Non-Disney Hotel Shuttles to MK

[KSPCM]

Hi --

We'll be staying off-site during our next trip (in November, at the Renaissance World Gate). The hotel has a free shuttle to the 4 Disney parks.

My question is, do the non-Disney hotel shuttle buses take you to the TTC or do they bring you right up to the MK entrance, like the Disney-resort buses? I'm guessing there is a blanket rule one way or the other. (If we can't bypass the TTC with the shuttle bus we may just drive, even though we'll have to pay for parking.)

Thanks if anyone knows!

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[Patricia]

I suppose your hoping to use the bus to save time if it drops you at the gate...

Sorry to say, but I saw a lot of shuttle buses at the TTC on my last trip. I have never seen anything but a WDW resort bus at the Main Gate.





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Patricia
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[mickeyd]

We stayed off site last November and used our hotel's free shuttle bus to get to the four parks. The bus to the MK dropped us off at the TTC. I beleive only Disney buses take you right to the MK entrance.

We found that the one problem with the hotel shuttle was that we were restricted in what times we could come and go, and going back to the hotel in the middle of the day was not possible - we had to wait until at least 5pm for the first bus back.

On night we missed Illuminations at Epcot because the last bus back to our hotel left before the show began... BUMMER!! Not to worry because when we visit in December we will be staying on site.

If you are going to have a car, I reckon the $6 a day for parking is well worth it - and you can use your parking ticket at any of the other three parks on the same day for no extra charge. This will give you some added freedom to come and go as you please.

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[Fantasmike]

We stay outside the night before we are schedule to arrive so we can hit WDW fresh first thing in the morning.

When we left to go check in at our resort, we saw a ton of people sitting on the curbs waiting for their shuttles to return.

I don't know how the shuttles run at your hotel but I would find out ASAP. I would be disappointed if I spent too much time waiting on a ride.

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1981-offsite
1987-offsite
1998-ASMu
2001-CBR

[Duchess99]

When I stayed off-site, I never used the shuttles. They run VERY infrequently and make it hard to create you're own personalized schedule. Paying the parking fee everyday is definitly worth it. The trams that take you to and from the parking lots are very quick and you'll end up saving a lot of time.

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Sarah
"A dream can be a dream come true..."

"Everybody wants to be a cat!!!!"

[Roland]

I've only stayed ONCE off property and I will never do it again. The price of the hotel was cheap enough, it was the Holiday Inn Express Maingate. It had just changed hands from Econolodge. The bus service was run by World Transportation. Should have been called the Orlando Bus of Terror. As others have posted, they run on infrequent scheduled pickups which does not mean you will get to the parks anytime soon. Once I was picked up at 9:00 AM and did not even get to the park until 11:45 AM. Forget about e-ride nights, they just don't run late enough for you to stay there.

I do not know what your reasons are for staying off site, but if Disney's parks are the only ones you will visit, then I would strongly suggest you stay on site. The amount of park time you are going to miss will greatly outweigh the money you are going to save by staying off site.

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[KSPCM]

Thanks for the info, everyone. I appreciate it! You confirmed my suspicion and it's good to know for sure. We'll have a rental car anyway and will plan to drive ourselves since it sounds like we can't gain any advantage by using the hotel's shuttle --I already knew that the hours would probably be restricted and the buses' reliability is not always great.

As far as the "on-site vs. off debate" -- we've done both and are happy with our decision for this trip. But thanks for the input!

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