transportation to&from resorts, help!

[PARichards]

I will be a first-timer in September. Just found out no direct rides between resorts, and I am now a little worried about 2 meal reservations, in particular:

(FYI, For the meals, we’ll be a party of 8 = myself, DH + 4 DDs, ages 8, 6, &4, staying at AoA + 2 GPs, staying at FWL.)

Ok, on our 3rd morning, I booked a brunch (11am) @ Chef Mickey’s, the rationale being that we have late dinner at Be Our Guest the night before. We weren’t planning to do any park stuff before brunch, just lazy our way into brunch and then ride the mono to Epcot, but now that it sounds like we’ll have to take a bus to MK and THEN find a way to the Contemporary… I feel like I need a new plan! We have park hoppers, so an early AM park visit is not an issue, we just weren’t planning on transportation being such a big deal! (DH isn’t one to be “splurging” on a cab, you see…)

Now, on our last night, we are having diner at 1900 Park Fare and wanted to go straight back to the hotel to finish packing & resting up for a long drive home the next morning. Would it be best to just drive our own car from AoA to GF and back? DH is doing most of the driving home, and is reluctant to spend more time behind the wheel than absolutely necessary!

Thanks!

 

[iluvMainStMagic]

I would LOVE to find some excuse to take a boat ride. Maybe I can sell that as an alt. to getting to/from GF to the DH.

Ok... how about THIS: my kids are early risers, so despite our late night at MK, I am thinking of an early morning contingency plan, just in case they're too pumped to "mosey" to brunch- we're talking, they're routinely up by 7 at home. Sooo. Does it sound insane to make the rope drop at MK and hang out/window shop on Main Street, and then walk to CM; or would it be better to use that time to explore AoA, or... see. Possibilites = endless/overwhelming. So glad to have found this forum, omg.

I agree about the boats, we love them too!
I love this site, too! nice people with lots of good, helpful ideas ....and some great humor sprinkled in!

It sounds like having some options in mind for that morning is a good idea. Disney days are so busy and exciting that it's possible your kids will be really tired and need a little extra sleep, and not get up quite as early as at home - on the other hand, they may wake up just as early all excited for another day. Fortunately, since your CM breakfast is on your 3rd morning, you will have a chance to see how mornings go before you get to that day.

You know your kids best, if you think they might be upset to have to leave the MK after only being there a short time, even if it's to have breakfast with Mickey & friends, then you might find it works better for them to wait to go into the park until you can stay longer.
They might enjoy riding the Monorail into the Contemporary and exploring there some before your meal. Or if you have time, ride the whole resort Monorail loop and get off for a few minutes at the other resorts to explore, ending with the Contemporary and breakfast.
And as always....your plan may change after you get there...or even that morning! but at Disney it's all good!

 

[PARichards]

Or if you have time, ride the whole resort Monorail loop and get off for a few minutes at the other resorts to explore, ending with the Contemporary and breakfast.

Ooh, that sounds like a plan I could get behind!

As for best laid plans... they're changing daily, ha! Example: have a 8:45pm at BOG on night 2 thinking we could eat and watch the fireworks on our way out of MK. Came up in conversation today, and The Eldest was crying (as in, "are those TEARS?!") because she said/sobbed she wanted to watch the parade AND the fireworks, blah, blah... Sigh. That was a nice long chat about how we will get to see other parades, and we need to make sure we are enjoying what we are doing and not having to rush through to the next thing. Honestly, sheesh. I am not a huge planner anyway, and the only hard plans we have/will/might make are for our table service meals, with everything else coming together around that. Luckily, Eldest understood, & crisis averted (for now, anyway). Sorry for that little rant!

For another PP, my girls wake up with the sunrise STARVING, you'd think we never feed them, smh. So, yes, the plan is to keep milk and cereal in our suite to keep the beasts at bay til CM's, etc.

 

[Disvillain63]

anks, I will pass this along to DH. Nothing more fun than a 45+ min commute with 4 hungry monsters in tow (for that dinner, speally, yikes!). Certainly sounds easier to just drive over if we'Re eager to get back to AoA that night. We anticipated a LOT of walking, so walking to CM from MK should be no problem. Now I'm a little bummed that if we want to join my inlaws or viceversa at our respective resorts, we'll be wasting a bunch of time on the commute.

Thanks, all, for the info!

Now... anyone here expert at napping on the bus?

The commutes via bus and such are not that bad. My DH drives for a living, so at WDW he tries not to drive and it all works out. After dinner at GF, you could take the monorail to MK and catch the bus to AoA or catch the bus at GF to DTD or another park and then take the bus to AoA.

 

[Tom 55]

You will be surprised how close the MK bus stop is to the Contemporary hotel. It is a shorter to walk to the right after getting off bus than to go to the left and up to the Monorail station. To get to the GF come to MK and take the boats over. Off the bus to the left. The boat dock is just before the ramp up to Monorail platform. There are signs. Spoiler alert. Here are pictures of the Chef Mickey and 1900 meet and greet.