Best way to get to MK from Pop, or switching between parks?

[Buzzd]

Hello WDW forum! I've been to Disneyland many times and am excited to finally experience WDW for my first time this year on my birthday (June). My friend and I semi-obsessively do research every day, and though we're good at making sure we don't over-plan, we're trying to figure out all of our transportation options.

We're staying at Pop Century and it sounds like the Skyliner is going to be a very convenient way to get to Hollywood Studios and Epcot! We will be doing Magic Kingdom for a couple days and I read that the best way from Pop is the bus, but I was wondering - to avoid the main security line at the turnstiles, would there ever be a reason to instead take the Skyliner to Epcot, then monorail over to MK? It sounded great in theory, but I saw that Skyliner will be ~15 mins and the monorail another ~30+ mins, in addition to the walk between the Skyliner and monorail loading in Epcot. Plus, I imagine we couldn't go Epcot monorail to MK before parks open but we could bus to MK entrance beforehand, is that correct?

We also got parkhoppers (which I understand we might not use much due to the time it takes to get between parks - we got them back before looking into it much since we often hop between Dland and California Adventure) so we were wondering if it ever makes much sense to use the monorail or bus to get between parks (like to MK or AK) - do you usually just stick to a park for a day because of the time you'd lose switching parks? Other than HS / Epcot on the Skyliner, we're worried we'd be stuck waiting for buses and re-entering parks and regret wasting an hour trying to go to a less crowded park, or a more available fastpass elsewhere.

Any helps is appreciated, thank you!

 

[DisneyJoe]

The bus from Pop to MK drops you at the MK bus stops, and then you go thru security, and you are at the MK entrance and yes, this could get you there the earliest.

If you took the Skyliner to Epcot (you take the Skyliner to Caribbean Beach and transfer, I believe, but should be fast), you'd then enter at the Epcot International Gateway (go thru security there), then you would need to walk completely through Epcot from the UK to the front of the park (where everyone is entering Epcot, so this can be a challenge at times), then take the monorail to the Transportation and Ticket Center (TTC), and either take the monorail from there to the MK or take the Ferry to the MK.

I prefer the direct bus from Pop to MK

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Holy cow you're trying to make it so complicated!

Bus from POP to MK is the most direct route to MK there is and the bag check once at MK is for those who arrive by bus only so you're no longer put with EVERYONE entering MK.

Taking the Skyliner would require that you go through bag check at EPCOT and you'd have to have a park hopper ticket in order to enter EPCOT, walk to the front, get on the monorail, take the monorail to the TTC, then either take another monorail to MK or take the ferry etc.

Hopping between parks can take a bit of time and if you rather just stick to one park then don't get the park hopper.
Personally I go on shorter trips and have been enough that I know what I want to do at each park and how much time I will spend and which parks to hop between.
For example I PH between HS/EPCOT but I would not PH between EPCOT/AK.

 

[DisneyJoe]

If you are going to do a rideshare service, Lyft tends to be the cheapest.

 

[JohnD]

Skyliner is cool and all (haven’t been on it yet) but the most direct route to MK from Pop is the bus to the MK bus stop. That simple.

 

[Buzzd]

Great, thank you to DisneyJoe, dmw, Queen and JohnD for the responses! Good to hear a resounding agreement that the bus is the best (free) option from Pop to MK.

A single FP+ for another park can be booked on your phone while still at MK, if you want to hop.

To make sure I understand - are you saying that only one FP+ can be booked at a time while in a park in general, or that you can only do a single FP+ for any of the other parks I'm not currently in?
i.e. after we use up our 3 reserved FP+ for the day and see that others are available, would we only be able to book one until we ride that ride, then be able to possibly book another? Or does it let you get a new one every 90 mins like Maxpass?

 

[RememberWhen]

Great, thank you to DisneyJoe, dmw, Queen and JohnD for the responses! Good to hear a resounding agreement that the bus is the best (free) option from Pop to MK.


To make sure I understand - are you saying that only one FP+ can be booked at a time while in a park in general, or that you can only do a single FP+ for any of the other parks I'm not currently in?
i.e. after we use up our 3 reserved FP+ for the day and see that others are available, would we only be able to book one until we ride that ride, then be able to possibly book another? Or does it let you get a new one every 90 mins like Maxpass?

You get one at a time after your initial 3.
We do park hop sometimes, but it does take some time. Did you say how long you will be there? With a very short trip one park a day makes sense to maximize your time on rides. But if you’re there for a longer trip we often will hit a park at rope drop and stay until (or through) lunch. Then head back to the hotel and swim or rest. In the evening we’ll head back to a different park. Especially in the summer when it’s hot.

 

[nickys]

Great, thank you to DisneyJoe, dmw, Queen and JohnD for the responses! Good to hear a resounding agreement that the bus is the best (free) option from Pop to MK.


To make sure I understand - are you saying that only one FP+ can be booked at a time while in a park in general, or that you can only do a single FP+ for any of the other parks I'm not currently in?
i.e. after we use up our 3 reserved FP+ for the day and see that others are available, would we only be able to book one until we ride that ride, then be able to possibly book another? Or does it let you get a new one every 90 mins like Maxpass?

after using your initial 3 FPs, you can book one at a time.So you book your 4th FP and use it. Then you book your 5th and use it. Then your 6th and use it.

 

[Buzzd]

Ah okay that makes sense. I'll be there for 6 days - thinking 2 days MK 1 day at the others and maybe a split Epcot/HS day in general, but may switch it up in the moment since we can hop.

 

[MAYNARDS99]

There can be up to a 10 minute delay if you carry a bag leave the bag at the hotel