All Star Sports to Boma/AKL, WALKABLE?

[tracys2cents]

I think our dinner choices are BOMA, OHANA, CORAL REEF, LIBERTY TREE, KONA CAFE and 50's CAFE. Possibly Le Cellier or Hollywood/Vine.

Ohana and Kona are easiest to get to on the days we do Magic Kingdom, right? Is Boma walkable from All Stars? I'm finding it hard to make reservations at these restaurants not knowing how long it will take to get to them from All Stars or the parks.

If we're at Epcot, is it a pain to get to Polynesian? Animal Kingdom Lodge?

If we're at our home base, All Stars, is it a pain to get to an Epcot restaurant? Any tips on when to eat at the restaurants above (such as 'do 50's Cafe when you're at Disney MGM, otherwise not worth the trip')....would be welcome. THANKS FOR THE HELP!

 

[Bob P]

Welcome to the DIS!

Walking is not adviseable...there really are no sidewalks in many places and where there are narrow walking areas the drivers are not used to seeing people walk!

You can get a bus from Epcot to AKL. You can take the monorail to the TTC from EPcot and change for the resort monorail or walk to the Poly from the TTC.

You can take a bus directly from the All Stars to Epcot and walk into the park to any Epcot restaurant. You can then take a bus back when you leave the park.

In general, you should do restaurants when you are there rather than make a special trip.

 

[Laura]

No, Boma is not walkable from All Stars. Not necessarily because of the distance, but because there really isn't a walkway or sidewalks from Point A to Point B. Your best bet for the resort restaurants is to go from a park to the resort directly. For example, you could do Boma on your AK day: take the bus to AKL from AK, eat, then hop a bus to a park and then transfer to the All Stars bus from the park. Or do it from Epcot, it doesn't matter, but AK is right next to AKL. It's easy to get to the Polynesian from Epcot--just take the monorail or a bus.

 

[MelanieC]

I would not advise it. I would do Boma on an AK day and take the bus to the resort. Then either hop a bus to a park and back to your hotel or to DTD.

 

[Lynne M]

One of the biggest surprises for new visitors to WDW is how huge it is, and that it can be several miles from your hotel to a theme park, even when you're staying on property. The theme parks are also very large, and it can take a while to get from point A to point B even inside the park.

Two important points to remember as you're planning your dining:

1. It's best to plan a meal at a theme park restaurant for a day when you're already going to be in that park. Otherwise, you're going to waste a lot of time travelling around.

2. Getting from resorts to theme parks is easy using Disney transportation. Getting from one resort to another can be very time consuming. There are no direct buses, say, from the Poly to the All Stars. You will need to take a bus from your resort to a theme park or DD, and then catch a bus, boat or monorail to your destination resort.

That said, let's look at your choices:

Kona Cafe and 'Ohana - do these on an MK day. It's a quick easy trip from the MK to the Poly by boat or monorail.

Boma - it's closest to AK. Take a bus to AK, and then catch an AKL bus. If AK is closed, you can use DD or any other open park as a transfer point.

Coral Reef, Liberty Tree, 50's Cafe - all in theme parks.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[tracys2cents]

Wow, so Boma is not even walkable from Animal Kingdom? I guess it will all become clear once we get there (hopefully).

Can anyone recommend a restaurant that's open late? Are there some open later than others? Here's the predicament: We arrive MCO at 3:30pm so I'm thinking 6:30 to 7pm before we're all checked in at All Stars? Is this a good estimate (Tues night)? Then the kids are gonna wanna rush to either MKingdom or Epcot (nothing is open late that night). I'm thinking they'll be having fun till closing time (10pm) but then I'll want them to get something to eat. Any recommendations for 9:30pm dining in MK or Epcot? We're west coast, our bodies will be at 6:30pm so that part is no prob. I do want a full meal because flying that day they won't eat much but snacks until the dinner time. Thanks again.

 

[Bob P]

Unless it is an EMH night the restaurants in Epcot will not be taking 9:30 reservations. Epcot closes at 9 every night (except for EMH nights).

Why not grab something at the food court and then run out to a park? Or maybe head over to DTD and eat something there, that way you won't burn a day on your park passes for just an hour or two in the park.

 

[BrerMama]

Tracy, how about skipping a park and taking them to Chef Mickey's? It gives a fun atmosphere with characters and will let your kids get a full meal. I'd make a 7:30 pm ADR and enjoy my meal -- and it's a buffet so you can eat as much as you want. If the MK happens to still be open when you're finished, you can pop in and maybe do one or two rides before heading home. Just take a bus from your hotel to MK, walk or monorail to the Contemporary for the meal, then walk or monorail back to the MK to either enter or go back to the hotel.

I always have these great plans for our first night at Disney, and our flights are always delayed and our ADRs go to waste. So you may also want to have a back-up plan. Not sure when you're going, but Florida does tend to have afternoon thunderstorms, which often delays incoming flights. Happened to us twice now.

 

[tracys2cents]

Yikes, looks like Mommy is gonna get in trouble for not doing her homework and for making reservations too late in the game. Here is what I came up with on my first call to dining............

Liberty Tree 8:35pm
BOMA 9:40pm
OHANA 9:20pm
Teppanyaki 9:15pm
Capn Jacks 8:25pm
KONA Cafe 8:00pm
BOMA 6:50pm

My kids can live with the late night dining, because, like I said, we tend to stay on west coast time when we're back east. I'll try to do some homework on my own of course...but can anybody give me an idea of what parades, fireworks or anything that we might miss out on by dining at these times? Thanks again you've all been a great help already!

 

[Bob P]

It depends when you are going. Fireworks and parade times are available here on the DIS.

But unfortunately at first glance it looks like your dining times are right around the times of fireworks and parades....

 

[ducklite]

The AKL is well over a mile from the All Stars. There are no sidewalks and the Mickey Cops will pick you up for walking/running on the roads at WDW.

Anne

 

[Lynne M]

Wow, so Boma is not even walkable from Animal Kingdom? I guess it will all become clear once we get there (hopefully).

If you look at a map, it may look like the Animal Kingdom Lodge is very close to the Animal Kingdom park. In reality, once you walk out of the park exit, you'd have to cross an immense parking lot - parking for thousands and thousands of cars. Then walk down a long, winding access road (with no sidewalks and cars and busses speeding along at 55+ mph), and then, I believe, walk along another major road for awhile. Then you'd reach the entrance to the Lodge, and would have to walk down another very long access road. As the crow flies, it's probably not even a mile. Walking along the roads, it's at least a few miles. And security has been known to pick people up that they find walking on the roads - it's simply not safe.

WDW is not really built for walking. There are no roads with sidewalks, and many of the roads are multi-lane, high-speed highways.

There are a limited number of places within walking distance of the parks. You can walk to Epcot and MGM from the Yacht Club, Beach Club, Swan, Dolphin or Boardwalk resorts. You can walk to the MK from the Contemporary. You can walk to DD from OKW or SSR. And that's about all I can think of.

 

[Amy&Dan]

Frankly, for my family we find taking a cab from our hotel to our meal if its in a resort is sometimes easiest. Sometimes the chore of getting on the bus to a park, then getting on another bus to a resort is so time consuming we'd rather spend the money to take a cab. And since ME started, we are saving money by either not renting a car or not cabbing from the airport so we don't feel bad about budgeting a bit of money for cabs. From the All Stars to AKL you would probably be looking at less than $10 including the tip. Just a thought.

And I would look at park hours on the WDW website and see what the nighttime entertainment times are during your stay. Personally, my family loves the fireworks, Fantasmic!, and Spectro, so we could never be eating knowing fireworks were maybe going off right above us! You might be able to change your ADR's quite easily.

 

[Dis31]

Check out this website. You can look up parade times. Dining menus. They have alot of helpful information.

www.allearsnet.com

 

[tracys2cents]

Thanks Lynne M! Knowing that we can walk to a few resorts from Epcot and MGM is really gonna help with my meal planning. With the meal plan we'll eat too much, and we really do want to walk as much as possible, then some more!

 

[Laura]

Oh, you'll be walking a LOT in the parks. Be prepared!

 

[stoudt6]

TOOK 1 FROM AKL TO FANTASIA GARDENS LAST YEAR. WAS AROUND $12 PLUS TIP.SAVED US AT LEAST 45 MINUTES OF HAVING TO TAKE BUS TO MGM AND BOAT TO SWAN. KNOW ALL-STARS TO AKL IS AT LEAST 1 MILE SHORTER (PROBABLY 2) SO WOULD GUESS AT MOST IT WOULD BE $10 WITH TIP TO TAKE CAB

 

[adhelove]

I think our dinner choices are BOMA, OHANA, CORAL REEF, LIBERTY TREE, KONA CAFE and 50's CAFE. Possibly Le Cellier or Hollywood/Vine.

Ohana and Kona are easiest to get to on the days we do Magic Kingdom, right? Is Boma walkable from All Stars? I'm finding it hard to make reservations at these restaurants not knowing how long it will take to get to them from All Stars or the parks.

If we're at Epcot, is it a pain to get to Polynesian? Animal Kingdom Lodge?

If we're at our home base, All Stars, is it a pain to get to an Epcot restaurant? Any tips on when to eat at the restaurants above (such as 'do 50's Cafe when you're at Disney MGM, otherwise not worth the trip')....would be welcome. THANKS FOR THE HELP!

Okay if you are on a package then you aren't wasting a day because your days start on the day you arrive but if you aren't on a package then do downtown disney or even eat at another resort. You have Rainforest Cafe and Planet Hollywood. Both of these are fun eats and really one of a kind surroundings. You will wait but you can walk around and come back. We have down this several trips when we aren't on a package. We also like to eat at a different resort just for fun. Animal Kingdom and Wilderness Lodge are great choices. We have also played putt putt on our first night and just grabbed food from the food court at All-Stars (which is really pretty good food). The wdw putt putt is really fun and doesn't cost that much at all. The Christmas putt putt called, Winter Summerland at Blizzard Beach, is great to bring your camera and use the pic for you Christmas picture. There is also a set for Christmas at Downtown Disney. You don't have to pay for it just bring your camera and ask a passerby. We have done this many times too. Kids love Downtown Disney too. The lego pieces are so awesome and the store is too. Hope this helps some.

 

[cigar95]

And security has been known to pick people up that they find walking on the roads - it's simply not safe.

I never thought of this before, but if a security van picks you up trying to walk because it isn't safe, you might just get a ride to where you're trying to go. But that isn't something I'd want to count on.

You can walk to DD from OKW or SSR. And that's about all I can think of.

Be advised that the walk from OKW is pretty lengthy, and the path is "officially" closed after dusk. (I didn't realize this once, and ended up accidentally taking a different path at night that went through the golf course. An interesting walk, even though I had no clue where I was much of the time and may well have been on the verge of becoming a late-night snack for a gator.)