Earliest ETPE at MK arrival time -- car or bus dfrom SSR

[princesspaigey]

Good morning!

We are staying at Saratoga Springs and have a car. But if we want to arrive for early theme park entry at Magic Kingdom as early as reasonably possible, is it better to take our car or a bus?

Thanks!

 

[zackiedawg]

The busses will generally start running an hour before the park's opening - including early entry times...so they'll get you there before the early entry gates open. The busses can get crowded, so if you decided to go busses, the best method would be to go to the Grandstand bus stop (if you're not staying in Grandstand, just walk over there). That will get you on the bus first before the other 4 stops.

Even though I drive to Disney, I really prefer to use transportation and not my car, to get to parks. Dealing with long lines streaming in, parking wherever they put me, then negotiating through Transportation Center to get to MK, and having to reverse the process to get back to my car, just doesn't feel all that convenient for me.

If truly desperate to shave all the minutes off that I can, I'd probably consider a Minnie Van to get there as they can drop off right at MK. Lyft is a lot cheaper, but will put you at TTC.

 

[princesspaigey]

Thank

The busses will generally start running an hour before the park's opening - including early entry times...so they'll get you there before the early entry gates open. The busses can get crowded, so if you decided to go busses, the best method would be to go to the Grandstand bus stop (if you're not staying in Grandstand, just walk over there). That will get you on the bus first before the other 4 stops.

Even though I drive to Disney, I really prefer to use transportation and not my car, to get to parks. Dealing with long lines streaming in, parking wherever they put me, then negotiating through Transportation Center to get to MK, and having to reverse the process to get back to my car, just doesn't feel all that convenient for me.

If truly desperate to shave all the minutes off that I can, I'd probably consider a Minnie Van to get there as they can drop off right at MK. Lyft is a lot cheaper, but will put you at TTC

Thank you for the insight! I read that parking opens an hour before etpe, so it would be 730. If we get there as early as possible would they let us queue to park? At 7? If we were to park right at opening, and/or paid for preferred parking, would this change anything or bus still better?

My husband /much/ prefers driving so going to have to "sell" him on taking the busses.

We are staying in preferred requesring near DS..

 

[zackiedawg]

Honestly I don't know how they handle queueing to park that early as I don't generally park in the parks, let alone that early.

I still prefer the bus at least for MK because self-parking requires you to go to TTC, deal with that mass of humanity crowding onto the ferries and monorails to get to MK, where you'll be held until gates open anyway. The busses drop you off right at MK...and the same holds true when going home - it's much easier heading back to your resort from the busses rather than crowding back to TTC and dealing with the mass exit of cars from the parking lot.

There's even an alternate option leaving Mk if the busses look really crowded (like if you're leaving right at closing time) - you can walk over to Contemporary and hop a Disney Springs bus - then you can walk back to Saratoga - even if staying in Springs, the walk is about 2/3 mile from the Springs bus stop to your door...less if you're in Congress Park. And those busses are much less crowded than the ones leaving MK at closing time, where you might have to stand on line for the 2nd or 3rd bus before you board.

It's a short walk to Grandstand bus stop from Springs - about 1/3 mile - which would make you the first stop picked up instead of the last.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Thank


Thank you for the insight! I read that parking opens an hour before etpe, so it would be 730. If we get there as early as possible would they let us queue to park? At 7? If we were to park right at opening, and/or paid for preferred parking, would this change anything or bus still better?

My husband /much/ prefers driving so going to have to "sell" him on taking the busses.

We are staying in preferred requesring near DS..

Not sure how it's currently handled but I know in the past if guests arrived too early prior to parking lot toll booths open, guests were guided around an exit loop and not allowed to park in queue waiting for booths to open. Not sure if this is still the case or not but it has happened in the past.

 

[princesspaigey]

We basically always stayed at Ft Wilderness until they converted it to DVC so we took the boat over to MK. I really appreciate y'all!