Please explain the buses from resorts to destinations

[siskaren]

Arggh! Poly is 10am, Contemporary is 8am. Maybe a Taxi is easier. And still cheaper than renting a car the entire time.

Those are not going to be a problem with Disney transportation. The monorail is certainly going to be running in time for the Poly ADR (or there's also a boat), and for the Contemporary one, you can easily walk to the Contemporary from the MK, and with the buses to the parks starting at 6:30, you shouldn't have any trouble getting to the MK early enough to walk to CR by 8.

 

[joelkfla]

There is no bus from any resort to the TTC. I think even Shades of Green is no longer there. Use MK as a transfer point in either case.

You could do POFQ to Epcot by bus. Then monorail to TTC and take the short walk to Poly.

OT for this thread, but to avoid confusion by future readers:

SOG still transfers at TTC for MK & Epcot.

 

[msb578]

OT for this thread, but to avoid confusion by future readers: SOG still transfers at TTC for MK & Epcot.

Thank you! That was a bit speculative on my part- sorry for that

Similarly off-topic, the DTD hotels on Disney property (but not owned by them) also drop off at the TTC for MK access.

 

[Richard M Nixon]

The Disney bus system is fluid and flexible. It varies based on time of day, number of guests, traffic, even weather. They do not provide any schedule other than to say buses run regularly to all parks and DTD. At the Contemporary there will be times you have a dedicated bus, and others where you share with the Poly and Grand Flo. The general recommendation is to give yourself no less than an hour, but more like 1.5-2 hours to get somewhere by bus.

Plan on 1.5 to 2 hours to get to any destination? Really? That sounds so extreme. Is that because of traffic or all the stops? If I'll be spending 3-4 hours a day, minimum, just on transit, it suddenly looks very nice to rent a car. Would everyone agree?

 

[Gracie09]

Plan on 1.5 to 2 hours to get to any destination? Really? That sounds so extreme. Is that because of traffic or all the stops? If I'll be spending 3-4 hours a day, minimum, just on transit, it suddenly looks very nice to rent a car. Would everyone agree?

Resort to resort is different than resort to park. There is no direct resort to resort buses. So you have to go resort to park to resort. If you just miss the bus from resort one to the park, you can wait up to twenty minutes for the next bus. Driving on the bus take about twenty minutes give or take (depending on traffic, other stops, how far you are going etc). Then if you miss the next bus to the second resort, you again can wait about twenty minutes. Then drive to the second resort, about twenty minutes. So 20+20+20+20 is 1 hour 20 minutes. It can be shorter it can be longer.
Wdw is approximately the size of Manhattan. It takes time to drive places. We tend to plan our resort dinners based on our park plans. If we are thinking of chef mickeys or a monorail restaurant it's usually a magic kingdom day. Boma an animal kingdom day. Etc

 

[Alesia]

Plan on 1.5 to 2 hours to get to any destination? Really? That sounds so extreme. Is that because of traffic or all the stops? If I'll be spending 3-4 hours a day, minimum, just on transit, it suddenly looks very nice to rent a car. Would everyone agree?

That is pretty extreme. I always allow 1 hour to get from a resort to a park and 90 minutes to get between 2 resorts. I have always gotten there with plenty of time to spare.

 

[siskaren]

That is pretty extreme. I always allow 1 hour to get from a resort to a park and 90 minutes to get between 2 parks. I have always gotten there with plenty of time to spare.

I think you mean between 2 resorts, not between 2 parks.

 

[Richard M Nixon]

Hmm I think I might be planning on renting a car, if my plans are going to have so much variance. It's only, what, 20 or 25 bucks a day for a compact...though I guess then there's time to walk from parking lot to park entrance. Decision, decisions...

 

[Alesia]

I think you mean between 2 resorts, not between 2 parks.

Yes, I do. Thanks.

 

[msb578]

Hmm I think I might be planning on renting a car, if my plans are going to have so much variance. It's only, what, 20 or 25 bucks a day for a compact...though I guess then there's time to walk from parking lot to park entrance. Decision, decisions...

For MK, you can't even park at the Park itself. You park at the TTC, then take a monorail or ferry to get to the park. Whereas the Disney resort bus drops you off at MK itself. A car is still an advantage at the other 3 parks though.

 

[Hopefully]

Plan on 1.5 to 2 hours to get to any destination? Really? That sounds so extreme. Is that because of traffic or all the stops? If I'll be spending 3-4 hours a day, minimum, just on transit, it suddenly looks very nice to rent a car. Would everyone agree?

No, I don't agree.
For us, not driving is part of our vacation relaxation plan. We commute to work at home and love leaving the driving to Disney. We simply understand the logistics and accept and plan for the necessary time.
Remember, even if you do rent a car, you still have to drive on the very trafficy roads of WDW. You still have traffic jams and red lights. You will have to park, maybe far from a park entrance and get a tram to and from your car to the park. For the MK it requires a tram followed by a ferry or monorail to get to the gates.
What I do is budget for several resort to resort taxi trips. And maybe a taxi to DTD as well. These are the harder, time consuming trips. And taking several taxi trips in the course of a week is way cheaper than renting a car we won't need much.
Good Luck

 

[goofy4tink]

Hmm I think I might be planning on renting a car, if my plans are going to have so much variance. It's only, what, 20 or 25 bucks a day for a compact...though I guess then there's time to walk from parking lot to park entrance. Decision, decisions...

I have yet to find a car for that price in Orlando, but if you can do it, go for it!
But as others have said...it can be time consuming to drive as well. You have to walk out to the parking lot at your resort (and some aren't very convenient), drive to the parking area for the park...and at MK that's the TTC. There you park, then take a tram to the main area of the TTC and then either ferry or monorail to MK. At the other parks, you go directly from the parking area to the park, but traffic can be nasty when leaving or even entering, depending on the time of day. Not to mention that you may find yourself having to park some distance away. But, there are trams, again.

If you use Disney transportation, figure on about 45 mins from resort to park. From resort to resort, it can be anywhere from 45 mins to 90 mins, depending on the resort you are going to and where you are coming from.

 

[Hoopfamily]

We way prefer Disney transportation, but this year we are renting a car as we have some early adr's and a very early flight home. We got a full size rental for $204.00 tax included for our trip this year for 8 days.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[Alesia]

Hmm I think I might be planning on renting a car, if my plans are going to have so much variance. It's only, what, 20 or 25 bucks a day for a compact...though I guess then there's time to walk from parking lot to park entrance. Decision, decisions...

Renting a car will save you some time, but maybe not as much as you think it will.

I wonder if you understand just how huge WDW is. The property is twice the size of Manhattan - traveling anywhere is not going to be instantaneous.