As you can tell, this is a very strange and outragous topic but is hilarious and funny. Before I begin, as a wackiness level, I must state that this story includes 4 types of transportation and plenty of waiting. It involves security guards, lost guests, and golden mouse ears. And I promise you that it is true.
Now, on with the show...
It started at about 5:30 PM. I figured that there was a direct route to DTD from the Magic Kingdom. I knew there wasn't at Epcot and the other parks but seeing how Magic Kingdom was the first ever park and the furthest from DTD from these parks, something must be different. I was wrong.
I exit the park from the train (left the Frontierland station) and after about 14 minutes, I had exited the park. I was to meet my parents at the House of Blues at 7. I figured an hour was a good time to leave for it. That was my first mistake.
Proudly in my golden mouse ears with name engraving, I have second thoughts about the bus and I devise a backup plan to take the monorail to the nearest resort (in this case, the Contemporary) and catch the bus there. I approach a security guard (still proudly in mouse ears) and ask if there is a bus to DTD and she points to the resort busses. The monorail to the TTC and Resorts are waiting in the MK station. I think that the security guard has this known. I look over the sign stating bus information. After two minutes of searching for the words "Downtown" and "Disney," I come up short as both of the monorails are exiting the station. Great. Approximately 5 minutes until another. Oh well, it is about 6:10 now and I have a whole 50 minutes to get there. This was my second mistake.
I march over to the resort monorail (which would have saved me about 30 minutes, believe it or not), and have a thought. Third mistake, here we go. "If I go to the Transportation and Ticket Center, which acts as a hub for all transportation, I can catch a bus to DTD and be there with time to spare. Well, after 5 years, memories get faded so much that you dont recall that only parks are serviced from this wonderful place. Waiting about 10 minutes for the monorail, I board the Express Monorail to the TTC, which takes approximately 7 minutes.
I arrive in complete pride of myself as I had the best plan ever. What a clever thinker I was to have thought of a shortcut. I will brag on the DIS boards when I come home. I was that shocked to find out that it did not service the DTD area. Oh great. I approach security (need I remind you that one guard was already wrong) about my problem and after a wierd look of awe and comedy given to me, I get told to walk to the nearest resort (the Polynesian) and catch the bus marked "DTD".
Walking there was pleasant until I reminded myself that my feet hurt because I walked back and forth from Mission:Space and Soarin' 4 times, then went through the entire World Showcase in 1 1/2 hours the day before (yeah, I was that crazy and my feet hurt THAT much). I get to the Poly after about 10 minutes of walking. I feel awkward there as I am the only one with golden mouse ears in a 1 mile diameter. I sit down on the bench (thankfully -- I am now feeling like Dave from the Disney Vacation Planning video (he really is right 100% of the time)) next to a couple who this is obviously their first visit and the first day. It is about 7:30 now. They were planning on going to the Studios and ride the "Terror of Tower" (yes, I know. I said "Terror of Tower"), Rock N' Rollercoaster and a few others. The park closed at 9:00 btw.
Anyway, after a 20 minute wait which seemed like an hour, the bus marked DTD finally arrives. Finally, hope. But my mistakes have only just begun.
If you recall, I was the the TTC and asked about directions to DTD and they said because I wanted restaurants, I should go to the Marketplace. Yes, that is fine and dandy but the House of Blues is on the West Side. As most of you guessed, yep.. Mistake number 4.
I arrive at the Marketplace and quickly look for a reference to the map. No mention of the place. Instead of doing the wise thing and backtracking to the bus stop, I decide to walk it. DTD doesn't look THAT big on the map. Hahaha, my friends, that map is a very small scale. After walking about 15 minutes (or at least thats what it felt like), I arrive in Pleasure Island. Mistake number 5 occurs when I go all the way near the parking lot instead of going straight through. Anyway, I finally get to walk to the West Side after that distraction. At this point, I have no clue whether I'll be at the West Side before the vacation is over or not. By this time, it is about 8:30, I eat in less than 20 minutes (as my meal was previously ordered) and am in DisneyQuest by 9:00 PM.
This was definately an adventure. In recap, what could have been solved by a simple train -> monorail -> bus, became a train -> monorail -> walk -> bus -> much, much longer walk. Just to show you, do your homework. I thought I had it figured out but nothing told me to memorize bus configurations. I'll laugh so hard now if I find out there really was a bus to DTD though so if there is, please tell me. Haha.
Anyway, let this opportunity open to share your wildest Disney moments.
Now, on with the show...
It started at about 5:30 PM. I figured that there was a direct route to DTD from the Magic Kingdom. I knew there wasn't at Epcot and the other parks but seeing how Magic Kingdom was the first ever park and the furthest from DTD from these parks, something must be different. I was wrong.
I exit the park from the train (left the Frontierland station) and after about 14 minutes, I had exited the park. I was to meet my parents at the House of Blues at 7. I figured an hour was a good time to leave for it. That was my first mistake.
Proudly in my golden mouse ears with name engraving, I have second thoughts about the bus and I devise a backup plan to take the monorail to the nearest resort (in this case, the Contemporary) and catch the bus there. I approach a security guard (still proudly in mouse ears) and ask if there is a bus to DTD and she points to the resort busses. The monorail to the TTC and Resorts are waiting in the MK station. I think that the security guard has this known. I look over the sign stating bus information. After two minutes of searching for the words "Downtown" and "Disney," I come up short as both of the monorails are exiting the station. Great. Approximately 5 minutes until another. Oh well, it is about 6:10 now and I have a whole 50 minutes to get there. This was my second mistake.
I march over to the resort monorail (which would have saved me about 30 minutes, believe it or not), and have a thought. Third mistake, here we go. "If I go to the Transportation and Ticket Center, which acts as a hub for all transportation, I can catch a bus to DTD and be there with time to spare. Well, after 5 years, memories get faded so much that you dont recall that only parks are serviced from this wonderful place. Waiting about 10 minutes for the monorail, I board the Express Monorail to the TTC, which takes approximately 7 minutes.
I arrive in complete pride of myself as I had the best plan ever. What a clever thinker I was to have thought of a shortcut. I will brag on the DIS boards when I come home. I was that shocked to find out that it did not service the DTD area. Oh great. I approach security (need I remind you that one guard was already wrong) about my problem and after a wierd look of awe and comedy given to me, I get told to walk to the nearest resort (the Polynesian) and catch the bus marked "DTD".
Walking there was pleasant until I reminded myself that my feet hurt because I walked back and forth from Mission:Space and Soarin' 4 times, then went through the entire World Showcase in 1 1/2 hours the day before (yeah, I was that crazy and my feet hurt THAT much). I get to the Poly after about 10 minutes of walking. I feel awkward there as I am the only one with golden mouse ears in a 1 mile diameter. I sit down on the bench (thankfully -- I am now feeling like Dave from the Disney Vacation Planning video (he really is right 100% of the time)) next to a couple who this is obviously their first visit and the first day. It is about 7:30 now. They were planning on going to the Studios and ride the "Terror of Tower" (yes, I know. I said "Terror of Tower"), Rock N' Rollercoaster and a few others. The park closed at 9:00 btw.
Anyway, after a 20 minute wait which seemed like an hour, the bus marked DTD finally arrives. Finally, hope. But my mistakes have only just begun.
If you recall, I was the the TTC and asked about directions to DTD and they said because I wanted restaurants, I should go to the Marketplace. Yes, that is fine and dandy but the House of Blues is on the West Side. As most of you guessed, yep.. Mistake number 4.
I arrive at the Marketplace and quickly look for a reference to the map. No mention of the place. Instead of doing the wise thing and backtracking to the bus stop, I decide to walk it. DTD doesn't look THAT big on the map. Hahaha, my friends, that map is a very small scale. After walking about 15 minutes (or at least thats what it felt like), I arrive in Pleasure Island. Mistake number 5 occurs when I go all the way near the parking lot instead of going straight through. Anyway, I finally get to walk to the West Side after that distraction. At this point, I have no clue whether I'll be at the West Side before the vacation is over or not. By this time, it is about 8:30, I eat in less than 20 minutes (as my meal was previously ordered) and am in DisneyQuest by 9:00 PM.
This was definately an adventure. In recap, what could have been solved by a simple train -> monorail -> bus, became a train -> monorail -> walk -> bus -> much, much longer walk. Just to show you, do your homework. I thought I had it figured out but nothing told me to memorize bus configurations. I'll laugh so hard now if I find out there really was a bus to DTD though so if there is, please tell me. Haha.
Anyway, let this opportunity open to share your wildest Disney moments.
