Boat from FW to MK - how early?

[GbG]

How early does the boat start running from FW to MK? We have an 8:20am breakfast at the castle. Will the boat run early enough for us to be there in plenty of time?

 

[Colson39]

The boats from FW to the MK start running approximately 30 minutes prior to park opening. The boats that run between FW, the Wilderness Lodge, and the Contemporary start running at approximately 7:30 a.m.

Although it has been noted that at times the boats that go between FW, the Contemporary, and the WL have started as early as 6:45-6:50 AM, it kind of depends on the day and the amount of people.

Your best bet would probably be to take a boat to the Contemporary, and then go to the MK from there. 8:20 AM will be kind of hard to guarantee you're going to make if you're taking the boats that go directly to MK, it could happen but there is no guarantee.

 

[GbG]

Thanks. Do the buses run any earlier, or would it just be better to drive over?

 

[Colson39]

If you want to go that early, I would just drive over, that way you have more control of what time you'll get there. There won't be too much congestion at that time so you wouldn't have to wait long for a tram/monorail/etc...

 

[cinder1]

Ok, am I understanding this? If opening at MK is at 9 am (no EMH), the boat to MK does not start running until 8:30 am? How long is the boat ride? It seems unless you are on that very first boat, it would be hard to get to the park for rope drop.

What about the buses to the other parks? Do they start running earlier than 30 minutes before opening?

 

[Colson39]

Well officially they don't start until a half hour I believe, but a lot of the time I've seen them earlier than that. And I think the busses always start quite a bit before the boats.

 

[cinder1]

Thanks. You always have the info. We are the rope drop kinda family. Not the late night kinda family. Well, ok, maybe the 2 oldest kids (preteen girls ) are late night people, but DH and I, not so much anymore

 

[GbG]

If we choose to drive over to MK, do we have to pay to park even though we are staying at a WDW resort?

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

If you want to go that early, I would just drive over, that way you have more control of what time you'll get there. There won't be too much congestion at that time so you wouldn't have to wait long for a tram/monorail/etc...

I'm not sure about that--I guess if they hop on the resort monorail, they would be okay--but unless an EMH, IME, day visitors are held up at TTC until they open the monorail about 8:30am. NOt sure if that is changed--but I have often wondered for those who opt to drive over for an early seating at MK.

GbG--no--you will have a parking pass issued at check in and this allows you to park at your resort as well as any of the four theme parks for free. You will be waved through when they see your parking pass. This will be valid from teh moment you check in until the end of the day you check out.

 

[GbG]

Thanks Lisa!

 

[Colson39]

I'm not sure about that--I guess if they hop on the resort monorail, they would be okay--but unless an EMH, IME, day visitors are held up at TTC until they open the monorail about 8:30am. NOt sure if that is changed--but I have often wondered for those who opt to drive over for an early seating at MK.

GbG--no--you will have a parking pass issued at check in and this allows you to park at your resort as well as any of the four theme parks for free. You will be waved through when they see your parking pass. This will be valid from teh moment you check in until the end of the day you check out.

Actually, if you have priority seating, they will allow you to ride the resort monorail over to the Magic Kingdom. This monorail starts at 7 AM, so that would be plenty of time for them to make it (you are correct, the normal express monorail doesn't start until 8:30-8:45 AM). All they have to do is tell the person at the gate that they have priority seating at the Magic Kingdom, and they will allow them onto the resort monorail to head over to the Magic Kingdom. Since this one starts at 7 AM, they shouldn't have any problem getting there on time.

 

[CinderellaDreamer]

Ok, am I understanding this? If opening at MK is at 9 am (no EMH), the boat to MK does not start running until 8:30 am? How long is the boat ride? It seems unless you are on that very first boat, it would be hard to get to the park for rope drop.

What about the buses to the other parks? Do they start running earlier than 30 minutes before opening?

We just got back, and never made it for rope drop at any park. Granted we never got to the launch or bus stop more than 40 minutes before rope drop (which theoretically should have gotten us there), but perhaps if you got there an hour before park opening, there might be a bus. We were always there at 30 minutes or more before park opening and never caught a bus or boat in time for rope drop. We always had a 15-25 minute wait for a bus. Always. We often caught the boat right as it was pulling up, and two times saw rope drop from the boat, but were not docked in time. We were there in May though, so perhaps more buses/boats are in circulation at other times.

Good luck!

 

[GbG]

OK. I can confirm that driving to MK from FW is absolutely, positively not the fastest way to get there.

I couldn't get anyone here to confirm that a boat would be leaving early enough, so we decided we'd take the bus instead just to be safe.

Then this morning I couldn't get everyone "up 'n at em" like I wanted, so we thought it might just be the quickest to drive there, just in case the busses aren't running to regular of a schedule.

It took us exactly 1 hour to get from our campsite to the entrance of MK because first we had to park and walk into TTC, then wait on a monorail that then had to stop at Poly and GF before dropping us off at MK.

We were 20 minutes late. Fortunately they let us in on the next round, but had to wait another 15 minutes untilo that group was called in.

I will say that the experience of Main Street with no one on it was something. My mom has a picture of us like that in '73 before everything got so crowded. But as crowded as it is later in the day, its almost an eerie feeling.

 

[clkelley]

OK. I can confirm that driving to MK from FW is absolutely, positively not the fastest way to get there.

I couldn't get anyone here to confirm that a boat would be leaving early enough, so we decided we'd take the bus instead just to be safe.

Then this morning I couldn't get everyone "up 'n at em" like I wanted, so we thought it might just be the quickest to drive there, just in case the busses aren't running to regular of a schedule.

It took us exactly 1 hour to get from our campsite to the entrance of MK because first we had to park and walk into TTC, then wait on a monorail that then had to stop at Poly and GF before dropping us off at MK.

We were 20 minutes late. Fortunately they let us in on the next round, but had to wait another 15 minutes untilo that group was called in.

I will say that the experience of Main Street with no one on it was something. My mom has a picture of us like that in '73 before everything got so crowded. But as crowded as it is later in the day, its almost an eerie feeling.

Sorry you were late. The best way would have been the small boat to the Contemporary which starts at 6:45 am (I've been on the boat that early), then walk over to Magic Kingdom.

 

[GbG]

Sorry you were late. The best way would have been the small boat to the Contemporary which starts at 6:45 am (I've been on the boat that early), then walk over to Magic Kingdom.

Yeah... we know that now. I know it was mentioned on here, but when I tried to get confirmation of that at check in, no one could tell me for 100% if that was an option.

All in all, though it turned out ok.

...except for the huge roach that crawled up a little girl's leg at the table next to us in the castle dining room and caused her to scream and cry. Talk about an appetite suppressant. I don't think they even did anything extra for the family. I would have thought one of those fastpass cards would have been a nice gesture.