Just looking for the operating hours of the monorails and buses on property. If there is a quick, easy answer great, if you want to read my question in its entirety to give me a better answer, even better!
My GF and I are heading up to WDW for my birthday dinner (because we just moved to FL and we are close enough to do that now :sohappy::sohappy
We will not be going to any parks, just DTD and then exploring some of the resorts for a while until diner at the Poly. I want to stick around to watch Wishes from the Poly beach and then MAYBE catch a monorail over to Epcot to take some night pictures. So my question is, will a monorail run from the Poly to Epcot after Epcot is closed (Epcot closes at 9 that night and Wishes doesn't start until 10) and more importantly, will there be a monorail running long enough to get us back somewhere were we can catch a bus back to DTD, where I'm guessing we will probably park?
I think buses run pretty late from what i've read on here and I assume with DTD being a pretty big hub for buses they would run to and from there quite late. Im just concerned about the monorail...
thanks
I'm pretty sure the busses run later than monorails, but since I always have my car with me since parking is free on my AP, I don't have to ride them and cannot answer that part of your question as far as how late the busses run back to Downtown Disney.
What I can try to answer is the question about how late the Epcot monorail line stays open. The reason I am familiar with this is from using the monorail to park-hop to the MK after Epcot closes and leaving my car in the Epcot lot.
In my experience for the last 5 years, the Epcot line USUALLY stays open 90 minutes after whichever park closes LAST between the Magic Kingdom and Epcot. Meaning if it's a night when the Magic Kingdom closes at 8 PM and Epcot 9 PM, the latest you can count on being able to get in line for the monorail at the TTC back to Epcot and count on a ride would be around 10:30 PM. And if the MK closes at midnight, then the Epcot line would run until 1:30 AM, even though Epcot may have closed at 9 PM!
In your case that you described the MK is closing at at least 10 since Wishes is at 10, which means the line should run until at least 11:30 PM, or later if MK is not closing WITH Wishes.
Epcot usually has a fixed closing time of 9PM most of the year (9:30 PM during Christmas season). However, if Epcot has Extra Magic Hours for resort guests after the official closing time, the Epcot monorail line will stay open until the park is clear of guests after EMH. By contrast, I don't think the line stays open any extra during the MKs EMH or private parties, and goes by the MKs posted closing time for determining closing time of the Epcot beam in the usual formula as to 90 minutes after whichever park closes last.
So I can't guestimate the EXACT time the Epcot monorail line will close on the night in question without knowing whether Epcot has evening EMH, or what the MK closing time is that night.
Of course, the resort line that circles the 7 Seas Lagoon always closes later than the Epcot line, usually stays open pretty late, and will NEVER shut down as long as there are people at the Magic Kingdom on a regular night, EMH night, or special event night.
If you are at the Poly and cutting it close for making it back to the TTC in time to catch the monorail back to Epcot, it might be quicker to walk from the Poly to the TTC, which is only about a 10 or 15 minute walk (if you are not familiar with the trail you may want to ask directions). The monorail ride from the Poly to the TTC stops at the Floridian, MK, and then Contemporary first, because it travels clockwise.
If Epcot closes at 9 and you get there after a 10 PM Wishes to take pictures (I assume you mean from the parking lot), the Epcot lot may be pretty deserted by then (unless there is EMH at Epcot going on that night) and I am not sure buses would still be picking up from there that late. So if you are asking about getting back to Epcot to catch a bus to Downtown Disney from Epcot, it might be easier to catch one of the buses from the TTC or MK. Again, my lack of familiarity with the buses makes me unqualified to answer that part of the question, as far as how late they run, or where and when the Downtown Disney line picks up after 10 PM if Epcot is closed, etc)
Of course, if the monorail line will still be running long enough after you get to Epcot to take the pictures, you might have time to catch it back to the TTC to catch a bus from either there or the MK back to Downtown Disney.
As you can see, this is a fairly complex question that is dependent on a lot of variables, but I hope I was able to be helpful in some way!
