Official 'how to get from point A to point B while at WDW' thread.

[Letsbgoofy]

Or, yes, taxi. See the Popular Transportation Links sticky for the [Mears] taxi fare estimator, but it's not far - maybe $10?

I tried the Mears estimator, but DTD Westside and DHS were not 2 of the options on the pull-down. Maybe I was doing something wrong?

Make life easy. Allocate some of the savings toward taxis.

I'm definitely leaning in that direction! $10 or so is worth not wasting an hour of our vacation.

 

[cmesq61]

We agree with you but none of the monorail resorts have any availability (other than some fancy rooms for $10,000+ for the trip!) so we thought we'd branch out and try an Epcot resort. We've eaten around the Epcot resort area and the hotels are lovely. I should not let transportation issues bother me, but freely admit I have a bus phobia! Also, I know that depending on water levels, some boats are not always ECV accessible.

 

[skelooch]

I'm definitely leaning in that direction! $10 or so is worth not wasting an hour of our vacation.

I couldn't agree more, vacations are 2 things, to short and to expensive. $10 is a tiny portion of the cost of a vacation the hour or more of my families time is far more valuable to me. The $10 I'll have again the time is gone forever.

I like Lewisc comment about allocating some of the money not used for renting toward the use of taxis to save as much of your vacation time as possible.

I hope you have a great vacation.

 

[BDL]

Hi All:

I have 2 back to back breakfast buffets, on consecutive days, during my vacation. I had resided myself to taking cabs. But if anyone can give me a better way, I'd appreciate it.

1) Port Orleans Riverside to the Polynesian for a 7:40am breakfast at Kona

2) Port Orleans Riverside to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for a 9:20am breakfast at Boma

Any tips would be appreciated.

 

[skelooch]

There are obviously other ways via Disney Transportation, but the operative word here is "better" it depends on what you would consider "better".

If not having to pay for your transportation then Disney Transportation is better.

If saving as much time as you can and getting there as quickly as you can then taxis are better.

Only you can decide which is "better" for you.

Enjoy your trip

 

[LoveKermit]

Taking the parents next time and planning on dinner with DH, they will keep DD. Don't know where we will go, we might take the rental car. Or we'll leave the car with them. Either way someone could be without a car. I'm okay with a cab, but DH will not allow our then 4.5 yo in a cab without a car seat.

Finally, the question--BLT/CR to the Boardwalk (hotel/area). Are there buses from the resorts to the BW? Or do they have to go to DHS and walk? That seems complicated.

We do ADRs in Feb, so no hurry on the answer.

 

[vicki_c]

Taking the parents next time and planning on dinner with DH, they will keep DD. Don't know where we will go, we might take the rental car. Or we'll leave the car with them. Either way someone could be without a car. I'm okay with a cab, but DH will not allow our then 4.5 yo in a cab without a car seat.

Finally, the question--BLT/CR to the Boardwalk (hotel/area). Are there buses from the resorts to the BW? Or do they have to go to DHS and walk? That seems complicated.

We do ADRs in Feb, so no hurry on the answer.

There are no resort to resort buses, and the Boardwalk area is considered a resort. They could bus to DHS as you said and either boat or walk to the Boardwalk.

Even easier - walk from CR to MK and take the Boardwalk bus from there.

 

[Lewisc]

Walk from BLT to the MK bus stop. Take a bus to any of the Boardwalk resorts.

edited to add
Obviously I was composing this while Vicki posted. The walk from BLT to the MK bus stop may be shorter then the walk from some rooms in some resorts to the bus stop

 

[LoveKermit]

That's what I thought. Thanks for the suggestions. I think we'll do the transportation and leave the car with the parents, unless they want to stay in (or go to MK).

Lots of time to think about it. But something I was wondering.

 

[bumbershoot]

.... how to get around using Disney transportation only.

Keeping the above in mind (b/c I dislike taxis and DS isn't legal to be in a car without some sort of booster/carseat which I'm not going to drag around)...how about if we go really super-basic?

As in...how to get to Magic Kingdom from Old Key West for a pre-opening Crystal Palace breakfast? Is the bus the only way for that? Or is there a cool way to go that might take longer but would be more fun?

This is our first WDW trip, it's getting close, and I want to know! (we'll have a rental car, but I've heard that for MK days it's good to take Disney transportation)

 

[LoveKermit]

Bumbershoot--

I would drive. You will get to park in the Minnie lot which is about 5 steps from the TTC. Then you can take the boat or monorail, which is pretty exciting for first-timers. No matter what time you leave, your car is really close.

My DH is anti-bus, though, so many will tell you to take the bus.

One philosophy is to get the rockstar parking and if you go back to the hotel in the afternoon, take the bus. Then at the end of the night, your car is in a good spot. But we spent TOO MUCH time in line for the monorail in August at the end of the night, so it didn't matter where our car was.

When we left MK in the afternoon, they were filling an outer lot. But when we went back for dinner (5ish?) we were in one of the dwarf lots, which is "inside" the Epcot monorail--and totally walkable to the TTC. So after the monorail line from h***, we didn't have to wait in an equally aggravating tram line.

Just some thoughts. DH always tells me they took the boat in the morning and monorail back. I think we always took the boat.

 

[bumbershoot]

Thanks, LoveKermit! I did forget about the part where we are getting there early, and therefore our parking situation would be better.

 

[goofy4tink]

Bumbershoot...it's completely up to you. My issue is that you have to go out to your car, drive to the TTC, park the car, walk or tram to the main area of TTC, then transfer to either the ferry or monorail before getting to MK.
I much prefer just getting a bus...they start running by 6:30am, so no issue getting there early enough.

But again, that's up to you. Many prefer to drive their own car while others prefer to leave the driving to Disney.

 

[littlepeppers]

Yes ... anytime going to a MK resort for breakfast, always mention to the driver where you're trying to get to, especially if it's more than an hour before park opening. Even if they can't drop you off on the way, the bus may be headed to that resort for it's next run after the MK.

We did that one day trying to get to the Chef Mickey. We were on a MK but & asked the driver when getting off at MK what was the best way to get to Contempo. He said to just stay on the bus b.c it was his next stop.

Remember to strike up conversations w/ drivers....especially if the bus isn't crowded. They often have some very helpful info. & they are often great people to talk to in general. Sometimes kindness can get you a long way.

 

[leadfootlevi]

We'll be using Disney transportation.

What transportation and what time will we need to leave to get from AK to Contemporary for a 11:15 AM ADR at CMs?

 

[Lewisc]

One (former?) DIS timed it. She said even driving to the MK was faster then taking a bus. You're trading off a few minute wait for a tram then boat/monorail with a potential 20 minute wait for a bus that may make several stops.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I did see that you had mentioned taking a taxi, I simply was letting the poster know what the approx cost and time required for that option would be so that he/she would have a little more information to make their decision.
I believe the more information you have the easier it becomes to decide what's best for you.
That's supposed to be what this thread is all about.

And it was VERY kind of you to state JUST "taxi", because it's entirely possible my mentioning that as an alternative got lost among the directions. I was just being contrary

 

[kaytieeldr]

We'll be using Disney transportation.

What transportation and what time will we need to leave to get from AK to Contemporary for a 11:15 AM ADR at CMs?

Be waiting by 10; bus from AK to TTC, then monorail to the Contemporary. No, it doesn't take that long, but you're advised to arrive ? minutes prior to your dinner reservation time, and this will allow you to be there in plenty of time.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Hi All:

I have 2 back to back breakfast buffets, on consecutive days, during my vacation. I had resided myself to taking cabs. But if anyone can give me a better way, I'd appreciate it.

1) Port Orleans Riverside to the Polynesian for a 7:40am breakfast at Kona

2) Port Orleans Riverside to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for a 9:20am breakfast at Boma

Any tips would be appreciated.

These don't appear to have been answered, so forgive me for duplication:

POR -> Polynesian = bus to MK, monorail or launch to Polynesian, be waiting for bus 6:30
POR -> AKL = bus to AK, bus to AKL, asking driver the best way to get to AKL (see cranbiz's post about how the driver may be able to take you to your actual destination, if that's where the bus is going after the park). Alternatively, bus to Epcot or DHS, then bus to AKL. In either case, start at 8.

Or, take a taxi. Allow thirty minutes, including travel time and the advised 'cushion' time for getting to your dining reservations before the scheduled time.

 

[Karenj2]

Thanks for this thread! DH, DMIL, DD & I will be going to WDW for the January Marathon!! On one of the days I'm thinking that we'll go to AK all day, then the AKL for dinner, then we have to pick up the race material at the WOS.

I know how to get to the AKL for dinner, but how do we get to the WOS (and then back to the Poly)? Will Disney have busses running there?