Back to WDW After Disembarkation?

Hi - am hoping someone can tell me if my plan is a sound one or, if not, offer some advice? Our flight out on disembarkation day is at 6:00 p.m. I looked at different options for that day (many based on ideas I saw on this board), but decided we’d like to go back to Animal Kingdom for the day. We are spending a week at WDW pre-cruise at the Animal Kingdom Lodge with 7-day park hopper tickets. If we don’t go to the parks on arrival or departure day, we will have one day left on our 7-day tickets. So, I’m thinking of taking a shuttle or Uber back to the Animal Kingdom Lodge and have the bell desk store our luggage, then visit the Animal Kingdom for about six hours or so, then taking a Minnie van to the airport to catch our flight.

The challenge will be to get transportation that will fit all our luggage. There is only the two of us, but we will have two larger size suitcases each plus carryons. We don’t pack lightly for WDW due to shopping and the extra baggage allowance we have on the flight (we splurge on first class upgrades for this annual trip).

I looked into Star Trans VIP transport (and others) to an amusement park in Orlando for the day, too, but the combined cost (trans+parks) for that was around $500, and we’d really prefer WDW anyway.

Sorry for the length - but if you’ve read this far, cost-, time-, and logistics-wise, does this make sense?

You might ask on the Florida Departures Board. But do realize you will need to leave the park around 2:30-3:00. Also, you probably won't get there until 10:00. Is it worth it (to you) for just the 4 hours?

OK, the parts that WILL work are going back to AKL and having bell services check your luggage. You'll want to get off the ship ASAP (typically about 7:30), but you still won't get to Animal Kingdom till probably about 10. You'll want to be back at the airport a minimum of 2 hours before flight time.

I have no idea what you mean by taking a Minnie Van back to the airport. Since you will not be checked in at AKL, you will not be able to do Magical Express. If you are talking about renting a minivan, why not just rent a van at Port Canaveral, drive yourself to Animal Kingdom and then back to the airport--saves you the jag over to AKL and your stuff can stay in the car for the day. Since you'll have essentially "free" park tickets, I guess it doesn't matter that you'll have a very short time to enjoy the park. If you are renting a car, certainly a full sized sedan should hold 2 people + 4 pieces of luggage. It is about an hour from Port Canaveral to WDW with decent traffic and 45 minutes from WDW to MCO with good traffic. On the other hand, it can be hours with bad traffic.

Just so you know, the Minnie vans that are going back to the airport are $150 one way. You could order an Uber XL for a lot less than that!

Are you sure your tickets will still be good? I dunno ... but IME most multiday tickets have become "X days after first activation" and NOT X day until X days are used up ..... maybe there is an upsell that allows extension of the ticket time <I think there is>.

Gone are the multiday tickets I remember where you bought X days and they never expired. There was a time I had a drawer full of multiday tickets with remaining days - there were no 'non-transferable' restrictions either! We could zip in for a day and it 'cost nothing' .... when we were flush we'd buy a couple of tickets and put 'em in the pile. Gone are the days . . .

Are you sure your tickets will still be good? I dunno ... but IME most multiday tickets have become "X days after first activation" and NOT X day until X days are used up ..... maybe there is an upsell that allows extension of the ticket time <I think there is>.

 

Gone are the multiday tickets I remember where you bought X days and they never expired. There was a time I had a drawer full of multiday tickets with remaining days - there were no 'non-transferable' restrictions either! We could zip in for a day and it 'cost nothing' .... when we were flush we'd buy a couple of tickets and put 'em in the pile. Gone are the days . . .

If they are purchased as a package, then they are good while you are staying at the hotel. If they are purchased as a 7 day My Way Park Hopper pass, then they are good for 14 days after the first use. The only exceptions to the 14 day expiration are the Florida resident 3 or 4 day park passes or the Military tickets.

Thank you for all the replies! Our tickets are good for 14 days after first activation, so we would essentially have “free” entrance into the park - so yes it would be worth it for just 5-6 hours, as much as we love that place! I didn’t realize the Minnie vans were that costly to take back to the airport, given what they cost to go around WDW. Monday morning traffic - didn’t think about that. Monday afternoon, too, for that matter. May have to rethink that. Will check out the Florida Departure board. Again, thanks to all!