Bus Timings for Boma Breakfast

[chudlyfudly]

I'm adding a breakfast at Boma for one of the days of my trip. I'll be staying at Pop Century relying on Disney transportation and I wont be spending money on a taxi/uber/minnie van. The options I have available are 08:40 or 09:30 for a breakfast at Boma. Animal Kingdom opens at 09:00 on the day I'm looking at.

Do you think it would be possible to get to Animal Kingdom on the bus before taking the bus over to AKL in time for the earlier slot of 08:40, or would I be pushing it? The official word seems to be that buses start from around 45 minutes before park opening but I'm aware that there can be some degree of flexibility in this timing. This will be mid-March if it helps at all to know. Going for the 09:30 slot wouldn't be a problem (and I currently have it booked from my ADR anyway), but equally my plan is to head over to AK after breakfast and the earlier I can get in the better (without rushing the food!).

Thanks in advance!

 

[supersnoop]

Buses run less frequently before park opening. Buses from parks to resorts at that time of day don’t run very often at all.

For a 8:40 reservation, you need to be at your bus stop by 7:00. Take the bus to Animal Kingdom. Ask the driver how to transfer to an Animal Kingdom Lodge resort bus. If you’re lucky, he’ll offer to drop you off after he stops at the park. Otherwise, you’ll need to wait for a resort bus which could take a while.

So, you might need all that time to get to Boma, or you might get there an hour early, but we can’t really predict how it will work out for you.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Agree with PP, prior to park opening it's more infrequently and even during park hours, I always manage to just miss the bus to my resort from the park and they use that full 30 min window till the next bus. The nice thing about waiting on the bus from POP over to AK is the bus stop will have an estimated arrival time for the AK bus while you wait at POP. If it looks like it's getting to be too crazy long and you're worried about missing Boma ADR, you can then resort to doing an Uber. But I really think if you are out there by 7am, you will arrive with time to spare. And if not, we've been about 15 min late before, I called and the restaurant worked with us to get us in. Good luck, will be a fun day!!

 

[smcabee]

As others mentioned AM Bus transportation to Resorts is spotty. You really should look into a cab, uber, lyft or whatever alternative transportation method you prefer.

 

[chudlyfudly]

Wow! Thanks for the advice everyone... I'm not a Disney 'veteran' but I've been around 10 times or so from the UK, although not for the last 3 years. Everything you've said makes sense to me, so I've decided to stick with the 09:30 one just to give myself a little more time. That way, I figure if I'm early I could always see if there are any animals to look at out the back!
Cheers!

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) Buses do not run between resorts (unless they are on the same route, like two All-Star resorts).
2) So, you would have to go to AK, then another bus to AKL.
3) Makes early scheduling pretty tight, if not impossible.

 

[Kaytie]

1) Buses do not run between resorts (unless they are on the same route, like two All-Star resorts).

Yes, the OP is fully aware of this. They posted that they have to bus to AK, then transfer to an AKL bus.

2) So, you would have to go to AK, then another bus to AKL.

Which, again, is the OP's exact intention and expectation.

3) Makes early scheduling pretty tight, if not impossible.

1) 8:40 is not particularly early for breakfast. It's normal. It's actually late for much of the working world.
2) Buses start running about 6:30 almost every. single. day. An 8:40 breakfast allows the guest approximately two hours to travel. Even an 8:00 reservation at a different resort works.

 

[billsfan]

Here is my early morning breakfast story.

Not sure if we just got lucky or if this is a normal thing.

We were staying at the Bay Lake Tower and had breakfast reservations at Boma at 8:45 am. We walked over to the Magic Kingdom at 7:15 and went to the bus area. We found a cast member and asked how the best way for us to get to the Animal Kingdom Lodge was and he said "Just a moment" and started talking to someone on his little head set thing. He then said your ride will be here in a moment. A Disney van pulled up and we got in and the driver took us right to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We got to watch the animals for about 45 minutes before our breakfast.

This was back in 2015 before they had their Minnie Van service. Don't know if this would ever happen again.

I believe we were sprinkled with a little pixie dust.