Illuminations cruise back to CSR, what is the best way

[dawnj99]

I have booked the illuminations cruise for our arrival night, we will be boarding at the beach/yacht club marina, is that were we will be dropped off as well or could we request somewhere else. I am guessing if we are dropped back off there we would then have to walk over to Epcot to catch a bus back to CSR, is this correct, any one have any other idea's? Also we did not want to have to use a park ticket that day, would we have to do this just to walk through epcot to catch the bus or will we need to anyway to get through epcot to get to the Beach Club anyway? We plan to have dinner at Beaches and Cream before the cruise. Any help would be greatly appreciated, I seem to have jumped into something before thinking it through. We can just add a day on tickets if needed I guess

Dawn

 

[skyfire1982]

I don't know if you can be dropped off somewhere else.

The Beach Club is nearest the International Gateway, which is by the World Showcase - so if you're taking a resort bus to Epcot, you'd have to walk through Epcot to get to there and BC, yes. Another option is to take the bus to MGM. You can take the river path and walk about 15/20 minutes to BC. (If you're going during the summer, not the best idea. We did it and we were REALLY dragging. Course, we did it during the heat of the day. Great idea!) The river path goes from the entrance of MGM to the International Gateway. The river path is really quite pretty - it goes right by Boardwalk and across the river from Swan/Dolphin. If you're going when it's cooler out, this might be something you'd want to consider.

You can also take the boat that goes from MGM to International Gateway - it stops by Boardwalk, Swan/Dolphin, and Beach/Yacht Club. It's pretty slow though, and BC would be the last hotel on the route after leaving MGM. Plus, you might have to wait up to 20 minutes for a boat. But if you have plenty of time, this may be an option too - just not the fastest. I also don't know when they stop running the boat for the night, so you should check that out as well.

Or just take a taxi - fastest and simplest out of all three options.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Unless it's an EMH night at Epcot, that park will be closed before your boat gets back to the dock. Besides, it's silly to pay for an extra day's ticket for each person in your part - even it that's just one person - just to walk through a park. It'd be cheaper just to take a cab from Beach/Yacht Club back to CSR.
You could (again, if it's an EMH night) walk or take a different boat over to MGM and board the CSR bus there.
If neither park is open, you could take a cab or you can take the bus to Downtown Disney and switch to the CSR bus there.

 

[goofy4tink]

You can ask to be dropped at the International Gateway. We did just that and then hiked back to the bus area. However, if you don't want to use park admission that day, you won't be able to do that. You can either take a boat to MGM, or walk, and take the CSR bus from there. Or, just have them call you a cab at BC. It's not too expensive..should be under $10 I would think.

 

[dawnj99]

It sounds like a cab is the easiest option but we can't do that since we won't have carseats for the kids. I was hoping to avoid taking the stroller that evening as well so I think the riverwalk may be out, also it may still be pretty warm in late September. MGM could be an option.
I will double check and see who has EMH that night, it sounds like DTD may be our best bet. I am assuming there would be a bus to DTD from the yacht club, is that correct?

 

[dawnj99]

It seems that Epcot does have EMH that evening so we could go that route. MGM closes at eight so I don't know if they would still be running the boat and buses etc from there. I think I will just add an additional day on our tickets, since we are already at the eight day it is not that much to add on the ninth.
Thanks so much for all your reply's