Resort Hopping Quick Service

[dismiss]

WE are spending a resort only3 days in WDW. WE have the quick service dining & are staying at the Poly. I see many of the Moderate & Value resorts seem to have a more varied & better choices on their Quick service/food courts. Are there guard shacks that we have to go thru if we are to take our car & will they allow us to go in for a quick service meal (Without a mobile order) I know we can take Disney. transport, but that could take a long time

 

[fla4fun]

WE are spending a resort only3 days in WDW. WE have the quick service dining & are staying at the Poly. I see many of the Moderate & Value resorts seem to have a more varied & better choices on their Quick service/food courts. Are there guard shacks that we have to go thru if we are to take our car & will they allow us to go in for a quick service meal (Without a mobile order) I know we can take Disney. transport, but that could take a long time

Well, it depends. I know that's not the best answer, but it does depend on where the resort is located, how busy it is, the guard who is working the gate, etc. Any resort with easy park transportation (even those on the Skyliner) are more strict most of the time than those who are connected solely by bus (such as Port Orleans or the All Stars). If you can take Disney transportation, then you know you will be able to dine there. If you drive, have a Plan B in the back of your mind just in case you are turned away. We usually try to plan our resort dining around our park schedule. For example, if we were staying at the Poly and wanted to dine at POFQ, we would go to a park for the day, from the park to POFQ, and from POFQ to DS after dinner to catch the Poly bus at DS.

 

[Genie+]

Yeah, I think it’s worth having a back-up plan in mind but your chances of getting in seem good. The guards often take into account where you are staying, and I’m not sure if they can see your DDP or not, but I think what you’re asking should help your chance at success.

 

[Disneylover99]

No guarantees, but the guards will likely let you in by car to most values and moderates. I would just try it.

If you get turned away, I’d just head to Disney Springs. Lots of great quick service options there. And way better than the resorts.

Also, don’t forget to check out the quick service options at the GF and Contemporary.

 

[Mle8308]

As others have mentioned, you may have issues at Pop and CBR due to the Skyliner. We've never had any problems at Port Orleans or the All Stars (visiting friends who were staying there and met at the pool bar for drinks). Riviera has a fantastic QS location, but you will have to take Disney transportation to get in if not staying there. It's worth it.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Accessing most resorts without staying there or an ADR will likely get you turned away at the guard shack. I would plan to use Disney transportation. We’ve done this the past couple of trips and had such fun! You can go in with a plan or play bus roulette from a park and go to whatever resort the next bus that arrives is going to. It’s a fun adventure!

 

[Disneylover99]

Accessing most resorts without staying there or an ADR will likely get you turned away at the guard shack. I would plan to use Disney transportation. We’ve done this the past couple of trips and had such fun! You can go in with a plan or play bus roulette from a park and go to whatever resort the next bus that arrives is going to. It’s a fun adventure!

Yes! I totally agree. It is a fun adventure, if you don’t have a car, your trip is longer, and you’ll be at the parks.

But the OP has a resort stay at the Poly for just a few days. No parks. And they have a car. It doesn’t make sense for them to be bussing to parks/resorts and back again just for quick service. Way too much time wasted travelling/waiting for buses.

 

[HopperFan]

Accessing most resorts without staying there or an ADR will likely get you turned away at the guard shack. I would plan to use Disney transportation. We’ve done this the past couple of trips and had such fun! You can go in with a plan or play bus roulette from a park and go to whatever resort the next bus that arrives is going to. It’s a fun adventure!

THIS^

Been refused. I wouldn't want to waste time hoping to get in somewhere, only to get turned away. We have parked at a park (and Disney Springs), then took Disney transportation to a resort/area. We did this last week. If I don't have any park time to worry about losing I'd just look at the travel as part of our adventure.

 

[bluezy]

WE are spending a resort only3 days in WDW. WE have the quick service dining & are staying at the Poly. I see many of the Moderate & Value resorts seem to have a more varied & better choices on their Quick service/food courts. Are there guard shacks that we have to go thru if we are to take our car & will they allow us to go in for a quick service meal (Without a mobile order) I know we can take Disney. transport, but that could take a long time

Just curious, since you said you're doing a resort only trip, what other plans to do you have that make you concerned that Disney transportation will take too long? We did a lot of resort hopping for meals on our last trip (even though we went to the parks for some amount of time every day). We were at AoA and would take the Skyliner to DHS and then grab a bus to whatever resort we wanted to go to from there. Super easy and didn't really waste much time -- no lines for the Skyliner at that time of day and very short (less than 10 minutes at most) wait for buses at DHS. We drive to Disney, but never use our car once we're there. We could walk out of our room and be at the GF in 30-35 minutes using the Skyliner and bus. We *might* have saved 5 or 10 minutes if we drove ourselves, but we also could have been turned away at GF and had to go somewhere else for lunch. If I was staying at the Poly, I'd just take the monorail or boat (depending on when you're there -- I know the dock is closing for a few weeks next month) to MK and take a bus from there to whatever resort your heading to. While it *might* take a few minutes longer, it could save you a lot of time because you're not going to get turned away at the resort for any reason. We've also taken a bus to DS and then taken the boat to POR and POFQ to have lunch at those resorts. It might not be the most efficient way to get there, but if it's not eating in to park time it's a fun thing to do. If I was doing a resort-only stay, I wouldn't really care how long it would take to use Disney transportation to get around because I'd be looking for ways to fill my days. Using Disney transportation allows me to sit back, relax, and just enjoy the ride rather than driving in traffic, hoping to be allowed into a resort, and then finding a parking spot. YMMV

 

[Scalemaster34]

WE are spending a resort only3 days in WDW. WE have the quick service dining & are staying at the Poly. I see many of the Moderate & Value resorts seem to have a more varied & better choices on their Quick service/food courts. Are there guard shacks that we have to go thru if we are to take our car & will they allow us to go in for a quick service meal (Without a mobile order) I know we can take Disney. transport, but that could take a long time

Getting turned away because you don't have a resort reservation or an ADR, could be even more time consuming....

But I'm not sure any of these are worth the trouble.... If staying at the Poly the counter service options at the other monorail resorts tend to be pretty good, and a boat trip over to Wilderness Lodge adds to that. At one time I might have said Sassagoula Floatworks & Food Factory was worth a special trip.... but it's been more miss than hit the last times we were there. Disney Springs tends to offer better tasting options.

 

[Disneylover99]

Just curious, since you said you're doing a resort only trip, what other plans to do you have that make you concerned that Disney transportation will take too long? We did a lot of resort hopping for meals on our last trip (even though we went to the parks for some amount of time every day). We were at AoA and would take the Skyliner to DHS and then grab a bus to whatever resort we wanted to go to from there. Super easy and didn't really waste much time -- no lines for the Skyliner at that time of day and very short (less than 10 minutes at most) wait for buses at DHS. We drive to Disney, but never use our car once we're there. We could walk out of our room and be at the GF in 30-35 minutes using the Skyliner and bus. We *might* have saved 5 or 10 minutes if we drove ourselves, but we also could have been turned away at GF and had to go somewhere else for lunch. If I was staying at the Poly, I'd just take the monorail or boat (depending on when you're there -- I know the dock is closing for a few weeks next month) to MK and take a bus from there to whatever resort your heading to. While it *might* take a few minutes longer, it could save you a lot of time because you're not going to get turned away at the resort for any reason. We've also taken a bus to DS and then taken the boat to POR and POFQ to have lunch at those resorts. It might not be the most efficient way to get there, but if it's not eating in to park time it's a fun thing to do. If I was doing a resort-only stay, I wouldn't really care how long it would take to use Disney transportation to get around because I'd be looking for ways to fill my days. Using Disney transportation allows me to sit back, relax, and just enjoy the ride rather than driving in traffic, hoping to be allowed into a resort, and then finding a parking spot. YMMV

I’m not the OP, but I’m speaking as someone who has booked several short, resort only stays at the Poly.

We love the buses when we stay at values or moderates. But taking the bus is not something we want to do on our Poly stays. The Poly is relaxing, beautiful and of course expensive. We mostly never leave the property and have zero plans when staying there. You can fill your time relaxing by the pool, visiting resorts on the monorail or driving to Disney Springs. Taking the bus if you don’t need to, kind of defeats the purpose of staying at the Poly to begin with IMO, if your goal is to relax and unwind.

 

[bluezy]

I’m not the OP, but I’m speaking as someone who has booked several short, resort only stays at the Poly.

We love the buses when we stay at values or moderates. But taking the bus is not something we want to do on our Poly stays. The Poly is relaxing, beautiful and of course expensive. We mostly never leave the property and have zero plans when staying there. You can fill your time relaxing by the pool, visiting resorts on the monorail or driving to Disney Springs. Taking the bus if you don’t need to, kind of defeats the purpose of staying at the Poly to begin with IMO, if your goal is to relax and unwind.

Fair enough. We're staying at GF next month but still plan to resort hop by taking the monorail/boat to MK and hopping on a bus to the resort not on the monorail loop. Of course, I wouldn't be going to Disney for a resort-only stay (plenty of less expensive but equally luxurious resorts much closer to home for that), so I guess I have a different mind set. We like to get in as many forms of Disney transportation as we can during our stays. I don't find Disney transportation to be stressful, so I'm able to relax and unwind while using them. Different strokes....no big deal.