Traveling to and fro from FW to Swan/Dolphin

[Nature Mom]

Hello campers!

I have a question regarding traveling to Swan/Dolphin from FW and I know I could get my question answered here.

While I know I can drive (and pay to park) or take the bus to reach the Swan for a dinner ADR, I am thinking more about other ways. I assume (and since we all know what they say about assuming, that's why I am asking, lol) that I could take the boat from FW to MK then the monorail to TTC and transfer to the monorail to Epcot. After getting to Epcot, we can either walk or take a friendship boat to the Swan, correct?

I know that seems like a lot of transferring but I can see this as actually a very enjoyable evening ride, especially for this mom who may like to have a glass or two with dinner and not have to worry about being chauffeur for the night. Is this something that is more time than it is worth...as in 2 hours of traveling when I could just drive right over, or would this be doable in an hour or so of travel time?

Thanks for any help y'all can give me!

 

[MedicBill]

Your way would work but it would take a considerable amount of time. I would either take the boat to MK then Bus to Swan, or Bus from FW to Hollywood Studios then Friendship Boat to the Swan.

Id avoid Epcot because the monorail and bus drops you off on at the main entrance but the Friendship boats are at the International entrance.

 

[dfchelbay]

I'd take the FW bus to Hollywood studios then either walk over to the Swan or take the friendship boat over.

 

[UMADDBG]

Ditto on the FW Bus to HS and boat to the Swan/Dolphin.

 

[Nature Mom]

I know this sounds horrible, and please don't flame me, but I am trying to do absolutely anything possible to AVOID the bus. I don't do buses and if it boils down to cutting out 2 hours of travel time and just drive my car, then I will do it. The boats, the monorail...we find those enjoyable and don't mind the extra time it takes to use them. The bus, on the other hand, we find nothing enjoyable about it and actually more stressful, so we don't use it.

I guess I was just daydreaming about parking the cart at the boat dock, and boating across Bay lake to the monorail, then zipping right over to Epcot area...maybe going through the park, do some people watching and then catch a new boat to take us to the Swan. The dinner ADR is on a day where we have a Y.E.S. class early at MK, and so we have the late afternoon to meander our way to dinner, not a hurry kind of thing. After dinner, we can make our way back to the Fort, or wander around Epcot a bit (EMH night). Why am I daydreaming about this long ride? Because my camera planted the idea in my head. It's all because of everyone's photos on here! lol Blame the Nikon! (And the photo board!)

Thanks for everyone's input.

 

[Judique]

I know this sounds horrible, and please don't flame me, but I am trying to do absolutely anything possible to AVOID the bus. I don't do buses and if it boils down to cutting out 2 hours of travel time and just drive my car, then I will do it. The boats, the monorail...we find those enjoyable and don't mind the extra time it takes to use them. The bus, on the other hand, we find nothing enjoyable about it and actually more stressful, so we don't use it.

I guess I was just daydreaming about parking the cart at the boat dock, and boating across Bay lake to the monorail, then zipping right over to Epcot area...maybe going through the park, do some people watching and then catch a new boat to take us to the Swan. The dinner ADR is on a day where we have a Y.E.S. class early at MK, and so we have the late afternoon to meander our way to dinner, not a hurry kind of thing. After dinner, we can make our way back to the Fort, or wander around Epcot a bit (EMH night). Why am I daydreaming about this long ride? Because my camera planted the idea in my head. It's all because of everyone's photos on here! lol Blame the Nikon! (And the photo board!)

Thanks for everyone's input.

Your boat/monorail/boat idea is doable if you don't mind the time you take.

If you don't mind walking the last leg to the Swan, it's probably only 15 minutes tops and you should beat the boat from Epcot as it has to do BW, BC, and then goes to Swan. With waiting for a Friendship boat to arrive, you could use from 25-40 minutes just from Epcot, while the walk isn't too bad. Then after dinner, you can meander back via BW and watch the BW entertainment as well as maybe see the Epcot show at 9ish.

I'm also a bus avoider. It's a last resort for me especially at the end of an evening as they are so crowded at that time.

 

[Nature Mom]

Your boat/monorail/boat idea is doable if you don't mind the time you take.

If you don't mind walking the last leg to the Swan, it's probably only 15 minutes tops and you should beat the boat from Epcot as it has to do BW, BC, and then goes to Swan. With waiting for a Friendship boat to arrive, you could use from 25-40 minutes just from Epcot, while the walk isn't too bad. Then after dinner, you can meander back via BW and watch the BW entertainment as well as maybe see the Epcot show at 9ish.

I'm also a bus avoider. It's a last resort for me especially at the end of an evening as they are so crowded at that time.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! This is the kind of info I was looking for! lol

We don't mind walking and are interested to see different areas we've never been in before. I have a new lens that is begging to do this route with the camera, lol. Good idea about activities at BW....gonna check those out...and you are right, perfect timing for show at Epcot! I will keep this route as a possibility, who knows though, by the time we are ready to go to dinner, we are exhausted or running behind and we are back to traveling by car. lol

And thanks for understanding about the buses. The fumes trigger migraines, the ride on the bus just makes the migraine that much more likely. And we all know...'if Momma ain't happy....' lol

 

[tobikaye]

From FW to Swan avoiding buses/taxes:

Boat to Contemporary or MK, depending on which arrives first. Monorail to TTC. TTC to Epcot. Enter Epcot, walk through to IG entrance/exit. Boat or walk to Swan.

Things to remember, especially for return:
1. Using Epcot, you will need to make sure your return is timed with Epcot still being open to entry to cut back through.

2. Monorail schedules, as the monorail has been shutting down earlier. Not sure of the exact times, but I think some are saying that by 10:30 pm, the monorails are shut down for the evening.

3. Boat schedules. I cannot remember the exact times, but I know that once I was returning to FW via Contemporary and the boat and already quit running. I think the boats from MK will only run for about 1-2 hours after closing.

When I have stayed at FW, I have enjoyed the longer trip using the boats and monorails to Epcot. If I had plans to go to one of the Epcot area resorts while staying at FW, I probably would have done a similar plan to the one you are trying.

 

[Nature Mom]

From FW to Swan avoiding buses/taxes:

Boat to Contemporary or MK, depending on which arrives first. Monorail to TTC. TTC to Epcot. Enter Epcot, walk through to IG entrance/exit. Boat or walk to Swan.

Things to remember, especially for return:
1. Using Epcot, you will need to make sure your return is timed with Epcot still being open to entry to cut back through.

2. Monorail schedules, as the monorail has been shutting down earlier. Not sure of the exact times, but I think some are saying that by 10:30 pm, the monorails are shut down for the evening.

3. Boat schedules. I cannot remember the exact times, but I know that once I was returning to FW via Contemporary and the boat and already quit running. I think the boats from MK will only run for about 1-2 hours after closing.

When I have stayed at FW, I have enjoyed the longer trip using the boats and monorails to Epcot. If I had plans to go to one of the Epcot area resorts while staying at FW, I probably would have done a similar plan to the one you are trying.

Thanks so much for that info, Tobi Kaye! Our ADR is 6:00, and after dinner we will make our way (slowly) back to the Fort. We want to be up early for Rope Drop at MK the next day (10/1) and will be exhausted due to the early day on this day, so I think we will be out of Epcot and headed back to FW rather early. I doubt we'll make it back for movie time at the campfire if we go this route, but I am hoping to be back around 10:00ish.

 

[Swan4Me]

From FW to Swan avoiding buses/taxes:

Boat to Contemporary or MK, depending on which arrives first. Monorail to TTC. TTC to Epcot. Enter Epcot, walk through to IG entrance/exit. Boat or walk to Swan.

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I'd take boat to MK-then walk to TTC

If you take the boat to Contemp-you need to ride that Monorail-then get off and get on the Epcot Monorail

 

[Marshel]

I'd take boat to MK-then walk to TTC

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You can't walk from the MK to the TTC. You would need to take the Express monorail from the MK to the TTC and then as you exit at the TTC you just walk straight across the platform to the Epcot monorail loading area. As an alternative you could take the Resort Monorail where you would need to walk down the ramp after exiting at the TTC turn left and walk a short ways and then back up the ramp for the Epcot monorail. If you take the resort monorail from the MK, it will stop at the Contemporary before going on to the TTC. If you boat to the Contemporary you would need to walk from the dock into the hotel then go up a floor or two to get to the monorail loading area and take the Resort monorail (The loading area is on the 4th floor if I remember correctly). The TTC is the first stop for the resort monorail after leaving the Contemporary.

 

[Running_Bell]

I have a quick question as I've been wondering these same things.... if we were to do what the OP suggested also... would we need a ticket to get into EPCOT?

I also remember last November we took the bus from Swan to MK (won't travel directly to FW)... and both boats to FW had stopped. We had to board another bus from Contemporary to Dowtown Disney, then another bus from DD to FW. It took us about 3 hours to get back.... we could have swam Bay Lake faster

We later found out we should have gone directly to DD from Swan.... we didn't realize boats would be closed.

 

[Nature Mom]

I'd take boat to MK-then walk to TTC

If you take the boat to Contemp-you need to ride that Monorail-then get off and get on the Epcot Monorail

Okay, thanks for the info!

You can't walk from the MK to the TTC. You would need to take the Express monorail from the MK to the TTC and then as you exit at the TTC you just walk straight across the platform to the Epcot monorail loading area. As an alternative you could take the Resort Monorail where you would need to walk down the ramp after exiting at the TTC turn left and walk a short ways and then back up the ramp for the Epcot monorail. If you take the resort monorail from the MK, it will stop at the Contemporary before going on to the TTC. If you boat to the Contemporary you would need to walk from the dock into the hotel then go up a floor or two to get to the monorail loading area and take the Resort monorail (The loading area is on the 4th floor if I remember correctly). The TTC is the first stop for the resort monorail after leaving the Contemporary.

Oooh, very good info! Thanks! DD would love to stroll through the Contemporary, and the boat from FW stops there, right? That could work.

I have a quick question as I've been wondering these same things.... if we were to do what the OP suggested also... would we need a ticket to get into EPCOT?

I also remember last November we took the bus from Swan to MK (won't travel directly to FW)... and both boats to FW had stopped. We had to board another bus from Contemporary to Dowtown Disney, then another bus from DD to FW. It took us about 3 hours to get back.... we could have swam Bay Lake faster

We later found out we should have gone directly to DD from Swan.... we didn't realize boats would be closed.

Good gravy! 3 hours is definitely what I am trying to avoid! I have PH tickets, so I would be using a ticket to go through if we went through Epcot like previously mentioned but if you didn't have a ticket, there are alterations to the route.

Thanks for everyone's input.