On our trip we will be doing MNSSHP on a Tuesday, with no park that morning. The plan is to wake up late, maybe pool time, probably grab lunch at Disney Springs, then head up and check out the monorail resorts. Is this doable: 1) Grab lunch/snack at DS, with plans to be at bus stop leaving DS by 2pm. 1) Take bus from DS to Contemporary, briefly check out CR, but I don't care as much about it. 2) Take monorail from CR to Poly, get off and check out that resort 3) Walk from Poly to GF, passing by the DVC villas (I really want to get a photo of the Mary Poppins penguin fountain); it seems like less mileage to just keep walking past the end of Poly, rather than backtrack to the Monorail/boat and then have to walk back to the DVC villas lobby. But is there a walking path, or is it access controlled? 4) Boat from GF to MK 5) Arrive at MK by 4pm
That sounds like a VERY tight window. Just the bus from DS to the Magic Kingdom area will likely take a minimum of 20 minutes (and I may be wishful in that estimate), so that would leave you closer to just an hour and a half to do the resort hopping you'd like to do. Transportation on the monorail/boat from one resort to the other would likely be at least 10 - 20 minutes each. You'll eat up the majority of your time just traveling without actually seeing anything before having to get over to MK. You'd be better off doing lunch/snack at one of the resorts in that area (Kona Cafe at the Poly is fantastic), and that will give you more of an opportunity to actually explore that area and resort hop comfortably.
Leaving Disney Springs at 2:00 pm is going to cut it close if you want to be at MK right at 4:00 pm. We stay at BLT and it can easily take 30-40 minutes to get back to our resort from Disney Springs. You can walk from the Poly to the Grand, and the walk itself takes about 12 minutes or so. I think I would either plan to have lunch at one of the monorail resorts or plan on getting to MK a bit later than 4:00. You're not leaving a long enough window to properly explore and enjoy the monorail resorts, and it's all going to feel a bit rushed.
Before I read your last bullet about 4pm, I already estimated you would be in MK closer to 5pm: 1: Bus to CR from DS (It's the second stop after WL), 60 minutes (3:00) 2: View CR, 15 minutes (3:15) 3: Monorail to Poly, 15 minutes (3:30) 4: View Poly, 15 minutes (3:45) 4: Walk to GF, 15 minutes (4:00) 5: Explore GF, 15 minutes (4:15) 6: Boat to MK, 30 minutes (4:45) The DS bus is very erratic. You could wait 30 minutes or walk up and get on. Who knows!? The monorail takes about 5 minutes per stop. Thats once you're already on a monorail and if its running in tip-top shape (which does not always happen). The Poly/GF walking path is closest to the Villas. When you say back track to the monorail, are you walking all the grounds? The boat dock is at the complete opposite end of the resort by Conch Key. The boat does not go direct to MK either. It will dock from MK at GF, let off, load. Stop at Poly, let off, load. Then go to MK. I don't see you being in MK before 4:45pm, the earliest. Can you push your lunch up and leave DS sooner?
I agree with all, this doesn't give you enough time to resort hop. Maybe skip DS, and grab lunch/snack at one of the resorts. All their QS are good. Contempo Cafe, Captain Cooks, and Gaspys have good selections. The walking path between Poly & GF along the lakeshore is very pleasant.
Ok, thanks for all the advice! We wanted to get to MK by 4 to optimize FPs (can get 3 but we'll only have 3 hrs and I've heard Disney sometimes cancels FPs that end after 6:30, so they need to be 330-430, 430-530, 530-630)! Thinking we may just skip Contemporary entirely. So take bus direct to Poly. We also don't have any ADRs so we can play it by ear that day-see how late we get up and when we want to leave the resort. Maybe even just take an Uber from DS depending on time!
This is probably what I'd do, take that timing variable into your own hands. Then you can manage your monorail resort hopping more effectively. If I were going to drop one, it'd probably be CR. Just not as much to see/do there IMHO. Other than that, sounds fun!
I would skip lunch at DS and have something to eat at one of the resorts. It hardly seems worth all the travel time to spend a few minutes at a resort - JMO!
I agree. I would not attempt Disney Springs. It is just too much effort for too little time. Eat at the CS at one of the resort and take your time to Resort hop. Much better plan
no. it's not possible. Why are you trying to squeeze in lunch at DS? Lunch at one of the monorail resort CS should be just as good! Gasparilla at the GF just got a facelift and a new menu and it's lovely! If it were me, we'd have a late start swim day and then head over to GF via uber to grab lunch. monorail to the other two resorts before heading to MK.
Yeah, I think we're going to play it by ear that day-see what time we wake up, how long we want to stay at the pool, etc. This will all be super helpful that based on the time of day we can reassess what we plan to accomplish!
I would completely skip DS. It's going to eat up time. Just start out at one of the monorail resorts.
