Taxi, ART or drive????

[cjhampton]

That is the question...

We are staying off property too far to walk. For our EE morning, which would be the quickets, best way to get to DL? Since we are going in July, EE starts at 7 AM, and I have two teens who need as much sleep as possible.

TIA

 

[SnackyStacky]

I'm no expert - but after everything I've read - I would guess that of those three options, the taxi would be your best route because it's on demand and can drop you off at the gate. The parking structure doesn't open until a half hour before EE, and it can apparently be a lengthy process to park and get to the park entrance. And the ART isn't on demand - you're at the mercy of their schedule.

But I'm sure someone with SOME experience will come along and help you out!

 

[HydroGuy]

The car is the least desirable option IMO. Here is some more info on this:

Hidden Time Losses When Using a Car At DLR
www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1381580

 

[cjhampton]

Thanks for the info! I read your link, HydroGuy, and absolutely agree.. NO CAR! Now I am wondering if I can get a taxi at 6:30 AM on our EE day or if ART will be reasonably reliable on that first trip of the morning.

 

[HydroGuy]

Thanks for the info! I read your link, HydroGuy, and absolutely agree.. NO CAR! Now I am wondering if I can get a taxi at 6:30 AM on our EE day or if ART will be reasonably reliable on that first trip of the morning.

If it was me and it was important to be on time for EE then the safest bet is a taxi.

 

[blackjackdelta]

I would do the taxi, ART sometimes varies its schedules a bit.

Jack

 

[CalGal]

I tend to agree that taxi may be the best if you can get a taxi at that time and you want to make sure you beat the crowds. And while driving may not be the best bet, I will say that my experience with driving hasn't been all that bad as long as you get there early. The Mickey & Friends lot opens at 6:30 (perhaps a minute or two early). If you get to the lot a minute or two before opening, you will get in very quickly. We were were directed to park outside of the structure adjacent to the tram loading area. We got on the first tram that left very quickly, and got through security and to the gates by around 6:40. (Sit near the drivers end of the tram so you can be in front of the rest of the guests to the security line). I do believe we beat most if not all of the early ART buses and we ended up being the first guest or two onto Peter Pan. That was over a year ago; its possible the ART buses are leaving earlier now. One of the tricks to EE may be arriving at the gates before the first ART buses.

If you can't get a taxi at that hour check the ART schedules for your line. While I haven't had a lot of experience with ART, I think they are pretty reliable for most of the lines. If yours seem to be one of the first lines to the park and arrive at around 6:40 or earlier, go for ART - but make sure you are on the first ART bus for your hotel. Otherwise, don't rule driving out if you can get those teens out of bed in time to be at the lot by 6:30. BTW, my teen is nearly impossible to get out of bed in the mornings -- except for DL. He knows the value of beating the crowds!

 

[SunDevilDaddy]

We ran into this same problem when planning for our EE day on the 28th of June. We are staying at the Ramada Limited Suites Convention Center location and the hotel operator said it is 2 1/2 blocks from DL but added "they're BIG blocks." so we figured we'd be safest by planning to use ART.

I checked out their website and it looks like you can get start and stop times online in PDF version about a week before you go to the park. Outside of that, they just mention that the buses start running about 1 hour before park opening. Which doesn't help because they don't say if they are referring to general opening (8am the day we're going) or EE (7am).

So, like any vacation nazi I called them to find out details. They said that the buses will start running at 6:20 on the 28th to accommodate EE. However, this doesn't provide us with much relief because we wanted to be at the park by 6:40 or so and I don't know what stop our hotel is along the route, etc etc... We might have to call a cab afterall. By the way.. how early do people get to the park on EE days?

Anyways, the moral of the story is that ART "seems" to run early on EE days. I would check out their website and call them if you're like me and need the piece of mind.

On a side note: Does anyone know how far the Ramada Limited Anaheim Convention Center is from Disneyland in terms of walking time or actual mileage? 2 1/2 big blocks just didn't help in determining if we could handle hoofing it there every morning...

 

[foleyfun]

We just got back from our trip on Saturday and we stayed off property, too far to walk. We drove in and we didn't run into any trouble at all, we didn't do early entry though. Actually we were supposed to do EE on Thursday and we arrived at the garage at 7:15 am for EE at 8:00 and we found out that there was no EE that day because there was a Grad night the night before. I probably didn't research the boards and stuff well enough because I don't remember seeing anything that said no EE on mornings after Grad night. Oh well, we had a great trip anyway. I am going to try to do a trip report soon. Anyway, driving in worked great for us.

Good Luck!

 

[julie1543]

We ran into this same problem when planning for our EE day on the 28th of June. We are staying at the Ramada Limited Suites Convention Center location and the hotel operator said it is 2 1/2 blocks from DL but added "they're BIG blocks." so we figured we'd be safest by planning to use ART.

I checked out their website and it looks like you can get start and stop times online in PDF version about a week before you go to the park. Outside of that, they just mention that the buses start running about 1 hour before park opening. Which doesn't help because they don't say if they are referring to general opening (8am the day we're going) or EE (7am).

So, like any vacation nazi I called them to find out details. They said that the buses will start running at 6:20 on the 28th to accommodate EE. However, this doesn't provide us with much relief because we wanted to be at the park by 6:40 or so and I don't know what stop our hotel is along the route, etc etc... We might have to call a cab afterall. By the way.. how early do people get to the park on EE days?

Anyways, the moral of the story is that ART "seems" to run early on EE days. I would check out their website and call them if you're like me and need the piece of mind.

On a side note: Does anyone know how far the Ramada Limited Anaheim Convention Center is from Disneyland in terms of walking time or actual mileage? 2 1/2 big blocks just didn't help in determining if we could handle hoofing it there every morning...

Thats funny because were staying at the embassy suites which is to far to walk ive read. We also will be doing EE on the 28th and we read that embassy suites was first pick up in the morning for art, but I have no idea if thats correct or what the earliest time is. I am trying to find out but have had no luck so far. I meant funny because were doing EE on the 28th also. If you find out please post . thanks sun devil

 

[JadeDarkstar]

i wouldnt wait till 630 id make your pick up time 6am..that way if any hold ups you wont be late. thats just me.


dose any one know what time ee days open in nov27-dec1st.

 

[SunDevilDaddy]

Thats funny because were staying at the embassy suites which is to far to walk ive read. We also will be doing EE on the 28th and we read that embassy suites was first pick up in the morning for art, but I have no idea if thats correct or what the earliest time is. I am trying to find out but have had no luck so far. I meant funny because were doing EE on the 28th also. If you find out please post . thanks sun devil

I took a look at the map on ARTs website. (www.rideart.org) and it looks like our hotels are next door to each other but on entirely different routes. Embassy Suites is route K and stop K1. Don't know if that means K1 is the first stop or not, but it sounds reasonable. So, my assumption would be that you will have your first bus there at exactly 6:20.

Ramada Limited is on route D and stop D3. So maybe we'll have to scoot on over to the Embassy Suites for our EE ride to DL. We'll dub it the DISer bus

 

[julie1543]

Thanks for the great info Sun Devil. I say come on over to embassy suites and catch the art there for EE.

 

[blackjackdelta]

I took a look at the map on ARTs website. (www.rideart.org) and it looks like our hotels are next door to each other but on entirely different routes. Embassy Suites is route K and stop K1. Don't know if that means K1 is the first stop or not, but it sounds reasonable. So, my assumption would be that you will have your first bus there at exactly 6:20.

Ramada Limited is on route D and stop D3. So maybe we'll have to scoot on over to the Embassy Suites for our EE ride to DL. We'll dub it the DISer bus

Send the ART people and they will answer to confirm you thoughts.

Jack