AK for rope drop: Bus or Drive?

[Laura's Dad]

I know that the opening times have been varying greatly lately. We will be staying at the Art of Animation next week and plan on rope dropping the AK on our first day. We will be driving down from Atlanta on Monday so we will have access to our vehicle. Would you take the bus from Art of Animation with limited occupancy or drive our vehicle and wait for the auto entry to open? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

We drive to WDW too. Nice to have the car. Anyway.....we never rely on the bus to get us to a certain place at a certain time. Especially dining reservations. Got married at WDW, took the bus. We were soooo late to our own wedding rehearsal and we gave ourselves over an hour.

 

[CapnJacksGirl]

We will be at WDW next week as well. We plan to take the bus on our AK day (vs rideshare which we will use for HS and MK/CR ADR).

AK opens at 8 am next week and wisdom from these boards recently has been to get to your resort bus stop 90 minutes prior to park opening to have a crack at the first bus. I could be wrong, but I can't envision a massive crowd of people at the bus stop at 6:30 am with only one park opening at 8. Prior to the previous two weeks of chaos surrounding Presidents Week, reports seemed to say there wasn't an advantage to driving to AK vs taking the bus, other than being in control of your own destiny on when you leave and arrive at the parking gate. You might buy yourselves a few minutes on the front end, in not needing to head out quite so early but you could end up waiting to get into the lot. From what I've read, it's kind of a crapshoot at AK, with no alternatives to bus or car/rideshare.

I'd say just go with whichever your gut tells you that day. I don't think there's really any way to know for sure. Not helpful, I know, but that's kind of how I'm viewing a lot of things for this trip. Just go with your gut.

 

[ars0525]

Will you guys be up & on that 1st or 2nd bus leaving the hotel? I think that's the real decider. I live here so I am always driving in & I see the bus line dropping people off while we sit waiting in line for the parking lots to open. Plus the bus will drop you up front. There are no trams running in any of the parking lots at any of the parks yet.

 

[ucf_knight]

I know that the opening times have been varying greatly lately. We will be staying at the Art of Animation next week and plan on rope dropping the AK on our first day. We will be driving down from Atlanta on Monday so we will have access to our vehicle. Would you take the bus from Art of Animation with limited occupancy or drive our vehicle and wait for the auto entry to open? Any help would be appreciated.

We almost always take our car vs a Disney bus to get around property. So much more convenient imo than waiting around for a bus. The only park we will occasionally take a bus to is MK as it’s a big hassle to get to and from that park via the ttc

 

[Kitty & Covs Covs]

This is the core disagreement in our family--I prefer Disney park transportation above all else because it's part of the bubble you pay for. My brother and his family always take Uber because it's more efficient (usually-I've heard differing views during COVID). We are about to go on a joint trip and I'm already rehearsing what to say to him when he goes to order and Uber and we're walking to the bus station...

 

[gharter]

If you have a car, I would drive.
Unless we can walk to the parks, we usually drive, except to MK where the bus is the better option and you miss the TTC.

 

[jsmla]

When I was there the first buses (Pop and AoA) arrived before those coming in from the parking.

AK opened at 8:00 while I was there. The first bus arrived at Pop at 6:53. The gates opened at 7:20 and I boarded Flight of Passage by 7:30.

 

[Laura's Dad]

If you have a car, I would drive.
Unless we can walk to the parks, we usually drive, except to MK where the bus is the better option and you miss the TTC.

 

[MMSM]

When I was there the first buses (Pop and AoA) arrived before those coming in from the parking.

AK opened at 8:00 while I was there. The first bus arrived at Pop at 6:53. The gates opened at 7:20 and I boarded Flight of Passage by 7:30.

Were they holding cars back from parking at 7:00?

 

[emmabelle]

We drove to AK this morning. Got there around 7:30am. We parked in Unicorn N. We went right to FOP and waited about 30 minutes to ride. Went to Safari next for about 15 minute wait. We actually left pretty much after that because we didn’t feel like waiting for anything else. We’re here all week so we can go back. Lol

 

[Laura's Dad]

Thanks

We drove to AK this morning. Got there around 7:30am. We parked in Unicorn N. We went right to FOP and waited about 30 minutes to ride. Went to Safari next for about 15 minute wait. We actually left pretty much after that because we didn’t feel like waiting for anything else. We’re here all week so we can go back. Lol

What were the crowds like?

 

[emmabelle]

Thanks

What were the crowds like?

when we got off FOP the line for Navi looked super long. After riding the Safari we walked by Everest and the line said 10 minutes but looked longer in my opinion. We left so early, probably about 10am, there were a lot of people pouring in at that point.. We’re going to head over to the Studios tonight. Hopefully that won’t be too bad.

 

[Gehrig1B]

Cars are currently being held to prevent large crowds from arriving all at the same time. Our experience last month was walkers get in first, then those arriving on the first buses, then cars and rideshares enter the parking area... Of course, there will be no walkers at AK.

 

[jsmla]

Were they holding cars back from parking at 7:00?

We were held on the bus until 7:00. I didn’t see anyone walking in from the parking but it was hard to tell once I reached temp screening. There were very few people at the tapstile at first. It felt like was just the two buses for a few minutes.


7:12-I was last in the line. I’m not the fastest and was behind a family that had issues with security.







7:17

 

[TheMick424]

We were held on the bus until 7:00. I didn’t see anyone walking in from the parking but it was hard to tell once I reached temp screening. There were very few people at the tapstile at first. It felt like was just the two buses for a few minutes.


7:12-I was last in the line. I’m not the fastest and was behind a family that had issues with security.

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7:17
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Was this for a scheduled 8am opening? (Or 9am?)

 

[jsmla]

Was this for a scheduled 8am opening? (Or 9am?)

8:00

 

[TheMick424]

8:00

Thanks!!