Best way from Poly to DTD?

[wish*i*was*in*the*vi]

our first night we were supposed to stay at OKW before switching to AKL, now we're going to be able to stay our whole trip at AKL and not have to switch resorts, which makes us very happy. But I'd still like to make it over to DTD, because we've never made it over there to check it out on our Disney trips, and I realllly want a Cuban from Bongos (you can't find a good Cuban sandwich around here).
That morning is my son's birthday and I was thinking about going from AKL to the Poly for breakfast at Kona (one of our favorite WDW meals), then over to DTD for awhile, and after some shopping and lunch heading to MK...is this overly ambitious? Is it going to be a huge amount of time spent travelling? We are NOT morning people but since it will be our first morning at WDW I figure if theres any chance of us getting up and going early enough to go all the way over to the Poly from AKL for breakfast this is going to be it. And with it being my son's birthday, I think breakfast at Kona would be great, before torturing him with shopping
I've read that the bus ride from the Poly to DTD can be really long because of the stops at the water parks but this will be in January and they'll be closed, so that shouldn't be an issue.
Anybody have any thoughts?

 

[grimley1968]

It's not that bad of a trip, even if the bus does stop at a waterpark or both of them on the way. However, the buses to DtD are less frequent than to the parks. Keep that in mind.

I agree with Kona Cafe for breakfast. It's one of our favorite meals, too. Nice birthday gift!

I don't think this is an overly ambitious schedule, but whether you make it all the way back to MK by early afternoon depends greatly on how quickly your shopping goes at DtD. But in January this is very do-able.

 

[wish*i*was*in*the*vi]

Thanks John...It won't be a major shopping expedition...more just to check it out and see what is all there. I can't imagine us being there more than a 2-3 hours tops. I thought it would be a great place to let our son pick out a birthday present too!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

The Downtown Disney bus from the Polynesian will have already come from the Contemporary and after it leaves the Polynesian it will also stop to pick up guests from the Grand Floridian, so that's something else to remember. Personally when we stay at the Contemporary we always driven our own car when going to Downtown Disney, because the buses from the Magic Kingdom Resorts seem to take forever. Now another option you could do is get on the Saratoga Springs from the Magic Kingdom, get off at the Congress Park stop and use the walkway to Downtown Disney, since they are the closest resort to Downtown Disney. Of course an even faster option is taking a taxi from the Polynesian to Downtown Disney, assuming you don't mind the extra cost involved for that.

 

[wish*i*was*in*the*vi]

Thanks...we're flying and taking Magical Express, so we wont have a car, but a taxi isn't a bad idea!

 

[wish*i*was*in*the*vi]

This is actually January 8th, the day of the marathon....anybody think that will make a difference with bus transportation? Slow it down at all? or make it a particularly good day to be at downtown disney instead of the park? I wans't real thrilled about being there during the marathon to begin with but it was my son's birthday so we ended up planning it for that time frame anyway.

 

[Magicbus]

It's not that bad of a trip, even if the bus does stop at a waterpark or both of them on the way.

The DTD bus stops at TL.

However, the buses to DtD are less frequent than to the parks.

The announcement on the bus PA says buses for your resort depart approx. every 20 minutes.