Staying at Riverside, using Disney transportation, early morning ADR's

[GATORinaZ28]

We are staying at Riverside and have a few early morning ADR's (8:30 is earliest). We are flying, so no car. This is a first for us, so naturally I worry.

I have read that the busses start running at 7:00AM and that we must use parks as "hubs" to reach the other resorts for our ADR's.

My question is which park would be the best hub to use from Riverside? Hollywood Studios or EPCOT, or does it not matter at all? I may just be thinking too far into it....just want to feel better and quit worrying.

Thanks!

 

[mb187143]

We stayed at POR in Sept. There are buses running to each park by 6:00 AM - they do not run as frequently as they do in the middle of the day, so definitely leave your room with plenty of time. If your ADR is in a park, take the bus directly to that park. If it's to another resort, you have a couple scenarios:

1- take a cab. it won't cost a whole lot, but it gives you more time, and you control that situation.

2 - Have an idea of where you're headed - if you have an ADR at the Beach club, you're better off waiting for a bus to Hollywood Studios than jumping on a bus to the Animal Kingdom, since you can walk to the Beach Club/Yacht Club/Boardwalk area from HS. Take some time to research and familiarize yourself, so you know where you're headed, and can avoid the frustration of going 20 minutes in one direction, only to come all the way back and end up around the corner from where you started.

Another example: If you've got an ADR for an 'Ohana around dinner time, you can either wait on a bus to the MK, and take the resort monorail from the MK to the Poly, OR you can also take a bus to Epcot, and take the monorail to the TTC, and walk or take the resort line to the Poly, assuming it's running already. There's usually more than one way to go about it, but doing some research ahead of time should help ease some of that worry.

 

[PlutoBaby]

We are staying at Riverside and have a few early morning ADR's (8:30 is earliest). We are flying, so no car. This is a first for us, so naturally I worry.

I have read that the busses start running at 7:00AM and that we must use parks as "hubs" to reach the other resorts for our ADR's.

My question is which park would be the best hub to use from Riverside? Hollywood Studios or EPCOT, or does it not matter at all? I may just be thinking too far into it....just want to feel better and quit worrying.

Thanks!

Where are your ADR's?

 

[GATORinaZ28]

We have ADR's at 'Ohana, Boma, CRT, Chef Mickey's, and Tusker House. We like breakfast.

Like mb187143 suggested, I think I can go to TTC for 'Ohana, Chef Mikey's, and CRT. We can monorail it over to the Contemporary, Poly, and Magic Kingdom for those.

I am guessing that I could just bus it to Animal Kingdom for Boma and Tusker House.

Thanks mb187143 for the suggestions!

 

[aubriee]

We have ADR's at 'Ohana, Boma, CRT, Chef Mickey's, and Tusker House. We like breakfast.

Like mb187143 suggested, I think I can go to TTC for 'Ohana, Chef Mikey's, and CRT. We can monorail it over to the Contemporary, Poly, and Magic Kingdom for those.

I am guessing that I could just bus it to Animal Kingdom for Boma and Tusker House.

Thanks mb187143 for the suggestions!

For Chef Mickey's and CRT I'd just take the bus to MK. CRT is in MK and it is a very short walk from the MK to the Contemporary for Chef Mickey's. As far as Ohana, again I'd take the bus to MK and just hop a boat or monorail over to the Poly. There is not a bus that goes from the resorts to the TTC.

Tusker House is in AK, so that's an easy one. For Boma I'd take a bus to AK, but be sure and tell the bus driver on the way that you are wanting to get to AKL for Boma. Resort buses going from the parks back the resorts that early are a little harder to get, than buses going from the resorts to the parks. A bus coming to AK from AKL may or may not be going back to AKL. People catching buses from parks to resorts that early in the mornings are called 'Upstreamers'. Let the PORS bus driver know you want to get to AKL and he'll call ahead to make sure a bus is there to pick you up. That early in the morning you will probably be the only one on the bus back to AKL, but Disney will make sure they get you there. Don't worry. We've done it many times and have never had a problem getting to our early morning ADRs on time.

 

[GATORinaZ28]

Great advice!

I was thinking TTC, but in reality, I should be bussing to the Magic Kingdom. Thank you very much for the that and the "upstreamer" lesson. I never knew anything like that and will definitely let the bus driver know.

 

[mb187143]

For Chef Mickey's and CRT I'd just take the bus to MK. CRT is in MK and it is a very short walk from the MK to the Contemporary for Chef Mickey's. As far as Ohana, again I'd take the bus to MK and just hop a boat or monorail over to the Poly. There is not a bus that goes from the resorts to the TTC.

I was pointing out that in a situation where you have a dinner reservation at 'Ohana, most people unfamiliar to WDW transportation would wait for an MK bus - the reality is, if when you're approaching the bus stop, an Epcot bus is sitting there waiting, you can jump on that and hop on the monorail to the TTC at Epcot. From there you can just walk to the Poly. I wasn't suggesting there is a bus to the TTC from the resorts, but just that if you get familiar with the way transportation runs at WDW, instead of waiting on an MK bus for 20 minutes (because you may have just missed one), doing some research would help you to pinpoint an alternative.