Allowing time to get to park...?

[Robbya]

okay so we booked our ADR's and they said to allow a coulple HOURS to allow transportation to get you to the place on time.....what do they mean....are we going to have to leave the park at 3 oclock for a 7 oclock reservation?...also does it take a couple hours to get to the parks too....?

 

[zulemara]

it depends on how many forms of transportation you need to take to get to your reservation. The typical standard is to allow 1 hour for travel. Now if you have to wait on a bus, go to a theme park, then wait on a boat or monorail, or another bus, then you have to increase your time for that.

Disney is mass transportation. It's not perfect and it frequently encounters operational hazards that cause "the norm" to get messed up.

 

[Kimberle]

It really depends on where you are and where you are going. For example, going from WL to CR for Chef Mickeys involves a 5 minute boat ride. You'll just need to add waiting. Going from POR to the BC will be much more time consuming.

We plan our ADR's where we will be in the parks at that time. If you book them all over, then you'll spend all of your time traveling for them. Even if you have a car. WDW is HUGE. Landwise, it's the size of a large city.

 

[jacstangler]

Disney transportation is going to take you a lot longer than taking your own car. If you took your own car, depending on where your room is to the parking area, and given the size of the property from the time you leave your room to go to your car the drive time can take you over 30-45 minutes just to get to the parking area of where you are going. To get from the parking at Epcot to Italy for an adr depending on how fast you walk can take 30 minutes plus. So even taking your own car can take you well over and hour. With Disney transportation which takes a lot longer you see where they get at least 2 hours. Also keep in mind if you are going from one resort to another resort there is no bus service and you would need to go to the
ticket & trans area to get a bus unless the resorts are connected by boat or close enough like near the Boardwalk where you could walk. Confusing isn't it.

John

 

[Viper4194]

I certainly like to give myself time (preferably arriving 10 minutes early) but sometimes that's not possible. A few times on my Jan. '09 trip I was late for an ADR and never really had a problem. I only had to wait a few minutes or too for a table (which you usually have to do when you arrive for an ADR anyways). Try to arrive on time but don't loss your cool if you're a bit late.

 

[Boardwalker]

And just a thought... don't forget that there are taxis available to take you directly. My vacation time is worth a lot to me... right down to an hour here or there.
On Disney property, I have found the taxis to be remarkably clean, professional, efficient and a good value when I am going to a different resort for dinner...
Driving around WDW can be pretty confusing for me in daylight, let alone darkness, and after a glass of wine, I would rather leave the worry to someone else.

 

[aspen37]

And just a thought... don't forget that there are taxis available to take you directly. My vacation time is worth a lot to me... right down to an hour here or there.
On Disney property, I have found the taxis to be remarkably clean, professional, efficient and a good value when I am going to a different resort for dinner...
Driving around WDW can be pretty confusing for me in daylight, let alone darkness, and after a glass of wine, I would rather leave the worry to someone else.

On my last trip we took taxis a couple of time. It was cheap and a lot easier in some cases.