Monorail resorts...do they really save time?

[mrspotts07]

Do you think staying at a monorail resort saves time and is worth it? If so which one would you pick and if not where would you stay???
Thanks!

 

[MickeyNicki]

I think so, we stayed at the Contemporary and it was a great time saver. We did not like the resort.

If I had to pick I would stay at the Poly.

 

[PoohsFan1]

The monorail is a huge time saver compared to the buses. The max you probably have to wait for the monorail would be 5 mins...even in the most busiest times. I love the monorail resorts. When I was younger we used to stay in the POLY and it was so convient to take the monorail right from the resort or walk over to TTC and hop on to go to Epcot. I would definately stay there again.

 

[chasgoose]

I think the main reason the monorail resorts save time (particularly for the MK) is not necessarily the monorail itself but the fact that all of the resorts are simply a lot closer to the MK. In the case of the Contemporary for example, it is so close to the MK that it is actually faster to walk to the park than take the monorail because on the monorail you have to stop at the TTC and the other two resorts. In terms of Epcot, unless you are at the Poly, it will probably take you longer to get there than if you were at the Epcot resorts, but the fact that the monorail track is a direct shot down to Epcot saves time. They are the furthest resorts from MGM and the AK, however, so you have to take that into account. In terms of being the closest to the most parks, the Epcot resorts probably win because they are the closest to both Epcot and MGM. The monorail resorts only have the MK.

 

[Buzz2001]

I only have experience with one deluxe and it was the Contemporary. For me, I would say the monorail was not a timesaver. It took longer to get from CR to MK by monorail than it did by bus from CSR. CSR does not share buses so it was a quick 10 min trip. And being a convention resort like CR, the buses are usually empty because they are doing the convention thing during the day.

With the monorail, we ended up walking to and from MK. It had to stop at TTC, POLY, GF then on to the park. And if another train was in the station, it would stop and sit until all was clear ahead. The monorail resorts also shared buses so anywhere you wanted to go took forever. I was spoiled by the buses at CSR. If you are going to spend all your time at MK, then I say it would be worth it otherwise, I don't feel it is. Of course there are other factors like larger beds and interior corridors to consider as well.

Again, just my opinion.

 

[Marthasor]

It really depends on where you are going to spend most of your time. If you want to save time to get to MK, Poly can't be beat as it is also the only resort that has a walking path directly to the TTC monorail to EPCOT as well as the monorail to MK. If you are focusing on EPCOT and MGM, then you can't beat the EPCOT resorts - BWI, YC, BC or Swan Dolphin as it is a quick walk to the International Gateway at EPCOT and a walk or boat ride to MGM. We stayed at Poly in Dec. 05 and absolutely loved it - the monorail was great. We then stayed at BWI during the Food and Wine Festival at EPCOT last year and that couldn't be beat in terms of proximity to the festival. I would never stay anywhere other than a monorail resort or an EPCOT resort for the transportation issues alone - to me, it's worth the money.

 

[johnvree]

Do they save time? Depends on where you are going. If you are going to the MK, then yes, they probably save some time over the buses and the monorail is certainly quicker and more sane than coming by car. If you are going to Epcot, many of the other resorts are closer and I bet the buses get to the gates quicker than the monorail (since you have to switch monorail lines to get to Epcot). And, of course, you can walk to the World Showcase from the Epcot Resorts. Besides saving time, the ride is more pleasant. As others have said, you rarely have to wait more than a few minutes for the next monorail and they usually do not fill to capacity, so you don't have to wait for the next one. The ride is smoother than the bus ride too.

Are they worth it? If you are spending a lot of time in the MK, yes. Otherwise, they are comparable to the other deluxes.

Which one would I pick? The Polynesian. It's the best resort on property. It's been mathematically proven.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

With the monorail, we ended up walking to and from MK. It had to stop at TTC, POLY, GF then on to the park. And if another train was in the station, it would stop and sit until all was clear ahead. The monorail resorts also shared buses so anywhere you wanted to go took forever. I was spoiled by the buses at CSR. If you are going to spend all your time at MK, then I say it would be worth it otherwise, I don't feel it is. Of course there are other factors like larger beds and interior corridors to consider as well.

I agree that it is much faster when staying at the Contemporary to walk to the Magic Kingdom. However don't forget that when leaving the Magic Kingdom the Contemporary is the next stop, so that has got to be a huge plus for anyone staying at there. Also the Monorail stopping at the TTC, Polynesian and Grand Floridian is a regular thing because there are other guests who also go to those locations for whatever their reasons are. I should also mention that it does not take as long as you say it does. Yes there will always be a Monorail that stops along the tracks because there is another Monorail in front of it. However that does not always happen, so maybe you just got on the Monorail at the wrong time. Besides the time you sit on the tracks is 30 seconds - 1:00 minute which is not that bad. The other times you can get lucky where the Monorail does not spend much time at the TTC, Polynesian and the Grand Floridian, along with stopping on the tracks.

As for the Resorts sharing buses, well don't you think it makes sense that they do? The Contemporary, Polynesian, Grand Floridian and Wilderness Lodge are located so close to each other that it makes sense that they share bus service. (Please not that the Contemporary sometimes shares with the Wilderness Lodge only in the mornings. On the return trips from MGM, AK and DTD it is always the Contemporary, Polynesian and Grand Floridian that share, while the Wilderness Lodge has their own bus.) I guess CSR does not share with any Resorts because there are non around them. So you also got to factor those reasons why some Resorts share and why other do not share.

 

[Buzz2001]

I guess CSR does not share with any Resorts because there are non around them. So you also got to factor those reasons why some Resorts share and why other do not share.

I'm sure Disney has it's reason for sharing but that doesn't make it enjoyable. AKL is right around the corner but they also have their own buses.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I'm sure Disney has it's reason for sharing but that doesn't make it enjoyable. AKL is right around the corner but they also have their own buses.

I was just looking at a map of WDW and while AKL and CSR are close to each other, they don't as close together as the Magic Kingdom Resorts. Then again things look different on a map, however just saying how I see things.

 

[poly]

I think the Polynesian is the most convenient resort. Besides the monorail and easy access to the TTC, it also has the launch to the MK.
Wait times for the buses usually are too bad.

 

[irisbud]

Definatly love the monorail resorts. Riding the bus to the parks is not so bad, it's coming back from the parks! The bus stops seem so much further away (even though they probably aren't) and when you are beat, waiting for a bus for 20 minutes only to have to stand the whole way back to your resort is not an exciting prospect.

Of course, switching monorials via the ramps at TTC gets old fast to. BF and I rode from Epoct one day, and were so tired that we just too the ferry to MK so we wouldn't have to climb that ramp again.

I think the Epcot resorts would be alright, too. No more AKL for me, though!

 

[karemore]

It's not worth it for us. We plan to visit all four parks, not just the MK.

We're staying at POFQ for an entire week, with meals, tickets and airfare it's still cheaper than our stay at the GF.

 

[constanze]

We didn't consider a monorail resort because we're spending most of our time at Epcot. We're staying at YC. Soooooo convenient to be able to walk there! And we're also glad it's walking distance to MGM too, that's just a bonus and being right there on the boardwalk sounds like fun.

 

[auntie]

I've stayed monorail resorts and not. I didn't find them to be that huge a convenience. It wouldn't factor greatly on whether to stay in a monorail resort or not. We stayed Poly..and mono rail to MK is nice..but just as often we took the water launch..just enjoyed that. As far as getting to Epcot we prefer to enter through World Showcase(the countries) anyway..so I we didn't even use it. I think that if you plan to visit the MK a great deal..the monorail can be a benefit. However, a I think a good many people think because they have little ones they will spend more time there,when in my experience my kids loved MGM..and we spent a good deal more time there. So, again..the monorail, was more a novelty for us, rather than an necessity. We stay at the WL and use the water launch to access the MK..and find it equally as convenient as the monorail from the Poly..but that's us.

 

[Tikiman]

We have stayed at the Yacht Club, Dolphin and Swan and so far I can get into Epcot (my favorite park) faster from the Polynesian than I could walk from those resorts. I can walk to the TTC from our room at the Polynesian in 5 minutes. We almost never have a line to get on the monorail to Epcot and the ride takes 8 minutes. Especially in the morning when World Showcase is closed it takes a good 18-25 minutes to walk to Future World at Epcot from the Epcot resorts. There is no bus to the front of Epcot from the Epcot resorts so you must walk it and sometimes it is in the rain or the heat. You can take a nice ride in a monorail instead from the Polynesian. Also the bus to AK or MGM from the Polynesian we found to be much faster than waiting for that boat to MGM and the ride. Taking the bus from the Epcot resorts was so bad we just used the rental car. The bus had to stop at the Swan, than the Dolphin, than the YC than the BC. We actually got to all the parks faster from the Polynesian. We still love the resorts near Epcot and I am actually going to try the Boardwalk in May but so far we can get in and out of the parks and to the Polynesian easier than any other resort we have stayed at. Even the AKL with its own bus did not seem as convenient to us.

Most of our experiences have been as a couple traveling but our last trip was with a 20 month old and now more than ever are we glad we have the transportation options that we get from the Polynesian.

 

[minnie61650]

Disney Transportation times acorrding to Passporter.com


All Star trans---Poly trans.----------GF trans---- Contemporary
MK 20 min---- 10 min (mono)-------3 min mono------20 min(mono)
Epcot 10 min- 20 min(walk and mono)-22min(walk+mono--15 min
MGM 10 min----15 min---------------10min-----------20min
AK 10 min------15min---------------15 min---------------20 min
DTD 15 min----25 min-----------------20 min -------------35 min



All Star trans----AK trans---WL trans--------YC/BC trans
MK 20 min------ 20 min-----8 min(boat) min---20 min
Epcot 10 min-- 15 min-----10 min------10 min--20(walk+mono) min
MGM 10 min----10 min-----15 min------15 min---15(boat)min
AK 10 min-------5min-------15 min----15 min---20 min
DTD 15 min-----15min------25 min-----15 min---15 min

It only takes 10 minutes to get to Epcot, MGM and AK from All Stars.
MK is 20 min away. That's the same amount of time it takes on the monorail from the Contemporary.

 

[PA Princess]

We stayed excusively at MK resorts for many years...Poly, Contemp, WL, but not GF. We enjoyed all of our stays...lovely resorts and great trips. Last two trips were Poly and we though that had the best transortation on property.

But when kiddo # 4 arrived, we knew that meant a need for 2 rooms and to pay that much for deluxe times 2 seemed crazy. We tried our first mod in 2005 (CBR) with some trepidation and especially in regards to transportation. We were pleasantly surprised to find it not a big issue at all at this mod or at POFQ in 2006. In fact, we felt like we spent less time overall traveling to parks at the mods...MK was a longer trip, but other parks were shorter.

The monorail experience is fun and it is nice not to have to fold a stroller, but I have to say my youngest last trip at 20 months loved the buses more than almost anything else in WDW LOL

 

[Tikiman]

10 minutes to Epcot from All Star does not account for walking to the bus stop (funny they add that to the Polynesian total) and it has taken longer to wait for the bus than 10 minutes. Also depending on traffic it could take longer. The monorail ride from the TTC is 8 minutes every time (plus or minus waiting for the monorail which is never been as long as I have waited for a bus) Now getting to the AKL I would think is much faster or even MGM but my comparison was more for the deluxe resorts since the biggest drawback for the moderates or value is that they only have buses and not multiple transportation options. Having the ferry or the monorail to get to some locations is a huge difference if you are hauling around a stroller and give me the monorail over a crowded bus any day.

Thanks for sharing that good info though.

 

[MUFFYCAT]

They save time and energy.
It's so nice to go on monorail after a long day and be at your resort in 5 minutes.

We always stay at the Polynesian.