When the parks close after the fireworks/evening show, how long typically would it take to return via Disney Transport to POFQ.
We will be arriving from Australia, so will probably be fairly jet lagged. Arriving on Sept 26 late in the evening. Will hopefully get a decent night sleep…hopefully.
I am not planning a park visit until the following afternoon, so that we would have the morning to take it easy. But, the days that follow this, I am wanting to use the benefits of staying onsite and use EMH in the morning. Getting some decent hours sleep due to possible continuing jet lag would be good.
Hollywood Studio appears to close at 7.30 at this time, so it would be a good option to go there for the first afternoon.
What are the parks like when it is time to leave? Is it chaos, and does it take more than an hour to get back to our hotel?
It is a little crazy Sometimes it could take 15-20 minutes. Others it could take up to an hour depending on where you are going We stayed at POR and normally it was not to bad. There was one time we had considered riding a PORFQ bus due to ours being so slow! However, don’t miss the fireworks They are AWESOME What you could do is always go back to the hotel for a mid afternoon nap One thing that I always found is my kids fell asleep on the bus and then was wide awake when we got back to the room!
We stay off site so can only comment on leaving and getting to the Transportation and Ticketing centre at MK, the rest are all crowded yet still easy at closing times (in October when we go). The major bottle neck at MK is the mode of transport from MK to the Transportation and Ticketing Centre. However in true Disney style it’s well organised and as long as you watch out for a stroller in the ankles, fairly painless. Thirty minutes I’d say then you’ve a bus to catch and while I’ve never used them I guess it’s busy when a monorail or boat arrives and I’ve no doubt Disney will plan for that.
The jet lag is going to be tricky (16 hours?) we come from the UK so not that bad (5 hours) and find we are up early rather than later for the first few days.
Sydney to Dallas 15 hours, then Dallas to MCO a couple of extra hours, I think 3…?. Going to be a bit jet lagged I’d say.
I have added an extra few days for rest, so it is not vital that I go to a theme park the day after… I was just seeing if I could keep it open as an option in case we feel up to it for half a day, starting mid afternoon through to the end of Fireworks.
But I do want to get decent sleep that night in order to get going with any plans for morning EMH the following day. Oh, so much to plan I only just joined this site yesterday after months of going around in circles. It has been amazing as well as relieving to know I can get some guidance. I am so grateful to have others to talk to on here… helps to be able to finally see that a plan of some sort may ACTUALLY take place.
After the evening shows there’s always a mass exodus, but Disney knows this and so the crowds keep moving pretty well. The worst ones for mass exodus IMO are after Illuminations in Epcot and after Fantasmic in HS. Fantasmic is worse because everyone exits through some more narrow areas so kind of bottle necks a bit. Keep hold of any kids as I’ve heard this is one of the most common places for families to get separated. Animal Kingdom doesn’t currently have an evening show, but will when you go in September so not sure how that will be. Hope you have a fantastic trip and get to see all the evening shows. They’re fantastic.
If you are not going to a MNSSHP, I recommend AVOIDING MK on a day when the party is being held, or pre-plan to leave the park between 4:00 and 5:00. The party people start coming in at 4:00, and the park gets very crowded. by 5:30 the CMs are starting to “encourage” non-party guests to start moving toward MS. By 6:30, MS is a complete gridlock; it took us over 20 min to make it from the AL bridge to the train station (with rude CMs shouting at us to “keep it moving”). When we finally escaped, we were greeted with monorail and ferry lines that almost met at the huge mob waiting to get through bag check. We waited over an hour for a launch to GF for a dinner ADR (that we were late for).
ise, my usual plan is to be as far from the park exit at closing time, and take a leisurely stroll back towards the gate enjoying the night views and gradually thinning crowds. This is the best time for PM photography because you can take a minute or two to set up a shot without a mass of crowds getting in your way (especially good in WS).
The cattle chute from the F! theater to the DHS exit is nightmarish and is one of the reasons that I only go to DF! on a rare occasion - and if I DO go to see it, I usually go to the second show, which is usually less crowded (or I have a DP and go back into the park and wait for the post-F! crowds to thin down a bit. I’ve not been to DHS since the start of the SW FW, so I can’t comment on how that has affected the “exit strategy” from DHS (but I’m guessing it’s pretty ugly after the FW…)
I’m hoping that AK will remain open for an hour after the final showing of RoL.If the show is as popular as predicted, the bottleneck caused by everyone who just watched the show going through the Oasis could be a nightmare.
Sometimes it could take 15-20 minutes. Others it could take up to an hour depending on where you are going 