Parkhopping - how easy is it?

[3daughters]

As you all know by now I'm really new at this! My question, can you get to all the parks with the monorail?

If I'm at MK or EP I know I can use the monorail, but how do I get from those places to let's say MGM or AK? Do I have to take a bus? Does it take long?

When they say you must have park entrance for certain dining, you automatically have park entrance by entering a park no? I have park hopper tickets. Not quite sure what park entrance means for this dining requirement. Don't you Have to have park entrance to get in to dine? None of my dining experiences are going to be in a hotel and some of these say must have park entrance.

Thanks!

 

[AppleSister1]

Easy question first: when they say you need park entrance media for your dining reservation, they just mean you need a ticket to get into the park - in other words, you can't enter just to eat without a ticket. But you have tickets so you are all set!

The monorail only serves Epcot and MK. To get to the other parks, yes, you'll need to take a bus. The exception here is to get between Epcot and MGM, you can walk or take a boat. The only transportation to Animal Kingdom is bus.

Where are you staying? Simply because we may be able to give you some tips based on that....

 

[3daughters]

Staying at POP Century

 

[Cheshire Figment]

You can get between any of the four theme parks by bus. In addition, you can get between EC/MK by monorail and EC/Studio by boat.

You cannot get from any of the four theme parks by direct bus to either DTD or one of the Water Parks.

To get into any of the parks you must have a valid admission ticket to that park. Even if you have a dining reservation.

If you have been to one park (let's say AK) on a day and you will be dining in another (such as EC) on the same day you must have the hopper option on your ticket to get into the second park.

 

[ZoZo]

It's very easy to get from park to park, using a combination of buses and monorails. I spent a week at WDW last year and park-hopped every day.

Be aware, though, that it's nearly impossible to get from any of the parks to Downtown Disney (DTD) in a reasonable amount of time. There is no bus or monorail that goes directly from any of the parks to DTD. I wasted nearly an hour and a half one day trying to get from Epcot to DTD. Tried taking the monorail from Epcot to the Contemparary, then waiting for a bus there. This took forever! I must have just missed the bus going from Contemporary to DTD, and waited nearly half an hour before I gave up and went back to Shades of Green Hotel. Was very frustrated and crabby. This was my only time during my whole vacation that I wished I had had a rental car!

So my advice is that if you want to go to DTD, grab a bus directly from your hotel (rather than trying to get there from a park). If you're at a park and want to go directly to DTD, grab a cab at the taxi stand.

 

[FantasmicDreams]

Also, if time is an issue, you can cab to Animal Kingdom from Epcot or MGM for about $12. Thats what we do. Cabs to /from MK area can get expensive though...

Let's see.. I'll list the option in order of ease...

Epcot to MGM - walk, boat, cab, bus
Epcot to MK - monorail, switch at TTC, bus, cab
Epcot to AK - cab, bus

MK to Epcot - monorail switch at TTC, bus, cab
MK to AK - bus, cab
MK to MGM - bus, cab, monorail to Epcot and then follow Epcot to MGM

AK to Epcot - cab, bus
AK to MGM - cab, bus
AK to MK - bus, cab

MGM to Epcot - walk, boat, cab, bus
MGM to MK - bus, cab
MGM to AK - cab, bus

Hope that helps.

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

There is a way to expedite getting to DTD. Get on the first bus going to a resort that is over that way. Port Orleans Riverside for example. Once there you can change to a DTD bus or catch the DTD boat (if in service) or even switch to a taxi. What with the distance being relatively short for the bus the turnaround time should be pretty quick.

 

[MouseyMin]

You need to figure on at least an hour to park hop. Besides waiting for the bus and transit time, you will also have to go though security again and possibly wait on line to enter the new park. That said, I do it all the time, especially on Studios or Animal Kingdom days, where I find that there is not enough to do for an entire day.

 

[ThemDawgs]

You need to figure on at least an hour to park hop. Besides waiting for the bus and transit time, you will also have to go though security again and possibly wait on line to enter the new park.

I totally agree with this. It takes a lot of energy to park hop. A lot of extra walking. A lot of extra waiting sometimes. It should be called Park Schlepping not Park Hopping.

But if you'll be there at a quiet time of year it might work well. Of course, if it's a quiet time, the buses don't run so often.

Dawg

 

[NewEnglandDisney]

I've never had a problem park hopping. Walk out of park, wait on bench for bus, get on bus, arrive at new park.

Disney couldn't make it easier.

NED