what time do you leave hotels for RD and EMH

[fattymatty]

Hey folks i'm just wondering what times folks usually plan on leaving their hotels at if going to the park for RD and EMH

 

[mickeyluv'r]

It varies Widely depending on your point A and your point B, how one plans to get from one to the other, and your priorities. (Is it ESSENTIAL to you to be FIRST-ish to enter the park?)

If you are going to HS/Epcot from an Epcot deluxe, the walk part is under 15minutes, plus however much time you want to allow for security and such.

If you are taking the bus, coming from one of the big moderate hotels, it is Thanksgiving/Easter/Christmas week, and you aren't able to walk the main bus stop, and arriving before the parks open is a big priotity, then many folks allow well over an hour (two?) to get to the park form their hotel. I haven't taken a bus from one of the mods in quite some time, so I'm not a good person to answer this.

if you have your own car, that's another big variable.

 

[fattymatty]

We will be staying at SSR August 20-27. I was thinking that buses start running 1 hour earlier so guess unless take uber that earliest we can leave is 1 hour before.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Gosh, I'm not an expert on how early the busses start running, but I think they start earlier than that. Many folks book pre-RD meals. I think the early buses only run every half hour though.

We used to take the buses, but have since found that having our own car pretty much pays for itself.

 

[Shanti]

Hey folks i'm just wondering what times folks usually plan on leaving their hotels at if going to the park for RD and EMH

Be at the bus stop an hour before RD or EMH. You'll get there in plenty of time.

As an example, over Easter weekend we stayed at AKL when MK was having 7am EMH. We arrived at the bus stop at 6am. Bus arrived around 6:15 or 6:20, & we were waiting outside the MK gates by 6:45. We were among the first in line for Mine Train that morning.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I'll also add, if you don't know- MK is on the north side of WDW, and some distance from most everything else. In your case, SSR is about 10 min drive time from MK and Epcot, more like 15 to HS and AK. Whereas AKL is very close to AK, but far from MK. The DS springs area also gets congested, but I've only been through there a few times since they re-engineered the roads around it.

 

[Stinky_Pete]

I visit during off-peak times. When I stay at one of the All Star resorts I try to get to the bus stop at least an hour before park opening/EMH beginning. I usually arrive at the theme park early enough to be close to the front of the line to get in.

Disney's official word, and what the CMs will tell you at your resort, is that the buses start running around 45 mins-1 hr before park opening. In reality, they start running much earlier than that. How else could all those people get to their pre-park opening ADRs on time?

 

[MisterBubbles]

As early as possible! Every time that we try to figure our route time we realize there are other variables that seem to take us longer to get to RD at a park. Depending on the size of the resort and the number of stops buses make before getting to your stop a bus can be full and you may have to wait on another bus to follow. Several years ago we were at the bus stop one hour before park opening at CSR and waited a solid 30 minutes before a bus arrived! We got to MK before opening, but with a large crowd already in place. That was in December before Christmas. Another time I totally goofed and got us up for EMH at MK, but there was no EMH that day. The bus picked us up at POP though and dropped us off (we were the only ones on the bus). The mistake paid off when a CM saw us looking confused outside the gate and had us come in and be the family of the day to help open up the park! Best day ever, all for being early!

 

[KrazeeK120]

We will be staying at SSR August 20-27. I was thinking that buses start running 1 hour earlier so guess unless take uber that earliest we can leave is 1 hour before.

Buses start running by 6:30 AM.

 

[Mickey's Best Girl]

We leave our room 75 minutes before rope drop regardless of which park we're going to.

This system has worked out very well for us over the years.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We leave our room at 8 am for RD. 7-7:15 am for AM EMH. We don't need to be in the front of the pack but we like to get there when they allow guests into the park. Never had a problem with this system. We still get a good head start and beat the crowds.

 

[fattymatty]

Was thinking of if RD is at say 8am, being at the Bus Stop for 630. so that hopefully the bus arrives between 630-7 getting us to the park by at latest 715.

 

[Karl66]

We get to the bus stop 1 hour prior to RD and have never been late.

 

[LSUfan4444]

Hey folks i'm just wondering what times folks usually plan on leaving their hotels at if going to the park for RD and EMH

If I am hitting RD at a non EMH park I want to be there by 8:20 am. The time I leave depends on where I am staying and where I am going. The difference between being there at 8:20 and 8:40 is pretty big.

 

[ColoradoMom12]

As a general rule of thumb, we go out the door of our room 1 hour and 15 minutes before RD. We're not the first ones in the park, but we always make RD. Once we left our room at around 7:15 for 9:00 park opening at Epcot...we were second in line!! We were staying at the CR.