Going to MK but parking at Epcot?

[busyshrew]

I have a daughter who loves loves LOVES trains, subways and.... monorails! She considered it one of the BEST parts of her Disney trip last year.

We are staying offsite (at the Embassy Suites LBV). I don't mind driving in, but I was wondering if parking at Epcot and taking the monorail into MK would be a feasible option? Or is that just crazy talk?

Another complication is that we have early breakfast ressies for CRT at 8am. DD and DH are early risers so for them, getting out the door at 7:15 would be easy. But for me!

What I'd LOVE to suggest is that we just stay at the hotel until the very last minute possible and take a taxi into MK, but if the monorail thing is doable then I know DD would really enjoy it.

 

[Traveliz]

During most parts of the day it would be feasible but not when you are under that sort of time constraint. The monorail from Epcot to TTC and back in the early morning is slow and additionally you would have to switch monorails to get to the MK.

I would just do a round trip ride at the end of the day if you want a ride on the monorail.

Liz

 

[tassma]

We stayed at a monorail resort last time and took the monorail from Contemp to Epcot. It took us over 45 minutes to get from Epcot to Contemp (which is just one stop past MK). That doesn't include parking and walking time. I think PP is right - the time constraint may limit the feasibility of your plan.

 

[Hootch]

and park at MK for your CM breakfast. At the T&TC you take the resort monorail. It will make stops at the Poly and Grand Floridian, MK before the CR. If it is not an AM extra magic hours, the trams and monorails will not be very crowded. I would still get there very early because each step; tram, monorail and getting to CM takes some time. This will be a little bit quicker than parking at Epcot as you will be eliminating the monorail wait and transit between Epcot.

If your plan is to tour Epcot that morning just take the monorail back to the T&TC and catch the monorail to Epcot. Take it back when you need your car.

A third option is to drive to the Contemporary and then Epcot. Then take a break and ride to T&TC, take the resort monorail and then head back to Epcot. This could bea fall back option if you are running late that morning.

 

[P.I. Squirrel]

Given your early ADR at CRT, it'd be better to park at MK, and take the express monorail from the TTC to MK.

Under the best of circumstances, it would take you 30-45 minutes from your Epcot parking space, taking 2 monorails, to the MK entrance.

 

[jaydhelms]

One of the things that makes this hard is the potential wait in two locations...at the monorail station at Epcot and at the station at the TTC. When I tried taking the monorail, I found that the wait at each location was a matter of random chance. It can mean as much at 15 extra minutes of waiting.

It seems to me that it would be more fun to get to breakfast early and then take the resort loop on the monorail to MK...and then, if you find you have time, take the monorail to Epcot and back later in the day. And this is coming from someone who's little kids LOVE the monorail.

Another thing we do is drive to the Poly the night we arrive at WDW and ride the resort monorail loop, then go to Captain Cook's at the Poly for pizza and a dole whip (tasty soft-serve ice cream) and then we go out onto the beach and watch Wishes from across the Lagoon (be sure to sit near a speaker). This is one of the absolute best combination of free things to do at WDW.

 

[matosfam]

I don't mean to hijack but... will they let you park at a resort like the Poly to go riding on the monorail if you are not staying there?

 

[mickeymaker2003]

I don't mean to hijack but... will they let you park at a resort like the Poly to go riding on the monorail if you are not staying there?

Resort parking is for resort guests only. There would be no room for guests to park if people parked there and then rode the monorail to other destinations.

 

[P.I. Squirrel]

I don't mean to hijack but... will they let you park at a resort like the Poly to go riding on the monorail if you are not staying there?

Resort parking is for resort guests only. There would be no room for guests to park if people parked there and then rode the monorail to other destinations.

Actually, non resort guests can be given a timed (usually 2 hour) parking pass to place on their windshield by the resort security gate guard. This would be plenty of time to eat, shop, and explore the resort, or by extension, the monorail.

You could also pay to valet park. This would be in 24 hour increments, so you would not be limited to the narrower time limit of the parking pass.

This all is out the window if there is a special event at that particular resort. They tend to limit parking during special events.

 

[matosfam]

Resort parking is for resort guests only. There would be no room for guests to park if people parked there and then rode the monorail to other destinations.

This is what I thought as well -- I was interested in this thread because we are also trying to figure out how best to do an early ADR at CP and then later another at Poly while staying offsite...

 

[P.I. Squirrel]

This is what I thought as well -- I was interested in this thread because we are also trying to figure out how best to do an early ADR at CP and then later another at Poly while staying offsite...

If you are only at the resort to eat, you can use the resort parking, but, as mentioned before, it's not an all day pass. If you need more than a couple hours, consider parking at MK/TTC. It's a short trip to both of your ADRs from there.

 

[AirGoofy]

Not only is about morning parking, but exit time as well. Whenever you leave the park, do you really want to wait and ride the monorail to Transport Center to ride to Epcot? And, do you want to park at resort only to move your car and park again? I would park at MK, go to CRT, and then, when the family needs a break at MK, ride the train to the front of the park, walk over to the monorail, and do the resort loop or the Epcot trip. You can get them all in that way.

 

[busyshrew]

Sorry I didn't post back, DH is pretty firm on driving to MK and doing the Epcot monorail loop another day. Our last trip we only did the resort monorail loop and DD asked about the Epcot loop but we conveniently forgot about it. We'll have more time this visit.


Hijack away....