Dinner Reservation on Arrival day

Our flight lands at MCO at 3PM. Will we be able to make a 6:15 PM reservation at Rainforest Cafe at Disney Springs? Assuming the time it takes to get from the flight to the DME, get on the DME, ride the DME to Art of Animation (and whatever resorts it stops at before AoA), head to our rooms (using the pre-check and not necessarily having to stop at the desk), then get on a bus to DS and walk to Rainforest?

I’d like to switch it to a reservation at Rainforest at Animal Kingdom, but I can’t find one available right now. If I did, could I do 6PM at AK?

Any advice on timing here?

Ussuming you are American it’s possible but tight. It will make the start of your holiday a bit rushed. That said if your flight is delayed you could change the ADR to a another day and then cancel later. I personaly wouldn’t make an ADR, but if it’s something you really want to do and can’t fit in at another time then go ahead. Do you have park tickets for arrival day?

Yes we are American and it’s a direct flight that *shouldn’t have a delay at this time of year.
No park tickets for arrival day - planning on dinner then rest before hitting the park the next day.
Disney always seems a bit rushed, but I don’t want to make it completely impossible.

Don’t change your ADR to AK then. Where are you staying, is it near DS? otherwise I’d just eat at your resort and enjoy some pool/wandering around time.

We are at Art of Animation - Not far from Disney Springs or from AK. If the bus stops at DS were where they used to be it wouldn’t be an issue at all - the buses used to let you off very close to Rainforest. Now the buses let you of at a more centralized location that will require about a 15 minute walk to Rainforest.
I’m not going to cancel just yet. The original plan was eat at the resort and do pool/etc on arrival day but my husband suggested doing Rainforest.

Is 7:15 pm ADR not possible? 6:15 seems too tight.

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Yea, I understand. I think anything later than 6:30 will put us back to the hotel too late to get ready for bed/wind down. My 3 year old is typically in bed by 8:30 and asleep by 9:00 and if we’re going to rope drop a park the next day I don’t want to eat dinner/stay up too late.

If it’s too tight, we could uber to DS to save a little time. Or we could cancel the ADR and just do hotel food and pool like planned.

Just weighing the options here.

I typically arrive mid afternoon as well. I have experienced both - ADR and no ADR - and I prefer no ADR on arrival day. We also like to rope drop next morning. We like to explore the resort, maybe take a quick swim, unpack our luggage when it arrives and get ready for the fun. Good luck!

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We went in September and had a Chef Mickey’s ADR at 5:00… but our plan arrived at 11AM that trip, so it was much easier. I think my husband isn’t realizing the difference in flight times is going to make a big difference on what we can do that evening.
I’m leaning toward no ADR also… We’re going to AK the next day so we could just do Rainforest for lunch that day OR we could do Chef Mickey’s for dinner that night. He just really has this idea of “kicking off” the vacation with one of these theme type dinners.

Taking Uber/taxi will definitely shave off some time.
Have you been to Disney since Disney Springs was revamped? I can’t go there now if I have a time constraint. I get lost easily now (don’t ask me why) and my traveling party gets easily distracted!

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Haha yes we were there in September! I agree that it’s definitely sensory overload when you get there now!!
I’m highly considering trying for an Rainforest lunch on the AK day. We have time in our schedule to move things around on AK day and I think that might be a little nicer than having to rush on arrival day.

We did a sit down dinner on arrival day last year and it was not a good idea with our kids (1&3). Everyone is going to be tired and out of routine. Plus if they are running late at the restaurant, you’ll be out late anyway. RFC can be pretty slow I think.

For our family, it would make more sense to skip an ADR that night.

The more I think about it I agree. This was my original plan ( and I’m the plan-maker). My husband just got it in his head that we needed some sort of kick-off dinner, so I’ll just have to change his mind!

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Thanks for all the input everyone! Much appreciated!

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If you can’t find one, I highly recommend getting the Landry’s Card (heck, even if you do find one I recommend it!). You pay $25 to join but you immediately get a $25 credit to use at the restaurant. You just show them the card upon arrival and you are pushed to the front of the line without a reservation. I’ve used it at both Rainforest Café at AK and DS as well as T-Rex. I’ve never waited more than 10 minutes (and that was during a very busy dinner rush at DS). That way you aren’t locked in to either and can be flexible.

I was going to suggest the Landry’s card as well. Get the card, cancel your ADR. After you arrive you can see what time it is and whether or not you have time. The go to either DS or AK to eat, just flash your card and you will be seated before those with a reservation. Perfect solution. If you arrive late, just eat at your resort.

If you get a Landry‘s card, make sure you order it early. We signed up over a month ago, and they still haven’t gotten us the card. (We requested a “new” one online over a week ago and that never arrived either. I think I’ll have to find a number to call. )

Yes…I’d definitely have Uber as a back up plan. I am arriving to MCO on May 4th at 7:20pm. Have a 10pm ressie (2 adults on PT time) at The Boathouse at DS. Hoping to have time to get to our POR room, freshen up, and take the boat but Uber is a back up.

Thanks- This was actually from last May (2018). We ended up keeping the reservation for 6:15 on arrival day, ended up getting to Rainforest Cafe early - around 5:30 and they let us in early. It was good food and a good way to kick-off the trip.