Monorail/Skyliner?

[Silver Queen]

Our grandsons and their parents will be in Florida next month for the first time since Covid. The boys are 10, 7 and 7 (twins) and the twins have never been to Florida. It will be a vacation of combined Disney/Universal experiences, but they will not be staying on Disney property. Their plane lands pretty early in the morning and they are considering ideas of things to do with the boys before their 1:30 lunch reservation at Sanaa.
One suggestion being discussed is for them to do a monorail or Skyliner ride with the boys. If they drove to Springs and parked could they then take a bus to one of the monorail resorts? Or perhaps a bus to one of the Skyliner resorts? I know that people on the Boards have written about monorail and Skyliner crawls and was wondering what kind of advice they could offer.

 

[pdmedic]

My wife and I have done this before. The last time we took a Uber to Disney Springs from an off site hotel. We then took the water taxi to Port Orleans French Quarter. Walked to the bus stop and took the bus to Hollywood Studios. Jumped on the Skyliner and rode it till we ended up at the back of Epcot. Then took the Skyliner back to Art of Animation jumped on the bus and took it to Magic Kingdom. Took the monorail around the resort loop and park loop. Got off at Epcot took a bus back to Port Orleans water taxi back to Disney Springs and Uber back to our off site hotel.

 

[CarolynFH]

If they drove to Springs and parked could they then take a bus to one of the monorail resorts? Or perhaps a bus to one of the Skyliner resorts?

Yes, as pdmedic says above, once parked at DS they could ride any Disney transportation they wanted. One issue, though, is that DS may not open until 10 AM, so the buses (or boats) from there to resorts probably won't be running much earlier than that. The DS website is here. One possibility might be for them to drive to Kidani and park there, then take the bus to DHS to catch the Skyliner (or the bus to MK and catch the monorail). The only issue there would be how much earlier the guards at AKL will let them in before their ADR - sometimes guards won't let people park more than an hour or so before time for their ADR, and it's hard to predict at AKL. A final option would be to pay to park at DHS or at TTC to catch the Skyliner/monorail, since the parking lots will be open at least an hour before each park opens.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

It would probably just be easier to hop on the Skyliner and do a loop on a day when they're already going to be in Hollywood Studios or Epcot.

 

[Silver Queen]

Yes, It certainly would be easier to go right to Kidani and park in the morning, but I suspect that they would not be allowed to that many hours before their reservation.

 

[Silver Queen]

It would probably just be easier to hop on the Skyliner and do a loop on a day when they're already going to be in Hollywood Studios or Epcot.

That would leave several hours on their arrival day with nothing to do and would later take valuable time from a park day. We were hoping to maximize their time in the area before they move on to the coast.

 

[philharmagic fan]

Don't know the current situation, but prior to covid the buses didn't run from DS to monorail resorts until 11-11:30 to prevent people from parking for free at DS and going to MK via the monorail. I think the buses ran to Caribbean Beach earlier, but this may also have shifted later due to access to skyliner from that hotel.

 

[Beamerball]

For the skyliner I have mobile ordered something from Art of Animation and the gate guard has let me through. It doesn’t have to be a meal, the macaroon for the 50th anniversary looks fun! Park closer to the cars section, grab the mobile order, ride the skyliner Epcot and back.

 

[joelkfla]

For $8, they could ride the public bus, Lynx 300, from DS to TTC. That's 3 adult fares @ $2 + 2 child fares @ $1. The bus leaves from the West Side bus loop behind Cirque every 30 minutes.
https://www.golynx.com/maps-schedul..._1_1=showPublicPosting&calendar_entry_id=6898

 

[Silver Queen]

For $8, they could ride the public bus, Lynx 300, from DS to TTC. That's 3 adult fares @ $2 + 2 child fares @ $1. The bus leaves from the West Side bus loop behind Cirque every 30 minutes.
https://www.golynx.com/maps-schedul..._1_1=showPublicPosting&calendar_entry_id=6898

Thanks, joelkfla. That sounds like an interesting option.

 

[Silver Queen]

For the skyliner I have mobile ordered something from Art of Animation and the gate guard has let me through. It doesn’t have to be a meal, the macaroon for the 50th anniversary looks fun! Park closer to the cars section, grab the mobile order, ride the skyliner Epcot and back.

This is another good idea, but I don’t understand why the guard would have to let them through. Can’t they just get off at AoA and explore the resort a bit?

 

[mgsmom]

Easiest monorail solution from DS might be to take DS bus to MK and walk to Contemporary.

 

[CarolynFH]

Easiest monorail solution from DS might be to take DS bus to MK and walk to Contemporary.

There is no bus from DS to MK. No transportation from DS to any park, no transportation from any park to DS. Just transportation between DS and resorts. So they could take the DS bus to Contemporary and catch the monorail there - the problem is that buses don't start running from DS to the resorts until late morning, and they need something to do earlier in the morning.

 

[Beamerball]

This is another good idea, but I don’t understand why the guard would have to let them through. Can’t they just get off at AoA and explore the resort a bit?

I was responding as though they had a car and would drive to AoA and ride the skyliner from there.

 

[CarolynFH]

I was responding as though they had a car and would drive to AoA and ride the skyliner from there.

Unfortunately, parking restrictions at the Skyliner resorts (Riviera, CBR, Pop and AoA) are often enforced just as strictly as at the near-park and monorail resorts now. Not always, but often enough that a Plan B needs to be ready.