Park Hopping with a dinner reservation

[maryryanbogard]

Here's the thing: I (or rather, my mother) was recently gifted two days in WDW- two weeks from now. Despite it being "peak season", I managed to snag two Park Hopper tickets, a breakfast at CRT, and a Fantasmic Dinner Package involving Hollywood & Vine. Unfortunately, we're staying off-property "ten minutes away from Disney Springs" so we don't have the on-property perks, but we will have our own vehicle.

Our plan for 7/30 is to do MK in the morning and head over to HS in time for our 4:55 dinner reservation at Hollywood & Vine. What time would we need to leave MK, and would it be better to leave the car at the TTC and use the "free" Disney-provided transportation options (which rules out the "Minnie Vans")?

ETA: The CRT breakfast reservation is for 7/31; different day than the H&V dinner.

 

[Dave006]

Our plan for 7/30 is to do MK in the morning and head over to HS in time for our 4:55 dinner reservation at Hollywood & Vine. What time would we need to leave MK, and would it be better to leave the car at the TTC and use the "free" Disney-provided transportation options

I would leave the park at 3:30 at the latest. Take the Monorail or Ferry to TTC and collect your car and drive to HS.

You only have to pay to park once. Just keep your receipt to show at the HS parking lot. This will save you time busing to HS and the need to take a bus back to MK and then make your way back to the TTC to collect your car.

Dave

 

[scrappinginontario]

Recommended travel time to an ADR is 90 mins so I agree with @Dave006 that you'll want to leave MK at 3:30 if you're taking your own car or, if you're using Disney transportation.

In your case I would move your car from TTC to DHS because once you leave DHS you would need to take a bus back to MK and then either the monorail or ferry to TTC to get your car. There is no direct transportation from DHS to TTC.

 

[reddog21]

If you leave your car at TTC you could also take a bus from DHS to the Polynesion and walk to the TTC(probably 5-7 min walk from the bus stop)

It depends to me on what your end goal is? If your spending the rest of the night at DHS, I don't see a reason to leave your car at the TTC.

 

[philharmagic fan]

Unless your breakfast is super early, I'd park at Studios, then boat, skyliner, or walk to a nearby resort, and take the bus to MK. This will give you a nice, close-in parking space at Studios, and although you have a 2-part trip to MK, you won't have to monorail or boat from TTC to the park, and if you're staying near DS it should be a shorter drive to Studios than to MK, so the trip won't be that much longer than parking at MK.

 

[maryryanbogard]

Unless your breakfast is super early

I probably should have mentioned that the CRT reservation is on a different day than the H&V Fantasmic package. We have no breakfast plans the day of our H&V dinner. And MK is actually our favorite park so we want to spend as much time there as possible.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I probably should have mentioned that the CRT reservation is on a different day than the H&V Fantasmic package. We have no breakfast plans the day of our H&V dinner. And MK is actually our favorite park so we want to spend as much time there as possible.

This possibly changes things. Are you planning to go back to MK after you H&V ADR?

 

[gottalovepluto]

Here's the thing: I (or rather, my mother) was recently gifted two days in WDW- two weeks from now. Despite it being "peak season", I managed to snag two Park Hopper tickets, a breakfast at CRT, and a Fantasmic Dinner Package involving Hollywood & Vine.

OT but excellent news for you- it is not remotely peak season. Summer is now Disney’s quietest season.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

Take your own car. When I got married at WDW, we took the bus to our wedding rehearsal. We gave ourselves a little over an hour and we were still late. We now always have a car when we go to WDW (we drive) and always drive to our ADR's. For our last trip (May 2024) we left 20 minutes before our reservation. NOTE: All our ADR"S were at WDW resort hotels and when putting directions into phone, drive time was not more than 5 minutes.

 

[neverlandsky]

Here now, easily underestimated the time crunch. Basically all things at WDW are time related. With us planning to be out of the park at a specific time, we were late by 30 & 60 minutes.

Personally, I would give yourself at least 1.5 -2 hours before ADR. That way you’re at DHS ahead of time. I would take the car from TCC and drive to DHS. That way when the night is over your car is right there vs. having to commute back to car and then back to hotel. This way you’re not battling both Fantasmic traffic & MK fireworks traffic with the car parked at TCC.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Here's the thing: I (or rather, my mother) was recently gifted two days in WDW- two weeks from now. Despite it being "peak season", I managed to snag two Park Hopper tickets, a breakfast at CRT, and a Fantasmic Dinner Package involving Hollywood & Vine. Unfortunately, we're staying off-property "ten minutes away from Disney Springs" so we don't have the on-property perks, but we will have our own vehicle.

Our plan for 7/30 is to do MK in the morning and head over to HS in time for our 4:55 dinner reservation at Hollywood & Vine. What time would we need to leave MK, and would it be better to leave the car at the TTC and use the "free" Disney-provided transportation options (which rules out the "Minnie Vans")?

ETA: The CRT breakfast reservation is for 7/31; different day than the H&V dinner.

Both meals will take a considerable chunk of your time, especially given that you are trying to cover multiple parks, so you'll need to allow a substantial amount of transit time. When I personally go to WDW on short visits, I tend to skip ADR's.

If I was in your shoes, I would drop the Fantasmic Dining package in favor of more flexibility in the timing of getting over to HS to see Fantasmic, unless the H&V dinner is a big priority. If so, then I'd drop CRT.

Timing-wise, I think you would be better off driving to HS. A bonus of driving is that you will have a chance to be in your own car. It will be much easier coming out of HS.

 

[maryryanbogard]

When I personally go to WDW on short visits, I tend to skip ADR's.

If I was in your shoes, I would drop the Fantasmic Dining package in favor of more flexibility in the timing of getting over to HS to see Fantasmic, unless the H&V dinner is a big priority. If so, then I'd drop CRT.

The CRT ADR and Fantasmic dinner package are not both on the same day. And what works for you doesn't work for everyone in every situation.

This possibly changes things. Are you planning to go back to MK after you H&V ADR?

Considering it's part of a Fantasmic Dinner Package, probably not.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I would definitely take your car to DHS. . By the time Fantasmic is done, it would be challenging to get from DHS to TTC without paring for private transportation.

The time of thumb is to take your vehicle with you to whatever park you are moving to. The only exception to this would be between MK and Epcot if your vehicle is as the TTC.

 

[Selket]

Considering it's part of a Fantasmic Dinner Package, probably not.

I would drive from the TTC to DHS for dinner and the nighttime show and allow 2 hours. if you get there a little early you have some time to shop or maybe a ride.

We did H&V for dinner a few weeks ago and I really enjoyed the food - it was the best salmon I had the whole trip and some of the best I've ever had! I was surprised and the restaurant wasn't crowded so it was very relaxing. The characters are a plus!

 

[mickeyluv'r]

The CRT ADR and Fantasmic dinner package are not both on the same day. And what works for you doesn't work for everyone in every situation.


Considering it's part of a Fantasmic Dinner Package, probably not.

Please don't post a question on a forum, and then respond in this manner when we try to help. It comes off as snark.

Of course what works for some people doesn't work for everyone. That is why I qualified my answer that way.

Further, I read your question and responses carefully before I answered. You specifically asked, "What time would we need to leave MK?" to get to HS. That is the only question I answered. Your other day, other dining, and the rest of the info in our top post are not relevant.