Which Route to take

[graphite1326]

I will be in HS and have dining reservations at the Contemporary at 6:30. I was planning to leave HS at 5. Which would be the best route: Go out of the park and stand in the MK bus line. OR Take the Skyliner to the nearest resort and then get on their bus to MK. OR take the skyliner to EPCOT and then get on the monorail to TTC and then onto the Contemporary. OR Take the boat to EPCOT and then onto the monorail (I kinda ruled this one out. I once waited an hour for that boat at HS.)

 

[jloucks]

I will be in HS and have dining reservations at the Contemporary at 6:30. I was planning to leave HS at 5. Which would be the best route: Go out of the park and stand in the MK bus line. OR Take the Skyliner to the nearest resort and then get on their bus to MK. OR take the skyliner to EPCOT and then get on the monorail to TTC and then onto the Contemporary. OR Take the boat to EPCOT and then onto the monorail (I kinda ruled this one out. I once waited an hour for that boat at HS.)

I read this like 5 times, trying to see what I missed, but could not find it. Did you typo MK for HS?

I would just ride the bus from HS to the Contemporary.

 

[plutofan15]

Bus from HS to the Contemporary. Really simple, you are making it much more complicated than it needs to be.

 

[DonaldDuck Family]

Bus from HS to Contemporary. Its the most direct and efficient means. All of the plans you listed that included EPCOT have you entering EPCOT at the International Gateway and walking to the front entrance to get to the monorail. That's a lot of effort.

 

[Tiggerish]

Bus from HS to Contemporary. Its the most direct and efficient means. All of the plans you listed that included EPCOT have you entering EPCOT at the International Gateway and walking to the front entrance to get to the monorail. That's a lot of effort.

And it is guaranteed to make you late for your Contemporary dinner ressie.

Don’t ask me how I know this.

 

[monorail81]

Another cote to bus directly from HS to Contemp. Unless you’re trying to make it more difficult than it has to be. If that’s the case, let me design a route for you.

 

[AndyS2992]

I think you should take the Skyliner from Hollywood Studios to Pop Century, then catch a bus to Disney Springs, walk to Saratoga Springs and then catch a bus to Epcot and then walk all the way over to International Gateway and walk to Disney's Boardwalk and then catch a Friendship Boat back to Hollywood Studios, catch another ride on Tower of Terror, since you're already there, and then catch a bus to Magic Kingdom which will actually take you to the Transportation and Ticket center and then get on the Ferry Boat to Magic Kingdom and then get some photos in front of the Mickey flowers and Train Station because why not and then walk over to the monorail and ride around the Resort loop until you finally get to the Contemporary. Once there get off and marvel at the beautiful Mary Blair murals on the wall. And then head over to your restaurant in which a lovely CM will turn you away for being four hours late.

 

[vikescaper]

As others have said, take the bus from HS directly to the Contemporary, or rideshare from HS to the Contemporary. Anytime you add in additional transportation methods, you increase the likelihood of missing your reservation.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

If you take the bus that runs directly from HS to CR, then allowing an hour is prob plenty of time. If perchance you happen to see that you just missed the CR bus, but a bus to MK is waiting, that's also a workable option. The walk from the MK bus stop to CR is often shorter than waiting for the next bus.

Rideshare is another direct option that is often worthwhile when going to dinner at the resorts (esp AKL).

 

[WorldExplorer]

Everyone is right about the bus, but for future reference, taking a boat/skyliner to Epcot and then any other Epcot transportation is never going to be a convenient option. You have to walk through almost the entire park to get back to the front where the monorail and buses are, and both the boat and skyliner aren't direct routes back and forth (they stop at other resorts/require you transfer).

If you take the bus that runs directly from HS to CR, then allowing an hour is prob plenty of time. If perchance you happen to see that you just missed the CR bus, but a bus to MK is waiting, that's also a workable option. The walk from the MK bus stop to CR is often shorter than waiting for the next bus.

Rideshare is another direct option that is often worthwhile when going to dinner at the resorts (esp AKL).

You can also ways grab a Polynesian/Grand Floridian bus if you just miss the Contemporary one and the Magic Kingdom one is also not showing up.

 

[JIMINYCR]

The bus system at WDW has gotten more reliable so a direct bus is a good option. With the availability of Uber rides you do have a second reliable and fairly inexpensive choice as a back up. See how your time is on leaving DHS and making it to your reservation. A call to the restaurant while on your way explaining if for some reason you are running a bit late can keep your reservation in most cases.

 

[graphite1326]

The bus system at WDW has gotten more reliable so a direct bus is a good option. With the availability of Uber rides you do have a second reliable and fairly inexpensive choice as a back up. See how your time is on leaving DHS and making it to your reservation. A call to the restaurant while on your way explaining if for some reason you are running a bit late can keep your reservation in most cases.

The bus suystem sucked while I was there. I left our room early to catch a 7:20 bus to HS. I got to the bus stop at 7:14 only to see the bus leave. The next posted bus coming was 7:53. They shut down the Disney Springs boat to FQ I had waited a half hour for because of lightning. We walked all the way across DS to the bus station and waited 40 minutes for a bus.

 

[nickys]

The bus suystem sucked while I was there. I left our room early to catch a 7:20 bus to HS. I got to the bus stop at 7:14 only to see the bus leave. The next posted bus coming was 7:53. They shut down the Disney Springs boat to FQ I had waited a half hour for because of lightning. We walked all the way across DS to the bus station and waited 40 minutes for a bus.

You’re complaining they stopped the boats because of lightning?

 

[JohnD]

The bus suystem sucked while I was there. I left our room early to catch a 7:20 bus to HS. I got to the bus stop at 7:14 only to see the bus leave. The next posted bus coming was 7:53. They shut down the Disney Springs boat to FQ I had waited a half hour for because of lightning. We walked all the way across DS to the bus station and waited 40 minutes for a bus.

You waited longer for a bus because normally you would have taken the boat. So they wisely shut down the boat system due to lightning. They then had to REDIRECT a bus to you where transportation to DS is normally boat.

In your OP question, the obvious answer there is bus. A bus goes directly from the parks to the resorts. So take a bus to Contemporary. As others of have said, disembarking elsewhere and waiting for another mode of transportation increases your total transportation time.

 

[JIMINYCR]

The bus suystem sucked while I was there. I left our room early to catch a 7:20 bus to HS. I got to the bus stop at 7:14 only to see the bus leave. The next posted bus coming was 7:53. They shut down the Disney Springs boat to FQ I had waited a half hour for because of lightning. We walked all the way across DS to the bus station and waited 40 minutes for a bus.

My answer to your original question is proper. The bus was your better option. As I also said you had the option of using Uber as a back up. And I still say the bus system at Dis has greatly improved over what it once was. Dis has worked hard to make more buses available and run on time. I know Dis has experienced a shortage of drivers and I don’t know how that is affecting the system. I can’t say why the bus at 7:20 arrived off time. Arriving 7 min before your bus was to arrive doesn’t leave much leeway but it shouldn’t have left before the scheduled time.

In my experience the DS buses do not run on the frequency the resort buses do which explains your 40 min wait.

When there’s lightning alerts Dis does shut down things that can be struck and there’s very little warning when they do. They are at the mercy of nature which they have no control.

You only mentioned this one bus failure. Did you experience all your buses performing poorly?

 

[graphite1326]

You’re complaining they stopped the boats because of lightning?

No I'm complaining becasue of the poor bus service.

 

[JohnD]

No I'm complaining becasue of the poor bus service.

No, you're complaining about unreasonable instantaneous bus service you didn't receive after boats were closed down due to lightning.

 

[graphite1326]

No, you're complaining about unreasonable instantaneous bus service you didn't receive after boats were closed down due to lightning.

oh get a life.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

The bus suystem sucked while I was there. I left our room early to catch a 7:20 bus to HS. I got to the bus stop at 7:14 only to see the bus leave. The next posted bus coming was 7:53. They shut down the Disney Springs boat to FQ I had waited a half hour for because of lightning. We walked all the way across DS to the bus station and waited 40 minutes for a bus.

This is why I mostly don't use the buses any more. Just too many times I've gotten stuck waiting on buses that didn't arrive.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

You’re complaining they stopped the boats because of lightning?

Not OP, but more than once I've waited on a boat that didn't arrive due to lightning (in the area), but we had no way to know.
This isn't a complaint. It is an explanation. WDW and Uni should stop boats when there is lightning.

The problem with WDW is that the CM's at the dock had no idea the boats had stopped, and the sky was still sunny. the delay mucked up my whole evening. I was late to dinner, and dinner ended too late to see the fireworks. Thanks to the no show fee, I was compelled to prioritize the dinner.

Another time in the last 5 years, I went to the bus stop at WL for MK in the morning. It was going to be a while, so I went to the boat dock. I waited a solid 15min. When the boat arrived, they had just been ordered to stop the boats because of fog. Understandable they would stop boats during fog, but from the WL dock, I had no way of knowing there was a problem. The lake looked okay for boating (minimal fog). The dock doesn't have any kind of sign or indication that the boats are stopped due to weather, or it didn't at the time. Alas, I went quickly back to the bus stop, but had missed the bus.

By the time the bus did arrive, I'd effectively missed early entry.

In the past, this would not have been a big problem. In today's WDW, time is $. When time is heavily monetized, lost time = lost $.