Help with "date night" transportation logistics

[squeegee]

I'm surely overthinking this, but I've fried my brain trying to figure out how to manage a nice date night with hubby during our December trip. We have a 4yo DD, and are planning on putting her in a kid's club for a few hours one evening, so we can have a nice dinner and some time to ourselves.

There are two restaurant possibilities right now, so it's a bit up in the air, but I like having contingency plans. LOL.

We're staying at POR. He would like dinner at either Morimoto's or California Grill. Because our 180 is in 5 days and Morimoto's isn't even open yet, we're booking California grill. There is no kids club at CR, so we're thinking we'll book the one at WL because it's just a boat ride between the two.

IF we are able to get a Morimoto's reservation later, we can change the kids club reservation to the YC/BC one, which looks to be closest to DTD.

The problem I'm having is that we're trying to rely on disney transportation, but it seems very convoluted and time-consuming to get dressed up, get DD to a kids club, get ourselves to a restaurant, maybe back to the resort for a little bit, and then pick up DD and all return to the resort for the night. I need to have a plan in place for both restaurants.

I know there is no resort-to-resort bus service, so I'm contemplating über (but worried they won't have kid's booster seats), or taxis (but concerned about expense), or possibly renting a car for one day (but also concerned about pickup/drop-off logistics and expense). I'm open to using a combination of any of these, if it makes sense, or to changing the kids club location if something else would flow better. I don't want to use the in-room babysitting, since we're hoping to have the room to ourselves for a little bit, too.

How do y'all think I can make this work for the best balance of time vs expense?

Thanks!

 

[bumbershoot]

or taxis (but concerned about expense), or possibly renting a car for one day (but also concerned about pickup/drop-off logistics and expense)

Taxis on property aren't expensive.

Look at National or Alamo, and rent from the Car Care Center. They'll pick you up wherever you are on property (they need an hour or more lead time), and drop you off wherever you need to be when you turn the car back in.

 

[Alesia]

I would just rent a car for the night.

Using Disney transportation:
Bus to DHS (30 minutes or so)
Boat to the Beach Club (20 minutes or so)
Bus to DTD (30 minutes or so)
*After an hour and a half you are finally at dinner*
Dinner (90 minutes or so)
Boat to POR (20 minutes or so)
Alone time at the resort (I'll let you estimate the time frame on that )
Bus to DHS (30 minutes or so)
Boat to the Beach Club (20 minutes or so)
Boat to the DHS (20 minutes or so)
Bus to POR (30 minutes or so)

That is a ridiculous amount of time.

 

[goofy4tink]

When we did this, many years ago, with another couple, we left the girls at the NeverLand Club at the Polynesian. It's something else now if I remember correctly. Anyway....we took the bus from POR to MK, then monorailed over to the Polynesian. Dropped the girls, and monorailed to Calif Grill, then monorailed back to Polynesian to get the girls. We did take a cab back to POR though.
With your plans so up in the air, I would probably figure on getting to whatever kids club you choose via Disney transportation. Then, cab it to your restaurant and then back to get the kids, and then back to the resort.
It all depends on what time you finish eating....I wouldn't rent a car since you'll probably be enjoying a glass or two of wine. No way do you want to be driving unfamiliar roads then!!!

 

[Alesia]

It all depends on what time you finish eating....I wouldn't rent a car since you'll probably be enjoying a glass or two of wine. No way do you want to be driving unfamiliar roads then!!!

That's a good point.

If you want to take cabs for part of it,you can look up fares at taxifarefinder.com

 

[hsmamato2]

IDK, if OP does the Cali Grill, it's a bus ride to the MK, boat ride to the W Lodge, then back over to MK,short walk to dinner.....right? doesn't seem too preposterous.... and then after they pick up kiddo -back to Mk and bus back to POR?

 

[Alesia]

IDK, if OP does the Cali Grill, it's a bus ride to the MK, boat ride to the W Lodge, then back over to MK,short walk to dinner.....right? doesn't seem too preposterous.... and then after they pick up kiddo -back to Mk and bus back to POR?

It's definitelty easier with Cali Grill. You forgot to add in the trip back to POR before picking up the kids, though.

 

[squeegee]

The point about having a couple of adult beverages is a really good one, that hadn't occurred to me. It's so rare for us to have any grown up time, I don't get to drink often, and one of the "pluses" of disney transport is not having to be designated driver.

So, even though the rental car would save the most time, I think I might have to combine taxis and/or uber and disney transport.

Thank you all for the replies!

 

[goofy4tink]

The point about having a couple of adult beverages is a really good one, that hadn't occurred to me. It's so rare for us to have any grown up time, I don't get to drink often, and one of the "pluses" of disney transport is not having to be designated driver.

So, even though the rental car would save the most time, I think I might have to combine taxis and/or uber and disney transport.

Thank you all for the replies!

Hey...you're on vacation. No rushing around, stressing.....just enjoy the journey, so to speak!!! I always figure the buses/monorails/boats are part of the adventure...unless I'm in a huge hurry. If that's the case, it's usually my fault for not planning enough time. Have a great night out!!!

 

[honeybunches]

Maybe I can't get my head around it the right way, but here's how I would do it.
I'd take DD directly from a park to whatever kid's club you choose. That way, you can ride the resort bus directly to the kid's club. They open at 4:30 or so, I think.
Then take Disney transportation back to POR and have your room time...before dinner.
Boat ride to DTD for dinner (or bus to CR)
Ride bus back to the resort to pick up DD
Take DD Cab back to POR -- if they have the van-type cabs, there may be a built-in booster seat in the vehicle.

 

[maxiesmom]

I would just use taxis. Work the money into your Disney budget. Why waste a bunch of time going from point A to B to C in order to get where you need to be?

 

[squeegee]

Maybe I can't get my head around it the right way, but here's how I would do it.
I'd take DD directly from a park to whatever kid's club you choose. That way, you can ride the resort bus directly to the kid's club. They open at 4:30 or so, I think.
Then take Disney transportation back to POR and have your room time...before dinner.
Boat ride to DTD for dinner (or bus to CR)
Ride bus back to the resort to pick up DD
Take DD Cab back to POR -- if they have the van-type cabs, there may be a built-in booster seat in the vehicle.

I really like the idea of shifting the order of events around - taking her straight to the kids club from AK sounds like a stroke of genius to me.

Thank you, everyone, for helping me wrap my brain around this!

Edited to fix typo. Ugh.

 

[maxiesmom]

I really like the idea of shifting the order of events around - taking her straight to the kids club from AK sounds like a stroke of genius to me.

Thank you, everyone, for help in me wrap my brain around this!

Keep in mind that Disney recommends you allow 90 minutes to get from point A to point B using their transportation. Usually that much time is not needed, but every so often it is. Remember too you need to be at your ADR at least 10 minutes in advance.

 

[squeegee]

Keep in mind that Disney recommends you allow 90 minutes to get from point A to point B using their transportation. Usually that much time is not needed, but every so often it is. Remember too you need to be at your ADR at least 10 minutes in advance.

Yep. I'm one of those "if you're not 10 minutes early, you're late" people, so taxis are definitely in the back of my head as an option if we're ever "running behind" on any given leg of this trip. At the same time, I'd rather spend my $$ on something besides taxis if I can. LOL.

 

[honeybunches]

Yep. I'm one of those "if you're not 10 minutes early, you're late" people, so taxis are definitely in the back of my head as an option if we're ever "running behind" on any given leg of this trip. At the same time, I'd rather spend my $$ on something besides taxis if I can. LOL.

I agree that if you can swing it, go for the cab. $20 for a cab ride is totally worth enjoying your night and not having to stress about it. Tuck away a $20 now so you don't even have to think twice on your date night (and can spend a few minutes more in the room.) DH and I rarely get time to ourselves---babysitters usually mean that I had to work and had no childcare....not for just a fun night! So on our upcoming trip, I'm sparing no expense on whatever we decide to do for our date night. It's the first we've ever taken at WDW!