Departure Day from WDW

Walt Disney World
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DW has always wanted to leave first thing in the morning for any trip (WDW or otherwise).

Our 2025 WDW trip will be on the shorter side of 4 nights so I’d really like to convince DW that we should leave later in the day and have some park time on departure day.

There is a flight that leaves MCO around 4:30 pm so if I booked that, I’d plan to get in the rental car around 2:00 pm to head to the airport.

We are staying at BLT. On departure day, I’d ideally like to RD EP and get 2 rides on GotG (our family’s fav ride in WDW) with LLSP and BG before the BG lines build, but that means getting up very early to finish packing up the kids stuff and checking out so maybe it would be easier to convince DW if I plan the easy route of going to MK for a few hours (3 LLMP, Tron LLSP plus any other LLs I can pick up after we tap in).

Anyone have any other ideas? We will have hoppers and will buy LLMP and LLSP for the day.

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MK would be easier on the morning is sounds. You could still buy LL for GotG and finish the trip with it. The monorail to TTC to Epcot is usually pretty quick. SP line goes pretty quickly in the first half of the day. Then bus back to the Contemporary or Monorail.

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We just did your EP plan on Tuesday. We packed up everything we wouldn’t need Tuesday morning and had bell services grab it Monday night. On Tuesday morning we got up, took our “carryon” bags with us to the car, went to EP, rode Guardians, went to 1900 Park Fare for breakfast, then back to the hotel and grabbed the rest of our bags. It worked well for us and I didn’t find it stressful at all.

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I like this idea. Though wouldn’t it be faster to walk back to BLT from MK and then drive the rental to and from EP (instead of the monorail/bus)?

This is another good idea. I hadn’t thought about dropping bags off with bell services the night before.

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We also did it the night before we switched resorts. Super helpful!

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Maybe the same. The monorail is a bit closer of a walk but driving time is less than monorails time. Monorail drops off closer. But you’d have your car when you’re ready to leave.
It’s probably what and what, lol.

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This is the deciding factor, IMO. Go to the park closest to your hotel to give you flexibility for packing, getting back to retrieve luggage, and getting to the airport. It’s more stressful if you have to take more steps (as in items on a checklist) to get back.

The nice thing about BLT is you can walk there from MK, so if monorail is down, boats aren’t running, etc. etc. you can still get back in the worst case scenario.

ETA: That is just my preference. with a flight departing at 4:30pm you should be able to make either park work.

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We always walk to and from MK when staying at CR or BLT. With the kids in strollers, DW and I can walk to MK much faster than the monorail or boat when wait time is factored in.

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It is a pretty quick walk! The monorail is fun though. Especially nice on the way back since it’s the first stop.

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I have never been able to stomach paying for a ticket for not a full day. So if DW balks at a park, we rented a pontoon boat at the Contemporary and it was wicked fun!

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Another good idea. Sounds fun. Though the issue for DW isn’t price for the tix, it’s her mindset. Once we wake up on departure day, she is mentally ready to leave and wants to go home. Not sure if the boat outing will be viewed differently than a park.

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We just had two departure days (not on purpose! We rebooked due to weather, so now sitting at MCO for a second time).

I am not a worrier about getting to the airport, but I definitely know people who can’t compartmentalize that off. It may be a lot to expect her to be able to relax and enjoy the extr time.

It really depends on your priorities and what you’d be missing by not using that extra half day. I tend to break our TPs up into morning and evening anyway (not sure when you’re visiting, but for heat / crowds), although you also might need some food by 2? :blush:

That said, on longer trips, I’ve really started to like ending with relaxed pool / resort time (and my kids remember the resort pools more than some of the rides. :rofl:).

ETA: If you take the opposite / super commando route, you could LLSP GotG (I would check TP for total time with preshow) and then transfer to MK and LLSP Tron / probably LLMP some stuff (depending on walking time more than anything else). You would want to tap and run in Epcot, probably, so you can rebook while on the monorail? Then you would end up in MK for easy exit around 1:45pm.

In case it’s helpful, here’s what we did on partial days this week - one with park ticket, one without.

On our first departure day (plane supposed to leave at 6:20pm - we knew it was delayed and were in a Lyft around 4:16pm from AKL):

Day 5 - we had unfinished business at World Showcase:

  • Leftovers for breakfast sitting on the balcony
  • Browsed AKL gift shop (time stamped 10:24am)
  • Bus to DHS; Skyliner to International Gateway with a stop at Riviera for coffee and cookies (time stamped 11:04am in Primo Piatto - probably spent about 30 min here?).
  • Got my remaining Kidcot cards and inadvertently walked the entire WS loop, pausing for last minute shopping (Mexico! Mask store in Italy!) and random storytellers in passing (Barn Santa in Norway, Witch in Italy, Hanukkah). Fish and chips pic time (first pic after entering WS) was stamped 12:01pm.
  • Watched Voices of Liberty’s holiday concert for a second time :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:
  • Walked out the IG and checked out the decorations at Beach / Yacht + boat to Boardwalk. Beach Club carousel pic time stamped 2:15pm

We were two adults, so we could move efficiently, but we weren’t really trying, plus it was day 5 and I have blisters. :sweat_smile:

Inadvertent day 6 (rebooked flight due to weather):

I wanted to check out OKW and SSR for possible future trips. We stayed one night in CSR (Priceline deal) and took Lyft to OKW, ate breakfast at Olivia’s, then took the boat to DS and walked back to the SSR main carriage house, where we took a Lyft back to CSR. We also soaked feet in the hot tub, because blisters. :blush:. This was really calm / relaxing, although possibly boring for kids.

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One more thought - does she want to leave first thing because she’s worried about travel timing (and wants to get it over with), or does she want to get home early enough to start unpacking / laundry / etc, or something else?

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This would be my ideal plan (and the kids would love it), but might be asking for too much from DW on the last day.

Great question. It’s a little of both. When we wake up on departure day, see is mentally in the space of “our trip is over so let’s leave and get home” whereas I am more of a “let’s squeeze in every minute of fun that we can”. She was like this on trips even before we had kids. But, now that we have kids, she is thinking about school the next day and all the other obligations of being back home. I help with unpacking the kids and the kids’ laundry when we get home so I think it is more of a mindset than the actual work.

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I completely understand this - I have started booking the next Monday as a vacation day after a trip so that the transition isn’t too abrupt.

Would she be at all interested in a little time to herself, at the pool / spa / etc? I don’t know if your family is open to splitting up for a bit, and she might still worry about everyone else getting back on time (or missing out on fun). I am an introvert and enjoy a little time to myself not having to worry about anyone else. :blush:

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My sister is a “trip’s over time to get outta Dodge” kind of person.

One trip she had to book a later-than-crack-of-dawn flight and we were driving, so we went to a leisurely character breakfast at a resort.

It was the right amount of last fun before heading back to the real world. We’ve continued to have the character breakfast on departure day whenever we can.

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Tell her you’re leaving the next day and then surprise her that you’re going home early to get an extra day of rest. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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Best idea yet :slight_smile:

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Kind of like DW, we have decided the stress of going to the park to get back on time isn’t worth it for us. We usually have a slow morning… a late breakfast at a resort. We were at CR and did a 1900 PF for 10… had time to look around GF and head back. Our flight was at 3, so car picked us up at 1.

But a 4:30 departure would tempt me to go into the park….

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Me too :grin: Or maybe some Disney Springs time.

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