Getting to Magic from the Dolphin

[PenguinGent]

Hi everyone, we're staying at the Dolphin in May, and I wanted to know if it was possible/how convenient it would be to catch a bus from the Yacht Club/Boardwalk instead, since it would then bypass the TTC. Have any of you done this? What have your experiences been? Thanks in advance!

 

[Kamikaze]

Its easy and you won't have an issue. You just walk over and get on the bus.

 

[Weather_Lady]

We stayed at the Dolphin in August and took the MK buses from/to Boardwalk and Beach Club several times. There was no appreciable difference in walking time, bus frequency or crowds between the two that we noticed. Heading back to the hotel from MK at the end of the day, the bus stations for Boardwalk and Beach Club were right next to one another, so we'd wait in the Boardwalk line, but remain poised to switch over to the end of the Beach Club line if a bus for that resort showed up first. (Candidly, if you're staying at the Dolphin, I'd also recommend using other resorts' buses to Animal Kingdom, as the Dolphin buses seemed to run about every 30-40 minutes, while the Disney buses cycled through in half that time.)

Caveat: I should add that when we visited, crowds were incredibly low and the buses were never running more than half full, so there was no chance we were taking away seats from Boardwalk or Beach Club guests by using those buses. Plus, we often bought snacks at Boardwalk on our way through, so I could rationalize that in a sense, we were "hotel-hopping to dine." If we'd been traveling at a high crowd time, I might have felt differently, but then again, when I think about how much money Disney was still making from us on that trip, maybe not!

 

[Mickey5150]

My favorite thing about the bussing from the Swan and Dolphin to the MK is that I have to take the monorail or ferry boat. I like the extra attraction on my way in.

 

[KaliSplash]

Taking the Dolphin bus to the Magic Kingdom allowed the grandkids to ride the monorail last summer.
On the other hand, taking the Dolphin bus to Animal Kingdom I felt we had been dropped into the asphalt jungle.
And of course, there is NO bus to studios or epcot, a problem when the typical stormy weather halts the boats and Skyliner.

 

[PenguinGent]

Thanks for your feedback everyone, really appreciate it!

 

[Weather_Lady]

And of course, there is NO bus to studios or epcot, a problem when the typical stormy weather halts the boats and Skyliner.

Good point! A couple of times when the boats shut down, we had to trudge over to EPCOT from the Dolphin (we had dining reservations to keep, so postponing was not an option) in a monsoon. It's always a good idea to keep heavy duty rain ponchos in your park bag(s), and to wear (or bring) waterproof sandals.

 

[NelleBelle]

I'll just add my opinion, which will likely not be popular. When we stayed at YC, bus service to MK was abysmal, especially in the mornings. The lines were extremely long and every time we were going to MK we had to wait for at least 2 buses to (sometimes 3) to get over to there. I think it's not really fair to those who are shelling out $$$ to stay at YC/BC/BW to have people come over from Swalphin to use the buses to get closer to MK.