world but still takes half a day. Still, as you point out, flying doesn't save a ton of time. An 8 a.m. flight from Atlanta arrives in Orlando at 9:15 a.m., which would put us at the resort around say 11:00. But for an 8 a.m. flight we would have needed to leave for the airport around 6 a.m. If I left the house at 6 a.m. and drove to Disney I would have been at the resort by 1:00 p.m. or so and would have save $1,000 on plane tickets. So yeah, I can see driving. Now that we would face a 14 hour drive though I would fly.

 

[Mac30188]

I anticipated only doing a half day at AK, and it was shockingly a huge draw and time sink for daughter. We opened and closed the park without break and still didn't finish everything she wanted to do.

On other hand...

it really doesn't matter. You rarely do everything you want to do in a park. It is more about enjoying the time you have in the park and catch what you missed later.

Not sure this helps at all.

 

[linana514]

I anticipated only doing a half day at AK, and it was shockingly a huge draw and time sink for daughter. We opened and closed the park without break and still didn't finish everything she wanted to do.

On other hand...

it really doesn't matter. You rarely do everything you want to do in a park. It is more about enjoying the time you have in the park and catch what you missed later.

Not sure this helps at all.

We saw pretty much everything at AK last time we were there, so we don't mind skipping a few things this time, and just hitting our faves

 

[Tomh]

Though I've never flown into MCO, everything I've experienced when flying, along with what I've read here lead me to believe that realistically, it would likely be 3:00 or later by the time you get into the park.

From Atlanta, I would probably just drive.

 

[ArielSRL]

We'll arrive May 5. Sunset is around 8pm that time of year, do you think they'll be staying open later than 8? Posted time is 7pm right now but I realize that can change.

Fairly certain those hours will change. My guess would be 9 would be the earliest close but that's just a guess. It all really depends upon their mindset of continuing the nighttime stuff. So long as they keep it going, it wouldn't make sense to close at 8. It is all specualtion at this point, though.

That sounds awful. I might rather drive then! Not really saving any time as we'll have to be at the airport by 8am, and the drive is only 8 hrs!

We live in metro Atlanta and we almost always drive. Flying, with everything that is included, takes almost as long and costs a lot more for a family of four. Plus we have our car when in Disney, which gives us more options than being without.

 

[mshanson3121]

That sounds awful. I might rather drive then! Not really saving any time as we'll have to be at the airport by 8am, and the drive is only 8 hrs!

8 hours? Good grief, why would you waste your time flying then?! That's absolutely NOTHING for a drive. Drive it, you'll have far more freedom, will save you money (which you can then spend on something fun in WDW) and you'll definitely be able to be in the park faster.

 

[linana514]

We're actually in (near) Birmingham, but yeah, same idea.

I am all for driving. It's my little one that wants to fly, because when we went with the whole family we flew, because hubby can't handle an 8hr drive, and so of course he's siding with her on it, lol!

I'm just checking all available options. If it means missing out on a park day because there's not an early enough flight, then I think we'll just drive. We can drive 3/4 of the way down on Thursday evening, stay in a nice room in Lake City for around $60, have breakfast at Cracker Barrel, and still be AT Animal Kingdom by noon at the latest.

 

[MrInfinity]

We're actually in (near) Birmingham, but yeah, same idea.

I am all for driving. It's my little one that wants to fly, because when we went with the whole family we flew, because hubby can't handle an 8hr drive, and so of course he's siding with her on it, lol!

I'm just checking all available options. If it means missing out on a park day because there's not an early enough flight, then I think we'll just drive. We can drive 3/4 of the way down on Thursday evening, stay in a nice room in Lake City for around $60, have breakfast at Cracker Barrel, and still be AT Animal Kingdom by noon at the latest.

Why stop overnight 2 hours out? Just drive all the way Thursday, spend the night at a hotel across the street, and go to the AK in the morning. Or better yet, just check in to Pop a day earlier. The cost is only a little more than your overnight hotel, and you're saving more than that on flights. Then you arrive, you're done, you enjoy the hotel, and you have the whole next day.

 

[IrishNYC]

We're actually in (near) Birmingham, but yeah, same idea.

I am all for driving. It's my little one that wants to fly, because when we went with the whole family we flew, because hubby can't handle an 8hr drive, and so of course he's siding with her on it, lol!

I'm just checking all available options. If it means missing out on a park day because there's not an early enough flight, then I think we'll just drive. We can drive 3/4 of the way down on Thursday evening, stay in a nice room in Lake City for around $60, have breakfast at Cracker Barrel, and still be AT Animal Kingdom by noon at the latest.

This is what I would do.

I'm not a fan of long car trips where the drive isn't part of the adventure, but an 8 hour drive would be preferable to flying. My DH is also afraid of flying, and wants to drive for our next trip, but it's a 17 hour drive, and we don't have any wiggle room in our vacation days, so I'll be spending the next 8.5 months talking him off the ledge. I also gave him the option of driving while DD and I fly, but that made him panic even more.

 

[linana514]

Why stop overnight 2 hours out? Just drive all the way Thursday, spend the night at a hotel across the street, and go to the AK in the morning. Or better yet, just check in to Pop a day earlier. The cost is only a little more than your overnight hotel, and you're saving more than that on flights. Then you arrive, you're done, you enjoy the hotel, and you have the whole next day.

Well, it's just my daughter and me, and she has school on Thursday. I didn't want to be driving really late, and thought we would stop for a few groceries on the way in Friday morning. I'll think about it

 

[Trap]

the last 4 trips we took it took 60 to 90 mins from airport to hotel we used ME so we did not worry about bags we also did online check in we got off the bus they checked my magic band and told us are room number at that time we could head to a park

 

[Mac30188]

FWIW, length of stay defines whether you drive from Atlanta. If you are just going for 1 day, fly in - fly out. Drive not worth it. If you are staying 1 week, drive by a long shot. It significantly simplifies the amount you can haul with you.

 

[mshanson3121]

Well, it's just my daughter and me, and she has school on Thursday. I didn't want to be driving really late, and thought we would stop for a few groceries on the way in Friday morning. I'll think about it

Hehe. School, shmool. In all seriousness, would it be the end of the world for her to miss one day, or even half a day? If you picked her up and left at noon you'd be there by 9:00 (allowing for a gas/supper stop).

 

[ArielSRL]

We're actually in (near) Birmingham, but yeah, same idea.

I am all for driving. It's my little one that wants to fly, because when we went with the whole family we flew, because hubby can't handle an 8hr drive, and so of course he's siding with her on it, lol!

I'm just checking all available options. If it means missing out on a park day because there's not an early enough flight, then I think we'll just drive. We can drive 3/4 of the way down on Thursday evening, stay in a nice room in Lake City for around $60, have breakfast at Cracker Barrel, and still be AT Animal Kingdom by noon at the latest.

This past June we left around 5 I'm thinking (was supposed to be earlier) on a Friday (we went back roads) and stopped at Lake City. Finished the drive the next day but it took longer to get going and longer to get there than I had figured (my dad was a notorious *ss dragger on the whole trip) so we didn't actually make it to SSR til 1:30, settled in room, got food, got into parks by 5? This trip we are leaving Dad at home and we are leaving at 6am and driving straight there. Hoping to arrive between 1-3. No parks though because I decided not to hit the ground running this trip.

I'm sure you'll be fine though with just you and your daughter. I really liked that plan and it would've worked had we not had Dad along. I really do love him but oh my at making everyone be on his schedule. I digress....