Making it to a breakfast dining reservation on time

[Lisa Warner]

Staying on grounds the first week of January for the first time in a long time. I have made a few breakfast reservations for a half hour prior to the parks opening, but just started worrying about making it in time. How early will busses start? Staying at Port Oleans FQ.

 

[carriebeth]

if your breakfasts are in the parks, getting to them 1/2 hour early will be no problem at all via the bus system. If they are at other resorts it could be trickier since there is not a bus direct from one resort to another

 

[Minnie Mum]

The buses start running as early as 0630 every morning. There is no reason to worry about getting to a park in time for a PPO breakfast. Very early breakfasts at another resort may not be as easy to reach in time by a Disney transport.. You may find that a taxi, Uber or the new Minnie Van would work better in those cases.

 

[Lisa Warner]

Both are in the parks. The parks open at 9 and the Disney site says the busses don't start til 45 minutes prior to park openings. We have always been rope droppers so this seems late.

 

[nickys]

This must be one of the most common worries people have.

I always speak to the concierge desk the night before, tell them what time your reservation is for and ask if there will be buses running early enough. They will do everything they can to get you there on time; speak to them again in the morning. At best there will be the normal park buses running, or there might be a special bus for PPO breakfast guests.

At worst, you can take a taxi or Uber. I've never had to. Even on New Year's Day for an 8am Epcot tour on a 9 am opening. We took the monorail from Contemporary to TTC, where we were told there was a bus waiting if we wanted or we could wait for the final checks on the Epcot monorail. This was at the back of 7am.

If it's really worrying you, then book a taxi / Uber.

 

[Kingoglow]

The busses operate much earlier than you think. I have caught a bus from POFQ at 6:30 am for a 7:00 am breakfast reservation at Chef Mickey's. I confirmed with the front desk the night prior for peace of mind and sure enough, we were able to catch a bus. Since there was no one else on the bus, the driver graciously dropped us off at the Contemporary instead of the MK bus depot.

 

[NeedMoreMickey]

Buses to the parks run pretty early but if going to a different resort I would take the new Minnie Van or an Uber. The stress of trying to make your reservation in time isn't worth it, spend $20 and get a ride.

 

[Bryan76]

Agree about the Uber avenue to get there. We went from Riverside to DS to Boardwalk via Bus for character breakfast and we just made it on time. In hindsight, I would have gladly paid a little to not wait at DS for thirty minutes to get to Boardwalk. Not really anyone's fault, but my own for not thinking it out more in advance.

 

[MSCollins77]

I would suggest getting to the bus stop by 7:00 AM or close to it. While buses do start to early they do not always run often. We were very VERY late to breakfast at Tusker House because an AK Bus did not come for 45 minutes. We had just missed the bus we should have taken to make our reservation and ended up being like an hour late. It was the first time I did not follow my own advice.

 

[Mark P.]

Buses to the parks run pretty early but if going to a different resort I would take the new Minnie Van or an Uber. The stress of trying to make your reservation in time isn't worth it, spend $20 and get a ride.

Agree. Morning breakfast reservations aren't a time to be relying on bus transportation; paying for Uber/Lyft/Minnie Van is paying for a higher level of convenience/peace of mind that you won't be rushing to get there at the last minute.

 

[dreamfinder]

Both are in the parks. The parks open at 9 and the Disney site says the busses don't start til 45 minutes prior to park openings. We have always been rope droppers so this seems late.

The official party line is yes, buses don't start running until 45 mins before open. Reality is 6:30 most start rolling. It's kind of like how they tell you to allow for 90 mins to get to your ADR, even though it should be much less. They would rather err on the side of caution.

Remember that some of the non park restaurants take 7AM seatings, and I believe there are still a few tours that start at that time as well. The buses are running, just potentially not as often.