DowntownDisney Hotel to Parks

[ng17pat]

Hello, I will be staying at the Grosvenor Resort in the Disney Village. I read that they give out a Downtown Disney Passport so that you can use Disney World Transportation. Can anyone confirm this?

What is my best way to travel to Magic Kingdom, or Epcot during the Early Entry days. Should I take the hotel's shuttle bus. Or walk over to Downtown Disney and take WDW transportation to the parks? Any suggestions or comments will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[bicker]

My understanding is that the DD hotels have their own busses that transport their guests between the hotels and the parks. They drop guests off in the park parking lots rather than the Disney Transportation drop-off area (which really only makes a difference for the MK, since DD guests then have to take ferry or monorail to the park, while Disney guests just walk into the park).

Once you're at the parks, you can use park-to-park transporation just like any other guest.

 

[Master Gracey]

There is no transportation passport required. The Disney transportation system is available to everyone, and is free.

The buses from DD mostly go to the resorts, and one to the Ticket and Transportation Center (TTC). To get to the theme parks from DD you must first take that bus to the TTC, then transfer to other buses or the monorail/ferry.

Therefore, for Early Entry day at Epcot, take the hotel shuttle to avoid the transfer at TTC.

For MK you could take either Disney bus or hotel shuttle, since both will drop you off at the TTC where you will transfer to the monorail or ferry to get over to the MK entrance (hotel shuttles are not allowed to use the Disney bus stops at the MK entrance).

 

[Uncle Mikey]

Unfortunately, one of the downsides of staying at the Downtown Disney Hotels is the transportation system is not quite as good (in most instances) as staying at a Disney owned resort. The Grosvenor shares the bus system with the other Downtown Disney Hotels. They run about every half hour as opposed to every twenty minutes for the Disney Resorts. If you take the Disney bus system from Downtown Disney, that still does not guarantee you a quicker trip because that line usually has more than one stop. You don't have to stay at a Disney resort to use their transportation system but you do have to have something other than a one day pass to ride (Park Hopper, Park Hopper Plus, etc.). Now the upside of staying at a Downtown Disney Hotel is that while people are waiting a long while to even get on a bus at the end of park hours, you usually will not wait near as long. So that at least is something. I've heard good things about the Grosvenor. It is a short walk to Downtown Disney and that gives you a lot of transportation options. Pick up a Disney transportation guide when you get there. Have a great trip.

 

[ng17pat]

thanks for all your replies to my earlier question. i really appreciate it. i have some 1-day complimentary disney passes that allows me topark-hop from one park to another. will those passes allow me to use the disney transporation? thanks.

 

[bicker]

They should. All park-hoppers typically do. Furthermore, they typically don't check unless the transportation is very crowded and they have to be concerned about not being able to serve some guests.