We are not staying on Disney property this trip and I was wondering are you allowed to use the buses that run between the parks and resorts if you are not staying on a Disney property? There are a few restaurants at the resorts I would like to try. We will have a rental car, but I seem to remember that you can't drive onto the hotel properties unless you are a guest.
5 minutes ago he was sitting on my shoulders pointing at the cows in Munger's field....And then you blinked...
Enough with the blinking, no more blinking!
You can park at a resort if you have reservations.
Shannon
Mommy to 3 Princesses and 1 Prince
Miss M(11), J(8) and R(5), and Mr. N(4)
You can use the buses as well. Just give yourself about an hour for travel time.
Katrina
To add to what Shannon says - last week I saw resorts posting signs at the resort gate that due to crowds, you can't park at a resort unless you are staying there or have a dining ADR or other reservations such as for the spa, watersports or other activity at that resort. Not sure if this is a regular thing nowadays, but have your ADR conformation handy if that is the case.Originally Posted by 3Princesses1Prince
But overall, you should have the ability to use any modes of Disney transportation to get from place to place even if you are not staying on site. The one hour rule works well in most cases.
The search function is like the Force. It may take practice, but the more you use it, the more control you will have over it!
you can take the monorail from MK and Epcot, but there are no buses from park to park. from studios to epcot you have to go to a resort and switch buses...unless they changed it from last year
Miltimo5
šoš Hopefull Future CM šoš
šoš 25th visit July 2-11, 2012 All Star Music šoš
There are. From MK you have to catch them over at the Ticket Transportation Center.
From DHS to Epcot you take the friendship boat or can walk through the Epcot resorts.
MK to/from Epcot - 2 Monorails
MK to/from Studios - monorail/ferry to TCC then bus
MK to/from AK - monorail/ferry to TCC then bus
Epcot to Studios - Boat from International Gateway (with stops at Boardwalk, Yacht/Beach, Swan/Dolphin)
Studios to AK - bus from regular spot.
Any park to Downtown Disney - you have to go through a resort.
I remember my sister and I doing the AK to Studios or Epcot bus for quite a few years. (Even before Millionaire closed)
Cathy
Once you are on Disney property, you are allowed to use any type of transportation your heart desires. Just park at one of the parks and you are fine. You can take the bus, the monorail, the boats, or even walk (to add to Drince, you can walk from Epcot to the Studios). You can even take things a bit further (like my husband and I like to do) and take the monorail from Epcot to the TTC, walk over to the Polynesian and then take their boat transportation to the Magic Kingdom.
I think we've tried every single transportation combination available at Disney World.
Way, way, way back when, you had to buy a separate ticket for the transportation (this was back in the E ticket days) but not anymore. Heck, we didn't even step foot into a Disney theme park and had a great night with dinner at Kona and then a trip around the monorail (yes, all done within three hours).
If you do use Disney transportation to get to a resort or another park, make sure you can get back to your car. Meaning, if you are going to be done after park closing you might as well take your car.
Shannon
Mommy to 3 Princesses and 1 Prince
Miss M(11), J(8) and R(5), and Mr. N(4)
I saw buses at HS for MK and Epcot, so this might be a changing thing.
1999 - Coronado Springs (1 night); 2003 - DL's Paradise Pier (5 nights); 2005 - All Star Music (7 nights); 2007 - POP Century (10 nights); 2008 - DL's Paradise Pier (5 nights); 2009 - POP Century (10 nights); 2010 - Dolphin (2 nights); 2011 - POP Century (7 nights); June 8-18, 2012 - POFQ (10 nights); next trip,June 18-22, 2013 - POFQ (5 nights). If I'm not at Walt Disney World or Disneyland, I'm not really happy.
We saw them last year and have heard about them for another year before that when we were planning. I think they are less used (and possibly have a different pick up area than the resort buses) and therefore many don't know about them.
We used this option once and it was after we decided to use the walkway and the bus was parked over there. It was about 150 degrees so we eagerly boarded the bus.
I WISH I had taken the bus to DHS from MK. There was a bus fire in the resort bus area and no buses could exit. They redirected them to the TTC. If I had known what I was in for trying to get back to Beach Club....I should've just hopped on the nearly empty DHS bus and taken the friendship boat home.
Personally if your not staying on property and have a rental car, use it. I hate the buses for the parks with the exception of possibly the MK buses. I would rather wait for a bus at MK than the boat or Monorail, good lord talk about herding cattle!! THen however you have to take a bus back to your car and an hour travel time is just nuts!
Using your rental car is way quicker and way easier and once you paid for parking at one park it is good at all the other parks. The monorail between MK and Epcot is usually not crowded and is a great way to get between those two parks.
You can park at any hotel, we did to tour the ones we haven't even been to and didn't have any issues.
Have a Disney Day!
You don't have to walk on water, it's how you walk on land.
There are buses between parks to allow guests to park hop. If you are at one of the parks served by a monorail, that is usually the faster option (assuming the monorail doesn't get delayed or have an issue).
Parking at hotels is more tightly restricted when crowds are high to prevent non-guests from parking at them to avoid paying a parking fee and then going to a theme park.
Note that during busy times, though, they might give you a 2 or 3 hour pass. You shouldn't say you're going to look at a resort just to park there all day, IMHO. (I know you mentioned you did this to tour the resorts, but it made me think.....)
ETA: Should have read all of the posts before replying. A day late; a dollar short. LOL!
Working hard for that next WDW trip! December 2013
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