First ever time relying solely on Disney transportation

[mikala]

After 3 years in a row, my in laws decided to join...so what we could pay for a small SUV turned into a need for 2 cars or a minvan.

We decided to skip the cars and reply on the suggestions of cabs here and there. Wow. It was a pleasant surprise. We took ME back and forth with 0 problems. We used the transport for parks and it also was no problem. Minimal waiting and I think 6 of the 10 we walked to the stop and literally within 1 minute our bus arrived. Wow. Also going back wasn't too bad either, with 6 people and a jogger stroller. :)

One problem- I asked dining how to get to Boardwalk. She told me to take our FQ bus to Epcot and we could walk there. Not as simple as she said. It took is 2 hours by bus and boat to get from FQ to Boardwalk. In addition, we loved Big River last year and the food was not good this year, yet the server was awesome.

My inlaws were annoyed and we made the best of it. We stayed at Boardwalk after and they cabbed it back. Sad that a $10 cab ride was 2 hours by transport. Other than that night, all transport was great!

[GusMan]

It took is 2 hours by bus and boat to get from FQ to Boardwalk.
Did you take a boat from FQ to DTD and then to Boardwalk, or did you go to DHS first, then boat it over to BW?

[mikala]

Ha, she told us to take the bus from FQ to Epcot, which we did and then we intended to walk over. It was only at that point that we were made aware we would have to use a day on our pass to walk through the park. Not gonna do that, so they told us to get on this bus to DS and then take the boat, which we were running to because it was the last one of the night. We were 2 hours late to dinner. It sucked.

[TinaMouse]

OH! That makes sense. I didn't realize you weren't in the park that day. Good ol park hoppers always give me a little more flexibility to do stuff like they told you. I wouldn't have used an entry to walk through either!

[Drince88]

I never understand why CMs tell you to go to Epcot to get to the Boardwalk without verifying that you've got admission media you want to use. I always send people to the Studios. (Plus, if you don't want to walk as much, you don't have to because of the boat!)

[mikala]

Well after all that, we would have cabbed it every night if we were going off property or out of parks for dinner. We did use the boat twice from FQ to DTD which was nice.

She should have explained that more
clearly because we would have spent the $10 to get there that we took to get back that night. Cab fare was no big deal, they were quick and all had car seats for my little people. :)

Lessons learned every trip!

[stan2u]

I almost can't believe it. After having to give up our DVC membership we almost gave up on ever staying on-site again. And now we scored an RCI trade into the Beach Club. Unbelievable!

Although we've been to FL and WDW many times before, this will still be a big first for us in one big way: no car! We're going only for the week at WDW and using the DME for transportation. I'm not too concerned about Disney transportation, as being in the BC we'll have easy access to Epcot and the studios, and just a monorail ride away from the MK We've used the buses before and never found them to be THAT much of a problem.

We're still considering the garden grocers for a food delivery (and what to order). But right now we're like walking on air!!!

[3Princesses1Prince]

Score!!! I'm hoping to luck out on an RCI trade too.

[danyoung]

I usually get a car at the airport, but this last trip I ended up using Disney bus transportation several days (I got such a great parking spot at the parks in the morning that I didn't want to lose it by going back to the room in the afternoon!). It actually worked out very nicely. I think Disney is doing a good job at putting busses into the routes where they're most needed. But I still don't like Disney transportation at park closing - it's just a madhouse that I'd rather avoid completely!

[cbarry]

But I still don't like Disney transportation at park closing - it's just a madhouse that I'd rather avoid completely!

Weren't we just discussing this on another thread?

Don't leave right at park closing...ever! There's a bench, or a slow walk, or a trip through a shop waiting for you inside that will allow you to let the maddening crowds cram into the busses. Walk out a half an hour later and you won't have a problem. We have never left a park at closing and we never will. We'll usually wait 45 minutes and enjoy the serenity of a near empty park.

[danyoung]

Weren't we just discussing this on another thread?


This happens to me all the time, but I go ahead and comment anyway, loudmouth that I am.

[mkraemer]

This happens to me all the time, but I go ahead and comment anyway, loudmouth that I am.

It's one of your charms, Dan. :D

[Drince88]

Don't leave right at park closing...ever!

The Friday before MA we did NOT want to wait the extra 45 for the crowds, and we'd paid for the 3D Disney Dessert Destinations (or some other D word at the end) that was a dessert buffet in the Millenium Village Building and included a reserved area to watch Illuminations.

We were right between the stores, we left the area AS SOON AS the last shell died off, and walked briskly to the exit. We'd even designated a meeting place if we got separated in the crowds because we wanted to get back, because we had to be at Animal Kingdom dang early in the morning. We didn't need the meeting place, and were on I think the first bus (maybe the 2nd bus that came up while they were loading the first). We were the last ones on, and we were standing the whole time, but it was NOT a severly bad experience.

So if you can be at the beginning of the wave of the crowds, it's really not that bad to leave at park closing.

[mkraemer]

So if you can be at the beginning of the wave of the crowds, it's really not that bad to leave at park closing.

I think this is the critical part...

[RobotMonkey]

Having never used it, is there a time that Disney Transportation stops running after closing back to the various resorts? And is it a universal time or is it different for each particular resort?

[Drince88]

The 'standard answer' is an hour after park close, I believe. But they don't leave people stranded.

When we stayed at Coronado Springs (which is fairly close to Blizzard Beach), if we were going to a park later in the day (after BB had been closed for a while), we'd often do a sweep through there to make sure there wasn't anyone stranded.

[danyoung]

This last week I was told 90 minutes after park closing. And even though Epcot closes at 9pm, they'll continue to run busses and the monorail to Epcot if the other parks close later. So if you park at Epcot, monorail to the MK and stay till midnight, you can still get the monorail back to Epcot.

[iloman]

The 'standard answer' is an hour after park close, I believe. But they don't leave people stranded.


I have used Disney's Transportation on all four of my trips. When I'm on vacation I don't want to think about driving :P

Out of those four trips I only had one "bad" experience with their transportation. We were staying at the Wilderness Lodge and were taking the boat back at the close of EMH one evening. I think they had a LOT more people from Fort Wilderness and Wilderness Lodge taking advantage of EMH than planned because the line for the boat took about 1.5 hours to finally get on. Someone else in the crowd did ask about this, and the answer was basically what you just said. They run for an hour after close but weren't going to leave people there.

[RobotMonkey]

Cool, good to know.

[stan2u]

One thing more to consider - the Rain Forest restaurant just outside Animal Kingdom. On our last visit we, along with my niece and partner, stayed in the park till closing, then went to the restaurant. We didn't get seated right away - had to wait about 15 minutes. After a nice dinner, we headed back to our condos. Luckily we had cars - we somehow expected there to still be some kind of tram service. But no, we had to walk from the restaurant to the far reaches of the lot to get to our cars. So no trams then. The other thing was that I didn't see any evidence of any Disney buses, either. Had we no had our cars we would have had to call a cab.

[Drince88]

The other thing was that I didn't see any evidence of any Disney buses, either. Had we no had our cars we would have had to call a cab.
Unless your dinner took close to 2 hours, there were probably Disney buses running - just not necessarily very frequently. At Animal Kingdom in particular, if you were walking to a car you may not have noticed people waiting for a bus at one of the bus stops.

If anyone ever finds themselves in that sort of a situation, where you're not sure the buses are still running - ask the host/hostess/whoever at the restaurant if there's a process they follow to get you back to your Disney resort. I'd be VERY VERY shocked if there wasn't one.

[stan2u]

We may well have been more than the 1-1/2 hours after park closing. Since we were parked in the AAA lot we did walk past the bus area. My niece, on the other hand, was parked way out in the toolies. We tried giving them a ride to their car, but the lot is divided into two halves, and we were on opposite sides. And, of course, nothing was lit up much - we couldn't figure how to get from one side to the other.

Your advice on what to do sounds really good. Just something for folks to keep in mind if they stay late at the restaurant. We had our cars, but were caught totally unprepared.

[mckat]

We use the buses when we go, but I noticed last time that the buses to the TTC didn't really exist at resorts we were at. We finished a dinner at boardwalk at 9PM and there were no buses going to parks. The only option was waiting for a downtown disney bus and it didn't arrive during the time I was there (according to people waiting it hadn't been there for at least 20 min). When a bus dropping people back from a park stopped just before we gave up, others tried to get on so they could transfer at the park. The bus driver said he didn't advise it. So if you are trying to get back to your resort after dinner at a different resort (not an unlikely event!) and it is around 9PM, I don't think your options are good! We took a cab.

[Drince88]

Since I've been going as an adult, there haven't been resort to TTC buses. I vividly recall going to the Poly for the Luau in 1997 when we were staying at All Star Music, and having to transfer through Downtown Disney. And yes, we did seem to wait quite a while at DTD for the bus to our resort.

[mckat]

When I went in 2001, I took a bus to the TTC because I was told I couldn't exchange my AP voucher for a AP at MK gate (not true). However, maybe I've been an adult longer than you (celebrated my 51st at Disney in the summer by riding all three mountains and then eating dole whip with sprinkles!).:p