Who wants to plan with me? mid Nov - mid Dec - We're up to 110! WOW!

[princess-rn]

Yeah it's always better to be prepared. So do buses go directly to the TTC from the parks or resorts? Is it a good place in general to go when park hopping?



Wow. When I get back to the US, I may need to get that kinda phone before our trip!

You can catch a bus to the TTC from parks (There's a special waiting area for it just as there are for the resorts) but not the resorts. We usually don't park hop until after dinner, which is usually at a resort so we just hope on whatever mode of transportation gets us to where we are going.

 

[princess-rn]

Um... no... You cannot take a bus from a resort to the TTC. I do believe there must be buses from the parks to the TTC, because you might be parked there. This is why there is a TTC. MK is isolated. It is surrounded by a lake. If you drive to MK, you end up in a parking lot the size of Delaware. This parking lot is where you will find the TTC. You actually are not dropped off right by the MK entrance like you are with other parks. If you take a bus from a resort to the MK, the bus goes to the front entrance, area just beyond where the monorail exit lands you. If you were to park at a section of the MK lot, you might be for instance, parked in Minnie Mouse.. then you get on a tram to get you to the TTC. right? I'm confusing myself. Yes.. I think that's it... and you then from the TTC, take the monorail to the entrance... or the boat.

Just know that when you check into your resort, the packet that they give you has a thick brochure with the castle on it. In the center of the booklet is a guide to Disney Transportation. It is laid out very well. It will say for instance... to get to Magic Kingdom... and then under that... it will list all the ways to get there. There will be an entry for each park and other options such as DTD, resort to resort.

We usually stay at Saratoga. To get to Saratoga from any of the parks, take a Saratoga Bus from the bus bay. To get to Saratoga from DTD, you can walk around the lake (there is a path on both sides of DTD) or take the boat launch. You can walk to Beach Club (beaches and cream) from the World Gateway entrance at EPCOT (there is also a boat launch there). It is really not a long walk. We could have taken the boat, but the walk is so pleasant. I do not think that there is a bus from BC-YC or BW to EPCOT which is why the boat launch. You can also walk to DHS from the boardwalk area resorts. You can also find resort maps online. If you can't find them here on the WDWinfo.com, you can look at allears.net. I know she has maps in pdf form that you can download.

It really isn't difficult once you get here and you have your handy guide. Also.. that same guide has a listing of all the restaurants, and a brief description, and information on other recreation and what numbers to call to reserve... such as golf, boating, bikes etc.

Oh Yeah!! I forgot about that brochure!!! Very handy indeed!

 

[Melodious]

Um... no... You cannot take a bus from a resort to the TTC. I do believe there must be buses from the parks to the TTC, because you might be parked there. This is why there is a TTC. MK is isolated. It is surrounded by a lake. If you drive to MK, you end up in a parking lot the size of Delaware. This parking lot is where you will find the TTC. You actually are not dropped off right by the MK entrance like you are with other parks. If you take a bus from a resort to the MK, the bus goes to the front entrance, area just beyond where the monorail exit lands you. If you were to park at a section of the MK lot, you might be for instance, parked in Minnie Mouse.. then you get on a tram to get you to the TTC. right? I'm confusing myself. Yes.. I think that's it... and you then from the TTC, take the monorail to the entrance... or the boat.

Just know that when you check into your resort, the packet that they give you has a thick brochure with the castle on it. In the center of the booklet is a guide to Disney Transportation. It is laid out very well. It will say for instance... to get to Magic Kingdom... and then under that... it will list all the ways to get there. There will be an entry for each park and other options such as DTD, resort to resort.

We usually stay at Saratoga. To get to Saratoga from any of the parks, take a Saratoga Bus from the bus bay. To get to Saratoga from DTD, you can walk around the lake (there is a path on both sides of DTD) or take the boat launch. You can walk to Beach Club (beaches and cream) from the World Gateway entrance at EPCOT (there is also a boat launch there). It is really not a long walk. We could have taken the boat, but the walk is so pleasant. I do not think that there is a bus from BC-YC or BW to EPCOT which is why the boat launch. You can also walk to DHS from the boardwalk area resorts. You can also find resort maps online. If you can't find them here on the WDWinfo.com, you can look at allears.net. I know she has maps in pdf form that you can download.

It really isn't difficult once you get here and you have your handy guide. Also.. that same guide has a listing of all the restaurants, and a brief description, and information on other recreation and what numbers to call to reserve... such as golf, boating, bikes etc.

Umm I think I'm confused But good to know about the guide . And thanks for the info about the Epcot resorts also being near DHS. If we visit the Epcot resorts we'll probably do so either on one of our Epcot days or our last day and then head to DTD. We will have a car while my friend is there (she's driving, my mom and I are flying), we've never really used a car at the parks before. We've never really park hopped or resort hopped either though.

You can catch a bus to the TTC from parks (There's a special waiting area for it just as there are for the resorts) but not the resorts. We usually don't park hop until after dinner, which is usually at a resort so we just hope on whatever mode of transportation gets us to where we are going.

So maybe the best way to park hop is to get on the TTC bus at whatever park and then get on the bus to the park we want to go to, or even use the monorail. Mostly we'll be going to Epcot for dinner and to MK for EMH so I guess we could take a bus to the TTC and then take the monorail. If we wanted to get from the GF to the Epcot resorts can we take the monorail to the TTC and then take the Epcot monorail and get to the Epcot resorts or is it better to take the monorail to the TTC and then take a bus to the resorts?

 

[dj2]

 

[dj2]

If we wanted to get from the GF to the Epcot resorts can we take the monorail to the TTC and then take the Epcot monorail and get to the Epcot resorts or is it better to take the monorail to the TTC and then take a bus to the resorts?

if i were at GF and wanted to go to an epcot resort, i'd take the monorail to MK and switch to a bus from MK to whatever resort i wanted. that seems fastest and easiest.

(unless it was REALLY late at night and MK was CLOSED already. then you need to use downtown disney as your transfer point. this is a very, very time consuming thing to do so if you are going resort to resort late at night, it's better to drive or pay for a cab.)

and remember, at any time if you're unsure what is the best way to do something, just go up to a cast member and ask! that's sometimes easier for some people than figuring out maps and routes.

(it doesn't hurt to ask second CM once you start on your way. occasionally, just occasionally, you get bad advice from a CM )

 

[Mindy5767]

if i were at GF and wanted to go to an epcot resort, i'd take the monorail to MK and switch to a bus from MK to whatever resort i wanted. that seems fastest and easiest.

(unless it was REALLY late at night and MK was CLOSED already. then you need to use downtown disney as your transfer point. this is a very, very time consuming thing to do so if you are going resort to resort late at night, it's better to drive or pay for a cab.)

and remember, at any time if you're unsure what is the best way to do something, just go up to a cast member and ask! that's sometimes easier for some people than figuring out maps and routes.

(it doesn't hurt to ask second CM once you start on your way. occasionally, just occasionally, you get bad advice from a CM )

It really is not that difficult once you get the hang of it. There aren't any buses between MK and EPCOT because they have the monorail for that purpose. All other parks you can bus from one to the other. DTD is a great transfer point to get to other resorts if the nearest park to you is already closed. However, don't forget, that DTD doesn't have ANY buses to the parks... just to the resorts. Otherwise, day visitors would hog the parking spots at DTD and ride the buses to the parks. Day visitors are supposed to park in the parking lot and pay the fee. They're not entitled to park free, only resort guests can park free. The exception to that is if you're a day visitor with a resort ADR. Then they'll let you in the parking lot. Nobody is denied parking at the resort they have an ADR for. As it is, an unscrupulous person could park at DTD, take a bus to a resort, then board the resort bus to a park. That would thankfully make it such a long trip that they'd be discouraged from doing it. Now... occasionally, when the parks are really crowded and they institute a level one closing. THEN the bus drivers will ask boarding passengers to show their resort ID. My son said that happened to him during one of his park hops during spring break. We were on the same trip but didn't happen to get asked for resort ID. I guess we must have been inside a park when that happened.

 

[Melodious]

Ok for some reason I was sure I had heard that there were no buses from one park to another. Good to hear that's not the case. Maybe I got it confused with there are no buses from one resort to another? Thanks for all the info, but just for clarification, Can you get from the Epcot monorail to the Epcot resorts easily?

dj2 so you're saying that if I wanted to get from the GF to POFQ early in the morning, it would be better to take the monorail to MK and get a bus than it would be to take the monorail to the TTC and get a bus?

 

[Mindy5767]

Ok for some reason I was sure I had heard that there were no buses from one park to another. Good to hear that's not the case. Maybe I got it confused with there are no buses from one resort to another? Thanks for all the info, but just for clarification, Can you get from the Epcot monorail to the Epcot resorts easily?

dj2 so you're saying that if I wanted to get from the GF to POFQ early in the morning, it would be better to take the monorail to MK and get a bus than it would be to take the monorail to the TTC and get a bus?

Early in the morning, the best way to get from resort to resort is drive in your car. If you don't have one... a taxi is a good option. Depends how early you get up. You need to ask at the GF front desk what time the monorail starts running to make sure that gives you enough time to switch to a resort destined bus and make your way there. To get from the EPCOT monorail to the EPCOT resorts.. you could take a bus from the TTC or go to EPCOT then walk out the back walk-way. Its NOT a bad walk at all, unless you have people with mobility issues with you.

 

[dj2]

dj2 so you're saying that if I wanted to get from the GF to POFQ early in the morning, it would be better to take the monorail to MK and get a bus than it would be to take the monorail to the TTC and get a bus?

yes - as long as MK is open, i think this is the fastest way using the disney system. (obviously driving in a car, yours or anyone elses, would be faster.)

 

[Mindy5767]

That dj2. I was confusing myself giving advice. We frequently end up driving down, so when we need to get to an ADR in a Resort from a Resort.. we drive. I typically plan my day so that if I don't have my car, I don't have to go from Resort to Resort for an ADR, I make sure I"m in a park or DTD just prior. We usually stay at Saratoga (except for our Aug. trip) so we find it very easy to take the boat launch to DTD, and you can take a boat launch from SSR to OKW and POR, but I don't remember if it was direct of we had to stop at DTD first.

 

[Melodious]

Early in the morning, the best way to get from resort to resort is drive in your car. If you don't have one... a taxi is a good option. Depends how early you get up. You need to ask at the GF front desk what time the monorail starts running to make sure that gives you enough time to switch to a resort destined bus and make your way there. To get from the EPCOT monorail to the EPCOT resorts.. you could take a bus from the TTC or go to EPCOT then walk out the back walk-way. Its NOT a bad walk at all, unless you have people with mobility issues with you.

Thanks, we don't have mobility issues, but we might by the end of the trip!

yes - as long as MK is open, i think this is the fastest way using the disney system. (obviously driving in a car, yours or anyone elses, would be faster.)

i do not believe it's even an option to take a bus from TTC to POFQ.

you can think of the TTC as basically the parking lot for MK. a bus coming from POFQ going to MK goes all the way to the entrance of MK, and does not stop in the "parking lot." and when you are ready to leave MK and go to POFQ, you catch the bus at the entrance to MK, and do not take a monorail or ferry to the parking lot first.

if you have more questions, i'll be happy to try to explain. plus, there's an entire forum on the transportation system which has some threads that cover this and other toics.

Interesting. It's really helpful to know that when we want to parkhop we can just catch a bus from one park to another and then my original plan was to take the monorail to MK and then a bus to POFQ. It's not like we have an ADR or anything, my mom just wants to eat the beignets I'm wondering now what exactly you do at the TTC, but that's not really a pressing question if we don't need it. Thanks a bunch

 

[Mindy5767]

Thanks, we don't have mobility issues, but we might by the end of the trip!



Interesting. It's really helpful to know that when we want to parkhop we can just catch a bus from one park to another and then my original plan was to take the monorail to MK and then a bus to POFQ. It's not like we have an ADR or anything, my mom just wants to eat the beignets I'm wondering now what exactly you do at the TTC, but that's not really a pressing question if we don't need it. Thanks a bunch

I keep hearing about these beignets!! What are they? I have never had one or heard of this french sounding treat! I might just make my way over to POFQ to get one.

I think the TTC is just where the Resort and the EPCOT monorails have their junction so you can go from one to the other. They also sell tickets there, but its not like you can't buy them at the MK gate. I have.

 

[Melodious]

I keep hearing about these beignets!! What are they? I have never had one or heard of this french sounding treat! I might just make my way over to POFQ to get one.

I think the TTC is just where the Resort and the EPCOT monorails have their junction so you can go from one to the other. They also sell tickets there, but its not like you can't buy them at the MK gate. I have.

Thanks for the info. A beignet is just fried dough with powdered sugar on top basically. It looks more like a pillow than a donut or a funnel cake though. They're good, though I personally need something a bit more substantial for breakfast at WDW. I used to live in New Orleans and my mom had them at Cafe du Monde every time she visited me, but she still needs them at POFQ!

 

[Mindy5767]

Ok... got my Your Guide To The Magic booklet out from my March trip. This is where the TTC comes into play. If you are transferring between MK and another park, or if you drive in your car. If you drive by car, you will park in the Mk parking lot which is south of the Seven Seas Lagoon. You will walk or take a parking lot tram to the TTC where you will either board the monorail or take a boat to the MK. If you are at MK and you are heading to another park, you will take a boat or monorail to the TTC and board your bus to another park. The buses from the resorts go right to the front entrance. Which fits with my recall of always passing the walkway to CR just before we arrive. If you're staying at Ft. Wilderness you must board a boat to go to MK. If you want to switch between MK (or any park) and DTD, you must switch buses at a resort. WL has a bus to MK, but the Grand, Poly and CR do not, you must take the monorail. At CR, you can also walk.

So there it is right from the brochure!

 

[dj2]

Ok... got my Your Guide To The Magic booklet out from my March trip. This is where the TTC comes into play. If you are transferring between MK and another park, or if you drive in your car. If you drive by car, you will park in the Mk parking lot which is south of the Seven Seas Lagoon. You will walk or take a parking lot tram to the TTC where you will either board the monorail or take a boat to the MK. If you are at MK and you are heading to another park, you will take a boat or monorail to the TTC and board your bus to another park. The buses from the resorts go right to the front entrance. Which fits with my recall of always passing the walkway to CR just before we arrive. If you're staying at Ft. Wilderness you must board a boat to go to MK. If you want to switch between MK (or any park) and DTD, you must switch buses at a resort. WL has a bus to MK, but the Grand, Poly and CR do not, you must take the monorail. At CR, you can also walk.

So there it is right from the brochure!

wow - i'm so sorry i gave out the wrong advice! i'll go erase it now.

 

[Mindy5767]

wow - i'm so sorry i gave out the wrong advice! i'll go erase it now.

That's ok. We were trying to give advice from memory. Memory isn't as good as we think it is! Good thing I had the brochure. I always keep them when I get home in case I need it.

 

[Melodious]

Ok... got my Your Guide To The Magic booklet out from my March trip. This is where the TTC comes into play. If you are transferring between MK and another park, or if you drive in your car. If you drive by car, you will park in the Mk parking lot which is south of the Seven Seas Lagoon. You will walk or take a parking lot tram to the TTC where you will either board the monorail or take a boat to the MK. If you are at MK and you are heading to another park, you will take a boat or monorail to the TTC and board your bus to another park. The buses from the resorts go right to the front entrance. Which fits with my recall of always passing the walkway to CR just before we arrive. If you're staying at Ft. Wilderness you must board a boat to go to MK. If you want to switch between MK (or any park) and DTD, you must switch buses at a resort. WL has a bus to MK, but the Grand, Poly and CR do not, you must take the monorail. At CR, you can also walk.

So there it is right from the brochure!

I'm getting more and more confused. Ok, so to park hop from MK to another park, take the monorail to the TTC and then board a bus to the park you'd like to hop to. To get from any other park to another park (say AK to MK), what do you do? And to get from the GF to POFQ, what do I do? And to get from say Epcot to DTD, go to an Epcot resort and board the bus for DTD, right?

 

[Mindy5767]

I'm getting more and more confused. Ok, so to park hop from MK to another park, take the monorail to the TTC and then board a bus to the park you'd like to hop to. To get from any other park to another park (say AK to MK), what do you do? And to get from the GF to POFQ, what do I do? And to get from say Epcot to DTD, go to an Epcot resort and board the bus for DTD, right?

1. Yes, unless you're going from a resort to or from MK, .. so that is park hopping either to or from another park and MK, you take the monorail or boat to the TTC, then board a bus to the other park. If you're say, at AK and want to go to MK, you take a bus from AK, labeled Magic Kingdom. It will take you to the TTC where you'll get the monorail or boat to the MK entrance. So you understand right. Just remember that when you're traveling to and from the MK from anywhere else other than a resort.. so that's by car or from any other park, the Magic Kingdom bus takes you to the TTC, where you board the monorail or boat. 2. IF you want to go, say from EPCOT to DHS, you take a bus. To get to PORQ from GF take a bus to DTD, then either a bus to POFQ or take the boat launch. And yes, if you're at EPCOT and you want to head to DTD, walk over to an EPCOT resort and take the bus. Or you don't have to walk. From EPCOT you can take the boat launch to an EPCOT resort and then walk through a hotel lobby to the bus depot. Another way to get to POFQ from GF is take the monorail to MK and then board the POFQ bus. That's probably faster than going to DTD first.

 

[Tinker_Tam]

I think I will spend most of my vacation trying to figure out how to get to and from places. HMMMM...I better research that some more.

 

[Mindy5767]

I think I will spend most of my vacation trying to figure out how to get to and from places. HMMMM...I better research that some more.

No you won't. Just remember these basic rules:

The Ticket & Transportation Center TTC: is a monorail/boat hub at the head of the MK parking lot.
To go to and from MK:
From your resort: Take a bus (except for CR, GF and Poly: walk or take monorail)
From another park: Take a bus to the TTC, then take monorail or boat

You cannot go directly to any park from DTD. Otherwise day visitors would hog the parking spots and ride for free the bus that is part of a resort perk.
From DTD, go to a resort first.

Buses go from Resorts to Parks.... not from resort to resort
To park hop... take a bus from a park
To go from resort to resort, transfer at a park or DTD whichever is closer

You can walk between EPCOT area resorts (YC/BC, BW, Swan & Dolphin) and EPCOT and DHS... or take a boat

those are the basics.... some resorts have water launch options but the waterways are not all connected....
MK area resorts (GF, Poly, CR, WL and FW and SoG) have Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake
EPCOT area resorts have a lake and river
DTD/Saratoga and PORS/POFQ and OKW share a waterway

tell me you got it!! there will be a quiz