New Monorail hours- too soon to adjust plans?

[bjs1228]

We are staying at the Contemporary August 6-12 in large part because of the convenience of being on the monorail. We have 2 early mornings (one 8:05 ADR) planned at Epcot & one 7:45 ADR at the Poly. I'm more than a bummed about the news of the summer hours for monorail service. Wondering if Disney might tweak the schedule before our trip? We aren't big on using the buses & wonder about the reliability of them getting us where we need to be on time. When they announce something like this for the monorails do they ever change initial plans? Also, how is the walk to MK from the Contemporary? We have an 8 am ADR there too. Thanks!

 

[phillipsjp2003]

The walk to MK is about 5 minutes from CR. There are sidewalks the entire way, you do have to cross one street but there is a cross walk and light. I would ask the concierge on check in about your early ADRs and see what they say. For Poly you may be able to walk to MK and catch a boat. For EPCOT it may be a bus. We have never had a problem getting to early ADRs on time by bus. Another option, schedule a taxi.

 

[ellataylor]

Oh no!What are the new monorail hours then? Is it the resort monorail also that has changed?

 

[grimley1968]

As for walking to MK for that ADR, that is always much faster than taking the monorail from CR all the way around the resort loop, with all those stops, even with the monorail working on a normal schedule. Figure about 5-10 minutes easy walk from CR to MK.

As for the Poly ADR, you might be able to walk to MK and catch a Poly boat from there. I'm not sure how early the resort boats operate at MK, but with the changing monorail schedule they may offer them earlier than usual.

I would guess an EPCOT bus will be offered during times the monorail is not in service. I personally find the buses these days to be more reliable than the monorail. I'd budget 30-45 minutes for the bus ride (including the wait) to EPCOT. This would possibly take less time than riding the monorail anyway, since you have to transfer to an EPCOT monorail at the TTC.

 

[phillipsjp2003]

Oh no!What are the new monorail hours then? Is it the resort monorail also that has changed?

There is an article about it at this link. http://www.wdwinfo.com/transportation/monorail.htm#schedule

The new hours are in a yellow box about 1/4th of the page down.

 

[nalajms]

We are staying at the Contemporary August 6-12 in large part because of the convenience of being on the monorail. We have 2 early mornings (one 8:05 ADR) planned at Epcot & one 7:45 ADR at the Poly.

I think the only way to get to these ADR is via taxi or your own car.

You would not be able to get to the Epcot ADRs since buses do not start that early, unless it's during a morning EMH. You'd need atleast a 7:30 bus to make those ADRs. It would have been the same if the monorail was on the original schedule. And for Poly, there would be no boat from MK unless MK had an early opening. And the walkway may be shut down due to Poly construction.

 

[bjs1228]

Thanks for all your replies. Have any of you seen any info on additional buses/boat schedules to accommodate the disruption in monorail service? We will have our own car, but taking it so much kind of defeats the purpose we stayed on property at a monorail resort! We will do what we have to in order to enjoy our trip.

 

[maryandtyson]

The buses do start running early for people with pre-opening ADRs. I am always worried about it, but we've never missed one.

 

[grimley1968]

Thanks for all your replies. Have any of you seen any info on additional buses/boat schedules to accommodate the disruption in monorail service? We will have our own car, but taking it so much kind of defeats the purpose we stayed on property at a monorail resort! We will do what we have to in order to enjoy our trip.

Whether it's scheduled park service or not, Disney does provide buses for early ADR's to parks not open yet. So you shouldn't need to drive to EPCOT, unless you just want to get there faster.

I think the only ADR you might want to drive to is the one at the Poly, unless the MK-Poly boat runs early that day to accommodate limited monorail hours. It is literally about a 5 minute total drive down World Drive, then 7 Seas Drive from CR, and the same going back.

 

[mslhb]

For MK I would walk. Like others have said a quick 5-10 minutes.

For the Poly, I would catch a cab. We have done this a couple of times from the WL which is also close and paid $10 which included a generous tip. Just go to the valet station and they can get you one... usually immediately unless you are going far (airport, etc).

For Epcot I would imagine they have early busses. If not I would either drive or take a cab. I would probably drive unless I planned on hopping to another park. If you are getting there early chances are you will park closer then where the buses drop off.

 

[ellataylor]

There is an article about it at this link. http://www.wdwinfo.com/transportation/monorail.htm#schedule

The new hours are in a yellow box about 1/4th of the page down.

Thanks for this,very helpful

 

[JJsmama]

I am going to go ahead and say that these news monorail hours really annoy me! Thanks to OP for pointing them out. I read the linked article and I really hope this is temporary because the whole thing smells like more permanent cost cutting at the sake of the guests to me. 9AM start is really unacceptable when Epcot opens at 9:00 or 8:00! On the topic of saving money, I could have saved a LOT of money by staying off the monorail loop, but I wanted to use the monorail ( and assumed I could use it to get there by rope drop and for Epcot AM EMH.

If this does turn out to be temporary, I will apologize for my rant and my faith will be restored...

 

[Tricia732]

I am going to go ahead and say that these news monorail hours really annoy me! Thanks to OP for pointing them out. I read the linked article and I really hope this is temporary because the whole thing smells like more permanent cost cutting at the sake of the guests to me. 9AM start is really unacceptable when Epcot opens at 9:00 or 8:00! On the topic of saving money, I could have saved a LOT of money by staying off the monorail loop, but I wanted to use the monorail ( and assumed I could use it to get there by rope drop and for Epcot AM EMH.

If this does turn out to be temporary, I will apologize for my rant and my faith will be restored...

I am really trying to not panic because of this. We're going next week when the schedule goes into effect. Getting to the parks for RD is a really big deal for us, but I'm going to have faith that the boats and busses can get us there on time.

 

[bjs1228]

Please be sure to let us know how it goes!

 

[lauritagoddess]

Ugh! Is there any info about how long these new hours will last?

 

[phillipsjp2003]

It says the schedule will be in place for a few months while they make updates to the automated system that will all for faster deports and more trains. There is no end date listed yet but it is temporary.

 

[disEAR]

And here we were thinking we'd try to get an early breakfast at Polynesian. Does anyone know what time the boats start running between poly and mk?

 

[lauritagoddess]

It says the schedule will be in place for a few months while they make updates to the automated system that will all for faster deports and more trains. There is no end date listed yet but it is temporary.

I'm going to assume then that the hours will be in effect when we go at the end of August. It figures, we haven't stay in a monorail resort since 2006 and when we finally do again, the monorail hours get screwed around with.

Has anyone walked to MK from CR in the morning before rope drop in the really warm weather? I walked back and forth a few times when we stayed at CR the last time, but it was also in early March when it was much cooler. I'm thinking it would probably be easier to walk to MK than wait for transportation, but if we're already going to be all hot and sweaty by the time we get there, then maybe not worth it.

 

[pennyplanner]

Yes. My sister and I (fifty-ish) did when the monorail was down last summer--late July. It's not bad at all. We were happy to be "forced" to try it. We used the walkway a few more times after that to and from the MK.

Hot and sweaty in the Florida summer heat?
No, never. ;-)

--pennyplanner

 

[JJsmama]

Has anyone walked to MK from CR in the morning before rope drop in the really warm weather? I walked back and forth a few times when we stayed at CR the last time, but it was also in early March when it was much cooler.

The walk to and from the MK is super easy for anyone of normal fitness. We always go in summer and the walk is fine. Especially before rope drop, it is very pleasant. We never use the monorail for CR-MK and reverse unless it is a just for fun trip. We do like the monorail for going to the other resorts for meals and Epcot, so that is where this change is going to hurt us in the mornings.