Bonnet Creek - Getting to and from the theme parks?

[stairstepmom]

Can anyone walk me through the process and time we might need to budget next October for driving between BC and the parks?

So far it seems it's $14 to park per park per day - so where exactly is the parking lot in relation to each park? How long is the wait and tram ride? I'm a little nervous that we'll end up spending just as much time trying to get all the kiddos from Point A to Point B by loading them in the car, driving, parking, getting them out (along with our double stroller!), tram waiting, tram riding as we would using Disney's bus system onsite. How much time does it take one on average to get from their villa at BC into the actual park and back again?

Thanks and Happy New Year!!

 

[Brian Noble]

It's pretty straightforward---just follow the signs to any of the theme parks, and you'll be pointed in the right direction. You will spend a little more time getting to and from MK---there you have to park at the Transportation and Ticket Center, and then take a ferry or monorail to the park entrance. But, you will spend a little less time getting to and from any of the other parks; for them, you can either walk or tram, depending on where you park. Because the bus arrivals are so uncertain, we find we need about the same or a little less lead time in the morning to make rope drop when we drive.

 

[bonoriffic]

From the BC parking lot, here is my best guess at the actual times to get to each park.

Depending on where you park, add 5 minutes from theme park parking lot to security. We never took a tram, we were always quite close as we arrived at each park at opening/prior for early reservations. The trams would have been useful if we were super far away, but if you arrive early you load up the stroller and start walking. 5 minutes.

Getting from your room at BC to the car is 5 minutes.

Once you are in your car and leaving BC front gate, here are times. This is to get to the parking lot gate. Walking to security and then into actual park is a huge variable and isn't counted here.

Hollywood Studios:
- 5 minutes to get to parking lot (depending on if you miss the 2 lights)
- Closest park to hotel

Epcot:
- 7 minutes to get to parking lot
- Getting back to BC is slightly faster due to exit basically emptying into BC entrance road.

Animal Kingdom:
- 10 - 12 minutes to get to parking lot.

Magic Kingdom:
- 12 - 15 minutes to get to TTC.
- Another 5 minute walk to monorail, then wait and ride time.
- Total time from BC to MK security would be no less than 25 minutes - 40 minutes

Downtown Disney:
- 7 - 10 minutes, is close but lots of lights to contend with.
- Could spend a considerable amount of time getting a parking spot

 

[wed100105]

From the BC parking lot, here is my best guess at the actual times to get to each park.

Depending on where you park, add 5 minutes from theme park parking lot to security. We never took a tram, we were always quite close as we arrived at each park at opening/prior for early reservations. The trams would have been useful if we were super far away, but if you arrive early you load up the stroller and start walking. 5 minutes.

Getting from your room at BC to the car is 5 minutes.

Once you are in your car and leaving BC front gate, here are times. This is to get to the parking lot gate. Walking to security and then into actual park is a huge variable and isn't counted here.

Hollywood Studios:
- 5 minutes to get to parking lot (depending on if you miss the 2 lights)
- Closest park to hotel

Epcot:
- 7 minutes to get to parking lot
- Getting back to BC is slightly faster due to exit basically emptying into BC entrance road.

Animal Kingdom:
- 10 - 12 minutes to get to parking lot.

Magic Kingdom:
- 12 - 15 minutes to get to TTC.
- Another 5 minute walk to monorail, then wait and ride time.
- Total time from BC to MK security would be no less than 25 minutes - 40 minutes

Downtown Disney:
- 7 - 10 minutes, is close but lots of lights to contend with.
- Could spend a considerable amount of time getting a parking spot

This is a great reference and is very accurate to what we experienced last July.

OP-I love staying at Bonnet Creek and was amazed how fast it was to get from point A to B. I found that our Garmin was very accurate and gave great directions. Yes, it was $14 per day to park and I budgeted that in to our vacation costs. We're owners so it's different for us, but I would think that the ammount that you save elsewhere (one meal a day in the unit, for example) easily makes up the difference for parking.

 

[geenerbell]

We used the bus transportation at Bonnet Creek the week after Thanksgiving. It was crowded but worth it to save $14 per day. We attended MVMCP at MK one night so we drove because the transportation schedule didn't work that day. Our Garmin worked great for getting us anywhere around the World.