How long to fix combo drive?

I'm traveling quite a bit in the next few weeks, and would like to get my Macbook combo drive fixed/replaced in between. Does anyone have a ballpark figure of how long it might take if I drop it off at a store? Anyone care to share their similar experiences? Right now my Macbook doesn't even recognize a combo drive, much less accept any cd/dvd's when I try to insert one. A day? A week? Do they work on it during the weekends?

My calls to the local store and AppleCare were pointless. I know they don't want to guarantee a time frame, but it would be helpful to figure out when a good time would be for me to do it w/ my schedule. I'm considering getting this done in one of the cities I'm traveling to.

I think if you have AppleCare you get some kind of expedited repair schedule. I want to say something like a 3-5 day turn around but don't quote me on that.