Within DW, car or bus?

[catiesmom]

We're staying at the Swan in late April. There's 7 of us (me, DH, 4yo DD, 3 yo DS, 20 mo DS, MIL & FIL) and we will have a double BOB stroller. We will take afternoon breaks with the younger 2 kids at least and likely all of us will go back to the Swan most days.

We'll walk to Epcot & HS. But we can't decide what to do about MK and AK.

We will have our minivan and my thought is to just drive to those parks. We have early morning ADRs at both parks and it would be nice to not worry about catching the bus. I've seen lots of posts about it being full before the Swan stop. And I don't want to wait for hours at night to get back to the hotel.

What do you think? Would the minivan be more trouble than it's worth? Or should we drive? Thanks!

 

[richmo]

There's seven of you? And 3 under the age of 5? Wow.

Drive.

 

[goofy4tink]

I have stayed at the Swan and the Dolphin multiple times, as well as at BWV many, many times!! I say this because they are all on the same bus route.
Yes, park closing can make the bus lines longer. But, if you drive to the MK, you are going to be caught in huge crowds trying to take either the monorail or ferry over to TTC and their cars.
I have found the buses to be just fine. You won't be waiting hours to get on a bus and back to the Swan. If you do decide to take the van, I would take it to AK. Don't take it to MK...just too much effort since you park at the TTC and then take the ferry or the monorail over to MK. At AK, you park the car and then either walk directly to the park entrance, or take the tram from your parking area to the park entrance.

 

[a742246]

If you are not planning to see wishes at night in MK, MK shouldn't be too bad to drive to or get out. There is another option to get to MK. Walk thru epcot and take the monorail.

 

[OKW Lover]

Like G4T, we've stayed in all the Epcot Resorts many times. Most recently last week.

While I seldom disagree with G4T I'd point out that sometimes the Swolphin does not always share busses with Yacht/Beach/BW. Last week we caught the MK bus at Beach Club and it went directly from there to the MK without a stop at BW. It seems that the bus routes are a bit more dynamic these days depending on the time of day and the expected ridership levels.

All that aside, I'd recommend driving to the AK rather than taking the bus. To us its convenient to just jump in the car when you're ready to go. OTOH, driving to the MK isn't as convenient because you have to park in the main parking lot and take the tram to the monorail/ferry in order to get to the MK. The bus will drop you right at the MK.

 

[catiesmom]

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[goofy4tink]

Like G4T, we've stayed in all the Epcot Resorts many times. Most recently last week.

While I seldom disagree with G4T I'd point out that sometimes the Swolphin does not always share busses with Yacht/Beach/BW. Last week we caught the MK bus at Beach Club and it went directly from there to the MK without a stop at BW. It seems that the bus routes are a bit more dynamic these days depending on the time of day and the expected ridership levels.

All that aside, I'd recommend driving to the AK rather than taking the bus. To us its convenient to just jump in the car when you're ready to go. OTOH, driving to the MK isn't as convenient because you have to park in the main parking lot and take the tram to the monorail/ferry in order to get to the MK. The bus will drop you right at the MK.

Ah Jeff...exactly where did I say anything about YC/BC??? Almost 100% of the time I have stayed at BW/S/D, the bus has stopped at all three..usually BW first. And there are many times that the bus doesn't go to the YC/BC. First thing in the day and at park closing YC/BC almost always have their own buses.
The BW bus usually goes to the Swan, then the Dolphin, and if it is going to the YC/BC, it stops at the YC, then finally the BC and then on to MK or AK. The DTD bus is usually shared by all 5 resorts.
Just saying!