strategy/parking to stroll DHS Epcot MK in one long day

[DavEng]

We've visited Disney World a number of times, and have park hopped, but this time we are only doing Disney one day. Since it's just three adults and are no "must do" attractions and only a few attractions in each park we would like to do, we would like to try visiting DHS Epcot and MK in one day. Mostly just strolling the parks. Since MK is open the latest (til 11pm), we plan to head there last. Also, since Epcot Word Showcase doesn't open until 11am, I speculate there are more crowds at the open attractions in Epcot in Future World when it first opens at 9am, so we are thinking of doing Hollywood Studios in the morning, Epcot in the afternoon, and Magic Kingdom in the evening. We are thinking of parking at Magic Kingdom when we get to Disney before the parks open, and taking a bus from the transportation center to Hollywood Studios, and then park transportation to Hollywood Studios and then back to Magic Kingdom.

Is there a certain time that the transportation starts between parks?

Thanks for any thoughts/suggestions for our strategy for parking, traveling between parks, etc.!

 

[lovesdumbo]

I think park to park transit has moved to MK so you would have to get from TTC to MK then bus to DHS. Not sure what time that starts.

I think you might be better off parking at TTC then walking to Pollynesian for bus to DHS. That bus would start early for folks with early breakfast ADRs.

 

[The Hendies]

That's a tough one. Generally, we like to park where we plan to end our day. On the other hand, waiting for WDW transportation can take up lots of time! If there aren't really any "must-do's", I would probably start at DHS, drive to and park at MK, but take the monorail to EPCOT. Then take the monorail back to MK. That way, your car will be waiting for you at the end of the day. Hope you have a great time, whatever you decide to do!

 

[DavEng]

Thanks for the posts and for the information. LovesDumbo - I found an online "app" at ourlaughingplace dot com that still shows a bus going from the transportation center to Hollywood Studios. It says it takes 19 minutes. I hope they are right. I will try to find confirmation. Thanks.

 

[DavEng]

We did the triathlon yesterday (Monday), and it worked well. We did it the way I had asked about - parked at Magic Kingdom, bus to Hollywood Studios, then to Epcot and back to Magic Kingdom. I first set up Fast Passes for Soaring, Space Ship Earth, and Imagination at Epcot before we left for the parks. It was not as crowded as I had expected. At Hollywood Studios we did Star Tours, Stunt Show, Muppets, Back Stage tour, Legend of Jack Sparrow, all with less than 10 minutes wait. We then decided to take the boat to Epcot. We did The Land, Spaceship Earth, The Sea, Soarin’, Imagination, American Experience. It started raining at about 5pm which abbreviated Epcot slightly. We took the monorail to Magic Kingdom. We did Pirates of the Caribbean, Hall of Presidents, Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, Barnstormer, Carousel of Progress, Winnie the Pooh, Tea Cups. The only ride we sort of wanted to do but couldn’t because of the wait was Seven Dwarfs Mine Ride. Even at 11pm the wait was about an hour. FastPass+ worked well for the first three (in Epcot), but the last two FastPass+ were not really useful since the only attractions that had FastPass+ remaining in the Magic Kingdom also did not have a long standby line. Doing FastPass+ online was confusing at first because it shows you only four combinations of times (it appears that it tries to make all three FastPass+ choices close time-wise). It isn’t until you choose a time combination that it will then allow you to change the time of one or more of the Fast Pass+ choices. Other limitations are that you’re first 3 choices have to be in the same park and that you cannot make your 4th FastPass+ choice unless you are in the park that your 4th choice will be in. So by the time we got to Magic Kingdom, it was too late to get a FastPass+ for Mine Ride. Regarding the busses from Magic Kingdom to the other parks and resorts, note that it’s just a wide open parking lot with markers where to wait for each bus. There is no shade anywhere nearby. It was fine for us first thing in the morning, but I think it would be miserably hot later in the day. We were very happy with the way Monday turned out. I love staying late at the parks. Thanks for your help!