Monorail?

[thebigkahuna]

*dons the flame suit*

I have no idea if this is ok, or if it is frowned upon

my trip is with someone who has NEVER been to WDW (I know, i know! the HORROR! LOL)

I would like to take some time to just *ride* the monorail - not to get anywhere - but just for the fun of it - to look at the parks & get a great view of the area ( ok ok, and maybe to hop off at the hotels & check them out - it's NEVER to soon to start planning where we want to stay on the next trip, right??)

is this ok to do? We are staying at a Disney Hotel if that changes anything ~


TIA

 

[goofy4tink]

Not an issue in any way! Lots of people do this on their first day vs spending an entire day's park pass for just a few hours. It's a nice way to get in the Disney mood.
I would head to Epcot, then take the monorail to the TTC. Transfer to the resort line. You will then stop at the Polynesian, Grand Floridian, then MK, then the Contemporary. You could get off at MK and take the boat over to WL, which is fun. Then boat back and hop on the monorail and continue to the TTC. Then, take the Epcot line back to Epcot, where you will run through Epcot before getting off.
Nice way to see some things.

 

[dsnymomof4]

Not only is it ok, I think it's a wonderful idea. We love the monorail and always find a reason to take a ride now and then. It's a great idea to expore the monorail resorts and take the monorail from MK to Epcot - especially at night when everything is lit up! No need to feel guilty about wanting to ride the monorail!

 

[thebigkahuna]

Not an issue in any way! Lots of people do this on their first day vs spending an entire day's park pass for just a few hours. It's a nice way to get in the Disney mood.
I would head to Epcot, then take the monorail to the TTC. Transfer to the resort line. You will then stop at the Polynesian, Grand Floridian, then MK, then the Contemporary. You could get off at MK and take the boat over to WL, which is fun. Then boat back and hop on the monorail and continue to the TTC. Then, take the Epcot line back to Epcot, where you will run through Epcot before getting off.
Nice way to see some things.

WOOHOO! I am glad to hear this! and thank you for the route suggestion - it sounds like exactly what I want to do - when you go with someone who's never been repeated questions keep coming up, like, "what's in-between the parks and the hotels"? and try as I may, I can't make it clear! I think this will be a great way to get an overview of the magic

thanks!

 

[thebigkahuna]

Not only is it ok, I think it's a wonderful idea. We love the monorail and always find a reason to take a ride now and then. It's a great idea to expore the monorail resorts and take the monorail from MK to Epcot - especially at night when everything is lit up! No need to feel guilty about wanting to ride the monorail!

how late does the monorail run? I'd love to do it the first night there, but I think we might be arriving too late.

 

[twinklebug]

Depending on your schedule you can rent water mice from the Poly, Contemporary, Grand, Lodge or even the Campground.

If you're on the boat or a dock later at night you can catch the Electrical Water Pagent. The times & locations are listed on http://allears.net/tp/ewp.htm

Don't forget to pack a few $$ for the occasional drink .. uh... I mean coke

Don't worry if you don't get to see everything... I think it's near impossible to see everything on the monorail/boat loops in one day. Just pick a few favorites you want to explore and make sure you have fun!

 

[pamjb]

This is one of our favorite ways to spend a little off-park time. Don't forget you can take the boat from the Studios and ride over to the Boardwalk.....

 

[wdwgoofeeee]

how late does the monorail run? I'd love to do it the first night there, but I think we might be arriving too late.

This depends on the closing time of the MK and Epcot. I would guess the monorails run a minimum of one hour (possibly two hours) past closing time to allow all the guests to exit.

 

[DisTwix]

how late does the monorail run? I'd love to do it the first night there, but I think we might be arriving too late.

The end times of the monorail are dependant on the closing times of MK and Epcot. Basically, take whichever has the latest closing time and add an hour to 90 minutes to that time - that is how late the monorails will run.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

According to the signs at the Contemporary, Polynesian and Grand Floridian the Resort Monorail operates until 12:00 AM, however on nights when the Magic Kingdom closes at 11:00 PM or has Evening Extra Magic Hour it will be running past the posted time. So I would add on at least 2 or 3 hours for that specific one.

 

[thebigkahuna]

Depending on your schedule you can rent water mice from the Poly, Contemporary, Grand, Lodge or even the Campground.

If you're on the boat or a dock later at night you can catch the Electrical Water Pagent. The times & locations are listed on http://allears.net/tp/ewp.htm

I didnt' know about either of these, thanks very much!

 

[thebigkahuna]

This is one of our favorite ways to spend a little off-park time. Don't forget you can take the boat from the Studios and ride over to the Boardwalk.....

we are actually going to have a few days that won't be park days - and one of my plans is to go to the Boardwalk! thats where the Beaches & Cream Ice Cream shop is, right??

 

[thebigkahuna]

This depends on the closing time of the MK and Epcot. I would guess the monorails run a minimum of one hour (possibly two hours) past closing time to allow all the guests to exit.

The end times of the monorail are dependant on the closing times of MK and Epcot. Basically, take whichever has the latest closing time and add an hour to 90 minutes to that time - that is how late the monorails will run.

According to the signs at the Contemporary, Polynesian and Grand Floridian the Resort Monorail operates until 12:00 AM, however on nights when the Magic Kingdom closes at 11:00 PM or has Evening Extra Magic Hour it will be running past the posted time. So I would add on at least 2 or 3 hours for that specific one.

Sounds like the first nite we will arrive a little to late to ride the monorail, but i will fit it in our schedule!!
thanks for all the replies, you guys really are great

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Sounds like the first nite we will arrive a little to late to ride the monorail, but i will fit it in our schedule!!
thanks for all the replies, you guys really are great

You're welcome and have a great time.

 

[wdwgoofeeee]

we are actually going to have a few days that won't be park days - and one of my plans is to go to the Boardwalk! thats where the Beaches & Cream Ice Cream shop is, right??

Beaches & Cream is on the Beach Club side, not the Boardwalk. All the Epcot resorts, Boardwalk, Yacht Club, Beach Club, Swan and Dolphin are within a short walk of each other. You can easily get to this area by taking a bus to the DHS. You don't have to enter the park. Just walk over to the boat dock. The Friendship boats travel from the DHS to the Epcot International Gateway. Along the route the boats stop at the Epcot resorts. You can also walk. Either way the trip is around 25-35 minutes. Although if you just miss a boat walking is faster.

Your other option to get to the Epcot resort area is to exit at the International Gateway of Epcot, but this requires a park admission. Also, it is a long walk from the main Epcot entrance to the International Gateway.

 

[Missytara]

I love to do this too.

Each year, I think of some new way to use the transportation.

I go the week after Thanksgiving and the Xmas decorations are in full swing - I love to resort hop.

I ride the loop a few times and when I feel like getting off, I hit each one of the resorts and take it all in. I especially love GF; if there is the piano player in the lobby, I linger for a long time and I love their shops.

When I am done hitting all the stops, I get off at TTC and go over to Epcot, hit the boats and do the loop over to the Boardwalk and do the same thing with all the resorts over there.

I stop and have little snacks along the way and make at least a half day of it.

 

[dudspizza]

We always do the monorail loop on our first day. After a day of travel, we don't want to use park tickets. We take the resort monorail and get off at each resort. The Poly is our favorite, but for some reason we always end up shopping a bit at CR. The hardest part is trying to explain to a young traveler that they can't enter MK if you get off at that stop.....

 

[watersbland]

Just when I think I have more random disney knowledge than I know what to do with, I log on and learn something new...another reason why I loooove the DIS! It had never occured to me that we could take the monorail and resort hop without using a day of our tickets. It makes perfect sense because you're not entering any one of the theme parks but it just had never crossed my mind. Now I know what we're doing after we do our grocery run on the first day!

 

[Mickeygolf]

*dons the flame suit*

I have no idea if this is ok, or if it is frowned upon

my trip is with someone who has NEVER been to WDW (I know, i know! the HORROR! LOL)

I would like to take some time to just *ride* the monorail - not to get anywhere - but just for the fun of it - to look at the parks & get a great view of the area ( ok ok, and maybe to hop off at the hotels & check them out - it's NEVER to soon to start planning where we want to stay on the next trip, right??)

is this ok to do? We are staying at a Disney Hotel if that changes anything ~


TIA

You know, it's just a little sad when a relatively new DIS member has to worry about donning a flame suit to ask if it's okay to just enjoy a ride on the monorail. I understand why you put that in there the way some of these threads have been lately.

Enjoy the monorail and all the wonderful advice you were given by the great contributors of the DIS. Good luck!!!

 

[thebigkahuna]

Beaches & Cream is on the Beach Club side, not the Boardwalk.

good to know, thanks ~