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Best transport from Disney resort to MK before hours?
I have a fun conundrum -- a few weeks from now, I'll need to be at the Magic Kingdom by 8:15am somewhat promptly (on a day that it opens at 9am with no magic hours) for an Ultimate Day of Thrills VIP Tour. Getting there on time is looming as a pretty big stressor for me. I'll be happy to invest either time or money to make this one thing as glitch-free as possible.
I'll have access to a car, and I'll be staying at the Boardwalk Inn. There may be an option to have someone else use the car to drop me off somewhere, if that's the best choice.
My thoughts are:
Car -- Are the monorails running at all, will they be running at 8am? If the ferry is the only option, how long should I plan to have to wait for one? (Last time I was at Disney, the only transport between the parking lot and the park was the ferry, and it was a nightmare. Either it was so crowded it took forever to get onto the ferry, or the ferry sat forever waiting for enough people to leave.)
Bus -- Will Disney's bus service be running early enough, and how long would I need to plan for this option? (If I recall correctly, taking the bus to MK avoids the ferry and monorail entirely?)
Taxi -- I think this would also avoid the ferry and monorail, I'm just always nervous that it'll be that one time that I'm "stood up" by the taxi service.
Dropped off -- would this avoid the ferry and monorail? It's not the "best" option, just because the people I'm going with are NOT early risers.
Various "clever" plans:
Drive to a monorail resort and take resort monorail line. Especially with the new parking fees, will I be able to park at a resort I'm not staying at? Do they police who can use the monorail from the resorts?
Walk to Epcot and take the monorail. It's been a long time since I've used the monorail between Epcot and MK, but I think it leaves me having to use the ferry or monorail from the TTC, so no advantage there.
So, what's my best option? Is there something I haven't even thought of? Are the monorails back to running, so that the ferry is less of a looming time sink?
We did the Ultimate Day of Thrills VIP Tour and had no trouble using Disney buses (from Pop Century) to get to MK in a timely manner for the tour. We were at the bus stop shortly after 7:00 and buses were running.
If you don't want to drive yourself or rely on the bus transportation, I agree with Jody. Take Uber, a taxi or the Minnie Van service to the Contemporary and then walk over to the MK. I think it will be the least stessful way for you to get there.
As for parking at the deluxes yourself, yes, they do police that. They give out 3 hour parking passes to those that are not staying there and they will ask what you are doing there so early. They will also ask to scan your MB which will tell them where you are staying. We've had more than one guard ask us how we're enjoying our stay at AS Music when we drive to the other resorts for meals I've booked.
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Two summers ago, we took a taxi from AKL to the Contemporary to get to MK for an early ADR. The parking gate guard at the Contemporary really gave us a hard time about getting dropped off there. He said it wasn't allowed and was telling us we had to leave and couldn't get out of the taxi. Our taxi driver stuck up for us and we were able to get out of the taxi there. I'm not sure if that is policy of if we just got a CM who didn't want to let us thru. Just wanted you to know to be aware it could be a problem.
Two summers ago, we took a taxi from AKL to the Contemporary to get to MK for an early ADR. The parking gate guard at the Contemporary really gave us a hard time about getting dropped off there. He said it wasn't allowed and was telling us we had to leave and couldn't get out of the taxi. Our taxi driver stuck up for us and we were able to get out of the taxi there. I'm not sure if that is policy of if we just got a CM who didn't want to let us thru. Just wanted you to know to be aware it could be a problem.
Disney actually recommends using The Contemporary--even for parking! Here's the info from their website for the Steam Train Tour that has a call time of 7:30 am:
Know Before You Go
View important information including departure time, Guest restrictions and transportation policies.
Due to time constraints, this 3-hour tour departs promptly at 7:30 AM. Because the tour begins prior to regular park hours, standard Walt Disney World transportation may not be available and you may have to arrange alternate transportation to arrive at the location on time. Check with your Resort Concierge for transportation options.
Guests opting to drive their personal vehicle may park at Disney’s Contemporary Resort and then walk to the Magic Kingdom park entrance. Please provide your confirmation number at the security kiosk at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. Guests are responsible for their own transportation costs (e.g., taxi fare).
Buses start running between 6:15-6:30 a.m. every morning (and as early as 6:00 if there is a 7:00 a.m. park opening). They tend to be a little less frequent at that hour of the morning, but if you are at the bus stop by 7:00 a.m., you should be able to be at MK by 8:00. Lots of people have 8:00 a.m. breakfast reservations and use the buses to get to the parks. I have gotten on a bus to MK as early as 6:50 a.m....and a bus for MK was pulling away just as we got to the bus stops at 6:35 so it probably arrived at the resort by 6:30.
If you want to sleep a little later, take a taxi/Uber/Minnie Van to the Contemporary and walk to MK. There's no problem with doing that. I'm not sure why the PP was given a hard time about it. People do this every day...probably dozens, if not hundreds, of times a day. And there really shouldn't be a problem if you've got a reservation for something at MK before opening time.
Also, walking to Epcot and taking the monorail wouldn't be an option because you would have to walk through the park (it won't be open yet) to get to the monorail. And I don't think it would be running that early anyway.
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I was amazed on our recent trip that the buses were running before 6:30. We had a 7:30 breakfast at Ohana, and I thought we would need Uber or a taxi, but the buses were much quicker in our situation.
I decided long ago that the easiest transportation to the MK is a WDW bus. Avoiding the TTC is a major plus for me.
I went on my VIP Day of Thrills tour last week (it was fantastic) and ended up taking a Lyft Minnie Van to get to MK by 8:15am.
When we checked in at Boardwalk, I asked the best way to get to MK without going through TTC. They told me that:
* The buses would not be running early enough to get me to MK by 8:15am.
* I would not be allowed to park at the Contemporary. (I don't know if this is a recent change, or if the rules are different for other tours.)
* The only thing other than buses that are allowed to drop people off at the MK bus stop is the Lyft Minnie Van service.
The Minnie Van service is a flat fee of $25 for up to 6 passengers, the drivers are Disney cast members, and the vans have a Disney flair. It turned out to be an ok deal; when I met my Minnie Van there were two other folks headed for the exact same tour who were anxiously waiting for their own ride to be confirmed, so we shared my ride. That brought my cost down while allowing for a nice tip for the driver. The driver told us that the service is a bit over-worked by tour and breakfast folks before the buses start running.
The cast member checking us in thought she'd have to give me a code to activate it on my Lyft app. But once we were checked in, the Disney app prompted me with an invite to the Minnie Van service. I didn't have the Lyft app prior to setting up the Minnie Van service, but getting everything installed was pretty painless.
I went on my VIP Day of Thrills tour last week (it was fantastic) and ended up taking a Lyft Minnie Van to get to MK by 8:15am.
When we checked in at Boardwalk, I asked the best way to get to MK without going through TTC. They told me that:
* The buses would not be running early enough to get me to MK by 8:15am.
* I would not be allowed to park at the Contemporary. (I don't know if this is a recent change, or if the rules are different for other tours.)
* The only thing other than buses that are allowed to drop people off at the MK bus stop is the Lyft Minnie Van service.
The Minnie Van service is a flat fee of $25 for up to 6 passengers, the drivers are Disney cast members, and the vans have a Disney flair. It turned out to be an ok deal; when I met my Minnie Van there were two other folks headed for the exact same tour who were anxiously waiting for their own ride to be confirmed, so we shared my ride. That brought my cost down while allowing for a nice tip for the driver. The driver told us that the service is a bit over-worked by tour and breakfast folks before the buses start running.
The cast member checking us in thought she'd have to give me a code to activate it on my Lyft app. But once we were checked in, the Disney app prompted me with an invite to the Minnie Van service. I didn't have the Lyft app prior to setting up the Minnie Van service, but getting everything installed was pretty painless.
I'm glad this all worked out for you!! The CM who told you buses would not be running early enough to get you to MK by 8:15 was either intentionally giving out bad information to encourage people to pay for a Minnie Van or they were simply misinformed. Lots of people need to get to the parks for PPO ADRs by 8:00. Buses most definitely run early enough for that. They may not be running every 20 minutes, but they definitely start running by about 6:30.
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Bus -- Will Disney's bus service be running early enough, [...]
Yes, absolutely it does. On my last trip (January 2014), we had reservations at Crystal Palace for 8:00am, with the park not opening until 9:00am. We got to the parks in plenty of time with no rushing, and were allowed in somewhere between 7:15 and 7:30, long enough for a leisurely stroll up Main Street, stopping at a Photopass photographer, and taking a few pictures ourselves, before heading over to the restaurant.
Quote:
[...] how long would I need to plan for this option?
You want to be at the podium 15 minutes before your ADR time, plus time to get there from the gate, and wait in line once you arrive. Let's say you want to get there 45 minutes to an hour before your ADR time.
Given time to board the bus, travel to the park, exiting the bus and making your way to the gate, getting through security, and checking in with the CM to be let in early .... I want to say add another 60 to 90 minutes.
All told, I'd be showing up at the resort bus stop two to two and a half hours ahead of the ADR time (we were on our way to it, a few minutes before 6:00am, for the breakfast I mentioned above). That might sound like a lot, but I'd prefer to have time to kill waiting at the gate or after check-in at the restaurant podium, than be late. During a high-crowd season, I might add another half-hour to this, to be sure to get on a bus.
Quote:
(If I recall correctly, taking the bus to MK avoids the ferry and monorail entirely?)
Yes, it does. The bus stop is between the MK and the Contemporary - closer to the MK, but not by a whole lot.
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