Early ADR @ MK- from AOA

[SavannahB]

Hello!
We are staying at Art of Animation in September, and have an ADR for 8:25am at the Crystal Palace on a day the MK opens at 9:00am.

The concierge at AOA told me busses start running 45min before rope drop.

If we leave AOA via bus at 8:15, will we get to the MK and Crystal Palace by 8:25??

If not, is there any other way to get to the Magic Kingdom early?

Thanks!!

 

[cranbiz]

Buses start at 6:30am every day. for a 8:25am ADR, be at the bus stop by 7:25am. This cushion allows you to make your ADR on time if you just missed the bus.

Trying to catch an 8:15 bus for a 8:25 ADR will guarantee you being late for your ADR. It takes at least 10 minutes to get from POP (AOA didn't exist when I was driving a bus) to the MK bus station and then 5-10 minutes to get thru bag check and walk to Crystal Palace.

Never ask anyone except a transportation cast member about transportation. Other CM's just don't know this type of information. Us bus drivers (current and former) know all and tell all.

 

[ParrotBill]

Gotta love that the concierge can't get transportation from their resort correct.

 

[SavannahB]

THANK YOU, cranbiz!!
This was 100 times more helpful than anything else I've heard/seen so far!
Thanks again!

 

[Stitch808]

Thank you for the insight, @cranbiz . I was wondering the same thing except from Pop. We are scheduled to go on the KTTK tour at 8:30 and we are to be at MK by 8. Glad to know the buses are running at 6:30 so if we get to the bus stop by 7 we should be good.

 

[goofy4tink]

As cranbiz said....never, ever ask anyone a transportation question unless it's someone involved in actual transportation. For the life of me, I can't understand why resort CMs can't seem to get this info correct. The only thing I can think of is that Disney doesn't train them in this because they want to be able to stop those early buses with little to no notice! If that happens, you will see more and more early morning ADRs come available!!!!

 

[cranbiz]

The training problem is due to Disney itself and not due to anything they don't get in location training.

CM's are told from day 1 in Traditions that any and all info that one needs is available on the Hub. If it's not there, it's not known to the majority of the CM's. While the Hub is a good tool, it's far from perfect.

In all honesty, I don't see the early buses going away. It takes a bit of time to assign drivers, do circle checks and then get on the road. Even with a fully automated MIM's, you can't skimp on the morning pre-route checks. To have enough buses on the road to get guests to the parks by 9am, the majority of the fleet needs to be ready to go by 7am. There is little difference in getting drivers to start at 5:30am as there would be to get them in by 6am. For a 6:30 start, one bus per resort route needs about 10-12 buses. It's a minor cost compared to what Disney makes in getting those paying guests to a 7:30 ADR. Then at 7am, you start more of the fleet to service everyone.