If you're staying at a monorail resort

[Megsie1000]

and the monorail breaks down and you need to get to another monorail resort (say for dinner), what do you do? Do they make some other sort of accommodation? Golf cart you from one place to the next? LOL

My Mom has a funny story from her first trip to Disney when she stayed at the Wilderness Lodge. They had reservations at The Wave and some in their party had mobility issues. They went to the front desk and asked for a cab to the Contemporary. The front desk staff looked at them funny and just grabbed a golf cart and drove them over there.

 

[ErinsMommy]

I think they just provide more buses to get the overflow of people from one place to another.

 

[Megsie1000]

I think they just provide more buses to get the overflow of people from one place to another.

But those wouldn't get you from, say, the Polynesian to the Contemporary, right? You would have to bus or boat to the MK and then switch.

We have dinner reservations at the California Grill and with all the talk about monorail problems I feel like I need a contingency plan. My almost-90-year old father is coming along with us. He is not doing the parks but is coming to dinner with the adults that night. The extra walking involved in getting out and back from boat docks is not going to work for him. I think we'd probably just call a cab as silly as that might be.

 

[ErinsMommy]

i would be curious as to this answer then too as i just assumed bus was the way to go.

 

[meuseman]

Probably more of a Transportation Board Question, but it all depends on your starting and ending points.

You can get from Poly to GF pretty easily, they share busses. You wait at Poly for a DHS, AK, or DtD bus and when it arrives, make sure that it's stopping at GF. It probably is.

Contemporary to Poly or GF - walk to MK and take the boat.

GF or Poly to Contemporary - Take the boat to MK and walk.

GF to Poly is probably the toughest. Boat to MK then Boat to Poly

 

[meuseman]

I should add that sometimes, the Contemporary shares busses with Poly and GF too. But the order would be Contemp. -> Poly -> GF -> Destination -> Contemp.

 

[grimley1968]

GF to Poly is probably the toughest. Boat to MK then Boat to Poly

Or walk straight to the Poly from GF, along the beach.

 

[meuseman]

Or walk straight to the Poly from GF, along the beach.

Is that available right now with the GF/DVC construction? That's why I didn't include it.

 

[brockash]

I'll say when you're staying at a monorail resort and the monorail breaks down it's really annoying. I personally don't think Disney handles it very well, or at least when we've experienced it. We were staying at BLT one year, on our way to Epcot one morning via the monorail, but it had broken down. There were no signs to say what to do etc., just a rude CM standing at the elevator door very slowly telling us what we could do to get to Epcot. I would assume and expect that they would provide straight bus service from the resort to Epcot, but that's not what they do. Instead, you have to get a bus to the TTC. The bus took about 40 mins to arrive (this was early morning when ppl. were trying to get to the parks for opening) the whole crowd gets on the bus, then we had to go to MK (they had picked up ppl. from I'm assuming the other monorail resorts to get to MK) and then we go to the TTC had to get off the bus and transfer to another bus to get to Epcot. I think the whole thing was handled very poorly.

Depending on where you want to go, I'd really try to get their on your own and not rely on Disney providing buses etc. I'd either walk or boat to MK and then boat to a resort of TTC, depending on where you're trying to get to.

 

[grimley1968]

Is that available right now with the GF/DVC construction? That's why I didn't include it.

Pretty sure it is. I think they divert that foot traffic onto another sidewalk that goes from the wedding pavilion area over to the rest of GF. That DVC construction occurs between the wedding pavilion and GF itself. Google Maps shows that construction right now, along with a little detour from the Poly walkway to the walkway that goes in front of GF, with a wall to separate the sidewalk from the construction.

I'm not sure what you'd see from the wedding pavilion right now, but hopefully it's not operational during the construction. I don't think I'd want to have dump trucks and backhoes in the background in my wedding photos.

 

[Megsie1000]

In other words if you have a person who has mobility problems getting from the Poly to the CR is pretty difficult if the monorail is down.

I wonder if a cab would even take us from the Poly to the CR. I suppose they would. I wouldn't mind pushing him in a wheelchair but you can't get one from the Poly to the CR without going on boats and buses and having to leave it behind and not having one at your destination.

They ought to do a bus loop when the monorail breaks down. A bus that just goes around the monorail loop.

 

[koszmok]

I was wonderin after MK closed for the day (so no boat or bus or monorail from MK to any of the resort) and I`d like to get to the Poly from the Contemporay...

If I grab the DD bus which( I guess is shared with Poly) can I get to the Poly straight away from the Contemporary? Which is the order of the bus stopping at the resorts?

And when I`d like to come back from the Poly to the Contemporary...
the DD bus in which resort will stop first?

I think I read somewhere that is it possible to walk from the Contemporay to the Poly? Is it true?

Thanks

 

[StrwLady]

Several years ago, when staying at the CR and the monorail broke down, I was told that they will add buses that mimic the monorail stops.

 

[bdklein]

I think I read somewhere that is it possible to walk from the Contemporay to the Poly? Is it true?

Thanks

Possible? Yes. But there is no walkway from Contemp to Poly-you will be walking on roads. Extremely dangerous. And maybe against rules/regulations.

You can can walk from the GF to the Poly (and vice-versa).
You can walk from the Poly to the TTC (and vice-versa).
And you can walk from the Contemp to the MK (and vice-versa).

 

[grimley1968]

I was wonderin after MK closed for the day (so no boat or bus or monorail from MK to any of the resort) and I`d like to get to the Poly from the Contemporay...

If I grab the DD bus which( I guess is shared with Poly) can I get to the Poly straight away from the Contemporary? Which is the order of the bus stopping at the resorts?

And when I`d like to come back from the Poly to the Contemporary...
the DD bus in which resort will stop first?

I think I read somewhere that is it possible to walk from the Contemporay to the Poly? Is it true?

Thanks

Sorry, you can't walk between CR and Poly. They are separated by water with no pedestrian bridge between them. The underpass under the water is not meant for pedestrian traffic.

The chances of needing to go to Poly after MK is closed are pretty slim, since MK is normally open late enough that monorails, boats, etc. should still be running even for a fairly late dinner reservation at 'Ohana.

It is true that MK area resorts do often share buses going to other parks or DtD. It is also true that the order of pickup is normally CR, then Poly, then GF, then on to destination (but ask the driver to make sure - routes can change sometimes). Coming from some other destination like DtD or other parks, just get on the CR bus. Again, though, it is hard for me to imagine a scenario where this would be necessary.

 

[koszmok]

Sorry, you can't walk between CR and Poly. They are separated by water with no pedestrian bridge between them. The underpass under the water is not meant for pedestrian traffic.

The chances of needing to go to Poly after MK is closed are pretty slim, since MK is normally open late enough that monorails, boats, etc. should still be running even for a fairly late dinner reservation at 'Ohana.

It is true that MK area resorts do often share buses going to other parks or DtD. It is also true that the order of pickup is normally CR, then Poly, then GF, then on to destination (but ask the driver to make sure - routes can change sometimes). Coming from some other destination like DtD or other parks, just get on the CR bus. Again, though, it is hard for me to imagine a scenario where this would be necessary.

Thanks for the detailed answer.
In December when MK close at 7pm fairly often and won`t be open for MVMCP (I checked last years` park hours MK closed at 7pm between 12/04/12 and 12/07/12) and hopefully I`ll be in BLT and around 9pm (let`s assume the monorail is not an option anymore) I want to go to Poly for diner and I want to come back around 11pm (from Poly) I will need transportation...this is the exact scenario I was asking about. I know it is a specific thing but I like to be prepared

In December Park Hours sometimes are so short

I know that after the Parks are closed for the day the transport hub is DtD. I just hope I don`t have to go to DtD at 11pm from the Poly to change bus and come back to CR. For me If the pick up is CR-Poly-GF-DtD and backwards DtD-GF-Poly-CR would work perfectly.
But If it`s DtD-CR-Poly-GF... than it`ll be a long bus trip (or a short taxi drive)

 

[grimley1968]

Thanks for the detailed answer.
In December when MK close at 7pm fairly often and won`t be open for MVMCP (I checked last years` park hours MK closed at 7pm between 12/04/12 and 12/07/12) and hopefully I`ll be in BLT and around 9pm (let`s assume the monorail is not an option anymore) I want to go to Poly for diner and I want to come back around 11pm (from Poly) I will need transportation...this is the exact scenario I was asking about. I know it is a specific thing but I like to be prepared

In December Park Hours sometimes are so short

I know that after the Parks are closed for the day the transport hub is DtD. I just hope I don`t have to go to DtD at 11pm from the Poly to change bus and come back to CR. For me If the pick up is CR-Poly-GF-DtD and backwards DtD-GF-Poly-CR would work perfectly.
But If it`s DtD-CR-Poly-GF... than it`ll be a long bus trip (or a short taxi drive)

From what I can tell, 'Ohana has hours no later than 10 PM, and that's probably just to catch stragglers. I can just about guarantee they wouldn't allow you to make an ADR or walk up anywhere close to 9 PM if it's closing at 10 PM (or earlier in December). It just takes too long to have dinner there for them to seat anyone that late. Kona Cafe is just about sure to be closed that late as well. Other than going to one of those two, it's hard to imagine wanting to come to Poly that late unless you're staying there. That lobby is pretty dead by then.

The number of times MK would close earlier than 9 PM, without also having a MVMCP, would be very very infrequent, even in December. If MK is closed at 7 PM, there is virtually guaranteed to be another park open until at least 9 PM, such as EPCOT. Whatever other park is open the latest could serve as your transfer point, rather than a DtD bus, if necessary.

Although overpriced, a cab ride from Poly to CR could certainly be arranged, and it would be quick. I really think you're worrying for nothing.

 

[bethclayton]

we have traveled with my parents twice. my mom has mobility issues and to be honest, that really stresses me out sometimes because of potential scenarios like this. what i would do in your shoes is to squirrel away a little bit of $$ to use a cab. if the situation arises and it looks easily do-able, great. buy a lovely little souvenir on the last day with the $$ you never had to spend on a cab. but that way if you are stuck in that situation, and it is looking way too complicated, you can just say forget it and call that cab!

we only had one major monorail issue and luckily my mom was not on that trip but it really messed up our day. we were not going from resort to resort, but we were headed to MK from the poly. we had our whole day really well planned and the monorail breakdown put us something like an hour behind and messed up everything. they had busses running. i believe the buses stopped at 3 resorts. i want to say it might have been WL-CR-Poly? so after waiting forever for a bus, then waiting more because that bus was full, when we finally got a bus we had the longest ride ever to the MK because of the other stops. it was awful. i remember being so tempted to get off at CR and walk, and i soon regretted not doing so. dh had said repeatedly that we should take a cab but i was trying to save $$ and said no. the bus wasn't worth the aggravation in the end!

i don't want to knock the monorail. i love it. our last 3 stays have been on it. but next time the monorail breaks i think i will just bite the bullet and call a cab!

 

[Megsie1000]

We are going in two weeks and Ohana is taking reservations up until at least 9:40pm. I know this because it's the only ADR I can seem to find for the entire week we are there. And I check pretty much every day.

Our Cali grill reservations are 7:45 and MK closes at 9. I won't lie - I will be upset if we can't get to the Contemporary from the Polynesian and back easily - especially since I will be paying by-the-hour for child care. Ease of transportation will be one of the reasons we stretched our budget to book the Poly and this is a one-time deal for us, so of course I want it to be perfect. Of course, so does everybody who spends fortunes at Disney. I just hope it doesn't turn into a disaster when it comes time to go from one monorail resort to another when we're there. I'm trying not to worry about it but I have heard lots of reports lately re the monorail failures.

From what I can tell, 'Ohana has hours no later than 10 PM, and that's probably just to catch stragglers. I can just about guarantee they wouldn't allow you to make an ADR or walk up anywhere close to 9 PM if it's closing at 10 PM (or earlier in December). It just takes too long to have dinner there for them to seat anyone that late. Kona Cafe is just about sure to be closed that late as well. Other than going to one of those two, it's hard to imagine wanting to come to Poly that late unless you're staying there. That lobby is pretty dead by then.

The number of times MK would close earlier than 9 PM, without also having a MVMCP, would be very very infrequent, even in December. If MK is closed at 7 PM, there is virtually guaranteed to be another park open until at least 9 PM, such as EPCOT. Whatever other park is open the latest could serve as your transfer point, rather than a DtD bus, if necessary.

Although overpriced, a cab ride from Poly to CR could certainly be arranged, and it would be quick. I really think you're worrying for nothing.

 

[Megsie1000]

And yes I will just get a cab in that scenario, as bizarre as that would be.