WL-EPCOT transportation

[mrssalvaggio]

We will be going to WDW in December. On Sun. 12-5, we will be going to EPCOT. This will be our first stay at WL. I am wondering if we should take the bus or take the boat to MK and then the monorail over. More importantly would you suggest the same return trip. The crowds seem so large after Illuminations, and we've had to wait for several buses in the past to get back to POFQ. I believe that night is MVMCP. So if we took the monorail back to MK, the boats should still be operating at 10:30. If we left through the WS exit, is there transportation from the Boardwalk to WL? Does anyone have any experience with this situation and could help with a recommendation? Thanks

 

[mrssalvaggio]

Oops - wrong date. Sunday, 12-7.

 

[Gary M]

We have stayed at WL many times and will be there Dec. 6-13, this year. We do not go "commando style" on our WDW trips, so some of the "commandos" on this site, may disagree with our transportation ideas. To go to the WS at EPCOT, we take the MGM bus, we then take the boat from MGM to the International Gateway at EPCOT. The boat trip takes 25 minutes from the MGM dock to the EPCOT dock. After Illuminations you can take the Monorail from EPCOT to TTC and then the bus from TTC to WL or the bus from EPCOT to WL.

If you go to FW, at EPCOT, then the bus from WL to EPCOT hasn't been that bad for us. If you want you can take the bus from WL to TTC and then the monorail to FW.

The WL, does have a bus to TTC, unless that has changed recently.

 

[skiwee1]

We are far from commandos and still thought the WL transportation left a lot to be desired. If we did 5 hours a day in a park, visiting 4 attractions, then that was a busy day for us! LOL! We just didn't like the fact that WL shared the boat and busses with FW. And that was for every trip, not just at certain times. Now after reading on the boards that they only share at certain times I'm sure it will be much better. When we were staying there in May 2002, everyone was complaining to the front desk about it. So did I! The front desk CM told me that they were just trying out sharing with FW on every trip and that they were going to change it. So hopefully they made it a permanent change. We thought the WL was absolutely beautiful and liked it even better then the Polynesian because of the massive and gorgeous lobby.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Originally posted by skiwee1
We just didn't like the fact that WL shared the boat and busses with FW.

Wilderness Lodge shares with Fort Wilderness for Downtown Disney, and Epcot. (Also Studios in the afternoon) WL will share with Grand Floridian for AK, as well as Studios in the morning.

It should be noted that Fort Wilderness is ON THE WAY to Downtown Disney and Epcot. You are not going out of the way, or adding a significant amount of time by stopping at Fort Wilderness.

It should also be noted that the theme park buses are no longer on fixed routes. Our new Magic On Demand/Flex Dispatch is in place. This should mean the problems experienced 2 years ago no longer exist. From what I've heard from guests, they've noticed a great improvement to the transportation at WL.



Back to the original topic... from WL, one has two choices. There is a bus to the TTC, where one can catch the Monorail to Epcot. There is also a direct bus to Epcot. TTC bus runs every 10 minutes, Epcot buses are dispatched every 15 minutes.

During a park exit, the Monorail will get crowded... Monorails run every 7-10 minutes. Buses run constantly. WL typically only has a one bus line, but if the line is greater, they'll send more buses.

 

[mrssalvaggio]

Another question...If we have breakfast at Chef Mickey's, does a monorail run directly from there to EPCOT? It's been many years since we've taken transportation from the TTC, but as I remember they did not start operating the monorails until the time that parks were scheduled to open. As a result, there was a long line and when we got to the park (I think it was MK), we missed the rope drops. Maybe it was a way to control crowd entry into the parks. It always seemed to me that people who took resort buses or monorails from the resorts were able to arrive sooner than those coming from TTC. We would like to be at the turnstyles at park opening.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

The Blue route boat starts running from WL to CR at 6:50am. Otherwise, you can take the 7:10 bus from WL to TTC, and then catch the Monorail to CR.

There is no direct monorail from CR to Epcot. You must transfer at the TTC. Epcot monorail starts running 45 mins prior to park opening. Resort monorail starts service at 7:00am.

As for being held back at the TTC, this is correct. Guests who do not have priority seating reservations are held back at the TTC until 8:45. This is done for two reasons... crowd control, and it also gives the Disney Resort Guests a big advantage being first into the park.

(It should be noted, if you drive and park at the TTC, you will be held back even if you are a Disney resort guest.)

 

[mrssalvaggio]

Thanks for the info about TTC I had been wondering about driving since I was reading another thread that really supports it. Now I know we'll definitely want to stay away from TTC!!