Question about Magical Express to AKR

[jxhide]

Hi,

This is my first time staying at the Animal Kingdom resort. I was wondering, how long does it take to go from the airport to arrive at the resort on the Magical Express bus. I read that most places it's about 90min but I wasn't sure if it would take longer since AKR is a little further away than most of the resorts.

Due to various reasons, our group is split up with my brother arriving about 3 1/2 hours after us. We already plan to be inside the park (MGM/Hollywood) by the time my brother arrives at MCO. Does he have to go all the way to AKR on the Magical Express bus or can he stop at a closer resort and head on over to the park from there. I was planning on taking his luggage with me so that he wouldn't have to worry about his.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[figment_jii]

I would allot the same amount of time, about 90 minutes. AKL is the furthest resort from MCO (as the crow flies), but not by much. For example, MCO to AKL is about 22.9 miles (according to Google) and MCO to Contemporary is closer to 24 miles. So, it probably won't take much more time to get to AKL than to any of the other resorts.

Your ME vouchers are keyed to a specific resort. So he'll have to take the bus to AKL. Also, there is no guarantee that the AKL bus would share a route with any of the DHS area resorts.

 

[Jestocost]

Your ME vouchers are keyed to a specific resort. So he'll have to take the bus to AKL. Also, there is no guarantee that the AKL bus would share a route with any of the DHS area resorts.

That said, while he will have to board the AKL bus, there is nothing to prevent him from getting off at an earlier resort stop if DME doesn't go to AKL first. If the DME bus happens to be going to one of the Epcot area resorts (not likely) and stops there before AKL, he could get off and head to DHS. Alternatively, he could just get off at the very first resort stop, wherever that may be, and head to DHS from there. Might save a few minutes.

If he has carry-on luggage that he can't take to to a park, however, that would be a problem.

 

[goofy4tink]

Almost every time I have taken DME to Pop, the bus has also gone to AKL. And most of the time, the bus stops at Pop first. I would tell him to get off the bus at that first stop. Pop is much closer to DHS than AKL is...so it won't take nearly as long to get there.
If he has a carryon bag though he will have to store it somewhere. So, tell him to travel lightly!!

 

[jxhide]

Thank you so much for all your responses! I will probably take his luggage ahead of time for him then and have him try to stop at an earlier resort like Pop. Thanks again for your help. :

 

[figment_jii]

If saving a time is really that important, you can have him take a taxi from the resort to DHS. That way he doesn't have to wait for the bus to arrive. I was at Pop a couple of weeks ago and there were taxis waiting. It will probably cost about $15 (maybe a little less because Pop is pretty close to HS).