Park hopping with a wheelchair

[tinkerbelletreasure]

I’ve only made one other trip in a wheelchair and we didn’t hop. And ended up driving ourselves and parking each day because we had a really bad experience trying to get on the bus at CBR the first day. This trip we are staying at All Star Music and do plan to hop each day. I’m wondering if we ought to just plan on driving for all our hopping or if it would be faster/easier to use the buses. I’m hoping since we are staying at a different resort we won’t have the issue of being the last pick up stop and therefore actually be able to get on a bus when it comes, but I know in general I feel like most of the comments I’ve seen about Disney buses and wheelchairs is negative. And we are driving, so it’s not like we’d have to rent a car. I can fold up my wheelchair and sit in a normal seat as my issue is stamina and distances, but at CBR we were in the building at the last stop and 3 buses we full before they got to us, and then the 4th already had too many wheelchairs and strollers ahead of me.

 

[Michigan]

I’ve only made one other trip in a wheelchair and we didn’t hop. And ended up driving ourselves and parking each day because we had a really bad experience trying to get on the bus at CBR the first day. This trip we are staying at All Star Music and do plan to hop each day. I’m wondering if we ought to just plan on driving for all our hopping or if it would be faster/easier to use the buses. I’m hoping since we are staying at a different resort we won’t have the issue of being the last pick up stop and therefore actually be able to get on a bus when it comes, but I know in general I feel like most of the comments I’ve seen about Disney buses and wheelchairs is negative. And we are driving, so it’s not like we’d have to rent a car. I can fold up my wheelchair and sit in a normal seat as my issue is stamina and distances, but at CBR we were in the building at the last stop and 3 buses we full before they got to us, and then the 4th already had too many wheelchairs and strollers ahead of me.

We park hop between Hollywood Studios and Epcot using the boat. The best resort with only one pickup spot is Port Orleans. If I remember right the bus order for All Star is sports, music the movies. A lot depends when you plan on going and crowd levels.

 

[redberyl]

We did the buses one trip with a wheelchair. We stayed at allstar movies in off seaon. We didnt park hop, but returned to the room for a rest at midday.. I found it so stressful waiting to see if there would be room for the chair, and we lost so much time waiting for the next bus when there wasnt space, that now we always just rent a car and drive ourselves. Even if you are the first stop, there are so many people using chairs and ecvs that frequently there would be a line of them waiting ahead of us at the bus stop and we couldnt get on. If you can drive yourselves, i would do it

 

[tinkerbelletreasure]

That’s kind of what I was thinking. We aren’t going in an off season, but mid season, I guess. It the first week of June before Summer gets ramped up. TP is predicting crowd of 5-7 while we are there. I don’t think I’ve ever been there when crowds were below 7, so it will probably seem less crowded to us.
I figured it would probably be best to drive and park but I wasn’t sure if some of the park to park transportation was quicker, especially if we didn’t have to go through bag check again. We lost so much time that first day of the last trip, I guess I won’t chance it.

 

[kaytieeldr]

If you are starting or ending your hop at Magic Kingdom, it's probably more efficient to use the bus.

 

[SueM in MN]

We have come to WDW for many years with a wheelchair. Sometimes we have a car, sometimes we don’t. We have park hopped without issues.
The nice things about park hopping using Disney transportation are that you don’t have keep moving your hot car or worry about where your car is.
If you are staying at a WDW resort, you aren‘t charged the parking fee for parking at the parks. If you are not, keep your receipt to avoid getting charged again at the second park. If you need handicapped parking, it is very possible it will be filled at the park you are hopping to.

You can take a bus from any park to any other park. There are also one way buses to Disney Springs from every park after 4:30 pm.

For MK, it’s easiest to use the buses. They drop you off right at the park entrance. If you drive, you will need to take the ferry boat or monorail from the parking lot to get to the entrance. From MK, you can take the monorail to Ticket and Transportation Center then transfer to the Epcot monorail. The monorails are wheelchair accessible.

Guests can travel between Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios by walking path, Friendship boat or skyway (all wheelchair accessible).

AK is the park we are most likely to drive to when we have a vehicle. No special reason, other than we sometimes go to AK Lodge for supper after a day at AK.

 

[Bete]

Timing is everything. If you leave very early for the park it's better. If you leave right after a parade it's terrible. The same is true leaving after fireworks. Park closing is bad.

Previous person is correct. If buses are shared at All Star you are the second stop not the first. Sometimes each resort has their own buses.

When we used a wheelchair we took our car. We've been through times were we waited for three buses to get back to our resort.

If you were staying at a Skyliner resort it might be a little better but you are not.

 

[Staren]

In my option, how you view the Disney bus experience comes down to whether you are used to public transportation or not. I live in The City (Boston), so I live on public transportation. I think the Disney busses are very accessible and run quite well overall. I can see where people who only have driving to compare the busses to could get frustrated though.

This is one of the areas that takes some extra up front planning to really accommodate a wheelchair. I make it a point to request rooms by the first bus stop in larger resorts. When traveling with a wheelchair, the accommodations are available to help, but it is very rare to be able to just show up and not run into something like this.

 

[Weedy]

The Skyliner may work for some of your trip. It runs from Art of Animation to both EPCOT and the Studio.
You will have to transfer at Caribbean Beach to go to either EPCOT or the Studio.
On the day you use the Skyliner you can hop between EPCOT and the Studio and will be able to go back and forth to your hotel.
There is a area where the cabin stops for wheelchairs to load or you can enter from the regular line if you fold the wheelchair

Typically no wait for the Skyliner because it’s a continuous load. At park close there is a line but it moves quickly

 

[kaytieeldr]

On the day you use the Skyliner you can hop between EPCOT and the Studio

There are also the options of the Friendship boats or the bus between these two parks - neither of which requires a transfer