Working around changes to monorail operating schedule?

[mum]

Hi everyone,

I have been reading about the changes to the monorail operating schedule that will begin on June 22 nd . If I understand it correctly the resort monorail won't start running until 9.30 am and the EPCOT monorail until 9 am.
As I'm staying in the Grand Floridian and hoping to do rope drop at Magic Kingdom and EPCOT how do I get there early ?

I assume that extra boats will be running from the Grand to MK , does anyone know what time they should start running?
I am trying to block from my mind a photo that I'm sure someone posted here earlier this year when work was being done on the monorail that showed the boat queue snaking back through the grounds of the Grand in the direction of the spa. aaaaaaaagggggghhhhhhh

What are the options for getting to EPCOT for 8 am ?

Thanks for any help?

 

[Robo]

What are the options for getting to EPCOT for 8 am ?

In the past when they have had monorail outages, they have added buses to/from Epcot.

 

[Tricia732]

How can his be? How can people possibly make RD if the monorails don't start operating before 9?

 

[Robo]

How can his be? How can people possibly make RD if the monorails don't start operating before 9?

The ferry boats will be running between TTC and MK.

Regardless, in the past when they have had monorail outages, they have added buses to the affected routes.

 

[abs1978]

What? Is there a link for this? I thought the monorails just underwent work! We are staying at the Poly in December. One of the main factors was the convenience of getting to MK, Epcot, and other resort restaurants. If this isn't going to the case then we will re-consider.

 

[DaisyNY]

I'm hoping that we won't be effected once again during our December stay...We had outages in March during our stay and needed to adjust our schedule at times...

 

[Dan Murphy]

What? Is there a link for this? I thought the monorails just underwent work! We are staying at the Poly in December. One of the main factors was the convenience of getting to MK, Epcot, and other resort restaurants. If this isn't going to the case then we will re-consider.

http://www.wdwmagic.com/transportat...-timetable-to-accommodate-automation-work.htm

 

[OfTheWind]

What? Is there a link for this? I thought the monorails just underwent work! We are staying at the Poly in December. One of the main factors was the convenience of getting to MK, Epcot, and other resort restaurants. If this isn't going to the case then we will re-consider.

They did. Between the construction at Poly and Wilderness Lodge and now this...the MK resort area is a mess. I was so happy when the construction at VGF ended but that was short-lived. Maybe the monorails need to be replaced completely. Just shut them down for six months and install new ones.

 

[lhall7]

I woke up to this news and I am not very happy!!! We are staying at GF this summer as well and we were looking forward to 2 minute trip to MK to make rope drop. I am the ultimate Disney fan but this really makes me mad. I don't understand why they couldn't do this work in earlier hours or even midday would be better than not getting people to parks first thing in the mornings. I know there are alternate transportation options such as the boat but it will now be packed! Will they run a MK bus? And of course the discounts have expired so no chance of changing resorts now which makes me even madder! This is our first time staying at a monorail resort too and needless to say I am a little bit upset for splurging on it now. Oh well. I just don't understand why they would do this during busy summer season or spring break season when they did work on it before. Ok, rant over!

 

[staceyeileen]

There seems to be some conflicting information on this from different sources. Anyone know which is correct?

From wdwinfo.com:

The schedule will be:
Epcot - 9:00am-11:00pm
Resort monorail - 9:30am-11:30pm
Express monorail - 8:30am-midnight

From wdwmagic.com:

Starting June 22 2014, the monorail system will operate on a fixed schedule as follows:

Magic Kingdom Resort beam - 8:30am to midnight
Magic Kingdom Express beam - 9:30am to 11:30pm
Epcot beam - 9am to 11pm

 

[m2zjj]

I woke up to this news and I am not very happy!!! We are staying at GF this summer as well and we were looking forward to 2 minute trip to MK to make rope drop. I am the ultimate Disney fan but this really makes me mad. I don't understand why they couldn't do this work in earlier hours or even midday would be better than not getting people to parks first thing in the mornings. I know there are alternate transportation options such as the boat but it will now be packed! Will they run a MK bus? And of course the discounts have expired so no chance of changing resorts now which makes me even madder! This is our first time staying at a monorail resort too and needless to say I am a little bit upset for splurging on it now. Oh well. I just don't understand why they would do this during busy summer season or spring break season when they did work on it before. Ok, rant over!

I know how you feel. We're going to be at the CR in August and the deciding factor in our choice was the Monorail. I know I can walk to the MK but we have a couple of early breakfasts at GF and Poly and were planning on being able to just hop on the monorail and now we have to find another way to get to them. I've never stayed onsite before and only decided to splurge because of it's our anniversary and we wanted it to be special. DH wants to change to a different resort but like you said the discounts have expired now so we'd be paying more.

 

[wdwlver]

If I'm at GF and I need to be at MK for 8:05 ADR and the park opens at 9, I wonder what options there will be. Will I need to take a cab?

 

[BuzzinDownToDisney]

This royally stinks. Staying at CR in August solely because of the ease of the monorail system. We have an 8:05 breakfast at GF and planned on making RD looks like we have to cancel this ADR if we want any shot at RD.

 

[Altoqueenkelly]

If I'm at GF and I need to be at MK for 8:05 ADR and the park opens at 9, I wonder what options there will be. Will I need to take a cab?

Like others have said, there should be additional boats and buses to get you to your early MK ADR. However, it would be best to inquire at the front desk when you arrive and at the very least they can direct you, if not altogether assist you in finding transportation.

 

[Missyrose]

This royally stinks. Staying at CR in August solely because of the ease of the monorail system. We have an 8:05 breakfast at GF and planned on making RD looks like we have to cancel this ADR if we want any shot at RD.

Any time they have the resort monorail down, they typically will run a bus loop to connect the MK resorts.

 

[DebbieB]

A bus from GF to Epcot might be quicker. I found the monorail slow when I stayed at VGF last month. On my arrival day, I left VGF around 5:00, did not get to Epcot until almost 6:00. Just missed both monorails and then we sat at the TTC for awhile.

 

[lala3291]

I woke up to this news and I am not very happy!!! We are staying at GF this summer as well and we were looking forward to 2 minute trip to MK to make rope drop. I am the ultimate Disney fan but this really makes me mad. I don't understand why they couldn't do this work in earlier hours or even midday would be better than not getting people to parks first thing in the mornings. I know there are alternate transportation options such as the boat but it will now be packed! Will they run a MK bus? And of course the discounts have expired so no chance of changing resorts now which makes me even madder! This is our first time staying at a monorail resort too and needless to say I am a little bit upset for splurging on it now. Oh well. I just don't understand why they would do this during busy summer season or spring break season when they did work on it before. Ok, rant over!

I totally agree with you. We just made the switch from WL to the Poly for our July stay. We mainly switched (and paid a few hundred dollars more) for the convenience of being on the monorail. We plan on getting to MK and Epcot at rope drop on multiple mornings. Like you said, with the discounts being expired, we can't switch again. I'm trying to stay on the positive side, but I just wish I had known this before switching resorts.

 

[Jewel3k]

Staying at CR in early Sept. Splurge and picked CR over BC because of the monorail. Feeling annoyed, but realized that we can still walk to MK pretty quickly and we only plan on hitting EPCOT one morning. So I think I'll hold off on being to annoyed until they announce its closed in the afternoons, when I'm planning on using it for breaks.

 

[Momof2Singers]

One big question: WHY are they doing all this during the busy summer months.

And closing other things during summer is crazy. Are they so happy that so many are there during this time to spend money that they can decide to close whatever. The Orbitor and People Mover closed during the busiest time of the year too....but this would be really upsetting if I were paying to stay at one of these resorts.

 

[mggeary]

Any guesses (I know that is all they'll be) when we we'll be back to normal hours. Where staying at GF in Jan and will switch if we cant take the monorail into MK before 8:30am.