Getting to Early Character Meals

[UBSHANG]

Does anyone know the transportation available to those resort guests who are arriving before the parks open for Character Meal reservations? Disney has provided rather inconsistent responses to this question. And several Guest Services workers were either completely unfamiliar with the transportation system, or were unable to verify the advice of others.

Disney informed me that I would have to pay for a taxi between WL and MK in order to arrive in time for our 8:05 AM Crystal Palace Character Breakfast, since buses and boats only operate one hour before the 9:00 AM park opening. However, I found it difficult to believe that Disney would make early dining reservations available, without providing a way for guests to get to their destinations.

Because WL only offers a direct boat service to MK and not a bus, another rather time consuming suggestion was to take a bus from WL to the TTC, then wait in line to board a MK Monorail along with the enormous throngs of non-resort parking lot crowds just entering the park. This poor advice was still given in light of the previous disclosure that buses begin running at 8:00 AM.

A third unconfirmed alternative is that buses are available as early as 7:00 AM for the specific purpose of transporting resort guests to their early priority seating, but they travel on a somewhat limited early schedule, and may or may not get you to your restaurant on time.

At this point, I don’t know if any or all of these transportation schedules are accurate.

 

[Kaycee]

First of all, welcome to the DIS Boards!!

Now, about your question...you're right, WDW does offer transportation to their onsite guests needing to get to early breakfasts. And you're also right that you often get conflicting reports on how WDW transportation works. As our resident WDW transportation expert Chip 'n Dale Express often says, "Trust only those wearing purple pants!" In other words, when you want to know about WDW transportation ask the WDW bus drivers. I'm giving you a link to a wonderful thread started by Chip 'n Dale Express (who works for WDW transportation by the way) that explains all the ins and outs of getting a bus to an early character meal. Here it is:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=554377


Happy planning!

 

[betterlatethannever]

When you go to the link mentioned above, scroll down about 6-8 posts to where Chip 'n Dale Express talks specifically about WL to MK.

Ed

 

[sleepydog25]

Chip 'n Dale is the best link to be sure, but let me offer you some anecdotal evidence from our trip last month. We had 0830 PS for PSB at Epcot, and we had been told that the buses started running at 0700. They did--only for the MGM EE for resort guests (we were at WL). However, our bus service didn't begin until 0745 as we found out from the CM coordinating the buses at WL that morning. They know which parks are hosting which breakfasts at which times, and they assured us our bus would be there in time. It was, and we shot directly for Epcot. We checked through the main gate, walked to Norway, and checked in at the PS desk by 0815. To tell you that taking a taxi was the only way was just dead wrong, I'm sure. Either the person needs some retraining or they were having a bad day. Good luck and enjoy!

 

[Lewski709]

So Chip N Dale Express quit POP and went back to the busses?