Transportation for Early Breakfast ADRs

[chdice]

Hi everyone,
I saw a post on facebook that I find hard to believe - someone was saying that both Disney Dining and CMs at one of the Port Orleans resorts told her that buses start an hour before park opening (so at 8am for a 9am opening)- so if you have an 8am breakfast ADR you need to find your own way there (drive, taxi, etc) or make a later reservation time - so no early buses at all. I just can't see Disney doing this - one of the perks of staying on property is the transportation system, so why offer that and early morning ADRs if your on-property guests won't benefit. We are staying at AOA in 3 weeks and have 3 8am ADRs. I have never had a problem in the past with getting a bus at 7-715am. Just wanted to make sure something didn't happen recently, and who can I trust more than my WDW Magic friends. I'm thinking this was the work of a troll (and not the cute Frozen kind).

Thanks!

 

[tlev]

In March we stayed at Kidani Village. We had reservations at Akershus at 8:05. We wanted to leave super early and beat the crowd for Anna and Elsa. A bus picked us up at around 7am and took us to Epcot so as of March buses were still running early. I have not heard anything about Disney changing this policy. It would make no sense for Disney to stop running the buses that people rely on to get to those early morning reservations.

 

[TheMouseFan]

We caught them at 7am in June for our early ADRs.

 

[Sparkle81]

We'll be staying at BC and have got an 8.05 ADR at Crystal Palace, so interested to hear the responses!

 

[coltow]

2 weeks ago my friend had 805 at Crystal Palace. The night before she checked at front desk and they told her the ONLY early bus for all MK area breakfasts would depart at 645am. She thinks this might have had something to do with the monorail schedule. I have an 805 at Tusker House in a few weeks & I will be checking at my resorts desk the night before too, just to make sure

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Buses begin running between 6:30-6:45am. Even if you're trying to make a resort breakfast, you can pretty much ask any of the bus drivers if they'll take you so you can make the meal. Case in point, we were staying at WL and got a bus heading to AK to stop by the GF to get us to our 8am breakfast at 1900 PF. On the flip side, we had a 7am ADR at Chef Mickey's, but were staying at AKL- and the earliest bus was 6:45...so we took a cab. While we've generally had very good luck with early buses and ADRs, we have had 2 bus issues with early ADRs...in one case we waited over 45 min for a bus and the other around 35 min. In both cases, we made our ADRs- barely. It was so stressful that I'd recommend carrying cash for a cab- JUST IN CASE. Had I had cash on me on either one of these days, I totally would have grabbed a cab.

 

[JohnD]

Buses begin running between 6:30-6:45am. Even if you're trying to make a resort breakfast, you can pretty much ask any of the bus drivers if they'll take you so you can make the meal. Case in point, we were staying at WL and got a bus heading to AK to stop by the GF to get us to our 8am breakfast at 1900 PF. On the flip side, we had a 7am ADR at Chef Mickey's, but were staying at AKL- and the earliest bus was 6:45...so we took a cab. While we've generally had very good luck with early buses and ADRs, we have had 2 bus issues with early ADRs...in one case we waited over 45 min for a bus and the other around 35 min. In both cases, we made our ADRs- barely. It was so stressful that I'd recommend carrying cash for a cab- JUST IN CASE. Had I had cash on me on either one of these days, I totally would have grabbed a cab.

I caught the first bus for MK for a breakfast ADR at Kona Café. Turns out I was the only one on the bus. The driver called dispatch and said he was taking a guest to the Poly instead.

 

[chdice]

That's what I thought. It wouldn't be smart on Disney's end to stop the early transportation. Cabs won't work for us because there are 12 of us- including 4 kids. We won't have car seats because we are taking buses the whole trip.

 

[dreamfinder]

I routinely see buses for all 4 parks out and about around 6:30 AM while out for early morning runs. The official line is that they start running an hour before the parks open, but to accommodate early AM breakfasts and tours and such, they really start earlier. However keep in mind that making a 6:30 bus for a 7 AM reservation should be fine, but if you walk up at 6:32 having just missed it, the next one may not come by until 6:50 (20 mins later), making you late to your meal. For the early early ones either plan on being at the bus stop with plenty of time, or look into other means of transportation.

 

[ABQ]

Yes, as @dreamfinder stated, buses to the parks are early, only time I had an issue was a very early breakfast @ 1900 Park Fair when we were staying @ the Boardwalk. Resort to resort transport is the trickiest of all. As someone mentioned above, if you're in a resort that shares a park bus route, like the AK bus from WL passing through the GF, then you have a chance. But if you're staying at the Yacht Club and have a reservation at Chef Mickey's, you may find yourself taking the MK bus and then walking to the Contemporary, or, as I had to with the GF reservation, taking the MK bus then the launch across the lake to the GF. Ask your resort concierge, they know who to contact to ensure your ability to get to the ADR.

 

[Hakunamatata]

Hi everyone,
I saw a post on facebook that I find hard to believe - someone was saying that both Disney Dining and CMs at one of the Port Orleans resorts told her that buses start an hour before park opening (so at 8am for a 9am opening)- so if you have an 8am breakfast ADR you need to find your own way there (drive, taxi, etc) or make a later reservation time - so no early buses at all. I just can't see Disney doing this - one of the perks of staying on property is the transportation system, so why offer that and early morning ADRs if your on-property guests won't benefit. We are staying at AOA in 3 weeks and have 3 8am ADRs. I have never had a problem in the past with getting a bus at 7-715am. Just wanted to make sure something didn't happen recently, and who can I trust more than my WDW Magic friends. I'm thinking this was the work of a troll (and not the cute Frozen kind).

Thanks!

What did the CMs at AOA say when you contacted the resort about the question?

 

[dreamfinder]

What did the CMs at AOA say when you contacted the resort about the question?

The CMs at the resort will more than likely state the company line that buses start an hour before the parks open. I've asked numerous times at different resorts, am always told the same thing, but yet somehow I magically see the buses in the early AM (and even occasionally take them a few times) As mentioned, early morning bus drivers often have the flexibility to reroute based on customer need, so the schedules aren't nearly as reliable as they may otherwise be. To avoid having a CM get blamed when you miss your reservation it's easiest for them to stick to the stated 1 hour before park open.

 

[AliceJaina]

We are going in 2 1/2 weeks. We have ADR at Crystal Palace at 8am. We will have our car but it seems like the only way to get to MK that early is to use a bus. Is this correct? Am I missing a way to drive ourselves there?

 

[ABQ]

We are going in 2 1/2 weeks. We have ADR at Crystal Palace at 8am. We will have our car but it seems like the only way to get to MK that early is to use a bus. Is this correct? Am I missing a way to drive ourselves there?

The resort monorail, unless this has changed, runs from 7 AM, but the express from the TTC doesn't start till a half hour before park opening. You could park at the MK and walk to the Poly and try to catch the 7 AM monorail perhaps? Walking to the Poly isn't that far from the TTC.

 

[AliceJaina]

The resort monorail, unless this has changed, runs from 7 AM, but the express from the TTC doesn't start till a half hour before park opening. You could park at the MK and walk to the Poly and try to catch the 7 AM monorail perhaps? Walking to the Poly isn't that far from the TTC.

Thank you, this is what our original plan was. But with the monorail work I don't think the resort line starts until 8:30 and express until 9. Boo!

 

[Amyleigh]

When we had an early ADR at Epcot and the monorail was on a modified schedule we got a free taxi voucher from our resort (Poly).

 

[LWB]

We had several ADR's before park opening when we stayed at Beach Club. We were told there was a bus but had a great CM who gave us more info than just the party line. She told me that there was only one bus coming by for early ADR people so if you missed it, that was it, so she told us we were probably safer/less stressed to go with a cab. We took the early bus one day but we ended up taking a cab later in the week for two of them and it was well worth the $20 to not have to stress about the bus, waiting for the bus, did we miss the bus, etc and plus we ended up getting to sleep a little bit later! Some advice - if you take a cab, call downstairs and ask that a cab be called for you instead of just asking when you walk out to the transportation area just so you don't have to wait behind other families waiting on a cab!

 

[PEPPER2029]

in april 2014 we had this issue and missed our adr's to the crystal palce. the buses and ferry to the mk start a half hour before park open. this is a serious miscommunication between the parks and the reservation dept. we had an 8:15 at the cp and could not get there. the only remedy is either make your adr on a emh or drive you car to a monorail resort (contemporary or grand floridian) and catch the monorail