I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this... We're staying at Port Orleans Riverside and I'm wondering what time we should leave to arrive at our ADRs or how long it will take. We'll be driving our own car.
1. Mon. Nov. 29 - Magic Kingdom to Chef Mickey's 6:15pm (we're going to walk)
2. Tues. Nov. 30 - POR to Rainforest Cafe Animal Kingdom 5:15pm
3. Wed. Dec. 1 - Innovations to Biergarten 6:15pm
4. Thur. Dec. 2 - Whispering Canyon to TTC to POR
5. Fri. Dec. 3 - POR to Crystal Palace 8:10am
Thanks!
First off, the PP mentioned that you have to pay to park at the parks...this is not true. If you are staying on property, parking in the parks is complimentary. However, there are times using your car is less convenient than using Disney transportation. I will adress that below:
1) It is about a 10 minute walk from the entrance of MK to the contemporary. Allowing for getting up to the 4th floor, and being there 10 minutes before your ADR, I would recommend leaving MK at 5:50 PM.
2) If you drive your own car from POR to AK, you will need about 20 minutes to get there (assuming you don't get lost). Since you will be arriving later in the day, you may have to park quite aways from the front, and take the tram. RC is right at the entrance (technicallly it's outside), so I would say leaving at 4:30 PM for a 5:15 ADR would be fine. If you decided to take the bus, I would a full hour. We've stayed at POFQ, and the buses to AK were the least reliable and the longest ride.
3) It'll take about 20 minutes to walk around WS to get to Biergarten. If you take the boat, it's probably similar, though will depend on how long you wait for the boat (they go about every 10 minutes, though). Give yourself 30 minutes, and you're good either way.
4) WCC to TTC to POR. Are you trying to go to the TTC to pick up your car? I will assume this is the case. The options here to get from WL to TTC are almost infinite. The three potentially easiest are.
a) You can take a ferry from the WL (where WCC is) to the MK, then take the ferry to the TTC. I'd call that about an hour, unless you are lucky enough to time both ferry's just right.
b) Take the ferry to MK and hop on the monorail. This might take only 45 minutes.
c) The AK bus from WL goes directly to the Grand Floridian. You can take the bus there, and then hop the resort monorail. Alternately, you could walk from the GF back to the TTC - about 15 minute walk. This COULD be the shortest time, but all depends on when the bus arrives. Assuming you get a bus within 10 minutes of getting to the bus stop, this should take about 35-40 minutes.
From the TTC - to get to your car in the parking lot and then drive back to POR should run < 20 minutes. The other possibility here is if it is mid-day - you might just get the driver to drop you off at the TTC. (Don't count on that.) So, depending on your plans it could take you anywhere from an hour to 90 minutes to get from WL to the TTC.
A final suggestion here: If you are thinking that you are parking at the TTC to go to MK for the day, and then are later going to WCC for dinner before returning to POR, consider picking up your car FIRST from the TTC, then driving to the WL. Or, alternately...take the bus to MK to begin with...then take the Ferry to WL for your meal, return to MK via Ferry, and then hop on the bus to POR. (This is the case I was talking about, using a car to go to MK is NOT the shortest or easiest route. Once you park in the lot, you have to walk/shuttle to the TTC, then take the monorail or ferry to the MK entrance. If you take the bus from POR, it will take you directly to the MK gate. From POR to MK is about 15 minutes, so the only variable is the wait for the bus.)
5. POR to CP - again, I would consider the bus here. If you are at the bus stop at 7:20 AM, you should easily make a 8:10 AM ADR (15 minutes for waiting on bus, 15 minutes for ride gets you to MK entrance @ 7:50 AM). If you are driving, it could take a little longer, and would recommend leaving at 7:10 AM. (15 minutes for the drive - 10 minutes to park / walk to TTC - 15 minutes wait/ride the Monorail gets you at the entrance to MK at 7:50 AM.)
You didn't specifically ask this question, but I'm going to offer the answer anyways: When should you use the car versus Disney transportatin?
We never have a car on property, but If we DID have a car and were staying at POR, I would use the bus system for travel to MK and Epcot (VERY short ride) and SOME DTD depending a lot on when and where in DTD I was going - or using the boat for this. I would use my car for DHS, AK, the two water parks, and
any and all resort dining options. If I was planning on hopping between parks during the day, I would leave my car behind if hopping between MK and Epcot (monorail), or between DHS and Epcot (boat ride). I would use the car between AK and all other parks, and between DHS and MK (since they rout you through the TTC anyways).
Hope that helps!
