Official 'how to get from point A to point B while at WDW' thread.

[Llama mama]

What has been the average wait time lately for a Minnie Van? We will be needing on a Thursday night at 5:45 pm.

 

[joelkfla]

Hi guys, just a general question. I'm hoping to catch one last showing of Illuminations and then hop to MK for After Hours. 99.9% sure the only option is the monorail. Will it be slammed for awhile?

Not the only option. You could also go out the back gate (IG) and catch a bus from one of the Epcot resorts.

I have no experience, so I don't know how crowded those bus stops will be, nor whether it would be faster than the monorail. But you might want to walk past BC to YC, as I'm pretty sure buses pickup there before BC. If there are crowds at the bus stops, you might have a better chance of getting on a bus sooner.

 

[L_MD]

Not the only option. You could also go out the back gate (IG) and catch a bus from one of the Epcot resorts.

I have no experience, so I don't know how crowded those bus stops will be, nor whether it would be faster than the monorail. But you might want to walk past BC to YC, as I'm pretty sure buses pickup there before BC. If there are crowds at the bus stops, you might have a better chance of getting on a bus sooner.

Yeah, that was my 2nd thought, jumping through IG and heading to one of those resorts. Good call on YC over BC. I do worry it might be slower than the monorail because I know that bus loop picks up at a few resorts, but I'll see how I'm feeling day of.

 

[L_MD]

Are you asking about Sep 30th or another date? That will make all the difference.

On a ‘normal’ night, yes it will be busy but not impossible.

On Sept 30th all bets are off and I would anticipate near NYE level crowds so it will take longer to get everywhere.

Definitely not asking about September 30th, I know that will be slammed. Just a regular night in May.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Definitely not asking about September 30th, I know that will be slammed. Just a regular night in May.

If it's just a regular night in May I'd probably choose the monorail option unless you watch Illuminations from close to IG. I'd probably base my transportation to the MK based on where you are for Illuminations.

Will there be a bus option to MK from Epcot? Not sure if they offer that or not.

 

[L_MD]

If it's just a regular night in May I'd probably choose the monorail option unless you watch Illuminations from close to IG. I'd probably base my transportation to the MK based on where you are for Illuminations.

Will there be a bus option to MK from Epcot? Not sure if they offer that or not.

Yup, exactly what I was thinking, just do whatever is closest to my fireworks spot. Thanks!

 

[PinkBudgie]

This is only our second trip so excuse my probably obvious questions. (At Disneyland we walk everywhere and anywhere we want to go.) Do we get to HDDR from POFQ by taking a bus to MK, then a boat to Fort Wilderness? Also can we walk over from Epcot to Beaches and Cream using the exit in the International area? How long is the walk once you leave the park? And do buses run from Disney Springs directly to the parks? Thanks!

 

[scrappinginontario]

This is only our second trip so excuse my probably obvious questions. (At Disneyland we walk everywhere and anywhere we want to go.) Do we get to HDDR from POFQ by taking a bus to MK, then a boat to Fort Wilderness? Also can we walk over from Epcot to Beaches and Cream using the exit in the International area? How long is the walk once you leave the park? And do buses run from Disney Springs directly to the parks? Thanks!

1. I’m not positive about the answer to your first question except that how you’ve described is how we get to HDDR from Pop.

2. Yes, you can easily walk from IG to Beaches and Cream. I believe it’s about an 8-10 min walk.

3. No, there are not any buses that run from Disney Springs to the parks. You will need to take a bus to a resort and then transfer to a bus going to s park from there.

 

[goofy4tink]

This is only our second trip so excuse my probably obvious questions. (At Disneyland we walk everywhere and anywhere we want to go.) Do we get to HDDR from POFQ by taking a bus to MK, then a boat to Fort Wilderness? Also can we walk over from Epcot to Beaches and Cream using the exit in the International area? How long is the walk once you leave the park? And do buses run from Disney Springs directly to the parks? Thanks!

1. Yes, that's the way I do it....bus to MK, then boat to FtW, and walk up the path to HDDR.

2. Yes again. The walk, from the IG to Beaches and Cream, would be about 8 mins.

3. No. There are buses from the parks to DS after 4pm, but none that go back to the parks at any time.

 

[ashleyr409]

We are staying at B Resort. What is the fastest way to get to MK for EMM? It will be June 2. I want to be there by 715am. We will have a car. I think I am confused on how to get to MK park because I read this is the only park that you can't just drive too, or get drop off at the front entrance.

 

[msb578]

We are staying at B Resort. What is the fastest way to get to MK for EMM? It will be June 2. I want to be there by 715am. We will have a car. I think I am confused on how to get to MK park because I read this is the only park that you can't just drive too, or get drop off at the front entrance.

Absolute fastest would be a Minnie Van. And they do serve the Disney Springs hotels, despite what the web site says (according to my Minnie driver two weeks ago).

 

[s@xplayer]

Random question here - visiting Disney with 5 (2 adults, 6yr, 5yr and 3.5yr old). We are staying off property at Wyndham Bonnet Creek. Our 2nd day will be at MK and I do have a rental car. Is it work doing a Minnie Van from resort to MK entrance for early magic hours starting at 7:45am? I do have an inflatable booster seat and the 2 minnie van seats will accomodate my younger kids.

Or - should we just allow enough time to drive the rental car to the MK parking lot and a) ferry or b) monorail over to MK entrance?

Thank you.

 

[goofy4tink]

Random question here - visiting Disney with 5 (2 adults, 6yr, 5yr and 3.5yr old). We are staying off property at Wyndham Bonnet Creek. Our 2nd day will be at MK and I do have a rental car. Is it work doing a Minnie Van from resort to MK entrance for early magic hours starting at 7:45am? I do have an inflatable booster seat and the 2 minnie van seats will accomodate my younger kids.

Or - should we just allow enough time to drive the rental car to the MK parking lot and a) ferry or b) monorail over to MK entrance?

Thank you.

Hopefully someone can answer this with more insight, but I'm not sure MinnieVans go off-site. But, I could be wrong. Probably am. If the van is a possibility, I would use that. So much easier than driving to the park, parking, taking the tram, then walking to the bag check area, then either ferry or monorail to MK. That's a pain....I did it last week.

 

[msb578]

Random question here - visiting Disney with 5 (2 adults, 6yr, 5yr and 3.5yr old). We are staying off property at Wyndham Bonnet Creek. Our 2nd day will be at MK and I do have a rental car. Is it work doing a Minnie Van from resort to MK entrance for early magic hours starting at 7:45am? I do have an inflatable booster seat and the 2 minnie van seats will accomodate my younger kids.

Or - should we just allow enough time to drive the rental car to the MK parking lot and a) ferry or b) monorail over to MK entrance?

Thank you.

*Highly* recommend the Minnie Van from WBC to MK. We just absolutely loved it. You go to the front of the bus station- right by the bag check.

Minnie Vans do serve all of the Bonnet Creek hotels now, as well as Flamingo Crossing and the Four Seasons.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Minnie vans also have car seats so I guess they would have booster seats as well.

 

[s@xplayer]

Thank you all for the replies. I have heard mixed things about the Minnie vans with 3 kids whose ages required child seats. Since they have 2 seats included with each minnie van, my 5 and 3 yr olds would use those 2. Would they allow me to use my own booster seat for my 6 year old (it's a blow up inflatable one). She meets the hight and weight requirements for the seat obviously. I can't see a reason they wouldn't - but I don't want to call a Minnie Van early (to get to early morning magic hours) and then have a surprise that keeps us from getting loaded into a Minnie Van.

 

[s@xplayer]

Hopefully someone can answer this with more insight, but I'm not sure MinnieVans go off-site. But, I could be wrong. Probably am. If the van is a possibility, I would use that. So much easier than driving to the park, parking, taking the tram, then walking to the bag check area, then either ferry or monorail to MK. That's a pain....I did it last week.

If I did this however, for early morning magic - I'd assume I'd get a fairly close parking spot. Which of the ferry or monorail is generally faster?

 

[MikeF;NJ]

Thank you all for the replies. I have heard mixed things about the Minnie vans with 3 kids whose ages required child seats. Since they have 2 seats included with each minnie van, my 5 and 3 yr olds would use those 2. Would they allow me to use my own booster seat for my 6 year old (it's a blow up inflatable one). She meets the hight and weight requirements for the seat obviously. I can't see a reason they wouldn't - but I don't want to call a Minnie Van early (to get to early morning magic hours) and then have a surprise that keeps us from getting loaded into a Minnie Van.

I don't know everything about your situation, but strictly from a legal point of view, according to Florida law (referenced here) your 6 year old is not required to be in a booster seat.

 

[Diogo Pinheiro]

Hi everyone. Trying to plan our logistics, family of four myself+DW+DD6+DS5. We will be checking out of the Four Seasons after a couple of resort days and moving to the Poly Aug 6, same day we have a PPO breakfast at Epcot at 8:00 AM. Challenge is we need to drop by Poly first to pick our Magic Bands, since they don't ship internationally. What would be the best way to travel from FS, stop at Poly to leave bags and pick MB, and then head to Epcot to arrive around 7:30? Minnie Van to Poly and then Monorail from TTC? Will the Minnie Van wait at Poly and also take us to Epcot? What time would you say we need to leave the FSeasons? Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[joelkfla]

Hi everyone. Trying to plan our logistics, family of four myself+DW+DD6+DS5. We will be checking out of the Four Seasons after a couple of resort days and moving to the Poly Aug 6, same day we have a PPO breakfast at Epcot at 8:00 AM. Challenge is we need to drop by Poly first to pick our Magic Bands, since they don't ship internationally. What would be the best way to travel from FS, stop at Poly to leave bags and pick MB, and then head to Epcot to arrive around 7:30? Minnie Van to Poly and then Monorail from TTC? Will the Minnie Van wait at Poly and also take us to Epcot? What time would you say we need to leave the FSeasons? Thanks in advance for your help!

The Epcot Monorail usually begins operating at 7:30 a.m., so you might not want to count on it for an 8:00 res unless you're OK arriving at the last minute.

I found several sources on the web saying the MVs will make 1 intermediate stop of about 5 minutes, so that should work. They start operations at 6:30 a.m. I think you'd want to leave at least 45 minutes before your intended arrival, including the side trip to Poly. You might want to make the request when they open at 6:30.

Have you asked Disney whether it's possible to pick up your MB's before your check-in date?