Grand Floridian to AK & HS

[thewelts]

I know the bus situation at Disney is not great, and at times downright awful. I'm trying to plan our days for a rather tight trip and I would love to hear specific and recent Grand Floridian bus stories.

1st we need to be at Animal Kingdom for rope drop (9 AM) on Tuesday, 12/15 - departing from Grand Floridian. How much time do we need to allow? What is the route? How many stops along the way?

What about the return trip to the GF? same?
We need to be back at the Grand Floridian for a lunch date at 1 PM.

Alternately, I would be happy to pay for an UBER ride.

2nd
We need to get to Hollywood Studios in the evening for a 4 PM TOT FP+. When we stayed at the GF two years ago, there was a direct bus (no stops) to Hollywood Studios. It took no more than 15 minutes and was very efficient. Does that remain true?
The return bus was longer, stopping at the Contemporary and Poly, before returning to GF. Is that still true?

Because my husband and I like to walk, we may walk from HS to Epcot and then ride the monorail back to the TTC and then walk back to the GF (We have hoppers for this day, so why not?). We just need to make it to Epcot by 9:30 PM (closing time) after the 8:30 Fantasmic show. Can we make it?
We plan to send my mother and son back to the resort by bus (or Uber).

Thanks for your advice and updated information.

 

[Robo]

Bus and bus.

Doubt that there will be another stop from GF to either DHS or DAK in the mornings but that change (or not) later in the day.

You COULD monorail to MK gates and take the direct DHS bus or the direct DAK bus from there.

Rule of thumb: allow 45-60 minutes travel time, to be sure.

 

[thewelts]

Thanks for your reply!
Interesting idea... Are park to park buses always direct and most efficient?
We also have the boat option to and from MK.
(Wheels spinning... )

 

[Quellman]

1st. Grand Floridian is the second stop for bus lines around the MK resorts. You are correct that usually they share with Contemporary. First buses begin about an hour or so in advance of the park opening. You should not experience a full bus so early in the morning. They also have digital bus wait time monitors at the grand Floridian and are being rolled out across other resorts as well. You will likely have to make a stop at another resort prior to your return from Animal Kingdom. Disney always suggests 1 hour to reach destinations, meaning you would need to leave by 1200. If you need some extra time, hail a taxi or an uber and leave at 1230 (providing you don't need to freshen up).

2. You are pretty correct with how it works. Grand Floridian is the last stop on the bus line (if it shares a bus, sometimes it doesn't). If you don't need to be at the 4pm FP+ start time, I aim to be at the bus stop by 325.

3. Yes you can make it to EPCOT by 930 IF you motor out of Fantasmic. By that I mean you aren't stuck in the throngs of people having to go across the entire amphitheater to get out. It can take 20 minutes to just leave the park on show capacity nights. I wouldn't also take a leisurely stroll until I knew I was going to make it to EPCOT on time. You can also save some time by cutting through the Boardwalk Inn if you are familiar with the resort. The other option IF the boat is already at the dock at Hollywood Studios and you can get on it, take the boat to Swan and Dolphin and get off there and walk. It is the only time the boat is faster than walking and ONLY for that leg of the trip. Otherwise too many docks!

 

[Robo]

First buses begin about an hour or so in advance of the park opening.

Sorry, but that is a Disney myth that gets repeated so often that it just will not die.
The park buses begin running at 6:30AM (and earlier) every day of the year.

 

[Robo]

We also have the boat option to and from MK.

The boat from GF to MK first makes a stop at the Poly.
(That boat coming FROM MK does first stop at GF.

Monorail from GF to MK takes under 3 minutes, once boarded and underway.

 

[Quellman]

Sorry, but that is a Disney myth that gets repeated so often that it just will not die.
The park buses begin running at 6:30AM (and earlier) every day of the year.

Here is my source. Just curious since the Disney site may be wrong (and it is about lots of things), where is the 630am start time documented at?

 

[thewelts]

Thanks Everyone!
It is helpful to know our options - Spending an hour on a bus (for a 7 mile) trip just kills me, so Uber may be a better option for a few of our transfers.

I realized that getting into Epcot by 9:30 PM is not really our priority. It is a rare night that my mother will be with us so my son can return to the GF with her, allowing my husband and I time for a walking date. WDW has limited pedestrian options (outside the parks) and the walk from HS to Epcot is certainly a favorite from our 2013 trip.

We will plan to do a long leisurely walk - ultimately ending at the Swan or Dolphin where we will catch an Uber ride back to the TTC and walk back to our resort.
(of course, it may be pouring rain and that would certainly change everything!).

Thanks again!

 

[siskaren]

Thanks Everyone!
It is helpful to know our options - Spending an hour on a bus (for a 7 mile) trip just kills me, so Uber may be a better option for a few of our transfers.

You're not going to spend an hour on a bus for a 7 mile trip. When Robo says to allow 45-60 minutes, he's including wait time.

 

[Aurora0427]

I know the bus situation at Disney is not great, and at times downright awful. I'm trying to plan our days for a rather tight trip and I would love to hear specific and recent Grand Floridian bus stories.

1st we need to be at Animal Kingdom for rope drop (9 AM) on Tuesday, 12/15 - departing from Grand Floridian. How much time do we need to allow? What is the route? How many stops along the way?

What about the return trip to the GF? same?
We need to be back at the Grand Floridian for a lunch date at 1 PM.

Alternately, I would be happy to pay for an UBER ride.

2nd
We need to get to Hollywood Studios in the evening for a 4 PM TOT FP+. When we stayed at the GF two years ago, there was a direct bus (no stops) to Hollywood Studios. It took no more than 15 minutes and was very efficient. Does that remain true?
The return bus was longer, stopping at the Contemporary and Poly, before returning to GF. Is that still true?

Because my husband and I like to walk, we may walk from HS to Epcot and then ride the monorail back to the TTC and then walk back to the GF (We have hoppers for this day, so why not?). We just need to make it to Epcot by 9:30 PM (closing time) after the 8:30 Fantasmic show. Can we make it?
We plan to send my mother and son back to the resort by bus (or Uber).

Thanks for your advice and updated information.

Honestly, if you are in that tight of a timeframe to get back to the GF for a 1pm lunch, I'd uber or cab it both ways- or I'd at least uber back for lunch. You should have a direct bus to AK that early in the morning if you're out there by 8am. We did back in December 2014. But you'll stop at Typhoon Lagoon IF it's open and the Poly before stopping at the GF. Typhoon Lagoon may be closed for refurbishment next month, I'm not sure.

The DHS bus picks up GF last, which is why it seems like a direct bus. You will stop at Poly first on the way back.

We just returned from a long stay at the GF. I would not call the bus system efficient. At all. We did find the system at the GF to be better in 12/14 and our most recent stay in October than when we stayed at WL.

 

[thewelts]

Honestly, if you are in that tight of a timeframe to get back to the GF for a 1pm lunch, I'd uber or cab it both ways- or I'd at least uber back for lunch. You should have a direct bus to AK that early in the morning if you're out there by 8am. We did back in December 2014. But you'll stop at Typhoon Lagoon IF it's open and the Poly before stopping at the GF. Typhoon Lagoon may be closed for refurbishment next month, I'm not sure.

The DHS bus picks up GF last, which is why it seems like a direct bus. You will stop at Poly first on the way back.

We just returned from a long stay at the GF. I would not call the bus system efficient. At all. We did find the system at the GF to be better in 12/14 and our most recent stay in October than when we stayed at WL.

Thank you!

 

[thewelts]

Honestly, if you are in that tight of a timeframe to get back to the GF for a 1pm lunch, I'd uber or cab it both ways- or I'd at least uber back for lunch. You should have a direct bus to AK that early in the morning if you're out there by 8am. We did back in December 2014. But you'll stop at Typhoon Lagoon IF it's open and the Poly before stopping at the GF. Typhoon Lagoon may be closed for refurbishment next month, I'm not sure.

The DHS bus picks up GF last, which is why it seems like a direct bus. You will stop at Poly first on the way back.

We just returned from a long stay at the GF. I would not call the bus system efficient. At all. We did find the system at the GF to be better in 12/14 and our most recent stay in October than when we stayed at WL.

Looks like Typhoon Lagoon does not open until 10 AM so we may get to avoid that stop in the morning (Heading to AK).
I think we will try the bus in the AM and take UBER back to avoid frustration and rushing.
Thanks again!

 

[WEDWDW]

Here is my source. Just curious since the Disney site may be wrong (and it is about lots of things), where is the 630am start time documented at?

Disney starts the buses early for ADRs/Tours.

"First bus times" vary a little from day to day,but they are "usually" between 6:30 AM and 7:00 AM.

Here are "first bus times" on one of my days at All-Star Sports during my last trip(The 6:09 AM MK bus that day was very unusual-it's usually much closer to 6:30 AM).

 

[Robo]

Here is my source. Just curious since the Disney site may be wrong (and it is about lots of things), where is the 630am start time documented at?

My source is decades of Disney experience, and more than a few discussions on these boards… with about 25,000 of them regarding "bus questions."

 

[Quellman]

Disney starts the buses early for ADRs/Tours.

"First bus times" vary a little from day to day,but they are "usually" between 6:30 AM and 7:00 AM.

Here are "first bus times" on one of my days at All-Star Sports during my last trip(The 6:09 AM MK bus that day was very unusual-it's usually much closer to 6:30 AM).

My source is decades of Disney experience, and more than a few discussions on these boards… with about 25,000 of them regarding "bus questions."

Then I shall change my tune to the tune of truth! Thanks friends.

 

[mustlovecats]

We stayed at the GF mid November and the bus waits for buses to AK were terrible (except for the bus we took for our PPO breakfast). Since you want to arrive for RD there you probably won't have any problems with that. Our breakfast was at 8, the park opened at 9, and the bus came for us at 7:15.

There was never a shortage of buses to HS and DTD. We usually saw two of each for every one AK bus.