resort to resort travel for breakfast?

[indycindy]

Ok, so I am buying the deluxe dining plan. I'm planning on eating a nice big breakfast at the resorts, and then having snacks for lunch, and then signature dinners. How difficult is it to go from resort to resort for breakfast? The busses apparently don't run from resorts to other resorts, so I will have to change busses.....I'm staying at Coronado springs and we are planning on having breakfasts at: Chef Mickeys, 1900 Park Fare, The Wave, Boma, Cape May Cafe, Kona, and Akershus (but that's not in a resort).......Does this seem do-able? How long before the reservation time would you recommend that I leave? We will be there in October, and this is really one of my biggest concerns. I've had to work on my husband for FOUR YEARS to get him to agree to this trip, and I want it as stress-free as possible!!! Thank you in advance for your thoughts and responses Cindy

 

[indycindy]

I'm sorry, perhaps this should have been on the restaurant board, maybe??? I'm not sure, but I was thinking that people who know about the resorts would have a better idea about this than people who know about the restaurants only. Anyway, I apologize if it seems out of place.

Thanks!

 

[katrina1122]

It's do-able, but a pain if you don't have a car. You can't take a bus from one resort to another. There are always transfers involved.

For this reason, we do 1 or 2 nice breakfasts at other resorts, but either eat in our room or eat it at a park.

 

[maxiesmom]

We use taxis to get to our early morning ADRs. It usually costs around $20, and saves a ton of time and stress over using the buses. Disney recommends 90 minutes to get to an ADR using their transportation. Using a taxi will save you 60 of those minutes.

 

[emilyindisney]

I've heard other people say that if you talk to the front desk they can set you up with a van/bus to come pick you up and bring you. I've never tried this myself so I'm not really sure if its true or not. I'd say calling the front desk and asking is worth a shot, though.

 

[mindy20]

We always use Taxi's, it's the best $20 you will spend because it saves you so much time ! It is very stress free. We do Deluxe Dining as well and always do big breakfasts at different resorts it works out well

 

[maxiesmom]

I've heard other people say that if you talk to the front desk they can set you up with a van/bus to come pick you up and bring you. I've never tried this myself so I'm not really sure if its true or not. I'd say calling the front desk and asking is worth a shot, though.

The tricky thing is, you never are actually calling the front desk. You are calling the call center. And even if they do say they will send a bus, you have no idea how long you will have to wait for it to show up, making the timing difficult at best.

 

[siskaren]

The ones for the resorts near MK are actually pretty easy. Buses start running at 6:30 every morning, and for Chef Mickey's and the Wave, just take the bus to MK and walk to the Contemporary. For Kona and 1900 Park Fare, take the monorail to the Poly and the GF.

 

[jmcghee2024]

The best mode of transportation will depend on the times of your ADRs.
If they are pre-park opening, I would take a taxi for all but Chef Mickey and Akerhaus.
Chef Mickey is walking distance from MK.
If they are close to or after park opening, then take a bus to the nearest park and transfer to the correct resort bus.

 

[nkereina]

Ok, so I am buying the deluxe dining plan. I'm planning on eating a nice big breakfast at the resorts, and then having snacks for lunch, and then signature dinners. How difficult is it to go from resort to resort for breakfast? The busses apparently don't run from resorts to other resorts, so I will have to change busses.....I'm staying at Coronado springs and we are planning on having breakfasts at: Chef Mickeys, 1900 Park Fare, The Wave, Boma, Cape May Cafe, Kona, and Akershus (but that's not in a resort).......Does this seem do-able? How long before the reservation time would you recommend that I leave? We will be there in October, and this is really one of my biggest concerns. I've had to work on my husband for FOUR YEARS to get him to agree to this trip, and I want it as stress-free as possible!!! Thank you in advance for your thoughts and responses Cindy

If you don't want to take a taxi, the only "annoying" breakfasts to get to would be Boma and Cape May. Especially Boma.

CM, 1900 Park Fare, the Wave and Kona are easy - take the bus to MK and then hop the monorail to Contemporary, GF, and Poly. We did this last trip and the monorail only added about 10-15 minutes to our travel time. I'd get to the bus stop about 60-70 mins before your ADR time to be safe.

Cape May, you could take the bus to DHS and then boat or walk to Cape May. Long walk, though. I would suspect the boats run fairly frequently in the morning since people are going to the parks.

Boma I would definitely take a cab. You'd have to wait for an AKL bus at a park and that time of morning, resort buses are few and far between from parks. You could be waiting for a while.

 

[eeyoresmom]

If you want your trip to be less stressful, I wouldn't do what you are planning. Try to keep your breakfast reservations in the parks you plan to be in that morning. Even this will take up your best touring time of the day however. Have you considered an early lunch ( say 11-11:30) then a later signature dinner with your snack in between? At least with this plan you have a few hours of low crowds assuming you will do rope drop. The wave, Kona, 1900 and Chef Mickey's are relatively easy to get to from the MK, just give yourselves the extra half hour. Boma will most likely take you the full 90 minutes ( AK busses also stop at BB in the morning). For Cape May the easiest way would be to go to Epcot ( assuming you have Park tickets /hoppers if needed for that day and your reservation is for after 9:30) and walk through the IG to BC. No breakfast is worth that time out of the parks IMO. Tusker House breakfast in the Animal Kingdom is really good and much easier to get to.

 

[Dis703]

I agree with eeyoresmom I would alter my plans a bit if shooting for stress free. I generally don't dine at the resorts much as it just take time away from the parks but if we do we always plan it around the park we will be at that day to minimize time lost to travel. I also would probably use snacks more for breakfast and not do table service every morning. As mentioned these are the best times to be in the parks with less crowds and lines.

 

[akaler2010]

My husband and I had a very similar dining schedule when we stayed at Pop Century. We went to a resort breakfast many days.

For us, the Disney transportation was not stressful at all. I planned out how to get to each place ahead of time, so it was pretty slick. We were there in Sept, so low crowds, which meant very little waiting for buses. We used that as a time to chat about the upcoming day and as a chance to get to see a lot of Disney.

The only thing that would have been stressful is if we wouldn't have had our travel planned out ahead of time. For us, an extra 30 minutes in the morning was worth the cost savings.

 

[indycindy]

Thanks so much for your thoughtful resonses. I really appreciate the advice!

 

[geraghty]

Chef Mickeys - Take bus to MK either walk over or monorail to Contemporary
1900 Park Fare - Take bus to MK or Epcot then monorail to GF
Wave - Take bus to MK then walk or monorail to Contemporary
Boma - Bus to AK then bus to AKL
Cape May Cafe - Take bus to HS then boat or walk over to Beach Club unless you're in Epcot than you can walk out World Showcase.
Kona -Bus to MK or Epcot then monorail to Polynesian
Akershus - Epcot walk over to Norway

They're all doable. Just allow yourself at least an hour maybe an hour and a half to get there. I've done all of these except Boma. Since you're close to AK, I would not think it would be that bad, but I have never transfered bus to bus. The boat ride to BC is fun and everyone lovese the monorail unless it breaks down. If this happens just take the bus to your final destination from either Epcot or MK.
If you take the monorail from Epcot, you'll need to transger at the TTC.

 

[gogo]

I would consider taxis for most of your adr's. If you have a later breakfast, Disney transportation is doable.

Going to the MK area from Coronado Springs or Epcot resorts, I would take a taxi. We used taxis for our adr's except for the ones around our resort.

I try and look at the expense of the taxi in this way: I'm already spending a lot for the trip. I, too, purchased the deluxe dining plan (a lot of money) and having to rush or leave an hour to 90 minutes for a dining reservation is not a great use of time. So, I put away extra money in an envelope just for taxi transportation. I take a lot of small bills so I have the right amount for the fare and tip. Psychologically, it just doesn't feel so bad if I have the money set aside specifically for transportation. If your trip is not for months, set a little aside very week. I'm sure your husband will appreciate it. Disney is a lot of rushing around and crowds. A relaxing and unhurried trip to dinner or breakfast can really enhance your visit.

By using a taxi I've left as late as 15 - 20 minutes before an adr as opposed to 60 - 90 minutes. I'm not frivolous with $ when vacationing but I've found over the years that using a taxi can make your trip a lot more enjoyable and stress free.

 

[gilesmt]

One word taxi. We stayed at POR in 2008, they stated the buses start at 6:30. Well they must not have meant EST because we were late for all of our reservations, even if we went to the bus stop on time. We got to the bus stop at 6:15 for our CM at 7:15. The bus did not come until 7:10 and we did not make it to CM until 7:55, very late but they did take us, I did call and say the bus never came and we were late.

We had a CP reservation for 8 am, the bus did not come that morning until 7:20 we just barely made it, and yes we were at the bus stop at 6:30.

We had a reservation for akershus, the bus did come, but it was so crowded it was standing room only, we did make it for our 8 am reservation, but was a mess and little one needed her princess dress off before we could go into the restaurant because she was so hot and sweaty from being a sardine on the bus.

That is only three examples, I could tell you more but you get the picture, the answer is taxi, or do reservations closer to your hotel.

We now stay at SoG and can make our reservations at the mk and the monorail hotels easy in the morning so we stay over there for breakfast and move out to the parks for dinner.

 

[goofy4tink]

Ok, so I am buying the deluxe dining plan. I'm planning on eating a nice big breakfast at the resorts, and then having snacks for lunch, and then signature dinners. How difficult is it to go from resort to resort for breakfast? The busses apparently don't run from resorts to other resorts, so I will have to change busses.....I'm staying at Coronado springs and we are planning on having breakfasts at: Chef Mickeys, 1900 Park Fare, The Wave, Boma, Cape May Cafe, Kona, and Akershus (but that's not in a resort).......Does this seem do-able? How long before the reservation time would you recommend that I leave? We will be there in October, and this is really one of my biggest concerns. I've had to work on my husband for FOUR YEARS to get him to agree to this trip, and I want it as stress-free as possible!!! Thank you in advance for your thoughts and responses Cindy

For CM's...bus to MK, walk over to the CR via the walkway.
For 1900 Park Fare..bus to MK, monorail or boat to GF
For The Wave...bus to MK, walk to CR
For Boma...cab
For Cape May Cafe...bus to DHS and walk to YC/BC or possibly boat
For Kona..bus to MK, boat or monorail to Polynesian
For Akershus..bus to Epcot, walk to WS

Here's the issue...the early morning buses start running by 6:30am. They tend to run a bit less frequently than regular resort to park buses. So, plan on it taking you at least an hour from resort to resort. To be safe? 90 mins.
I don't book big breakfasts prior to park openings. I try to book them later in the morning...make them more like brunch, around 10-10:30. Then, you can spend some time in the park and then head to that resort.
A cab will cost you but it will save you probably a good 45 mins each trip.

I've heard other people say that if you talk to the front desk they can set you up with a van/bus to come pick you up and bring you. I've never tried this myself so I'm not really sure if its true or not. I'd say calling the front desk and asking is worth a shot, though.

You can't really call the front desk. You will, as someone already noted, get a call center.
You could head out to the valet area, or Luggage Assistence, and ask them to call you a cab. Sometimes, and I do mean sometimes, they may offer to take you themselves, in a white WDW van. BUT...it's nothing I would count on, especially in the mornings. They tend to be pretty busy then.
I have had offers such as this maybe 3 times in the 10 years I"ve been going to WDW regularly. But all those times were either late at night or midday when they weren't busy at all.

 

[DisneyRunner2009]

When staying at CSR the best park to transfer is DHS. It's a quick trip. Once at DHS you can take a boat to EPCOT and those resorts. We always take Disney transportation to other resorts for dining, it's part of the adventure.

 

[melifeld]

Hi OP. We did something similar to what you are doing on our last trip. We had DxDDP, did various breakfasts and signature dinners. We rented a car. There was no way we could have done it without either having a car, or taking taxis. We chose the rental car. I did not want to spend 90 minutes each way traveling to and from ADRs. And yes, it can easily take that long when traveling from resort to resort via Disney transportation.

But your ADRs sound great! I would definitely either get a cheap rental car (hotwire or priceline) or take taxis.