1) We love to take the launch from MK to Poly (stops at GF first), but you could take the monorail (might have to get off at TTC and walk if Poly station still closed) or the kind of long walk from MK to GF then to Poly.
I would take bus to AK followed by bus to BC, because the boats are too slow and the walk is too long. Personal preference.
Sorry, I should have also said that I'd prefer to avoid TTC.
Thankfully, a wonderfully magical bus driver rescued us 
) I'd prefer to not return to the scene of the crime on this trip. 
Combine that experience with all the changes over the last year, and I'm (overly?) concerned about getting off to a late start that will severely limit what we're able to do during our special MK day. I do NOT want to mess up again!! If needed, I'm willing to Uber to Pop Century at 4 in the morning! If that's the best way to get us both amongst the earliest arrivals without having to go through TTC, I will do it. (I wish the Minnie Vans were still an option!)
In that case (and I don’t blame you), it sounds like the person staying at the Dolphin needs to meet the other party at Pop and take the bus together from there. We don’t do rope drop or early morning hours, but the general advice seems to be to be at the Pop bus stop about 90 minutes before scheduled MK open, in order to catch the first bus going there.Sorry, I should have also said that I'd prefer to avoid TTC.
I have already been forgiven once for botched arrival-via-TTC planning. (TTC followed by express monorail does NOT work when you have Early Morning Magic tickets
What do the experts recommend?
Getting from the Grand Floridian back to CBR after your fireworks cruise will all depend on park hours at each park. If MK closes later than the other parks it won't be an option to go to Epcot or DHS.
I'd walk, boat (resort launch) or monorail to MK and catch a bus to CBR from there. Since your cruise is to watch the MK fireworks, you should have plenty of time to get from GF to MK before the buses stop running post-MK closing time. If Epcot or DHS is still open when your cruise is over and will remain open for some period of time, you could catch a GF bus there, but if they're closed or about to close, there may not be any buses taking people in that direction at that time. Finally, if you're thinking about Epcot, remember that the bus will drop you off at the front and you'll need to walk through Epcot and exit through the IG in order to catch the Skyliner. That would require the proper tickets and park reservations - too complicated and too time consuming for me!
Good suggestions although just a note, if OP is thinking about Epcot, they can take the monorail to Epcot and if they have PH tickets and Epcot is open, walk through to International Gateway and take the Skyliner from there. A park reservation will not be needed to enter Epcot if:
My thought is to take a bus from AK to Animal Kingdom Lodge then take a bus to Epcot which will drop you at the front of the park.
Which will be helpful since AKL is the resort I'm checking into that day! (I'm staying at ASMu the night before)
If they walk or boat from GF to MK, will security let them in after park closing to get to the bus stops?
Guests do not need to enter MK to get from a boat, walking or monorail at the MK to the buses. All Disney transportation drops guests outside of the actual park so they can move between transportation types without entering a park. This is consistent at all parks.
the only way to do this one using Disney transportation would be to take one of the first buses to a park that opens at 8 and then take a bus from there to Riviera but even that will be a challenge to make it by 8AM.
Yes, but they will need to pass thru the security check at the MK boat dock to get to the buses. That's what I was asking about.
Well, since the earliest you'll be able to enter your 2nd park will be 2:00 PM and you'll be leaving from DHS, there will be buses to AK and MK leaving at 1:30, or you can take rideshare/taxi or your own car. Same for the trip between AK and MK, no matter which order you choose - Disney bus, rideshare/taxi, or your own car. Because you want to end up at Epcot, I'd go DHS - AK - MK because you can take the monorail between MK and Epcot (from MK, either the Express or the Resort monorail will take you to the TTC, where you disembark and transfer to the Epcot monorail). From AK to Epcot you'd be on another bus! (And also AK will probably close earlier than MK.)
The most direct route would be a Beach Club bus from Animal Kingdom (since the park to park buses don’t start running until hopping time). Beach Club is the closest bus stop to IG.
I had not realized there were now park to park buses! I won't be taking it, obviously - but fascinating!
They started back up in January when hopping returned. And finally the MK/EP monorail just came back
So happy!
