If staying on Disney Property at a non-Disney owned hotel...

[epcotty]

Can you still use Disney Transportation or would you have to use the hotel shuttle? Considering a hotel not owned by Disney at Downtown Disney. If it is possible, would we be limited to the bus from there that takes a long time?

 

[msb578]

Anyone can use Disney transportation. Restrictions are extremely rare, if they happen at all. Sometimes the MK resort monorail has been restricted to ADRs-only during morning EMH. But in general, feel free to travel as you wish. Walk over to the DTD buses and go from there.

As a side note, Disney puts the DTD hotels in their own category. They're considered onsite during phased park closures, but only if you ride the hotel shuttle.

 

[Alesia]

It depends on what hotel you're talking about.

 

[Jimsig]

As an FYI, unless it has changed, you can not get a bus from DTD to a park. You have to change at a resort and then get one to a park. There are some resorts like the CR are a close walk.

 

[Alesia]

As an FYI, unless it has changed, you can not get a bus from DTD to a park. You have to change at a resort and then get one to a park. There are some resorts like the CR are a close walk.

Correct. And it's impossible to get to a park before 10:00 or so.

 

[Alesia]

Also, fwiw, the DTD hotels are not on Disney property.

 

[msb578]

Also, fwiw, the DTD hotels are not on Disney property.

They are in a technical sense- Disney does own the land. They're inside the "wall"/entrance you pass through coming in on Hotel Plaza Blvd before you get to the hotels.

But the buildings are certainly leased out and under the control of the hotel owners.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Also, fwiw, the DTD hotels are not on Disney property.

The seven Downtown Disney Resort Area Hotels are on WDW property. The land was acquired by Walt Disney's people in the 1960s. The seven hotels are still promoted as "ideally located in the Walt Disney World® Resort."

The seven hotels are:

• B Resort & Spa
• Best Western Lake Buena Vista Resort
• Buena Vista Palace Hotel & Spa
• DoubleTree Suites by Hilton
• Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista
• Holiday Inn Lake Buena Vista Downtown
• Wyndham Lake Buena Vista Resort

 

[kaytieeldr]

Can you still use Disney Transportation or would you have to use the hotel shuttle? Considering a hotel not owned by Disney at Downtown Disney. If it is possible, would we be limited to the bus from there that takes a long time?

Have you stayed in a HPB property before? I wouldn't consider the buses to take a long time; in fact, they seem easier to plan around since the operate on a preset schedule.

 

[alliecat523]

I've stayed at the DTD hotels before and always got around with ease. No trouble at all!

 

[minnie mum]

Can you still use Disney Transportation or would you have to use the hotel shuttle? Considering a hotel not owned by Disney at Downtown Disney. If it is possible, would we be limited to the bus from there that takes a long time?

Of course you CAN use Disney transportation. But as others have said, you can't get directly from DTD to any park using a Disney bus. And the DTD Disney buses do not start running until later in the morning, so it would be impossible to get to the park for RD. Unless you are content to take an hour + to get to the parks, arriving around 10:00, you may want to rely on your resort shuttle. Or rent a car.

 

[GotLabradors]

Do all the parks have buses that go back to the TTC? We are a large group with some staying on site and some staying off site. I was hoping the easiest thing to do would be to have off siters park at the TTC and then use Disney transportation to move about the 4 parks/resorts for ADRs.

 

[msb578]

Do all the parks have buses that go back to the TTC? We are a large group with some staying on site and some staying off site. I was hoping the easiest thing to do would be to have off siters park at the TTC and then use Disney transportation to move about the 4 parks/resorts for ADRs.

If you use the TTC, Disney buses are not direct (except to AK and DHS before 9 am). The nearest bus stop is at the Polynesian Resort, which is a very short walk from the TTC. But getting to resorts (except the monorail resorts) is not direct at all from the TTC.

 

[cedricandsophie]

I've never seen a bus at Hollywood or AK go to transportation center. Doesn't mean they don't. I've been there probably 50 times but can't temember. Obviously Epcot and MK are easy to get to and all the monorail hotels. But I don't think there are busses from the Trans center to hotels. You could easily take monorail to MK or Epcot to get a bus to a hotel or another park. At AK or Hollywood you can take a bus to a hotel or another park. At the hotels you can get busses to the parks and DtD but not to other hotels.

 

[epcotty]

Thanks for the responses. Yes, it was on Horace's list. If we do this we'll have to use the hotel shuttle I guess

 

[seashoreCM]

There are different permutations of extra Disney related amenities that may be offered at different non-Disney's hotels, although not that many different permutations.

At least one Hotel Plaza Blvd. hotel had access to Extra Magic Hours. Swan and Dolphin have direct Disney bus service but none of the HPB hotels have that. No non-Disney's hotel has Magical Express.

I suppose that when parks close due to capacity, Disney notifies the outside hotel bus shuttle services that drop off at the Disney parks. The shuttle drivers would in turn need to notify guests about to board. For guests driving, notification of park closure and checking where the guest is staying can be done by the parking toll booth attendants.