Please check out my itinerary and advise: DME or rental car?

[toodycat]

Hi, everyone. DH, DS (17) and I will be at WDW from 9/29-10/2. We are staying at the GF. It has been our practice to rent a car on our previous Disney vacations, but this time DH is suggesting that we just take DME. Our plane gets in at noon on Thursday. We will not be checking any luggage. How long should we expect to wait for DME? I understand the resorts are full up for that weekend. Once the bus leaves, how long does it take to get to the GF? Are there a lot of stops along the way? How radically would we have to change our trip if we did not have a car? Our park plans are as follows:

Thursday: Arrive GF. Head to Typhoon Lagoon. (If we don't rent a car, should we take a cab to TL?) Dinner at Narcoossee's.

Friday: Attend Day 1 of Epcot Food & Wine Festival. Have dinner at Grand Floridian Cafe. Attend Mickey's Not-So-Scary-Halloween-Party.

Saturday:Spend part of day at DHS. Lunch at 50s Prime Time Cafe. If there is time, return to Epcot for more Food & Wine Festival. Dinner at Bluezoo at the Dolphin. (Is it difficult to get to the Swan/Dolphin area without a car?)

Sunday: Breakfast at the Wave, followed by return to MK or lounging poolside, depending on how tired everyone is. Early dinner at Wolfgang Puck Cafe at 3 p.m. before catching 6:30 plane home.

Many thanks for your advice!

 

[Alesia]

The only thing you'd really have to change would be the dinner at Wolfgang Puck. ME will pick you up about 3 hours before your flight. and you should shoot for getting back to your resort about an hour before that.

You can plan on being at your resort 70 to 90 minutes after you plane lands.

Thursday looks fine, You can take a cab if you really want to, but I would just take the bus.

Saturday will be pretty easy, too. There is a boat from DHS to Epcot. Getting to the Swan and Dolphin from both Epcot and DHS is easy. You can either walk or take the boat.

Honestly with your plans the way they are, there is no way I'd pay to rent a car. Onsite transportation is super easy.

 

[goofy4tink]

The only thing you'd really have to change would be the dinner at Wolfgang Puck. ME will pick you up about 3 hours before your flight. and you should shoot for getting back to your resort about an hour before that.

You can plan on being at your resort 70 to 90 minutes after you plane lands.

Thursday looks fine, You can take a cab if you really want to, but I would just take the bus.

Saturday will be pretty easy, too. There is a boat from DHS to Epcot. Getting to the Swan and Dolphin from both Epcot and DHS is easy. You can either walk or take the boat.

Honestly with your plans the way they are, there is no way I'd pay to rent a car. Onsite transportation is super easy.

Ditto..on all counts.

 

[toodycat]

Thanks for your feedback. It's looking like we might cancel the car rental which is almost $300. Does the DME follow a certain route i.e. AK resorts to MK resorts or the other way around? How many stops are in a typical transfer?

 

[bgirl29]

The DME does not follow any certain routes. The bus driver chooses the order of the resorts depending on who ends up on his bus....what resorts are grouped together that time.

 

[Alesia]

The DME does not follow any certain routes. The bus driver chooses the order of the resorts depending on who ends up on his bus....what resorts are grouped together that time.

This is true except in the case of the GF. Since it's the flagship resort, it is always first to be dropped off - unless the bus is also going to the Poly. If that's the case, the guests going to the Poly will be dropped off first because the bus cannot make the turn into the resort if it coming from the GF.

 

[laughinplace199]

Hi, everyone. DH, DS (17) and I will be at WDW from 9/29-10/2. We are staying at the GF. It has been our practice to rent a car on our previous Disney vacations, but this time DH is suggesting that we just take DME. Our plane gets in at noon on Thursday. We will not be checking any luggage. How long should we expect to wait for DME? I understand the resorts are full up for that weekend. Once the bus leaves, how long does it take to get to the GF? Are there a lot of stops along the way? How radically would we have to change our trip if we did not have a car? Our park plans are as follows:

Thursday: Arrive GF. Head to Typhoon Lagoon. (If we don't rent a car, should we take a cab to TL?) Dinner at Narcoossee's.

Friday: Attend Day 1 of Epcot Food & Wine Festival. Have dinner at Grand Floridian Cafe. Attend Mickey's Not-So-Scary-Halloween-Party.

Saturday:Spend part of day at DHS. Lunch at 50s Prime Time Cafe. If there is time, return to Epcot for more Food & Wine Festival. Dinner at Bluezoo at the Dolphin. (Is it difficult to get to the Swan/Dolphin area without a car?)

Sunday: Breakfast at the Wave, followed by return to MK or lounging poolside, depending on how tired everyone is. Early dinner at Wolfgang Puck Cafe at 3 p.m. before catching 6:30 plane home.
Many thanks for your advice!

If your flight is at 6:30, ME will pick you up at your resort around 3:30, so you wouldn't be able to eat at WPC at 3:00.

 

[tina.tina]

We were at MK and DD HAD to have her face painted for our early dinner in the castle. We decided to go to DTD since there was no face painting in MK in April except pirate's league (don't know if it's changed since).

A CM suggested we go to a nearby resort & take a bus to DTD from there rather than go the 20 min bus trip to Pop & then go to DTD from there. We chose to take the boat to the GF since it was right there ready to go & the kids had been wanting to ride a boat again anyhow. We waited 20 minutes for the first bus which was going to DHS and a water park. We waited 20 more minutes for the second bus which went to DTD.

We were just about to catch the monorail to try a bus at another resort when the bus showed up. The longest we waited for a bus at Pop was 15 minutes and I thought a 40 minute wait for a bus at GF was pretty ridiculous. Does anyone else know if this is normal at GF?

 

[goofy4tink]

The buses to, and from, DTD are notoriously slow. The time of day also makes a difference.
If at MK, I would walk over to the CR and take their bus. At DHS, or Epcot? Head to BW. AK? Go to AKL.

As far as DME and routes go....they change, almost daily. But, you won't make more than a total of 4 stops, and more likely just 3. I have found that my average time, from gate to resort, is running at about 75 mins. When heading back to the airport, DME will pick you up about 3 hrs. prior to your flight time...give or take 15 mins either way.