Enough time from IOA to Grand Floridian?

[Aljo]

I am helping (actually doing most of it) my 20 year old daughter and her boyfriend plan a trip to Disney in January. They will be at Islands of Adventure one night. Mears will pick them up at IOA at 6pm.

If I make reservations for them at 1900 Park Fare for 8pm will that give them sufficient time to get from IOA to GF?

On the return trip will Mears drive them to the GF even though that morning they were picked up by Mears at another disney resort?

And my third question, MK closes at 10pm that evening, I assume with an 8pm dinner reservation, they will have no problem taking the monrail to MK and then the bus to Pop Century, is this correct.

Thank you so much for all your help. These boards are amazing!!!

 

[goofy4tink]

I would plan on at least an hour to get from US/IoA to a WDW resort. I rode the van last month..only made 3 stops total, and it still took us closer to an hour to get to our resort..of course is was the last stop.
I might change the pickup time to 5ish, but that's their choice.

As far as whether or not the driver will return them to a different resort than the one they started at.....ask Mears. Shouldn't be an issue. But, I would ask before they get to the bus stop....they may be on a van/bus that isn't going anywhere near the MK area. I know that on our ride, the driver agreed to drop a couple at DTD rather than at their resort...SoG. But, we were also going to SSR, and then WL, so it wasn't a big difference.

They should be able to eat and then head over to MK via the monorail to get a bus back to POP. The buses run for over an hour after park closing...so if MK closes at 10 that night, the buses will be running until at least 11pm.

 

[tinkrebell]

I am helping (actually doing most of it) my 20 year old daughter and her boyfriend plan a trip to Disney in January. They will be at Islands of Adventure one night. Mears will pick them up at IOA at 6pm.

If I make reservations for them at 1900 Park Fare for 8pm will that give them sufficient time to get from IOA to GF?

On the return trip will Mears drive them to the GF even though that morning they were picked up by Mears at another disney resort?

And my third question, MK closes at 10pm that evening, I assume with an 8pm dinner reservation, they will have no problem taking the monrail to MK and then the bus to Pop Century, is this correct.

Thank you so much for all your help. These boards are amazing!!!

Do you mean having Mears drive them to the Pop FROM the GF? Honestly, I think all of the drivers would be fine with it personally, but I would call their customer service just to see if there is a company policy against it in case you get a stickler not excited to break with what he "should" do, even when the desired trip makes more sense.

 

[Aljo]

Do you mean having Mears drive them to the Pop FROM the GF? Honestly, I think all of the drivers would be fine with it personally, but I would call their customer service just to see if there is a company policy against it in case you get a stickler not excited to break with what he "should" do, even when the desired trip makes more sense.

Tinkrebell, I meant in the morning they are being picked up by Mear at the POP going to Universal. On the return trip they do not want to go back to POP but to GF for a character dinner. I was questioning whether Mears will bring you back to a different resort from the one they picked you up in that morning. Sorry if I wasn't very clear.

 

[clkelley]

The Mears folks do NOT care where you are picked up and where you are dropped off. You are buying a RT ticket to/from Disney property. Just when you call to make your return reservation from IOA, tell them you need a return to GF. Your ticket is NOT going to have the resort name on it.

 

[goofy4tink]

The Mears folks do NOT care where you are picked up and where you are dropped off. You are buying a RT ticket to/from Disney property. Just when you call to make your return reservation from IOA, tell them you need a return to GF. Your ticket is NOT going to have the resort name on it.

Pretty much what I thought. Just be sure to let them know, ahead of time, that you want to go to the GF.

 

[Aljo]

Thank you so much for all your replies. I know that you need to call Mears 24 hours in advance for pickup but what about return.

If IOA closes at 6pm and she wants to be picked up at 6pm can she tell Mears when she gets dropped off or does she need to physically call them to arrange a return trip? How many hours in advance does the return trip need to be made?

Again, you guys are amazing!!!! I've been reading DIS threads all day for the past 2 days and I have learned so much!!

 

[clkelley]

Thank you so much for all your replies. I know that you need to call Mears 24 hours in advance for pickup but what about return.

If IOA closes at 6pm and she wants to be picked up at 6pm can she tell Mears when she gets dropped off or does she need to physically call them to arrange a return trip? How many hours in advance does the return trip need to be made?

Again, you guys are amazing!!!! I've been reading DIS threads all day for the past 2 days and I have learned so much!!

She can do either. When she is dropped off, she can make arrangements for her pickup time, OR she can call the phone number on her return voucher about 2 hours ahead of time and make the return pickup time arrangements then.