Going back to the site for lunch

[ApolloBlueLine]

We have a trip coming up in September. Last time we were at Fort Wilderness it was me the wife and a tent. Had a great time. Now we have a daughter, three dogs and a 25' hybrid , We are considering leaving the dogs int he camper and coming back for lunch to let them out and eat. Does anyone have any experience with how long it take to commute back to the site from the various parks using the in park transportation. I would think the Magic Kingdom wouldn't be that bad using the boat but if it takes 3 hours round trip on bus from MGM(or whatever its called now) then I want to make different plans.

Thanks in advance for any help
Brandon

 

[ElementCamper]

The general rule of thumb for Disney travel is usually an hour each leg of a trip. Of course, MK to FW might be less due to direct bus service but everywhere else that is what most have experienced.

 

[FloridaTeacher]

We always do this. We take our motorhome and pull our jeep. We leave the dogs in the motorhome and go to the parks. We come back for a late lunch and a little siesta then go back to the parks in the late afternoon. Works great for us. Our kids are older now, but it was especially great when they were small.

We take the boat to MK and drive our jeep to the rest of the parks. As long as you are a resort guest, you'll have free parking at all the parks.

Happy Camping

 

[Disneylitch]

We always do this and when we travel with kids they are 22 and 24. It actually makes you slow down and relax a little bit, not to mention that the dogs love it as well. Also, sometimes we don't head out until after lunch. That depends on what park has extra magic hours that night. If we do that, we come back and grab dinner, let the dogs out and then head back out. If your daughter is little, she will enjoy coming back to the TT, having lunch, and possible a little nap. Hope this helps. When will you be at The Fort?

 

[ApolloBlueLine]

We'll have our truck with us and for some reason I hadn't even thought of driving. But I'm sure that would be quicker than in park transportation. We're coming down September 25th through October 3rd, can't wait.

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

We'll have our truck with us and for some reason I hadn't even thought of driving. But I'm sure that would be quicker than in park transportation. We're coming down September 25th through October 3rd, can't wait.

Except for MK, yes it will be faster to drive.

 

[BradyBz12]

Except for MK, yes it will be faster to drive.

Agree. We do this all the time for our pups. We've actually kind of got it worked into a routine that works well, but we also love to park hop and so the trip back to the Fort ends up working into our transition from one park to the next. Takes a little planning, but it works.

Of course part of the reason it works is that we're at the Fort for a decent chunk of time, so taking it slow and spending a little extra time for the dogs works out just fine for us too.

 

[mdljwms]

We'll have our truck with us and for some reason I hadn't even thought of driving. But I'm sure that would be quicker than in park transportation. We're coming down September 25th through October 3rd, can't wait.

We're coming down for our first FW stay as well, Sept 28-Oct 5th! thanks for starting this thread, I had the same question about how long it takes to get back and forth!

 

[DisCamper]

We drive to the Studio,EPCOT and AK and take the boat to MK. We come back around noon to walk the pups eat and go to the pool then go back to the parks at night.
Disney travel can talk up to 90 mins

 

[LarryJ]

We always do this. We take our motorhome and pull our jeep. We leave the dogs in the motorhome and go to the parks. We come back for a late lunch and a little siesta then go back to the parks in the late afternoon. Works great for us. Our kids are older now, but it was especially great when they were small.

We take the boat to MK and drive our jeep to the rest of the parks. As long as you are a resort guest, you'll have free parking at all the parks.

Happy Camping

Same here except we use WDW transportation to MK and from FW to any of the park turnstiles is about 30 min. Driving MGM is actually the faster of the three.

Larry

 

[kmccain]

We come back, eat and walk our dogs. We take our bikes and ride the top to catch the boat or to the bottom to catch the ferry. It saved us time waiting for the interior buses.

Welcome ApolloBlueLine!

 

[FloridaTeacher]

By the way, it's still hot enough in September that you'll appreciate that mid-day break especially if you're not used to Florida's humidity.

 

[Solamom]

We do this too! Our trip in Sept. will be the first time we bring our dog. And we plan to leave her in the camper and come back at lunch. We have noticed that on return trips from the park, the Ft. often shares a bus w/ the Wilderness Lodge and the Ft. gets dropped off last so the buses can take a long time if your on one that shares w/ the lodge. We usually just drive to the parks and take the boat to the MK. I have heard it can be quick to take the boat over to the Contemporary and take the resort monorail to the TTc then switch to the Epoct monorail. I haven't done that so not sure how fast it really is I guess it would all be timing.....

 

[retired and happy]

At the MK there is a monorail inside and one outside security. If you take the launch from FW and go inside past secuity, up the ramp is the monorail to the TTC. When you get off, the EPCOT monorail is off to the right through a gate. Then a straight shot to EPCOT. No driving, no bus. Coming back we usually take the monorail to the TTC, then the Ferry boat back to the MK, and the launch back to FW. No driving, no bus. Relaxing both ways except for the ramps when pushing two wheelchairs.

 

[Tootles]

Sorry to hijack....does anyone know exactly HOW long it takes to take a ferry from MK to FW or vice-verse? (30 min.....20 min....60 min???) How much time should be allotted?

 

[BradyBz12]

"door-to-door" not counting time spent waiting for/loading the boat - 12 minutes

 

[mikron]

We have one dog and have camped at Disney for years. We worked up to our time away from the camp site a little at a time. We can leave the dog for hours and have had no problems. I think without us at the site the dog sleeps. We close all the shades and have a sign in the door saying there is a dog on board and break in if there is and emergency. I post my cell # on the sign so people can call us in the park.

 

[BradyBz12]

I post my cell # on the sign so people can call us in the park.

Really good idea! We do this as well and one year the smoke detector in our hybrid started beeping because the battery was low. Our kind neighbor heard it and called my cell. (We were just about to sit down for dinner at Epcot)

He walked all around and said that nothing at all seemed to be out of the ordinary, and eventually the beeping stopped. He said he'd keep an eye/ear out and call us back if anything changed. We'd told him that our dogs were in there and in an emergency, please rip open the ends of the HTT and get them out. All was well, but definitely another example of why campers make great neighbors.

FWIW, even though a stranger was poking around outside our camper and trying to peer inside, the dogs never barked.

 

[Tootles]

"door-to-door" not counting time spent waiting for/loading the boat - 12 minutes

Thanks-that's what I was looking for

 

[CSHaydt]

We are going the same dates - 9/25 - 10/3 - Awesome information esp. the travel time and driving to the other resorts.

Thanks everyone i found this thread very helpful!!!