Hilton DTD Shuttle vs. Taxis for RD/EM?

[iheartjuppy]

We're staying at the Hilton DTD for the first time (always been on-site in the past) and I'm a bit anxious about the transportation TO the parks. We are fine with taking their shuttle back to the resort at night - we leave before the fireworks and are not in a rush - but I'm not really sure about what to plan for mornings and hoping I can get some insight from others who have been there, done that! I wouldn't ordinarily care as much but we're hoping to do some park hopping and with the current limitations on FP+ being one park per day, it will be extra important for us to get to a few parks at Rope Drop (RD)in the morning so we can do some rides/attractions and save our fast passes for our second park of the day.

If I understand correctly, the Hilton shares a shuttle bus with other DTD resorts, but if it's the only one with access to EMH we wouldn't stop at any of the others in the AM right? We'd like to be at the parks for RD at EMH two of our days (Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom) and regular RD at HS on a third day (to sign my son up for Jedi Training Academy). I'm not sure if relying on the Hilton Shuttle to get us there is realistic or if we'll be behind hordes of people already if they roll in at 8:00 on the dot for 8AM rope drop, etc. I can't find a shuttle schedule with when the shuttles start vs. park open times.

If they aren't as early as I'd like (I'd like to be there at least 40 minutes before RD at HS since they tend to open earlier than listed), we are fine with paying for a taxi but our kids will be almost 3 and almost 6 at travel time and I have heard that only some taxis have carseats. The five year old can be buckled if necessary but the 2 year old needs a carseat I think, right? She's fine without on a shuttle bus but a taxi I think requires her to be in a carseat and our experience with cab carseats has been sketchy (at best) in the past - one tried to convince us to put her in an infant bucket seat at 2 1/2 years old. Yeah, not so much.

I'm hopeful people can weigh in on the shuttle schedule, taxi experiences, shuttle experiences, etc. Thanks in advance!

 

[dmunsil]

Regular buses:
The buses start one hour before park opening and come every 30 minutes. It takes the regular bus 10-15 minutes to work its way down Hotel Plaza Boulevard (there are two bus routes, one for each side of the street; one handles three hotels and the other handles four). The first stop is Hilton or Best Western (I believe), and the last stop is Doubletree or Buena Vista Palace. There are two buses for each side, and each goes to two parks - one goes to MK and AK and the other goes to Epcot and DHS. (Later in the day they add a special shuttle to Downtown Disney, though it's kind of silly to take it from the Hilton, given how close it is to walk.)

EMH bus:
The Hilton gets their own dedicated bus for early-entry, and it comes 30 minutes before EMH opening. Most of the time there's only one early-entry park, which makes it easy to figure the route. If there are two, you can ask what order they go in. It takes about 5 minutes to load, and then heads straight for the park. It's about 8-10 minutes to DHS or Epcot, and 15-18 to MK or AK.

Note that any of the buses from DTD hotels to MK actually go to the TTC, so you have to figure in another 10-15 minutes for the ferry or monorail trip to the park.

So the bottom line is that you'll generally get there before rope drop if you take the first bus, but not necessarily much before, especially if your park is the second stop that day. If you want to get there well before rope drop, you will want to budget for a taxi or rental car.

 

[dmunsil]

Oh, and as to the carseat question, my answer is just bring your own (and rent a car). I agree that you can probably do OK with just a seat belt adjuster for the 6-year-old. You can generally gate-check car seats for free. Yes, it's one more thing to manage, but then you know you'll have the right seat and they're clean and adjusted properly. You might also want some shoulder belt adjusters, though those pack easily.

If you rent a car, all is well - load the seat into the car and leave it there for the rest of the trip. Ignore the bus schedule and sail into the park as early as you want every day. If the kids need a break mid-day, head on out. Easy-peasy.

I must admit to being intrigued by this inflatable car seat. It apparently is light and small, yet passes the safety tests. Conceivably it could be carried around the parks in a backpack. But it's probably not appropriate for a 3-year old. It might make things easier for the older child to fit the seat belt.

http://www.amazon.com/BubbleBum-Car-Booster-Seat-Black-Silver/dp/B00AQYZCXK/ref=pd_cp_ba_2

Our kids are big now, so I will leave it to others to try out the BubbleBum and report back.

 

[iheartjuppy]

Thanks for the info! That's very helpful for planning our timing and I didn't know that about the TTC I thought they went to the parks directly.

Renting a car is not an option as it would be an additional $300 for the rental plus $13/day to park at the hotel + the cost of daily parking at the parks. There's just no way to justify that vs what is likely 3-4 cab rides total over our trip at $15 ea or so.

 

[joelkfla]

Disney resorts use Mears cabs exclusively; I don't know if that's the same for Hilton.

I think most Mears cabs carry at least one child seat in the trunk. You could also bring your own and strap it in the taxi, but then you'd have to figure out what to do with it during the day.

 

[iheartjuppy]

That's good to know. I'm fine even walking over to DTD for a cab (which I would think would be Mears) if they have a carseat. For some reason I had it in my head that only the minivan cabs had a carseat. If the sedans do too, then I'm happy! I definitely don't want to have to worry about bringing a seat, renting a locker, etc.! It would only be 3 morning cab rides total so it seems like a total waste of $/effort to lug it down or consider renting a car but of course I also want to do what's safe!

 

[dmunsil]

Renting a car is not an option as it would be an additional $300 for the rental plus $13/day to park at the hotel + the cost of daily parking at the parks. There's just no way to justify that vs what is likely 3-4 cab rides total over our trip at $15 ea or so.

I hear you about the cost. I keep forgetting about the parking fees as our last few trips have been at DVC resorts, where we get free parking at both the resort and the park, so the rental car cost doesn't bite so hard.

I asked my wife what we used to do with cabs and car seats and she thought back and said we just rented cars when we the kids were that small. So that's no help.

As Joel said, most of the cabs are carrying at least one car seat. One thing you could do is start plenty early, call Mears (407-422-2222) and request a cab with a car seat appropriate for a toddler. If the cab that comes doesn't have the right seat, say thanks and call for another one. There are so many cabs around WDW that it shouldn't take more than 5 minutes to get to the next one.

In fact, there might be a line of cabs waiting at the Hilton, and you could walk down the line asking to see if they have a car seat and if so take a look at it. If there are three or four waiting, chances are reasonable that one will have something you can use. Don't ignore the vans; they cost the same as regular cabs, and they might have more car seat options.

With the older child, a seat-belt positioner might be all you need, and those are cheap and portable. Maybe combined with that inflatable booster.

Sorry not to have a great answer. Hope this helps!

Don

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Bell Services at the HIlton can get you the cab with the car seat. just ask them.

 

[iheartjuppy]

Saving that number - thank you Don!