Using the bus to get to a "before park opens" breakfast...

[Keurigirl]

We are a party of 14 staying at Art of Animation. We have reservations for 8am for Tusker House Breakfast. The resort is saying they cannot guarantee that the bus will be able to get us there in time, as they do not begin running until 7am. They suggested I take a taxi. !!!!!!

Is this true? What has been your experience? I am frustrated at trying to figure out how to get our party of 14 (including two mobility scooters) to the park in time to check in for breakfast. It seems like you should be able to get a bus to get you there on time - that's the whole reason we are staying on property is so we can not have to rent cars and stuff. Otherwise it would have been about 20% of the price to rent a large house for all of us instead!

 

[Robo]

Relax.
The buses begin rolling at least by 6:30 AM every day of the year, and on the few times a year when a park opens at 7AM for early EMH, they will be roiling even earlier.

The resort staff (and the "phone CMs") do not have any accurate knowledge of the transportation system at WDW.
But, that doesn't stop them from making up answers.
(No, I am not kidding.)

Be at your resort bus stop by 7:00-7:15AM-ish, and you'll be there in PLENTY of time.
Have fun!

 

[Accident]

There will be a couple buses near 6 and 6:30 (I find it's really 6:20-6:25), at 7 is when they get more frequent. They are usually empty so should be no problem getting 2 buggies and the rest of the clan on. Take a deep breath, you'll be ok. I go to the stop near 6:20 when I want to make sure I'm early. it's also no traffic so you'll get there REALLY fast.

 

[Keurigirl]

Thank you so much! I am actually planning a trip for a longtime family friend and her extended family - so I was panicking thinking that I was going to flub them up on the very first day.

 

[keepswimming76]

We stayed at Pop and made an 8 am Tusker House ADR just fine by taking the bus. Enjoy!

 

[Grumpy247365]

If you get there early enough and you ask the first bus driver you see to call a bus, they will. I had an 8am Wild Africa Trek and got to the bus stop before 7am where another party who was on the same tour as me requested a bus. The bus showed up within 10 minutes and we were all at the park in time. They run pretty early, you all should be fine.

 

[LaurenT]

I've done many 8 am pre-open breakfasts. I've never had a problem getting there on the bus.

 

[McKelly]

Don't worry - you will get there. One time at POR, we were waiting for a MK bus and a DHS bus pulled up, there was no one else there, so he asked where we were going and he took us to MK. That was nice!

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

Agree that the buses start early, as in very early. When we stayed at AofA last January and asked what time the buses started running, even the CM at the resort and the bellmen didn't even know the correct answer. Just make sure that all of your party are down at the bus stop by 7 (and if any are staying in Little Mermaid rooms you need to figure in at least ten extra minutes or so to get to the bus stop as the buildings with the LM rooms are further away) , and it should be plenty of time. I find that doing Disney with a group can be like herding cats, LOL, so make sure everyone knows that once the bus arrives it won't wait around very long if someone is not there on time!

Remember AofA does not share buses with any other resort so once you are on the bus, the next stop is the park! And Animal Kingdom isn't all that far from AofA.

 

[Dug720]

Agree that the buses start early, as in very early. When we stayed at AofA last January and asked what time the buses started running, even the CM at the resort and the bellmen didn't even know the correct answer. Just make sure that all of your party are down at the bus stop by 7 (and if any are staying in Little Mermaid rooms you need to figure in at least ten extra minutes or so to get to the bus stop as the buildings with the LM rooms are further away) , and it should be plenty of time. Remember AofA does not share buses with any other resort so once you are on the bus, the next stop is the park! And Animal Kingdom isn't all that far from AofA.

Given that they have TWO mobility scooters to deal with, I'd recommend being there well before 7. It would suck for them to get there at 7 and find other mobility scooters waiting to board as well as there are (thankfully for the rest of us) only a limited number of scooters allowed per bus. And also unless they've reverted to the old ways (I know they had changed it because of the massive parties with one chair/scooter taking up most of the bus at park closing time - I just don't know if too many people whined about party separation since I was there last), only a couple of people from a party are allowed to board WITH the scooter people while the rest have to wait to board with the common walker folk (myself included in that). So again, the earlier, the better because of the greater chance of getting both scooters and ALL of the party on the same bus.

 

[goofyintoronto]

We stayed at Pop and made an 8 am Tusker House ADR just fine by taking the bus. Enjoy!

We stayed at Pop and barely made it for our 8am adr....and we were at the stop at 7am!!! This happened to us twice actually (both trips). I was so ticked. After the 2nd time, i've made a point to take a taxi to early adrs.

I guess if I showed up around 630am I would have caught the bus. Apparently when I got there at 7 i just missed it....the next one didnt come until close to 725 the one time.

 

[eeyoreandtink]

Never in 8 years had a problem getting to an 8am breakfast by bus. They told you that because they are required to tell you to allow at least 90 min travel time. If you get on a 7am bus, you should be there is plenty of time. You will want to be at the stop by about 6:45.

 

[eeyoreandtink]

We stayed at Pop and barely made it for our 8am adr....and we were at the stop at 7am!!! This happened to us twice actually (both trips). I was so ticked. After the 2nd time, i've made a point to take a taxi to early adrs.

I guess if I showed up around 630am I would have caught the bus. Apparently when I got there at 7 i just missed it....the next one didnt come until close to 725 the one time.

That is the typical schedule that early in the morning. You want to be at the bus stop by 6:45 for an 8 am adr. If you wait until exactly 7 you may miss the 7 o'clock bus and they typically run every 20 min at off peak times.

 

[WEDWDW]

Disney starts the buses early for ADRs/Tours.

"First bus times" vary a little from day to day,but they are "usually" between 6:30 AM and 7:00 AM.

Here are "first bus times" on one of my days at All-Star Sports during my last trip(The 6:09 AM MK bus that day was very unusual-it's usually much closer to 6:30 AM).

 

[goofyintoronto]

That is the typical schedule that early in the morning. You want to be at the bus stop by 6:45 for an 8 am adr. If you wait until exactly 7 you may miss the 7 o'clock bus and they typically run every 20 min at off peak times.

Ah, so it was a timing issue, just as I thought. Oh well. Next time I know. Thanks.

Disney starts the buses early for ADRs/Tours.

"First bus times" vary a little from day to day,but they are "usually" between 6:30 AM and 7:00 AM.

Here are "first bus times" on one of my days at All-Star Sports during my last trip(The 6:09 AM MK bus that day was very unusual-it's usually much closer to 6:30 AM).

Damn, I wish all resorts had that lovely screen. So convenient. Pop doesnt have it.

 

[Robo]

That is the typical schedule that early in the morning. You want to be at the bus stop by 6:45 for an 8 am adr. If you wait until exactly 7 you may miss the 7 o'clock bus and they typically run every 20 min at off peak times.

Sorry, but it has nothing to do with "7AM."
The early buses will arrive at a given resort stop at varying times all morning.
There's no possible way that all of the resort buses would show up at all stops at 7AM, then no more for 20-30 minutes.

The poster happened to be unlucky on that day.

However, like all things at WDW, if getting somewhere is important, it is better to show up far too early than
to arrive just one minute too late.

 

[WEDWDW]

Damn, I wish all resorts had that lovely screen. So convenient. Pop doesnt have it.

They're coming to ALL resorts-it is just taking a LONG time.

 

[goofyintoronto]

They're coming to ALL resorts-it is just taking a LONG time.

REALLY LONG TIME!!! I think sports got theirs ages ago!

 

[goofyintoronto]

Sorry, but it has nothing to do with "7AM."
The early buses will arrive at a given resort stop at varying times all morning.
There's no possible way that all of the resort buses would show up at all stops at 7AM, then no more for 20-30 minutes.

The poster happened to be unlucky on that day.

However, like all things at WDW, if getting somewhere is important, it is better to show up far too early than
to arrive just line minute too late.

Unlucky on two days (happened both trips)

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

Wow, that bus time board is great! Have never seen that before!

With GPS technology I don't know why they don't have real time boards at each resort for the buses departure times all day long, like some major cities do with subways and buses.