Early Busses?

[Jim&AngieMarriner]

Hey folks!
Im sure this has been answered before but I cant find it.
When do the Busses start running from the Resorts to the Parks and other Resorts? We are wanting to stay at POR and have a Character Breakfast as early as possible at Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace or even O'Hannas. We are a long way away before we can put our ADRs in but like many of you Im a compulsive planner.
If there are not busses that early, would the folks at POR take you over to the other resorts or the EPCOT monorail in say a van or some such?

Thanks

[TheDuckRocks]

The busses for chartacter breakfasts start at shortly after 7 AM to the parks. Chef Mickey's starts serving breakfast at 7 AM and if you have an ADR for that early you would need to find other transportation to the Contemporary. Disney does not provide vans for early breakfast ADRs, if you don't have a car you would need to use a taxi. Call bell services as you leave your room and let them know you will need a taxi, the cost should be under $20.
Crystal Palace or Ohana should not be a problem as their eariest ADRs start at 8AM and we have always gotten to either of those in time if we are at the bus stop by 7.

[EeyoresBestFriend]

Interesting that they start that early ~ or maybe it's only to MK. We have an early segway tour and was told that we will have to find our own way to Epcot from FQ because there are no busses at that time of the morning.

Doesn't really matter to me ~ I'll walk if I have to. . . I'll be in WDW!!! :cloud9:

[BigThunderFan]

We had an 8am breakfast at Epcot and took the bus. We saw buses all week long running to every park starting at 7 (and some even earlier). How early is your segway tour??:confused:

[CleveRocks]

Interesting that they start that early ~ or maybe it's only to MK. We have an early segway tour and was told that we will have to find our own way to Epcot from FQ because there are no busses at that time of the morning.

Doesn't really matter to me ~ I'll walk if I have to. . . I'll be in WDW!!! :cloud9:

Actually, the earliest buses start running around 6:30 or 6:45 a.m. ... to every theme park, not just Magic Kingdom.

I know this from several sources. One source is another message board, where there are several currently employed Disney Transport bus drivers to give us accurate and truly in-the-know information.

But I can give you first-hand knowldege of buses to the MK. Last year I was lucky enough to stay in a MK room at Polynesian. I'm an early riser and was always out on the balcony, to let my wif and kids sleep. Every morning beginning around roughly 6:45 a.m., I'd see buses chugging into the MK bus area and dropping off guests. I am very very sure of that time. And these were days when MK didn't open 'til 9 a.m. (first week of February, traditionally a slow time and thus the park hours are usually fairly short).

EeyoresBestFriend, I'm gonna make a guess: when you were told you'd need alternate transport to Epcot, were you told by telephone when you either made your resort reservation or your tour reservation? I'm guessing this, because the cast members who work on the phones are NOT experts in all things WDW. Sadly, it's the simple truth that they are NOT trained in all matters WDW; they're trained in resort reservations, tour/boat/special event reservations, and dining reservations, and that's all. They are FAMOUS for giving laughably wrong info on any variety of things. They are experts on resort reservations but they are trained with NO information on how the resorts actually work, and so on.

As long as your arrival time isn't before about 7:15 a.m., I can assure you you can take a Disney Transport bus from POFQ.

And, just by coincidence, here was my POFQ and Epcot experience from late-2006. Before I left home, I typed a schedule of park hours including Extra Magic Hours. On the morning Epcot was supposed to have morning EMH (meaning it would open at 8 a.m.), I wanted to take my son early and have my wife and daughter meet us there later, since my daughter was too small for some of the rides. We were staying at POFQ, and we ARRIVED at Epcot from POFQ at around 7:20 a.m. ... I wanted to get there so early so that we were among the first there for rope drop. Well, as luck would have it, the EMH schedule had been changed since I wrote it down, and Epcot wasn't opening until the normal 9 a.m. But the bus still got me there so early, anyway!

[Suz36]

We've had a few anxious moments waiting for buses for those early ADRs, but it's always worked out in the end. The most notable was last February. We were staying at WL and meeting friends at Poly at 7:30 for breakfast at Captain Cook's. We were anxiously waiting for an MK bus from just before 7, with the plan to then hop on the monorail or boat. When it finally showed up around 7:15, we explained our situation, the bus driver made a call, and then he whisked us directly to the Poly. So make sure you make your needs known - who knows what kind of Disney magic they might be able to produce!

[CleveRocks]

We were staying at WL and meeting friends at Poly at 7:30 for breakfast at Captain Cook's. We were anxiously waiting for an MK bus from just before 7, with the plan to then hop on the monorail or boat. When it finally showed up around 7:15, we explained our situation, the bus driver made a call, and then he whisked us directly to the Poly. So make sure you make your needs known - who knows what kind of Disney magic they might be able to produce!
Excellent point.

Disney Transport drivers are given choice of shift by seniority. Most of the most-senior drivers reportedly prefer the early-morning shift. So, as a result, you tend to get the most experienced bus drivers during those early morning ADR times, and therefore they know the ins-and-outs of what can can can't be done. In addition, they either wouldn't choose to stay in the job or would've been weeded-out of the job if they weren't very friendly and guest-oriented.

[mjm12000]

Actually, the earliest buses start running around 6:30 or 6:45 a.m. ... to every theme park, not just Magic Kingdom.

I know this from several sources. One source is another message board, where there are several currently employed Disney Transport bus drivers to give us accurate and truly in-the-know information.

But I can give you first-hand knowldege of buses to the MK. Last year I was lucky enough to stay in a MK room at Polynesian. I'm an early riser and was always out on the balcony, to let my wif and kids sleep. Every morning beginning around roughly 6:45 a.m., I'd see buses chugging into the MK bus area and dropping off guests. I am very very sure of that time. And these were days when MK didn't open 'til 9 a.m. (first week of February, traditionally a slow time and thus the park hours are usually fairly short).

EeyoresBestFriend, I'm gonna make a guess: when you were told you'd need alternate transport to Epcot, were you told by telephone when you either made your resort reservation or your tour reservation? I'm guessing this, because the cast members who work on the phones are NOT experts in all things WDW. Sadly, it's the simple truth that they are NOT trained in all matters WDW; they're trained in resort reservations, tour/boat/special event reservations, and dining reservations, and that's all. They are FAMOUS for giving laughably wrong info on any variety of things. They are experts on resort reservations but they are trained with NO information on how the resorts actually work, and so on.

As long as your arrival time isn't before about 7:15 a.m., I can assure you you can take a Disney Transport bus from POFQ.

And, just by coincidence, here was my POFQ and Epcot experience from late-2006. Before I left home, I typed a schedule of park hours including Extra Magic Hours. On the morning Epcot was supposed to have morning EMH (meaning it would open at 8 a.m.), I wanted to take my son early and have my wife and daughter meet us there later, since my daughter was too small for some of the rides. We were staying at POFQ, and we ARRIVED at Epcot from POFQ at around 7:20 a.m. ... I wanted to get there so early so that we were among the first there for rope drop. Well, as luck would have it, the EMH schedule had been changed since I wrote it down, and Epcot wasn't opening until the normal 9 a.m. But the bus still got me there so early, anyway!



That is too funny I have had that happen a few times as well, one time I ended up at DHS two hours early because they changed the EMH.