timing for MK -> Polynesian hop (update in post #4)

[cigar95]

This is usually the type of question that I answer rather than ask, but I want to get some input from my fellow transportation wizards.

We have a quick "connection" between seeing "Magic, Memories, and You" at the MK and a dinner reservation at 'Ohana. I don't want to waste any time, and once I leave the park, I have three options - well, four, actually.

We'll be leaving *before* Wishes, so I don't expect there to be a major rush of guests exiting the park with me at that point - perhaps those families with kids who are scared by the exploding fireworks. This will be on a fairly slow night at the MK, as the next night is when MSEP returns, so it figures many families will be there the next night instead.

1 - take the resort launch to the Grand Floridian, then stay on board as it goes on to the Poly. Advantages - nearly a straight line, and drops me off a short walk from GCH and my reservation. Disadvantage - the stop at the GF dock will add a few minutes to the trip, though it's not likely to be a lot of guests boarding at GF to head to the Poly.

2 - take the resort monorail around to the Poly. Advantage - drops me off just steps away from my reservation. Disadvantage - stops at the Contemporary and TTC can both be long delays.

3 - take the express monorail to the TTC, then walk (quickly) to the GCH. Advantage - non-stop transportation on a fast-moving vehicle. Disadvantage - drops me off quite a ways away from where I need to be, although the walk (or run!) isn't bad. If the timing is perfect, I could even transfer to the resort monorail at that point, but that would require a stroke of luck.

Probably the biggest variable in this is how long I may have to wait to board at the MK, whichever I take. That leads me to perhaps my best option:

4 - when I exit the park, look to see which of the three may be about to depart, and board that one.

If all else were equal, I think #2 (resort monorail) is probably the slowest of the three choices, with two potentially long waits at monorail stations. My gut right now says to look for the boat and the express monorail and see which of the two is loading.

If I'm really on top of things, when I arrive at MK, I may even ask a monorail CM how many trains they expect to have on the beam that night. That will give me a hint how long I need to wait if I miss the express.

Anything I haven't thought of? Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[DVC California]

4 - when I exit the park, look to see which of the three may be about to depart, and board that one.

I think this is the best option with a slight modification...which of the three are about to arrive, and board that one.

If the monorail is already at the platform, running up the ramp may not make it. Check down the line and see if you can see it leaving GF THEN head up the ramp.

If the GF ferry is at the dock, it also may leave without you. This happened to us. We ran, yelled out to please wait, and the skipper pulled the lines and left anyway.

If you could somehow exit the express monorail at TTC on the "boarding side", then transfer to the resort monorail entering on the "exit side", that would be my choice.

 

[cigar95]

I think this is the best option with a slight modification...which of the three are about to arrive, and board that one.

Sloppy wording on my part - I know that the time to actually get to the boarding area matters.

If the monorail is already at the platform, running up the ramp may not make it. Check down the line and see if you can see it leaving GF THEN head up the ramp.

Coming from the GF, that would be the resort monorail, which is probably my least attractive option. But it's also easy enough to look up, down and around the beam to see where the express is.

If the GF ferry is at the dock, it also may leave without you. This happened to us. We ran, yelled out to please wait, and the skipper pulled the lines and left anyway.

Worst-case is to head up the monorail ramp, just miss the train, then head back down to the launch dock, and just miss it when I would have made it had I gone straight there.

If you could somehow exit the express monorail at TTC on the "boarding side", then transfer to the resort monorail entering on the "exit side", that would be my choice.

If the resort train is not yet in the station, there should be time to go down and back up. And if it *is* already in the station, I can easily enough exit the express out the "wrong" side, point to the express train in panic and say "I need to get on this one right now!", and hopefully be OK. I think the only thing between the "express boarding" and the "resort boarding" areas is a chain, right?

Thanks for your input.

 

[cigar95]

I should follow up on my excursion, now that I've been back for a while.

Bottom line, I guessed, and I guessed wrong. When I got to the park exit, the launch to the Floridian was loading, and looked to be getting ready to depart. Great - I hopped right on.

Before leaving, the boat sat at the dock for a couple more minutes. While we're waiting, the resort monorail departs the MK station. Had I wanted to, there would have been time to board it rather than getting on the boat.

A few moments after pulling away from the dock, the express monorail leaves the MK station. Easily enough time to have boarded that one, as it had not yet arrived in the station when I exited the MK.

Boat goes to the GF, as the express monorail gets farther and farther ahead of us on its way toward the GF - I hadn't realized just how slowly the launches really go. Upon arrival, the process of deboarding, waiting, boarding, and pulling away from the dock takes a lot longer than I had ever noticed - the clock ticks much faster when you're in a hurry.

As the boat approaches the dock at the Poly, I see the resort monorail - the same one I could have boarded - approaching the Floridian. Obviously, that one would have gotten me to 'Ohana a lot sooner than the boat did.

Although I didn't see it, I figure the express monorail had probably long since arrived and departed from the TTC, and would have left plenty of time to walk to the Poly.

Bottom line - the resort launch is probably the fastest way to get from the MK to the Floridian, unless you just missed a departure. Anyplace else, the monorail is the way to go. (Apart from any construction-related delays that are among the latest rumors, that is.)

Although I had since changed my dining plans, I went past 'Ohana anyway, since I was passing through the lobby on my way out. I walked past the check-in desk at 8:19, which probably would have allowed me to be seated for my 8:15 reservation had I kept it. (Instead, I ate that evening at Raglan Road at 8:45, and ate at 'Ohana two nights later.)

 

[mb187143]

I know this is an older thread, but it made me think of a funny experience we had with my sister last year. She came with us for 4 days out of our 8 day stay at the Poly, and had a 12:30 ME pick up on her last day. We went to the MK with her, and she demanded that we leave the MK by 10:45 to get back to the Poly for her 12:30 pick up. Not that she wanted to eat or anything before leaving, she just wanted to make sure we had enough time. So DF and I, having put up with her and her crazy for 4 days already, happily obliged (I love my sister, i really do, but she's a bit much). We're leaving the MK on an otherwise empty Tuesday, and there's no measurable line for anything. As we're nearing the boat dock/monorail entrance, i see the monorail leaving the GF, and begin to head up, whereas my sister insists we take the boat because it's "faster" (which i actually think is a misnomer in the "World", i've yet to see any truly "fast" mode of transport, which is, as i understand, somewhat on purpose). So boat is is, because i'm not in the mood for an argument. Well we stop at the GF first, and it's also cheerleading competition week, so while we've allowed the other folks to depart the boat, we have to wait for the cheerleaders to come down from their pyramid and gather their belongings to board. Except they all weren't going to fit, so they fought with the mate until they just decided to take the monorail. We finally pull away from the GF dock, and meanwhile it's just after 11:00, so we still have PLENTY of time. The boat is moving pretty slow, and i'm at the point where i'm pretty sure if i wasn't sitting on the water side of the seat, my sister would have jumped out and swam to shore. I saw the monorail we could have caught from the MK originally, leaving the GF again, before we arrived at the Poly, and i'm pretty sure i was about to end up in the lagoon when i pointed that out to her.

Your experience just confirmed to me that if all is operating as it should be, the monorail is indeed quicker than the boat launch.

 

[cigar95]

And from the sound of it, she was probably out at the curb waiting for her bus by 11:15. Because "you just never know . . . "

I used to be super early for everything when I traveled. Now it's not unusual for me to get to the security line at MCO 20 minutes before boarding begins on my flight.