Dinner in the Resorts

[brandijo5]

I'm not sure if I'm on the right board or not. My question is not so much about a restaurant, but more about the transportation there.

My DH and I are going down second week of Dec and I have almost all of our meals planned at different resorts. We are staying at POR and for instance our planned dinner Sunday night is at WCC in WL. I read that the busses will take anywhere from 1-1 1/2 hours to get you from one resort to another. Are we better off driving, esp if I make ressies?

I've planned and planned and planned, but if I don't want our trip to fall apart because we have to give up two hours or so just to get to dinner. I also have Chef Mickey's and Boma planned for breakfast on two mornings, and Trails End and Portobello for dinner.

Any help???

BTW, you guys are the best!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[CastleLight]

I'm not sure if I'm on the right board or not. My question is not so much about a restaurant, but more about the transportation there.

My DH and I are going down second week of Dec and I have almost all of our meals planned at different resorts. We are staying at POR and for instance our planned dinner Sunday night is at WCC in WL. I read that the busses will take anywhere from 1-1 1/2 hours to get you from one resort to another. Are we better off driving, esp if I make ressies?

I've planned and planned and planned, but if I don't want our trip to fall apart because we have to give up two hours or so just to get to dinner. I also have Chef Mickey's and Boma planned for breakfast on two mornings, and Trails End and Portobello for dinner.

Any help???

BTW, you guys are the best!!!!!!!!!!!

It will take you up to 2 hours to get from POR to another resort via the buses - since you will have to go to another park (or DTD) first. If you were already at a park (or DTD), your time would be cut down significantly.

 

[Christine]

I do TONS of resort dining which is why I always rent a car even when staying on-site. Dining is a huge part of my vacation and I do not want to spent hours trying to get from my resort to another resort for dining. So, we look for discount codes, coupons, etc., and ALWAYS get a great deal on a rental car. Some of the parks are even better to drive to then taking the bus (with the exception of the Magic Kingdom).

So, yes, I would have to emphatically say that you would better to drive to your resort dinners. Or schedule them so that you can leave directly from a theme park to get to them. But you will then have to deal with the bus ride on the way home.

 

[Wigit12]

DH and I always just grab a cab. It really doesn't cost that much money. Saves a lot of time and aggravation. And we don't have to worry about either of us having a drink or two.

 

[daisy112878]

Last May we were at WDW and stayed at PORFQ we went to several different resort restaurants. One of those was Citricos it left the room about 1hr 15min before our ADR and were there 15 min. early. We went to MK then took the monorail over to the GF. We also did Boma at 830am one morning. We took a bus over to AK then the AKL bus over to the lodge. This took less then an hour as well. We always left an hour before our ADR and were fine on time with all of them. Personally i would rather not drive or take a cab when there's free transportation. Plus it's fun to walk around the resorts to see them esp in December. Each resort is decorated and they are so beautiful.

 

[allyphoe]

If you have to switch busses at DTD, it takes significantly longer, as we discovered after eating at Boma one night. Bus from AK to AKL took virtually no time. Bus from AKL to DTD (AK closed, no bus going there) to POP took nearly 2 hours, all told. That, after having waited 30 minutes after we finished eating to track down our waiter for the bill, really soured us on Boma.

Monorail resorts with a transfer at the park are probably the fastest to get to.

 

[LISAMWDW]

You'll need to remember there is no resort to resort busing. So you'll have to transfer if you are going from resort to resort, which can be a very long bus ride! The transfer places would be parks, downtown disney or ttc. It's always best to eat at the park or close by so your not spending hours on the bus.

Your other options are to take a cab if it's only once or twice or rent a car for the convenience of speed.

 

[madalex]

Definitely drive or take a cab when trying to get from one resort to another for a meal. Having to use the transportation and change buses can add unnecessary time and worry to the trip.

 

[Hopefully]

Taking several cabs over the course of your trip could very well still end up cheaper than renting and driving. Part of being on vacation for us is not having to drive all the time.
We schedule dinner so that we go from a park to the restaurant. This is usually an easy trip. Then if need be, we can grab a cab back to our resort after dinner.
It is do-able!

 

[sleepingbean]

I hadn't thought about the other resorts being decorated for the holidays too! What a bonus! Thanks Daisy

We have reservations at Wilderness Lodge, Grand Floridian, Contemporary, and we're staying at Coronado Springs. We may go to the Animal Kingdom Lodge too. We're planning on checking out a lot of the resorts this time so we know what we may love for next time
And it is a nice break for us after a long day at the park.

 

[brandijo5]

Personally i would rather not drive or take a cab when there's free transportation. Plus it's fun to walk around the resorts to see them esp in December. Each resort is decorated and they are so beautiful.

I agree here with you. I would much rather take free transportation just for the mere fact they know exactly where they are going and we don't. Not to mention, it's a goal of ours to visit every resort and take pics of how they are decorated for the holidays. In fact I have one whole "down day" scheduled just for that.

Also, I've reworked some of my schedule and replanned things like breakfast at Boma the day we do AK. Of course we are only a boat ride away from DTD, so if we can always get back there, we should have no problems.

Does transportation run 24 hours, or is there a schedule I will need to find out when I arrive?

Thanks to you all for all your help. As I said before, you guys are awesome!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[kcrew]

If you have to switch busses at DTD, it takes significantly longer, as we discovered after eating at Boma one night. Bus from AK to AKL took virtually no time. Bus from AKL to DTD (AK closed, no bus going there) to POP took nearly 2 hours, all told. That, after having waited 30 minutes after we finished eating to track down our waiter for the bill, really soured us on Boma.

Monorail resorts with a transfer at the park are probably the fastest to get to.

Oh boy I am glad I read this post. We were planning to eat at Boma after park closing one night, and never thought about the post dinner transportation. No way am I going to spend hours to get back to our resort! Hmm...so I guess Boma is out? Anyone have other suggestions for transportation?

 

[tippy77]

We ate at Boma one night after Animal Kingdom had closed. We were at Epcot in the afternoon, took the bus from there to AKL, and then after dinner we took a bus back to Epcot and luckily got there right in the middle of Illuminations. From Epcot, we got on a nearly empty bus back to Pop Century. I can't recall exactly how long it took, but it was under an hour. Had we got there after Illuminations had ended however, I'm sure it would have taken much longer to get back to Pop! For us, using the free Disney transportation is ideal because it is free and because we can have a few cocktails with dinner and not worry about driving!

 

[n2mm]

One of the perks of having a rental. We eat at most of the resorts too and it's great going back to the resort and cleaning up after a day in the park. It takes no time to get there when you drive. Of course, if you plan to drink, then a cab would be better.

 

[Rantybaby]

DH and I always just grab a cab. It really doesn't cost that much money. Saves a lot of time and aggravation. And we don't have to worry about either of us having a drink or two.

Wigit12,

What was the cost of the cab ride?

 

[Ron from Michigan]

We eat most of our meals at the different resorts and always use Disney transportation. Just give yourself time to get where you want to go. For instance , if you want to eat at WCC just take a bus to the Magic Kingdom and then the boat to the Wilderness Lodge. The boat ride is nice and relaxing. When we eat at Boma or Jiko we just take a bus to DD and then the boat to POR. We have even had bus drivers several times take us back to POR or POFQ on there way to DD. They have to go right by them on there way there. Just ask the drivers if they can drop you off. Don't forget about the boats that go from your resort to DD. We ride these several times on every trip. It's a relaxing boat ride and you get to see other parts of Disney.

 

[DisneyRookie2007]

We have a reservation for Breakfast at WCC and will be staying at All Stars Music....how do we go about getting there.....if taking the buses, how long will it take?

 

[jayhjay]

We have a reservation for Breakfast at WCC and will be staying at All Stars Music....how do we go about getting there.....if taking the buses, how long will it take?

I'd take the bus from ASMu to MK. There is a boat launch and busses from MK to WL. That is probably fastest. This site: http://www.ourlaughingplace.com/asp/twiz.aspx has great info about how to get to/from various places in WDW and approximate travel times.