Alternate transportation from All Star Sports to parks

[Pinboys]

We are going to be at Sports for a very short trip, 3 nights, the first week of December. Maybe because of the new Star Wars ride opening that weekend, it appears to be quite crowded. How long of a wait is expected at the bus stops to head to the parks in the morning (target to get to the park entrance 30 minutes before rope drop). Has anyone tried any other mode of transportation, e.g., Minnie Van, Uber, Taxi? If so, what were the costs of that and do you think it really saved any time by using the option of not taking the Disney bus.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Buses start about 6:30 daily, unless the destination park opens earlier. Then, expect the first bus an hour before opening. The earlier you go to the bus stop, the less crowded the bus should be.

Minnie Van is $15 base fare, plus $2.75 per mile or part of mile.

Rideshare and taxi estimates can be calculated on www.rideguru.com.

 

[CastAStone]

The value resorts are basically always fully booked, so the waits for the buses should not be much different than any other time.

On average, Uber, Lyft, and Minnie Vans will be faster to DHS, Epcot, and AK, particularly if you order them before you leave your room, and should be similar to one another (Minnie Vans may be a touch faster to AK because they can take a backstreet not open to other rideshares).

Minnie Vans will be fastest to MK followed by waiting for the bus, then Uber and Lyft will be longer most of the time (because the Lyft/Uber drop off is at the TTC but the bus/Minnie Van drop off is at the park entrance). You can alternatively take a Lyft to the Contemporary and then walk to MK, but they may shut down that loophole at any time.

 

[kaytieeldr]

On average, Uber, Lyft, and Minnie Vans will be faster to DHS, Epcot, and AK, particularly if you order them before you leave your room,

Except this is inexcusable per current and former rideshare drivers. You run the fairly high risk of the river not being able to find you and cancelling the ride - and of being charged a cancellation fee.

 

[CastAStone]

Except this is inexcusable per current and former rideshare drivers. You run the fairly high risk of the river not being able to find you and cancelling the ride - and of being charged a cancellation fee.

I guess I wasn't clear, but I meant order as you leave your room but get to the pickup point ASAP, ideally before the driver shows up at all, and certainly within the 5 minute window the rideshares give you. I thought that was implied by common courtesy.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Okay, first, I typed inadvisable; danged tablet "fixed" it to inexcusable. Don't ask.

Anyway, I still wouldn't suggest requesting the rideshare until you are at the pickup location. Anything could happen to cause a delay; and in my opinion, it's inconsiderate to utilize the five minute window that way. YMMV.

 

[DharmaLou]

We never waited longer than 10 minutes for a bus. We used Lyft to get to the Poly and Grand Floridian for meals and they were roughly $10-11 for a family of 3 (you'll need an XL if you have more than 4 people). I took Lyft home from DHS one day on my own because I was too lazy to walk another 100 yards to the bus lol. That was $8.

 

[shocker]

Just remember you can now see bus arrival times to your resort in the MDE app.

Are they always 100% accurate? No. Do they sometimes keep pushing arrival times back? Yes. Does the arrival time mean you'll be able to get on at that time (i.e. can I arrive 1 min before stated arrival time & expect to get on?) No Can I see how many people are in line for the bus by looking at my app? No

Is it waaayyyy better than before times were in the app? Yes. Can I better see from in my room what time buses really start in the morning? Yes Can I better gage if I need to be heading out to the bus now or do I have time for a restroom (insert any need here) break before heading out to bus? Yes

That said AK is shortest ride from sports at only 10 min, EP & HS are mid-range at 15-25, & MK is very long at over 30 min.

I had no trouble making it to many RD's using only buses from all of the all stars.

Check for current reports in the few weeks before you arrive to see what actual RD times are. Many times EMH starts at 8 but RD is actually 7:30 or 7:40, in which case you want thru security by 7:15, off the bus by 7-7:10, you want on bus 6:40, you want to be at bus stop by 6:20, you'll have to your alarm for....ouch...zero dark thirty. Rope drop ain't for the faint of heart...but I can't not do it. I've even done a few earlier EMH, so move those times back even more.

 

[Kricketnp]

We stayed at All Star Movies back in March and took Uber a few times. It was usually around $10-$12.

 

[JennyDrake]

You are going to be there during Pop Warner and THAT is why the resort is full. (Yes, PPers are correct that everything is almost *always* full now...) PW will not affect bus schedule, lines, etc. as the kids are at WWoS most of the time. I have taken Lyft this year from the AS various places and the wait has never been more than 5 minutes, so my suggestion is for you to be AT the curb before you ask for a ride.

IMHO the Minnie Vans are exorbitantly over priced. I paid $8-12 for trips to AKL from AS.