New Express Transportation: $19/day or $29/week-SERVICE ENDING AUGUST 23RD 2017

[DisneyLove2015]

Would taking the bus from MK to Epcot be faster than using the monorail?

Incredibly faster. We would leave MK and be in Epcot within 20 minutes. Sometimes less depending on traffic and lights.

 

[ThistleMae]

They have had the entrance from Africa open after opening weekend. I guess if things in Pandora got really crowded and the lines for FoP got way out of hand they'd have to close it as an entrance again but that hasn't been the norm.
Even if they do close the Africa entrance the other entrance isn't at the front, at least not all the way to the front. It's just by Tiffins, so before you get to the Tree of Life, if you were to walk from the Express Stop.

Thanks Angi...AK is the park I know the least about as far as navigating. I just talked to my cousins and they are in regarding express pass. Just have to figure out the end of the night, which seems to be the most complicated because of when parks close and remembering to exclude EMH.

 

[ThistleMae]

At magic kingdom on June 4th they wouldn't let me pay for it at the checkin location. They sent me to guest services by the hall of presidents. Maybe the credit card system wasn't working that day at the checkin location. I don't know.

Oh, that's too bad....that's pretty far away from the stop....that would be bad for me....bad knee...and awful hot in Epcot countries.

 

[ThistleMae]

Incredibly faster. We would leave MK and be in Epcot within 20 minutes. Sometimes less depending on traffic and lights.

Wow! That is fantastic. I'm getting more and more excited about this! We are leaving July 21st and will start in MK the first day. Will update folks once I'm there and using the service.

 

[DisneyLove2015]

Wow! That is fantastic. I'm getting more and more excited about this! We are leaving July 21st and will start in MK the first day. Will update folks once I'm there and using the service.

We absolutely loved it! We used it about 8 times in 5 park days (one day where we didn't hop). It was wonderful to decide we were done with Epcot around 7 so why not hop to MK to see HEA. We caught the 7:40 bus and we were there by 8 to get an awesome spot for HEA.

The travel time from AK to DHS was even less... Maybe around 10-15 minutes. We never had bad weather so thankfully we didn't experience the service being down.

It was wonderful to have a mostly or completely empty bus to be able to spread our stuff out and be able to feed our 2 year old her dinner while traveling. If anyone else is on the fence about it- it's worth every penny!!! We ended up hopping more than planned because of it being so easy.

 

[LAS2012]

I would love to use this feature and hop back to MK at the end of the night during our EP and HS days, as we are staying at GF. I am really confused about my ability to hop to MK after F! at HS. If the show is over at 9:30 and HS closes at 9:30, it would appear that I could get on the 9:50 bus to MK (one more bus after closing to a park still open under regular operating hours). But if MK closes at 10:00, will they run a 9:50 bus from HS to MK? What is the cut-off for when they run to a park? Park B's closing hours or does drive time impact the last bus to park B?

LOL - it's like a Disney version of a math word problem! AngiTN -- I need your expert guidance...

 

[AngiTN]

I would love to use this feature and hop back to MK at the end of the night during our EP and HS days, as we are staying at GF. I am really confused about my ability to hop to MK after F! at HS. If the show is over at 9:30 and HS closes at 9:30, it would appear that I could get on the 9:50 bus to MK (one more bus after closing to a park still open under regular operating hours). But if MK closes at 10:00, will they run a 9:50 bus from HS to MK? What is the cut-off for when they run to a park? Park B's closing hours or does drive time impact the last bus to park B?

LOL - it's like a Disney version of a math word problem! AngiTN -- I need your expert guidance...

Lol. Whew I suck at math but I do believe in your example there will be a bus from HS to MK because MK is still open even if it's just for 10 more minutes. All it needs is to be open for regular hours. At least that is how I understand it to operate. This is one of those things that is always good to triple check the day you plan to use it

 

[LAS2012]

Lol. Whew I suck at math but I do believe in your example there will be a bus from HS to MK because MK is still open even if it's just for 10 more minutes. All it needs is to be open for regular hours. At least that is how I understand it to operate. This is one of those things that is always good to triple check the day you plan to use it

Thank you!!!!

We are starting at Epcot and hopping to HS for F!. We will triple check that day, but it makes sense to hop from EP to HS via express and then hop from HS to MK via express then boat/monorail home to GF. I think all-in-all it will save on our wait times considerably as well as our feet. Plus no security at HS. I love the predictability of the express schedule!

 

[maryj11]

Thank you!!!!

We are starting at Epcot and hopping to HS for F!. We will triple check that day, but it makes sense to hop from EP to HS via express and then hop from HS to MK via express then boat/monorail home to GF. I think all-in-all it will save on our wait times considerably as well as our feet. Plus no security at HS. I love the predictability of the express schedule!

I have been wondering if anyone has tried taking the express bus to MK from another park then getting on the boat or monorail to the Poly. I believe someone said it would be quicker to just take the regular bus back to the resort. Maybe someone who has done it can answer.

 

[AngiTN]

I have been wondering if anyone has tried taking the express bus to MK from another park then getting on the boat or monorail to the Poly. I believe someone said it would be quicker to just take the regular bus back to the resort. Maybe someone who has done it can answer.

We did this to get to WL in April. No idea if it was faster. No way to know for certain either. But sure felt faster

 

[sarahruthtoday]

I can't wait to try out this service!!

 

[shoreward]

Due to lightning in the area, the Express buses stopped running about 4:30 PM today, and resumed service about 6:00 PM. The dispatcher warned passengers that if the destination park had not yet opened their station, by the time the Express bus was arriving, the bus would drop at the front of the park. Drop off ended up being at normal Express location, as lightning moved out of area. The stoppage uses the same guidelines as the boats - shutting down, if lightning is reported within about six miles.

 

[ThistleMae]

Here is a different question for those driving to the parks. Question 1: I read that parking for MK and Epcot is at the TTC. Is this correct? So if we end up at MK or Epcot at the end of the night, we would have to use the monorail to get back to our car, is this right? Question 2: So if we are at AK and stay past MK closing....will there be a regular bus to get us back to MK so we can get the monorail to our car? Adding the car just adds another element to figuring this all out...geesh...why is Disney always so confusing (this is not question 3...LOL)!

 

[ThistleMae]

Just thought of something else...when Epcot says 9 p.m. closing but Illuminations is at 9 p.m.....doesn't the park actually close after that? So if you stay for Illuminations at 9 p.m. and you want to go back to MK for a 10 p.m. closing, should there be one express bus after the 9 p.m. closing?

 

[chinarider]

do we know if this wills till be an option in Dec? do we need to pay in advance or at check in?

 

[ThistleMae]

do we know if this wills till be an option in Dec? do we need to pay in advance or at check in?

I don't know about December...everyone is hoping so, it looks good so far. You can't purchase in advance. You can purchase at the Express kiosk in the park or in Guest Services when you arrive. Good luck! We are going in July and will purchase. It sounds like a really awesome service but could get pricey if you have a large family.

 

[kace08]

Depends on the number of people in your family. You will get at least two uses out of the Express. That last hop to MK will depend on when you get out of RoL and what time the next bus to MK should be. They do not run Express buses to parks that have EMH if the bus will arrive after that EMH park's normal closing.

That is good to know. So how can we get back to MK during EMH? There are three in my family. I rechecked the time for the rivers of light showing and it is 8:45. The MK regular hours end at 9 so I wouldn't be able to use the express transportation when I need it most. I suppose we could use regular Disney bus transportation or uber. I wonder which would be faster.

 

[kace08]

YMMV but we gave up on the (regular) bus from MK to AK early afternoon after waiting 2 or 3 times, in late August, over an hour each time. Of course in record heat one time. Even if I just have bad luck, I wouldn't risk it if only planning 1 day. Just do ET (or you could Uber it, but you would have to get to/from TTC IIRC - maybe Uber can drop/pick up at CR or Poly but for sure they don't go where the Disney buses go, right near the MK gates).

That is a good idea. Uber to CR would take us closer. We would still have to do baggage check but I hear that they now do baggage check at the monorail resorts.

 

[MinnieWebster]

Here is a different question for those driving to the parks. Question 1: I read that parking for MK and Epcot is at the TTC. Is this correct? So if we end up at MK or Epcot at the end of the night, we would have to use the monorail to get back to our car, is this right? Question 2: So if we are at AK and stay past MK closing....will there be a regular bus to get us back to MK so we can get the monorail to our car? Adding the car just adds another element to figuring this all out...geesh...why is Disney always so confusing (this is not question 3...LOL)!

Epcot has it's own parking lot in front of the park, same as AK and DHS. For Magic Kingdom you have to park at TTC. Im not sure about the busses...maybe someone else will have the answer there....

 

[ThistleMae]

Yeah, end of the night can be tricky....but if AK doesn't close until 10...the line for the buses shouldn't be too long, so you could take regular bus, but if AK closes after the ROL there will be mass park exiting...ugh! It does get complicated at the end of the night.