Arrival Day - No Parks, staying Offsite

[Revan]

This is a new one for me, staying offsite at Margaritaville with checkin at 4pm and we arrive at MCO at 10am (need to get luggage and car, so we could be on property at 11ish.). What do we do?

My general plan is to have a Disney Springs day (11-7) followed by grocery run and a resort night, but any suggestions? It feels like Disney Springs may not capture our attention for that long. Currently, we have reservations for Paridisio 37 at 5:45PM, but we can always cancel and change.

Maybe do lunch instead and head to the resort in the late afternoon? Resort checkin is at 4pm. We could spend most of the day at Disney Springs and then checkin, food shop and eat around Margaritaville.

There are six adults, we haven’t been in 10 years, so Downtown Disney Is our baseline.

 

[a1tinkfans]

I think your plan sounds like a good one actually. But if u can land in mco, go get ur luggage and then a car rental and then get to your resort or DS in an hour…
Ur hired to handle our next trip lol.

have a great trip. I’d do DS as you said … if the boats are running you could go to POR, walk a bit, grab a cocktail at their bar. Nice atmosphere esp at night. It’s a nice ride on the Sassaghoula River too.
then when ur done with dinner/DS.. head back to ur own resort to enjoy It! Safe travels and enjoy!

 

[CanucksRock]

You could try and check in early. I stayed at two different places in the last two weeks and in both cases was able to get a room early. (The first one before noon, I had a red eye flight)

 

[Disney Fool]

Disney Springs is somewhat bigger now than you remember 10 years ago. You may not have any trouble keeping busy from 11-7

 

[peabody58]

From what I hear, Margaritaville is a resort and has a lot to offer.

 

[Upatnoon]

I would not plan anything, as you may be tired, have travel delays, etc.

I would drive to the resort first and see if and when you can check-in.

For example, If they say you can check-in at 2 p.m, I would eat lunch there, check-in and relax. If they say you can't until 4 p.m. I might go to Disney Springs for a while or perhaps the Boardwalk.

If you are able to check-in immediately, I might go to Disney Springs for dinner, but there are also great options nearby if you don't feel like driving.

I would just keep it all as flexible as possible.

 

[Aimeedyan]

Definitely head to the hotel first! We stay both on and off site a lot (multiple times a month) and have been able to check in early 100% of the time in the last year or so. Even when I didn't quite have a room yet, we usually changed and hit the pool until our room was ready.

Personally, I wouldn't make a dining reservation through Disney so you have options (or you could snag an opentable one without a fee) in case your group is wiped and would rather order pizza in the room. We walk up to restaurants at DS on a regular basis and with few exceptions, we seated within a short amount of time, esp if we eat around 5/5:30. And, the quick service options there are pretty darn tasty too.

 

[jrsharp21]

You could also take a bus from DS to Boardwalk or Yacht Club. Walk around the boardwalk and then walk over to International Gateway and get on the Skyliner. Ride it round trip.

Last year we were in Tampa for a baseball tournament. We had a day off. We didn’t want to go into the parks just yet so we drove up and did a Disney Springs day. This is what we did part of that day.

 

[CyndiLooWho]

Margaritaville is a Wyndham property, and it's unlikely you will be able to check in early. We generally stay at Wyndham Bonnet Creek, and it's rare for us to be able to get into a condo before 4 lately, even though we are Platinum owners and are supposed to be able to check in early.

You can use all the resort amenities before check-in, which is nice. WBC has changing rooms so you can use the pools and lazy rivers, I would expect the same from Margaritaville. We generally sit in the outdoor lounge and drink and shoot the breeze. I bet Margaritaville has some awesome outdoor lounges.

There are some super places to eat at Disney Springs - hubby wants to try Wine Bar George this next trip. We visited Disney Springs in January for the first time, and I don't think I could spend a whole day there. We spent about 90 minutes window shopping and strolling around, had lunch at the Polite Pig, and then we were ready to head back to the resort.

We have UOAP, so we can go to CityWalk at Universal and park for free. Love sitting on the deck at Cowfish and having apps and drinks before heading to the resort. It has less stuff to stroll around for, but we love the restaurants out there. Be warned, reservations strongly recommended at all sit down restaurants at CityWalk these days. We went there on arrival day in January, after a horrible rental car wait at MCO, and even though it was 3:30 in the afternoon, they made us make a reservation for 3:45 instead of letting us in on arrival.

 

[Upatnoon]

There also is a nice collection of new restaurants right in front of Margaritaville.

One of them is Ford's Garage, which I have yet to try but heard good things about.

 

[Lisa P.]

Just want to mention that while some Margaritaville Resorts are Wyndham timeshare, the Orlando location is not. It's a full-ownership condo resort with lots of nightly rental rooms. No timeshare units there.

I think the OP's original plan to spend at least some of the day at DS is a good one. We enjoy taking the Sassagoula River boat from there to Port Orleans French Quarter and back, especially after dark - you do have to disembark & get in line to return if there are people waiting at the dock. Beautiful ride. Sometimes, we take a bus to a MK resort and ride the monorail loop. Or we take a bus to the BW, YC, or BC, and ride the Skyliner between Epcot's International Gateway and Caribbean Beach Resort and back - again, disembark & get in line to return or bus back to DS from Caribbean Beach. Honestly, with a stroll around the sprawling DS, stopping for a meal or snacks, and these excursions, you could easily fill an entire day & evening. Easily.

 

[MDIME]

If it were me, I would check in and get settled. Do a grocery run and check out the resort. Dinner at one of the Margaritaville restaurants: Ford’s Garage or Rock-n-Brews are both awesome! Whatever you decide, sounds like you’ll have a great time!

 

[peabody58]

Ford's Garage is pretty good.

 

[footballmouse]

We were in the same situation the last time we went (we rented a house). We drove to the house, just so we knew where it was and then we went and got lunch, went and played putt-putt at one of Disney's courses (Winter Summerland), finished up there and stopped at the grocery store and by then it was time to get in the house. Worked out well and and once we unpacked, looked around the house and relaxed a bit we went and got dinner.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

This is a new one for me, staying offsite at Margaritaville with checkin at 4pm and we arrive at MCO at 10am (need to get luggage and car, so we could be on property at 11ish.). What do we do?

My general plan is to have a Disney Springs day (11-7) followed by grocery run and a resort night, but any suggestions? It feels like Disney Springs may not capture our attention for that long. Currently, we have reservations for Paridisio 37 at 5:45PM, but we can always cancel and change.

Maybe do lunch instead and head to the resort in the late afternoon? Resort checkin is at 4pm. We could spend most of the day at Disney Springs and then checkin, food shop and eat around Margaritaville.

There are six adults, we haven’t been in 10 years, so Downtown Disney Is our baseline.

this actually sounds like a solid plan but keep in mind Disney Springs is almost completely different from Downtown Disney minus a few things here and there.
also mini golf is fun! If you can find a way to get to Fantasia Gardens across from the Swolphin or Winter Summerland next to blizzard beach, it is so much fun!

 

[Revan]

Thanks Everyone, also thanks for the recommendations for the restaurants around the resort, we've watched a few reviews and they seem solid

 

[leahlefler]

I hope you guys have a great day! We did something similar on our last trip - we had no problem spending time at Disney Springs. We had snagged Aerophile Groupons and took a ride in the large helium balloon, went to the Lego store, ate at T-Rex Cafe (our boys were younger then), went to the soccer store, etc. We easily filled up several hours just walking around! We spent the evening at the hotel pool and chilling out.