Goofy's Kitchen b'fast on our last morning

[tarheel]

Hi. On Sunday November 6th we have a 12:40 flight back home at LAX. I have read some other posts about giving ourselves at least 2 hours to get to the airport and all that. So now I am just trying to figure out how long a breakfast at Goofy's will take. What time should I schedule it for, and just to be safe, do you all agree that we should be on the road no later than 10:30? Thanks for your suggestions!!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Leaving at 10:30 would be very risky for a 12:40 flight. I believe that even with no traffic getting to LAX last December it took around 45 minutes from the Disneyland Hotel. So that would get you to LAX at 11:15, less than an hour and half before flight time. If you have traffic, long lines at check in and or security you could be in trouble! Somebody more familiar with LA traffic could give you better advice on how long to allow. As for how long at Goofy's I would allow 1 hour to an hour and half. I believe 90 minutes is the most they allow you to be there. If you have a 12:40 flight you probably need to have a 7:30 - 8:00 reservation to allow time to eat and then get to the airport. Almost every time we have been to Goofy's we have had to wait anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes after we check in to get seated.

 

[CalGal]

I was going to write almost everything Amy&Dan did. A 10:30 departure from DL is very risky.... Are you driving and checking in a car at LAX, or are you taking the Bus or Supershuttle which may have additional stops? You might check the website for your airline and see what they recommend for how long to get to the airport. LAX can be a madhouse for some airlines. Sundays is a bad day for some airlines, and less so for others. I remember being in line for Southwest checkin around an hour one time at LAX, and that didn't count the security checkin.

The last time we went to Goofy's Kitchen, we ended up using the full 90 minutes for our dinner. In the past, I've never spent more than around an hour, but, as pointed out, you need to add a little time for your check-in at GK. If you do an 8:30 reservations, you should have plenty of time to eat, but not necessarily time to visit all the characters. An 8:00 reservation would be better. If you don't use your full 90 minutes, or if you decide on an earlier reservation, you can stroll the grounds and shops a bit before leaving.

 

[tarheel]

Thanks guys! Wow! I thought I had read two hours ahead was good planning, but now maybe I misread it. We do have to return a rental car, and like I said I have a 12:40 flight. My husband is familiar with the rental car areas and I didn't even think to ask him what he would suggest for the time we need to leave for the airport. He is not a Disney guy and he gets frustrated with me asking questions about a trip two months away. So If I make a 8 am ressie do you think I'd be o.k.? What time should I leave to be sure we leave enough time to return the car and get to our gate? I think at this point we'll have carry-ons and might have even printed out our boarding passes head of time. Oh, our airline is USAir. What would I do without all your help!?

 

[CalGal]

US Air recommends arriving at the airport 2 hours before departure at LAX -- now that is probably conservative and likely assumes that you are checking baggage. I think having your boarding passes and not having any luggage to check-in should help a lot, and I wouldn't think the rental car check-in should add too much time. You aren't traveling around a holiday, so that should help as well. I think you should be fine with an 8 AM reservation, leaving DLH by around 10AM. You might try to leaving DLH a little earlier if you change your mind about the luggage check-in, but should still be able to do that with an 8AM reservation.