Need advice for getting to downtown disney

[troydjames]

Thanks in advance for any help on this subject, I have an ADR for Ohana's on Thursday, October the 10th we are staying at Hard Rock Hotel and have our own vehicle, I was planning to go to Epcot and take the monorail to the ADR at the Poly and maybe taking the bus from the Poly to downtown Disney trying to avoid the parking problem at downtown Disney with all the construction going on, I do not have any park tickets and we are not staying on site, I have never used the bus transportation while not staying on site and don't even know if it is allowed, if it is I thought when we were done we could take bus back to Poly and take monorail back to Epcot to get our car. I know it sounds like a lot to avoid parking but we enjoy riding the monorail. I know I will have to pay to park at Epcot but I did not know if you you needed park tickets to park at Epcot, we have stayed on site before and taken bus to Epcot to catch monorail for an ADR without park tickets, but I have never parked at any of the parks, so I did not know if a park ticket was needed to park.

 

[gmeh1]

Thanks in advance for any help on this subject, I have an ADR for Ohana's on Thursday, October the 10th we are staying at Hard Rock Hotel and have our own vehicle, I was planning to go to Epcot and take the monorail to the ADR at the Poly and maybe taking the bus from the Poly to downtown Disney trying to avoid the parking problem at downtown Disney with all the construction going on, I do not have any park tickets and we are not staying on site, I have never used the bus transportation while not staying on site and don't even know if it is allowed, if it is I thought when we were done we could take bus back to Poly and take monorail back to Epcot to get our car. I know it sounds like a lot to avoid parking but we enjoy riding the monorail. I know I will have to pay to park at Epcot but I did not know if you you needed park tickets to park at Epcot, we have stayed on site before and taken bus to Epcot to catch monorail for an ADR without park tickets, but I have never parked at any of the parks, so I did not know if a park ticket was needed to park.

You don't need a ticket to park at the parks. You don't need a ticket to ride the transportation system. You can, however, valet park at the Poly and do all that you mentioned. Valet parking is basically the same price as parking at the parks. 15.00 at the parks, 15.00 valet parking + tax and tip. I think you will find this saves a ton of time.

 

[helenk]

You do not need a ticket to ride the monorail at Epcot.
You can park at the Poly as indicated by the prior poster or park at the TTC, take the resort monorail to the Poly, or even walk over to the Poly from the TTC. After your dinner take the bus to DTD, when you come back take the bus from DTD back to the Poly and again either monorail or walk back to the TTC.

 

[LadyFan55]

One red flag of caution I want to throw out is...
Double check with the Poly on how long you can stay in their parking lots, both self park and/or Valet parking. You see, people will try to avoid paying for parking at the Parks, and do just what you are doing, and even though DTD is not a park, and parking is free, they do not know where you have gone off to if you leave your car there too long. All may be just fine, but just in case, double check.
If you have time, you may consider first parking at DTD, then taking transportation to Poly, then back to DTD... just an idea. You can get very creative with the way you get there. Maybe take the boat from DTD, over to Saratoga or Old Key West (nice boat rides BTW), then the bus to the Transportation center or Poly, whichever works best, after all they are next door to each other. You will need to give yourself plenty of time, but if you enjoy it, people actually do this very thing just to visit the different resorts.
Great choice BTW... Ohana, one of our favorites. If it works out, you may consider watching Magic Kingdom Fireworks from their beach

 

[goofy4tink]

You can valet park and go anywhere you want, or as long as you want. It won't be an issue.

I wold valet at the Polynesian and do whatever you feel like doing. You can take the monorail to Epcot just to ride it. You can take the bus to dtd from the Polynesian and just bus back when you're done. I wouldn't park at Epcot though. Too hard to get back to after dtd visit.

 

[gmeh1]

One red flag of caution I want to throw out is...
Double check with the Poly on how long you can stay in their parking lots, both self park and/or Valet parking. You see, people will try to avoid paying for parking at the Parks, and do just what you are doing, and even though DTD is not a park, and parking is free, they do not know where you have gone off to if you leave your car there too long. All may be just fine, but just in case, double check.
If you have time, you may consider first parking at DTD, then taking transportation to Poly, then back to DTD... just an idea. You can get very creative with the way you get there. Maybe take the boat from DTD, over to Saratoga or Old Key West (nice boat rides BTW), then the bus to the Transportation center or Poly, whichever works best, after all they are next door to each other. You will need to give yourself plenty of time, but if you enjoy it, people actually do this very thing just to visit the different resorts.
Great choice BTW... Ohana, one of our favorites. If it works out, you may consider watching Magic Kingdom Fireworks from their beach

There is no limit to time with valet parking. You are not avoiding paying at the parks because valet is not free. You pay, actually, more to valet than at the parks. DTD has closed off a lot of their parking, it is very difficult to park there now.

 

[Missytara]

One red flag of caution I want to throw out is...
Double check with the Poly on how long you can stay in their parking lots, both self park and/or Valet parking. You see, people will try to avoid paying for parking at the Parks, and do just what you are doing, and even though DTD is not a park, and parking is free, they do not know where you have gone off to if you leave your car there too long. All may be just fine, but just in case, double check.
If you have time, you may consider first parking at DTD, then taking transportation to Poly, then back to DTD... just an idea. You can get very creative with the way you get there. Maybe take the boat from DTD, over to Saratoga or Old Key West (nice boat rides BTW), then the bus to the Transportation center or Poly, whichever works best, after all they are next door to each other. You will need to give yourself plenty of time, but if you enjoy it, people actually do this very thing just to visit the different resorts.
Great choice BTW... Ohana, one of our favorites. If it works out, you may consider watching Magic Kingdom Fireworks from their beach

Since a lot of DTD parking is closed right now due to construction, that would not be a very good idea right now.

Also it is taking away from what little parking is left for people spending money at the stores and restaurants.

Very poor advice.

 

[seashoreCM]

Park for Magic Kindom (at Transportation & Ticket Center). Then ride the monorail as you desire.

(It's also just a short walk from TTC to Polynesian.)

You can take the bus from Poly' to Downtown Disney.

Except during super-crowded times when some guests are restricted from entering a theme park itself, theme park tickets not needed for the above. Theme park tickets not needed to park at Epcot or other theme parks either.

 

[Tozzie]

Park for Magic Kindom (at Transportation & Ticket Center). Then ride the monorail as you desire.

(It's also just a short walk from TTC to Polynesian.)

You can take the bus from Poly' to Downtown Disney.

Except during super-crowded times when some guests are restricted from entering a theme park itself, theme park tickets not needed for the above. Theme park tickets not needed to park at Epcot or other theme parks either.

Then how do they get back to their car, buses don't go from downtown disney to the TTC. Since you were going to pay to park anyway valet at the Poly.

 

[tobikaye]

Then how do they get back to their car, buses don't go from downtown disney to the TTC. Since you were going to pay to park anyway valet at the Poly.

Take the bus to Poly and walk back to TTC. Basically reverse how they got to DTD.

Although, I agree that valet at Poly would work pretty well.

 

[LadyFan55]

Since a lot of DTD parking is closed right now due to construction, that would not be a very good idea right now.

Also it is taking away from what little parking is left for people spending money at the stores and restaurants.

Very poor advice.

It works if they find a spot . Reading that a lot of people are forgetting they can park behind/next to Cirque du Soleil, if I were making a casual day of it, I would check parking there first. Now, if I were pressed for time, I would indeed use the Valet, after I personally confirmed how long I can park and for how much. But, that is all just me.

Not taking anything away, they already said they plan to visit DTD. But if any signs or Disney official rules say that you must be in DTD the entire time, I would not break that rule