Breakfast Logistics

[ZenDaisy]

We are staying at the Caribbean Beach and have a 7:45 reservation at Kona one morning. I believe that's too early for the transport to be running, so we'll have to drive. Once we've finished breakfast, do we have to leave the parking lot, or can we take transport over to Hollywood Studios?

 

[Mr & Mrs DD]

We had an 8:00 am breakfast at one of the parks. We were able to catch the bus at our hotel around 7:15.

 

[brertoad]

When would you be planning to go back to get your car?
Usually they advise a 3 hours parking limit when dining and self-parking.
You could valet park and get your car back later that evening.

If it were me, I would take our car and drive to HS because it's a pain to take WDW transportation sometimes.

 

[tinkerbella16]

The buses start running at 6:30am, mainly for those with early ADR's. I always book a 7:30am at Kona and have even been the only one at the bus stop at 6:30 and the driver took me straight to the Poly, instead of MK. In November I took a cab, since they are always waiting out front of the resort. The monorail wasn't running until 8:30am on the morning I was going, so it was the best option for me. It was only $12 from POR to Poly, and I got there with plenty of time.

 

[imthemamahere]

Officially, if you self-park at a resort for dining, your car is permitted to remain parked there for 3 hours.
Officially, if you valet park at a resort for dining, you can leave the car however long you wish.

(Unofficially, they do not always enforce the 3-hour limit. But I'd personally not look to push it, because I don't enjoy hassles when I'm on vacation.)

Keep in mind, if you're driving to the resort, when you're tired and beat at the end of the long park day, you'll have to take the bus to the Polynesian to get back to your car. Which isn't terrible, but in the amount of time it takes you to get on the bus and get to the Poly, you could have gotten to your car in the Hollywood Studios lot and be on your way back to your own resort. We always rent a car, and I'd personally move the car to the HS lot for an easier trip "home" at the end of the day. But, YMMV.