Transportation to Contemporary from Boardwalk

[Mom B]

We will be staying at the Boardwalk Villas Jan 11-16 and have reservations at the California Grill (at the Contemporary) on Jan 12 (for our 30th wedding anniversary). I'm still not quite sure whether we want to rent a car or not (although I currently have reservations with Dollar, Alamo, and FL Tours just to be safe; guess I'll have to cancel a couple of them quite soon!)


So, what would be the best way to get to the Contemporary for our dinner? We don't mind a "leisurely" trip but don't want to take all afternoon, either. We love the boat transportation (assuming the weather is tolerable) and don't mind the buses, either, or the monorail for that matter. Just would like to make it there in...say...less than an hour.

Would we be better off driving, or is there another route that someone can suggest?

Thanks for the info!

 

[SusanU]

Self Parking is farther out at the Contemporary and they also charge for valet ($6, I think), but probably the quickest & easiest way. You just need to tell the guard you have dinner reservations at CG. Otherwise you can take the Magic Kingdom bus, walk back up the ramp to resort monorails and ride to Contemporary (the very 1st stop.) Pretty easy this direction. After dinner you could reverse if Magic Kingdom is open late enough (buses run 2 hrs after closing I think). You would stop at TTC, Polynesian, Grand Floridian and then Magic Kingdom, walk down ramp & over to BWV buses. You could also take the 1st stop at Transportation & Ticket Center and catch (1) A bus to Downtown Disney & then transfer to bus to BWV, or (2) Epcot Monorail,Get off at Epcot and walk through to BWV (a very long walk, but nice if you have time to stop & watch Illuminations. This is why we rent a car, just for the ease of going to other resorts & back & forth from airport. This board has reported really good weekly rates at National. Check discount codes available. Probably comparable $ to taking limo. BW also has valet parking and once you have paid valet for the day it is free at all other valet hotels.

 

[Claudia1]

If the only reason you are renting the car is for the trip to the Contemporary, then I would suggest using a cab for that trip. Roundtrip should not cost you more than $20. If the cab ride plus the FL Tour cost is significantly less then a rental car, then I would use a cab. If there is not much difference, then I would get the car. You would probably use it more than you think and it will save you some waiting time. I only recommend a cab if it save you money.

The official WDW Tranportation Guide tells you to take a bus to DD then take the Contemporary bus to the resort. Assuming that you have to wait 20 minutes or so for each bus, it could take you most of an hour to make the trip.

 

[Harambe]

Friends of ours were staying at the Boardwalk, and they taxied over to us at the Contemporary. I think the other posters had the price correct! They were late and were afraid they would miss our PS time. Disney transportation between resorts is indeed leisurely!

Happy Anniversary BTW! DH and I are celebrating our 12th on Jan 17 at Boma!

 

[Robert P]

Had the same scenario on our October 2003 trip.
The MK bus from BWV takes 13-14 minutes to get from the BW bus stop to drop off at MK gates, leaving you around a 200-300 yd walk to the Contemporary. (An option if the park is open around the time of your PS).
Taxi from BWV (the option we chose) was $11 plus tip (one-way), and dropped us off at the front of the Contemporary. Total travel time was 11-12 minutes.

Hope that helps.

Robert P

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

There are two options:

1- Take the bus to the Magic Kingdom, and then either walk to the Contemporary, or take the Monorail. (Both take the same amount of time)

2 - Take the boat to the Disney-MGM Studios, and then hop the bus to the Contemporary.

Reverse these steps to return to the Boardwalk. Buses from the Magic Kingdom usually run 90 minutes after the park closes.

I only recommend using Downtown Disney as a transfer point as a last resort.

 

[crisi]

I don't know what time your reservation is or how crunched for time you are.

There is a third option, walk from BWV to the monorail through Epcot, take the monorail to the TTC, and from TTC transfer to the resort monorail. Not a bad option if you are dressed, it is cool, and you really want to take one last walk through Epcot or ride Spaceship Earth one more time on your way. But its time consuming. And you probably won't be able to turn it around, unless you dinner is done quite early.

Last trip we didn't rent a car and took cabs for most of our resort to resort travel (from the BWV). Trips were between $12-15 (including tip) pretty much everywhere we went (we didn't go to the CR, but did go to the GF twice in a cab). In my opinion, this is better EVEN IF it turns out to be pricier than a rental car - but I hate to drive and my husband is not a rental car fan either.