Non-Stop or Arrive Earlier???

[Rich M]

For those of us that live on the right coast (lol) would you take a non-stop flight that gets in 3 hours later over the chance to arrive earlier. I am torn between a couple of Southwest flights and I am leaning towards arriving early so I can try to turn my time around quicker. Everyone's opinion is appreciative

 

[Dis703]

What are the timelines for each one? That would make a difference for me.

 

[jcarwash]

I don't even look at connecting flights to MCO -- I choose from the non-stops from my home airport. So I'd take the non-stop.

My thinking is, if there's a non-stop available then I may as well take advantage of it. The duration (time traveling) with a connecting flight is always going to be longer, plus there's the risk of issues with delays, missing connections, more chances for bags to be lost, etc.

 

[Ensusieasm]

For those of us that live on the right coast (lol) would you take a non-stop flight that gets in 3 hours later over the chance to arrive earlier. I am torn between a couple of Southwest flights and I am leaning towards arriving early so I can try to turn my time around quicker. Everyone's opinion is appreciative

Non stop every time!

 

[SSRFred]

The only way I would consider connecting flights over non-stop is if the price difference is very large. There are too many risks when you add more flights to an itinerary, including the possibility of delays, cancellations, weather, etc.

 

[Rich M]

Thank you all for that feedback. The price is the same but most times its actually cheaper. The two flights I am choosing from is Leaving at 6AM from Oakland with a stop for 2 hours in San Diego and then arriving in MCO at 5 PM. The non stop is leaving at 11 AM and getting to MCO after 7. I have an Ohana reservation at 9:15 that night so we thought it might be better to arrive early so we can stop at the store and get our water and stuff on our way to the hotel. There is a flight out of San Jose leaving at 7:30 am and arriving at 3:30 which would be perfect but it would cost me $150 to park there where as I am literal 5 mins from Oakland airport and have many ways to get there. I do have non stop coming home though. Not sure what is best option.

 

[Helene_C]

Unless going to Ohana is a critical part of your trip and this is the only possible day to go, there is no way I would pick a 6am departure with a connection over a nonstop that lets me get up at a decent hour and costs the same. And if Ohana is a priority, I would book the nonstop and plan on taking car service instead of ME. But I will go to great lengths to avoid connecting flights.

 

[Rich M]

Unless going to Ohana is a critical part of your trip and this is the only possible day to go, there is no way I would pick a 6am departure with a connection over a nonstop that lets me get up at a decent hour and costs the same. And if Ohana is a priority, I would book the nonstop and plan on taking car service instead of ME. But I will go to great lengths to avoid connecting flights.

Thank you. I was kind of thinking the same thing. I moved my flight to the non stop. I am renting a car do you think I would make it to Ohana? I do have it for a different day but it would cause me to change a lot of plans around to make it.

 

[drwadadli]

I would prefer non-stop all the time. We live near the Charlotte airport and can get almost a non-stop flight everywhere especially MCO.

For me, after looking at your plans, I would still pick the 11:00 a.m. non-stop flight over the 6:00 a.m. flight. With the 6:00 a.m. flight, you would have to arrive at the airport around 4:30 - 5:00 a.m. and even with you living 5 minutes away, that would mean getting up around 3:30 - 4:00 a.m. I would rather get up later to catch the 11:00 a.m. and make it a non-stop flight at the same time.

As for the San Jose flight, if you were already thinking strongly about the 6:00 a.m. flight then I might consider the San Jose flight for the fact that it is a non-stop flight that arrives in time for you to go to 'Ohana. Plus, the $150.00 parking difference wouldn't scare me away especially if dining at 'Ohana was that important.

 

[nkereina]

We almost always opt for the nonstop. If the price difference was negligible and the connecting airport was BWI with a 60 minute or longer layover, then I MAY consider the earlier one.

One thing to be mindful of on Southwest connecting flights is the layover and the airport. Since Southwest begins boarding at 30 minutes prior to departure, you will want to be at your gate at that time so you don't miss your boarding position. Often, flights have passengers already on board that are continuing on, so even if you have an A boarding position, it may not mean you get a front of the plane seat. That's why its important to board with your position at the hubs. If you have a 60 minute layover, by the time you get off the plane and get to your next gate, you may not have time in between for restrooms or anything else.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

I would do the non stop. The 6 am flight means you will have to get up around 3 a.m. which means you will more than likely be tired early in the evening after getting up so early. Plus the non stop is a shorter flight. And you avoid that chance of something going wrong with your connecting flight which would delay you getting to MCO.

I would not Ohana reservations. Here is what happen in June to my nephew. He was leaving from Dallas. They boarded the plane and sat on the plane for 1 hr and 20 minutes. My husband is a pilot and was home that day so my nephew called to see what was going on. Hubby looked and found that there was a storm over MCO and all flights that had not left yet were being told not to leave till the storm passes. When there is lightening at the airport that shut down operations do to safety of the folks working on the tarmac. Then once the did land at MCO there was not a gate available for them since they were not landing at their schedule time. So they waited another 25 minutes before pulling into the gate. So you see with the fact Florida is known to have frequent storms I would not book Ohana. Unless you have money to burn and don't mind losing the money you paid to make the reservation.
Plus you land till after 7:00 it will take 15 minutes to get off the plane. Make your way to baggage claim. Wait for the bags. Which could take an average of 20-30 minutes depending on how busy it is. Going to get the rental car could take another 20-30 minutes depending on if you need to go to the rental counter then make your way out to the car and then wait your turn at the exit booth. Make the 35 minute drive to WDW. Stop at the parking booth for MK and have your MB scanned that you can make your way to the Poly. and if you don't have the band you will need to stop at the resort to pick them up and you are looking at about 15 minutes to make it to your dinner reservation. But it might be less since you did not say when exactly your flight lands.

 

[scrapquitler]

For those of us that live on the right coast (lol) would you take a non-stop flight that gets in 3 hours later over the chance to arrive earlier. I am torn between a couple of Southwest flights and I am leaning towards arriving early so I can try to turn my time around quicker. Everyone's opinion is appreciative

For us, always Non Stop on the way to our destination unless nonstop isn't available. On the way home, I don't care either way. I just don't want to end up stranded or delayed in a city that isn't my destination at the start of my trip.

 

[scrapquitler]

Thank you all for that feedback. The price is the same but most times its actually cheaper. The two flights I am choosing from is Leaving at 6AM from Oakland with a stop for 2 hours in San Diego and then arriving in MCO at 5 PM. The non stop is leaving at 11 AM and getting to MCO after 7. I have an Ohana reservation at 9:15 that night so we thought it might be better to arrive early so we can stop at the store and get our water and stuff on our way to the hotel. There is a flight out of San Jose leaving at 7:30 am and arriving at 3:30 which would be perfect but it would cost me $150 to park there where as I am literal 5 mins from Oakland airport and have many ways to get there. I do have non stop coming home though. Not sure what is best option.

I would change Ohana to a different day if my flight arrived at 7 and the reservation was for 9:15. There's a high likelihood that you won't make that reservation, esp. if you are using Magical Express.

 

[jcarwash]

If you need another 'Ohana reservation and can't find one, try the Touring Plans reservation finder: https://touringplans.com/walt-disney-world/reservation-finder

That tool does a great job checking for reservations for you, and alerting you when it finds one. Once you get the alert, you have to jump on and book, but it's far more effective than just randomly checking yourself.

 

[Tiki_Sara]

Non-stop. Less chance of anything going wrong and way easier to fix if something does happen.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Thank you. I was kind of thinking the same thing. I moved my flight to the non stop. I am renting a car do you think I would make it to Ohana? I do have it for a different day but it would cause me to change a lot of plans around to make it.

i think you won 't make it. Plane lands after seven? How long after? Then you have to get off the plane 10-15 minutes; get to the main terminal 10 minutes; collect luggage 20 minutes; get car 5-20 minutes; drive (directly) to Polynesian 30-35 minutes.

 

[nkereina]

I agree with kaytieeldr that I don't think you'd make it to Ohana for 9:15. I agree that to get off the plane could easily be 10-15 minutes, maybe longer if you aren't in the front. At MCO, we have had to wait at baggage claim for 30+ minutes in the past. You could save this time by doing carry-on only, but would likely still be calling things close. From there, you'd have to get the rental car where there could be long lines or no lines. IMO, there's too many variables.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

I would change Ohana to a different day if my flight arrived at 7 and the reservation was for 9:15. There's a high likelihood that you won't make that reservation, esp. if you are using Magical Express.

Agree with this. I would choose the non-stop flight and cancel the Ohana reservation.

 

[Rich M]

I agree with kaytieeldr that I don't think you'd make it to Ohana for 9:15. I agree that to get off the plane could easily be 10-15 minutes, maybe longer if you aren't in the front. At MCO, we have had to wait at baggage claim for 30+ minutes in the past. You could save this time by doing carry-on only, but would likely still be calling things close. From there, you'd have to get the rental car where there could be long lines or no lines. IMO, there's too many variables.

Yeah I don't want to be stressing about it either. We changed to the non-stop flight and have decided to go to Ohana our second night and not do a reservation for the first night. We will check the app when we are close to Disney and try for a reservation then and if we can't find one we like we will go to Disney Springs and either eat at a Landry property since we have the card or something else there.

 

[Rich M]

I went to Jordan. A little known but very interesting country. It turns out there is almost a miracle of planet - Wadi Rum desert with red sands. Of course, to see it all, I rented a car, the guide adviced me https://rental24h.com/

Not sure what relevance this has but I don't recommend people clicking that link. Seems very odd to me and I don't want anyone getting anything from it