Transportation Advice Needed for All 4 Parks in a Day--Update Post #23

[Alesia]

I've just heard here on the boards that AK parking lot sometimes opens late, especially if it's morning EMH. Also here's a quote from the Unofficial Guide:

"For some reason, Animal Kingdom's parking lot frequently opens 15 minutes before the park itself--which doesn't leave you enough time to park, hop on a tram, and pass through security before park opening."

Of course, I realize I won't need a tram with the AAA diamond pass, but this just makes me worried about driving to this park.

If you're nervous about it, just take the bus. That's what I would do anyway. I actually prefer the buses to driving.

 

[NotUrsula]

Since I will be using my car and it will be fairly easy to get from one park to the other, I think I may go ahead and get up early and go to AK for the Morning EMH. We might spend a little more time here since this is our 2nd favorite park. Then we might head over to Epcot for Test Track, World Showcase, and our lunch ressie (11:30) at Le Cellier. By then it will be hot, so we will go back to our resort (OKW) for a longer break. I KNOW I will need an afternoon break in the heat of June! Then we will get cleaned up and head to MK by car. I'm confused about parking there though. Can you valet park at a resort and go to a park? I thought that was only if you had a dinner reservation there or were staying at the resort. I figured we would just park at the TTC and take the monorial around.

Since you've decided to slow down, the TTC should be fine; I suggested resort valet parking because it's a good timesaver at the MK, especially after closing.

AFAIK, the restriction (normally 3 hours) on non-guest resort parking applies to the regular resort parking, not valet. If you pay for valet parking and they have room, it is my understanding that you can park for as long as you're willing to pay for. You do have to show ID at the gate, but they won't stop you from coming in. We would never use it to park all day for a theme park (no real point to that), but if we are only going to MK for a few hours in the evening it is very convenient, and sometimes worth the splurge. (This is particularly true for us because we are dealing with young children, and it's immensely less stressful not to have to deal with the parking lot trams or buses when MK closes on a late night and we are carrying sleeping kids.) We often go have a drink at one of the resort bars before heading over to the park; it's a good time for it since we won't be driving for a few hours. Also, if you time it right, you could be in a position to watch the electrical water pageant from the resort beach on your way back, which is always a neat little bonus.

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

I just wanted to update everyone on my adventure. I was able to do all 4 parks in one day, do a nice lunch at LC, take a 2-hour afternoon break, and attend the Wishes dessert party. Here's what it looked like in case you're interested:

We left OKW around 7:20 headed to AK's Morning EMH. We parked in the AAA Diamond Pass lot and entered the park a few minutes before 8:00. We went straight to the Safari and rode it with basically no wait. Then we split up and I went to see ITtbaB, and my DH and DSs went to EE, which they rode 3 times! (Even though we got to do what we wanted, it took longer than I had anticipated because it seemed so crowded! This was the first morning EMH I had ever done, and I was very surprised at how many people there were! Since I'm normally not an early riser, this will probably be my last morning EMH.)

Around 9:35, we left AK and drove to DHS where again we parked in the AAA lot. At exactly 10:00, I put our tickets into the TSM FP machine and got a return time of 3:50. We then rode Star Tours 2 with only a 10 minute wait.

Around 10:40, we arrived at the boat ramp to go to Epcot. Because we had just missed the boat, we had to wait for the next one. We arrived at Le Cellier right in time for our 11:30 reservation. Lunch in an air-conditioned building was a nice break!

We finished lunch around 1:00 and toured the World Showcase. Before leaving Epcot, we rode Test Track using the single-rider line. This was the longest wait all day. We left Epcot around 2:45.

Our afternoon break back at OKW was around 3:00-5:00. Our boys went fishing and we took a nice nap. After getting cleaned up, we headed back out again to DHS.

At DHS, we used our FPs to ride TSM and were out of the park by around 6:00. We got our car from the AAA lot and drove to the TTC.

We arrived at MK before 7:00, and by then some in the family were hungry so they headed to Pecos Bill while I got a Dole Whip and went to BTMRR for FPs, which I got.

As soon as they were finished eating, we headed to Haunted Mansion because BTMRR and Splash had closed due to an imminent storm. The wait was 35 minutes, and because there was a huge rain cloud approaching, we decided to go early to our Wishes dessert party. We really didn't want to get soaked. To make a long story short, Wishes was delayed; we waited 40 minutes for it and then finally decided to leave at 10:40. We rode PoC and HM. BTMRR and Splash never opened again. Jungle Cruise was also closed. As soon as we got to Space Mt. they announed that Wishes was going to be presented--10 minutes before closing. I was so excited to get to see Wishes (we even had a better view than we would have at the dessert party--right in front of the castle) but disappointed that we didn't get to ride some of our favorite rides.

We left MK at midnight, headed to the parking lot to get the car, and arrived back at OKW around 12:45 am. I got to do everything I wanted to do on my 40th birthday (except some rides due to the lightning storm), and it was well worth it. The transportation was a breeze! In fact, I think I will be driving more often.

 

[goofy4tink]

I just wanted to update everyone on my adventure. I was able to do all 4 parks in one day, do a nice lunch at LC, take a 2-hour afternoon break, and attend the Wishes dessert party. Here's what it looked like in case you're interested:

We left OKW around 7:20 headed to AK's Morning EMH. We parked in the AAA Diamond Pass lot and entered the park a few minutes before 8:00. We went straight to the Safari and rode it with basically no wait. Then we split up and I went to see ITtbaB, and my DH and DSs went to EE, which they rode 3 times! (Even though we got to do what we wanted, it took longer than I had anticipated because it seemed so crowded! This was the first morning EMH I had ever done, and I was very surprised at how many people there were! Since I'm normally not an early riser, this will probably be my last morning EMH.)

Around 9:35, we left AK and drove to DHS where again we parked in the AAA lot. At exactly 10:00, I put our tickets into the TSM FP machine and got a return time of 3:50. We then rode Star Tours 2 with only a 10 minute wait.

Around 10:40, we arrived at the boat ramp to go to Epcot. Because we had just missed the boat, we had to wait for the next one. We arrived at Le Cellier right in time for our 11:30 reservation. Lunch in an air-conditioned building was a nice break!

We finished lunch around 1:00 and toured the World Showcase. Before leaving Epcot, we rode Test Track using the single-rider line. This was the longest wait all day. We left Epcot around 2:45.

Our afternoon break back at OKW was around 3:00-5:00. Our boys went fishing and we took a nice nap. After getting cleaned up, we headed back out again to DHS.

At DHS, we used our FPs to ride TSM and were out of the park by around 6:00. We got our car from the AAA lot and drove to the TTC.

We arrived at MK before 7:00, and by then some in the family were hungry so they headed to Pecos Bill while I got a Dole Whip and went to BTMRR for FPs, which I got.

As soon as they were finished eating, we headed to Haunted Mansion because BTMRR and Splash had closed due to an imminent storm. The wait was 35 minutes, and because there was a huge rain cloud approaching, we decided to go early to our Wishes dessert party. We really didn't want to get soaked. To make a long story short, Wishes was delayed; we waited 40 minutes for it and then finally decided to leave at 10:40. We rode PoC and HM. BTMRR and Splash never opened again. Jungle Cruise was also closed. As soon as we got to Space Mt. they announed that Wishes was going to be presented--10 minutes before closing. I was so excited to get to see Wishes (we even had a better view than we would have at the dessert party--right in front of the castle) but disappointed that we didn't get to ride some of our favorite rides.

We left MK at midnight, headed to the parking lot to get the car, and arrived back at OKW around 12:45 am. I got to do everything I wanted to do on my 40th birthday (except some rides due to the lightning storm), and it was well worth it. The transportation was a breeze! In fact, I think I will be driving more often.

Glad to hear it went so well....just for future reference though...if you had walked to Epcot, rather than waiting for the boat, you would have been there by 11. But, the boat ride is nice.

I've driven once or twice and not really between parks. I think I need to do more of that.

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

Glad to hear it went so well....just for future reference though...if you had walked to Epcot, rather than waiting for the boat, you would have been there by 11. But, the boat ride is nice.

I've driven once or twice and not really between parks. I think I need to do more of that.

Yes, we have walked that walk before. I know we could have walked it much quicker, but by then it was very hot and we had already done a lot of walking. We were really looking forward to that boat ride!