When you’re winding down your time at the Walt Disney World Resort, there are a ton of things to do! I always feel like the focus for most advice revolves around the planning before, but very few actually touch on the last day – as it’s a little sad.
You’ve spent months (or years) saving, planning, wishing and dreaming about what you would do when you walk through the turnstiles at the Magic Kingdom…and here I am sharing tips about what you should do on your final few hours in Orlando. It’s actually more fun when you’re prepared, I promise:)
THINK ABOUT YOUR LAST DAY WHEN YOU’RE BOOKING YOUR FLIGHT!
Are you flying out at 8am or at 6pm? Did you rent a car or are you planning to use a shuttle or grab an UBER? Did you buy an extra day park ticket or are you planning on exploring Disney Springs?
Each of these questions are completely up to you. You book your own flight home, so do you want to spend more time in Disney and arrive home late at night, or would you rather leave early and have a more relaxing evening? Personally…I’m a fan of spending more time at Walt Disney World and being a little groggy the next day…
Something to keep in mind: If you’re taking Mears Connect…expect the shock of seeing a pickup time of 4-5 hours before your flight (depending on Domestic / International trips).
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DON’T WORRY ABOUT YOUR LUGGAGE!
Fun fact – you’re able to leave your bags with the Hotel Staff when you’ve checked out of your room. This means that you can go and explore before your shuttle pickup and not have to stress about your bags.
Another Fun Fact – there’s no limit to how many bags you can leave with Baggage Services. If you’re using your backpack in the parks AND as your “personal carry-on”, but don’t want to carry everything around with you while you’re going on Splash Mountain…you can leave a Disney shopping bag filled with whatever and you can re-arrange things prior to your departure for the airport.
GO AND HAVE FUN
I’ve heard folks say multiple times “We don’t have time to go to the parks because our shuttle is at 2pm”.
First off, you should be looking at return flights with the same respect as your arrival time. If you want to extend your vacation, just book a later flight and nap the next day after work.
Here was the timeline of my recent trip:
- 8am wake up
- 830am Uber to Disney Golf for a meeting
- Jill got to sleep in and because of virtual checkout, we just met at Disney Springs for 1030am
- 1130am lunch at The Polite Pig
- Checking out stores for last minute shopping, like World of Disney, Art of Disney and Coke Store
- Everglazed Doughnut snack at 150pm
- 1220am Disney Bus to Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
- Relaxing, wandering and shopping until Ubering to resort for baggage pickup and then to MCO
- Arrival at MCO Terminal C for 445pm, through security and at the Universal Store by 515pm.
- Dinner at Shake Shack for 630pm
- Flight at 830pm and back in Toronto for midnight
And yes, I have photos and timestamps from this entire process. Was it better than the alternative of getting up early at 5am and getting home just in time to do hours of housework and laundry… yup!
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EAT REGULARLY
This actually happened…
I chose to eat early (12pm) at EPCOT and thinking that I’d have more options in Miami…didn’t get food in Orlando…and ended up not being able to eat anything (besides pretzels and fruit snacks) until arriving after 1230am in Toronto, where everything was closed. 2am at 7-Eleven is SO MUCH FUN;)
I had a flight from MCO to Miami before an hour layover from Miami to Toronto. The plane couldn’t actually de-board in Miami because the Jet Bridge wasn’t working. We had to wait over 90-minutes before moving to another gate…which meant that a relaxing layover actually was very stressful. Airports don’t really understand that folks are travelling outside of “regular business hours”, so most of the amenities may be closed….like the food options.
What did I learn? Eat when you’re hungry and remember that travel days are unpredictable.
DON’T PIN TRADE ON THE LAST DAY
One of the mistakes that I constantly make is thinking that the Pin Trading will magically be better on the last day. It never is…
Say you have “x” pins to trade during the trip. The goal is should be broken down into how many pins you should aim to trade a day. This will allow you to stay ahead of the game and coming home with traders that you purposely brought with you to trade.
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DON’T USE DISNEY TRANSPORTATION FROM THE PARKS TO YOUR HOTEL
With the uncertainty of the Disney Bus schedules in off-rush-hour, don’t put all your eggs into that basket. Using Uber (or Lyft) to guarantee that you’ll get back to your resort in time is the best tip, and it’ll actually give you piece of mind and allow you to have more fun!
Yes, it’s an added cost, but that time is worth a lot of money in the long run…as you paid how much for the plane/hotel?
GET A “FRESH” FUELROD BEFORE LEAVING
When you invest $30 into a power supply for your time in the parks, why not be set up for your shuttle ride and airport trip. Know which park you’re going to be at, and make sure that it’s on your list of things to do before you hit the airport.
Remember that FuelRods are rechargable…so you’re still able to use it when you get home (like any other external battery).
I hope this was helpful! Whatever you plan for your departure day, I’m confident that you’ll have a memorable experience in Orlando!