Help please! Sightseeing WDW on 3/18

[xpanmanx]

Greetings, I need some help understanding how to move our family of five around WDW on 3/18.

With much apologies for the short notice, ANY help you can offer would be very much appreciated! Thank you!!

I'm trying to quickly build my knowledge, but I'm confused by the choices of buses/ferries/cruisers/launches. WOW there are a lot of options!

We're DH&DW, DS16, DD14 and DS12. No special accommodations required.

We're staying at POR. We're not entering any of the parks on 3/18. We're in MK on 3/19, no EMH, 6/10 crowds predicted.

Friday 3/18

1. We'd like to spend ~3 hours at DS after eating lunch at POR, then travel to FtW.
2. We have ADRs for Trail's End Buffet at FtW for 6:45PM or 8:05PM (could cancel either). We'd like to have some time to visit the campfire and check out the resort for a future trip.
3. We'd like to watch Wishes from the TTC dock, scheduled for 10PM on 3/18.
4. Back to POR for zzzzzz.

Saturday 3/20

1. We're in MK. No EMH but we want to see the rope drop ceremony.
2. Back to POR at midnight.

THANK YOU AGAIN!

 

[tobikaye]

Friday 3/18

1. We'd like to spend ~3 hours at DS after eating lunch at POR, then travel to FtW.
2. We have ADRs for Trail's End Buffet at FtW for 6:45PM or 8:05PM (could cancel either). We'd like to have some time to visit the campfire and check out the resort for a future trip.
3. We'd like to watch Wishes from the TTC dock, scheduled for 10PM on 3/18.
4. Back to POR for zzzzzz.

1. I would take the boat from POR to DS and then the bus from DS to FW.

2. The bus from DS to FW will drop you off at the Outpost, or entrance, of FW. Then there are bus routes that run through FW. Depending on where you want to go would depend on what bus you should take. All three buses go between the Outpost and the Settlement where you find Trails End, HDDR, and the marina. Once you are at FW, let the bus driver on the internal bus know where you want to go and they can usually help you out.

a. The campfire lights at 6:30 with the Sing-A-Long starting at 7:00 and the movie at 7:40. This means you would need the 8:05 Trails End reservation. After the campfire, head to the Settlement for Trails End.

3. After Trails End, you would head for the marina and catch a boat either to MK or Contemporary. If you go to Contemporary, you would walk into the building and take the monorail to TTC. If you go to MK, you would switch to either the monorail or the ferry to TTC.

4. After you watch Wishes, you need to head back to MK via monorail or fery and catch a bus to POR.

Saturday 3/20

1. We're in MK. No EMH but we want to see the rope drop ceremony.
2. Back to POR at midnight.

1. I would plan to be at the bus stop at POR by 7:30 am to get you to MK in plenty of time to get a good spot for the opening.


Here is a link to a map of FW to help with that adventure: http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/fortwilderness.htm

 

[Woodview]

Question ...... Is one allowed to " Walk On " to a bus to take a bus trip ?


Or The Monorail System

Or Boats

Or does one have to have a ticket or reservation of some kind ?

In otherwords am I allowed to see Disney areas by bus , Monorail & boat without paying & without actually entering the parks.

 

[xpanmanx]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

I'll have some follow-on questions once we're on our way to the airport

But this .....

The campfire lights at 6:30 with the Sing-A-Long starting at 7:00 and the movie at 7:40. This means you would need the 8:05 Trails End reservation. After the campfire, head to the Settlement for Trails End. After Trails End, you would head for the marina and catch a boat either to MK or Contemporary. If you go to Contemporary, you would walk into the building and take the monorail to TTC. If you go to MK, you would switch to either the monorail or the ferry to TTC.

If we eat at 8:05PM .... well, how long could it take to get from the restaurant to the TTC via the Contemporary?

Thank you again

 

[FCDub]

Question ...... Is one allowed to " Walk On " to a bus to take a bus trip ?


Or The Monorail System

Or Boats

Or does one have to have a ticket or reservation of some kind ?

In otherwords am I allowed to see Disney areas by bus , Monorail & boat without paying & without actually entering the parks.

Absolutely. Disney transportation is at no extra charge for guests, whether on-site or off.

 

[minnie mum]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

I'll have some follow-on questions once we're on our way to the airport

But this .....



If we eat at 8:05PM .... well, how long could it take to get from the restaurant to the TTC via the Contemporary?

Thank you again

Dinner will take an hour. It could take up to an hour to take the launch and monorail ( depending on how long you have to wait for each one.

I have an alternate suggestion. Take the resort launch to the CR and watch Wishes from the 4th floor observation deck. Then just walk to the bus depot at MK and hop on your POR bus.

 

[xpanmanx]

I think this is a perfect plan that tobikaye and minnie mum have put together Thank you so much.

When the FtW movie begins, we'll see if the Trail's End staff will seat us ahead of schedule. Maybe we'll get lucky. That extra half-hour will make all the difference in the world in trying to get back to the TTC or CR for Wishes.

 

[dancemonkey]

We always goal to get to our reservations earlier. Usually we'll get seated early. But there's no guarantee.

 

[xpanmanx]

It's done. What a whirlwind.

After hanging around POR through lunch, we made it to DS by 2:30PM. We caught the bus to FtW at 5:45, and made it through Friday rush hour in plenty of time for the C&D campfire show and singalong.

When we arrived at Trails End at 7:50PM, we were told they were 15 minutes behind and we wouldn't be seated until 8:20PM. Then an little Disney magic intervened and we were seated by 8PM!

We tore out of the buffet at 9pm, bellies satisfied and not feeling at all like we rushed our dinner. We caught the blue flag launch across Bay Lake to WL, then to CR, passing with 100 yards of the EWP along the way. Crazy cool and crazy loud, wow what a sound system!

We then grabbed the Orange monorail to the TTC, where a nice cast member let us through the boarding gate to hang out on the edge of the dock. But when we told him that we needed to get back to POR after Wishes, he said we'd need to get on the last inbound ferry at 10:05pm because the only way back to our resort was through the bus depot at MK. He told us not to worry, and to just run up the stairs to the opposite end of the boat..........and I hope the attached picture speaks for itself

My wife thinks Walt Disney arranged this set of circumstances just for us. I know better LOL. Thanks to everyone here for their help. You guys made it possible.

Here's hoping we survive a 16-hour MK day tomorrow. Go, man, go!