Toy Story Lot - Homewood Suites

[Abbey1]

Hi all! I'm finally planning my family's first trip back since January '20. We'll be staying at the Homewood Suites - Convention center. In the past when we've stayed at this hotel, we've always walked over to the Toy Story lot to take a shuttle into the park. I'm wondering if anyone could tell me if that's still an option, or if this isn't possible these days? Thanks!!

 

[DLgal]

Yes, you can do it. Although I'd advise against it. The process of taking a bus from that lot has become such a lengthy one. Plus, you no longer board the buses where you used to, and so YOUR walk will be much longer just to get to the buses. You'd be better off just walking to the park entrance. It would certainly be faster.

 

[Abbey1]

Yes, you can do it. Although I'd advise against it. The process of taking a bus from that lot has become such a lengthy one. Plus, you no longer board the buses where you used to, and so YOUR walk will be much longer just to get to the buses. You'd be better off just walking to the park entrance. It would certainly be faster.

Thanks, that's helpful! I'm trying to be prepared for all of the changes that have happened since we last visited. I used to feel like a pro, but it now feels like a different ballgame!

 

[cdoc29]

We are currently staying at Homewood Suites and have both walked to the parks and taken the bus to and from the toy story parking lot. The walk is about 1 mile from the hotel to the parks, the walk to the bus is about 1/3 that.

Security has been quicker and less crowded this week at the Toy Story Parking lot in the morning (think 7am to 7:30 when we have gotten there) than at the gate. I think being able to use the bus has been one of the gems for this hotel (in addition to having a full kitchen for my Uber picky eater)

 

[MonocularVision]

We are currently staying at Homewood Suites and have both walked to the parks and taken the bus to and from the toy story parking lot. The walk is about 1 mile from the hotel to the parks, the walk to the bus is about 1/3 that.

Security has been quicker and less crowded this week at the Toy Story Parking lot in the morning (think 7am to 7:30 when we have gotten there) than at the gate. I think being able to use the bus has been one of the gems for this hotel (in addition to having a full kitchen for my Uber picky eater)

That’s a pretty good guess. I just measured and the wall from hotel to the bus pickup is almost exactly 1/3rd of a mile while the walk from the hotel to the bus drop-off is .85 miles.

I believe it probably is faster to walk but the extra mile you will walk that day can be pretty tiring. We always took the bus when we stayed there. Going forward, we will probably be doing the Home2Suites instead because it is much closer (and we prefer Hilton for points)

 

[Abbey1]

We are currently staying at Homewood Suites and have both walked to the parks and taken the bus to and from the toy story parking lot. The walk is about 1 mile from the hotel to the parks, the walk to the bus is about 1/3 that.

Security has been quicker and less crowded this week at the Toy Story Parking lot in the morning (think 7am to 7:30 when we have gotten there) than at the gate. I think being able to use the bus has been one of the gems for this hotel (in addition to having a full kitchen for my Uber picky eater)

We've always loved having the Toy Story lot so close when we've stayed here in the past, but after reading @DLgal's response, I'm a little worried we'll be disappointed by the changes. We may end up just taking an Uber back to the hotel in the evenings if we're too tired to walk.

That’s a pretty good guess. I just measured and the wall from hotel to the bus pickup is almost exactly 1/3rd of a mile while the walk from the hotel to the bus drop-off is .85 miles.

I believe it probably is faster to walk but the extra mile you will walk that day can be pretty tiring. We always took the bus when we stayed there. Going forward, we will probably be doing the Home2Suites instead because it is much closer (and we prefer Hilton for points)

I agree - that extra mile can feel like ten at the end of a long day! I prefer saving all my steps for when we are in the parks instead of going to/from the hotel. I'll look into the Home2Suites for future trips. We also really enjoy staying at the Candy Cane Inn - you really can't beat their direct shuttle service, but they'll still be undergoing renovations on our dates.

Thanks everyone!

 

[DLgal]

Last time I took the bus, it was 40 minutes from the time we parked until we were walking off that bus. I am never doing it again. We had to wait in a line for 25 minutes just to get on a bus. It was maddening. We arrived at 11am on a Tuesday the week after Christmas. We also had to wait around 15 minutes for a bus back to the lot. I did it to save the walk from the parking structure because I was nursing an ankle injury and wanted to minimize my steps. It was such a frustrating situation that I will never do it again.

I'm sure at 7am, it's a breeze. But anytime later in the day, forget it.

 

[mel2014]

That’s a pretty good guess. I just measured and the wall from hotel to the bus pickup is almost exactly 1/3rd of a mile while the walk from the hotel to the bus drop-off is .85 miles.

I believe it probably is faster to walk but the extra mile you will walk that day can be pretty tiring. We always took the bus when we stayed there. Going forward, we will probably be doing the Home2Suites instead because it is much closer (and we prefer Hilton for points)

Can you pinpoint on Google Maps where the buses now pick up in the Toy Story lot? I was looking at the Hampton Inn & Suites on Katella and thinking that may be a shortish walk to the new bus pick up spot but wasn't sure.

 

[DLgal]

Can you pinpoint on Google Maps where the buses now pick up in the Toy Story lot? I was looking at the Hampton Inn & Suites on Katella and thinking that may be a shortish walk to the new bus pick up spot but wasn't sure.

The Hampton is about the same distance.

The red dot is where you board the buses.

 

[MonocularVision]

Last time I took the bus, it was 40 minutes from the time we parked until we were walking off that bus. I am never doing it again. We had to wait in a line for 25 minutes just to get on a bus. It was maddening. We arrived at 11am on a Tuesday the week after Christmas. We also had to wait around 15 minutes for a bus back to the lot. I did it to save the walk from the parking structure because I was nursing an ankle injury and wanted to minimize my steps. It was such a frustrating situation that I will never do it again.

I'm sure at 7am, it's a breeze. But anytime later in the day, forget it.

Agree. Even pre-pandemic, if you weren’t there in the first hour or two, it can be pretty miserable getting on a bus.

 

[smartlabelprint]

We also in camp walk to the park from the HS. But to clarify, if you ride the bus you go through security prior to loading on the bus?

 

[DLgal]

We also in camp walk to the park from the HS. But to clarify, if you ride the bus you go through security prior to loading on the bus?

You do, but the security lines at the Harbor entrance aren't usually very long and they are super efficient. They were pretty slow at the Toy story lot a couple weeks ago because they only had 2 security checkpoints and there was a high school group ahead of us with about 100 students.