depending on bus transportation

[YogiBrain]

Hey! I've been to Disney World 4 times, the last time was in 05 and we stayed at Port Orleans. We used the bus transportation to go everywhere, I thought It was very useful and travel time wasn't bad.

Now i'm taking my wife and 3yr old for their first time. We chose to stay at All Star Movies because she loves Toy Story. Also being a huge Lilo and Stitch fan I made reservations at Ohana for the character breakfast. We are booked at 9:40am on Tuesday 08-14-2012. I figured that would be enough time to catch one of the first buses out to a park then to the Polynesian. Since making the reservations I have been reading tons of books, guides and online info about the bus transport. A lot of people are telling me travel time is quite lengthy from any of the All Star resorts.

So... question is have any of you stayed at an all star resort? If so how long on average does it take to get to the parks, mainly Magic Kingdom since it is furthest away? And secondly do you think I set enough time to get to our breakfast reservation on time? I've checked out park schedules and was told buses run an hour before park openings, Blizzard Beach opens at 8am that morning for magic hours so i figure we leave the resort at 7am or when the first bus shows then immediately hop on a bus to the Polynesian from Blizzard Beach.

With this being their first trip i'm very nervous that all goes as planned.

[faline]

The first busses start leaving resorts around 7 in the morning. Your reservation isn't until more than 2-1/2 hours later - you'll have more than enough time to get from your resort to the Poly for your breakfast!

[faline]

I just realized you're new here! Welcome to Intercot!! :mickey:

[YogiBrain]

Thanks! I figured it was enough but the more I read the more worried I got that these buses were waaayyy slower than I remember.

We will be staying the 12th - 18th. Only have dead set reservations on 2 of the days and the rest is whatever they want to do.

[faline]

With 2-1/2 hours to get from point a to b, you might actually be quite a bit early. I would not get off at Blizzard Beach. Take a bus from your resort to the Magic Kingdom. All the parks have restaurants that serve breakfast before park opening time so busses will be running to the parks by about 7 a.m. Once you get to the Magic Kingdom, you could take a monorail ride around - the Poly will be your last stop after you leave the Magic Kingdom - be sure to take the resort monorail and not the express one. There is also a boat that goes from the Magic Kingdom to the Grand Floridian and the Poly.

If you arrive early, take a walk down to the beach and walk in the sand for a bit before your breakfast time.

[YogiBrain]

Awesome idea, the boat ride sounds like the ticket.

Thanks for the suggestion!

[disneymom2000]

I agree about taking the bus to Magic Kingdom instead. Then you have the choice of boat or monorail. :boat: :coaster:
BTW. :welcome:

[YogiBrain]

Thanks, boat is best since my daughter thinks we are going to Lilo and Stitch's house for breakfast, traveling the last part on boat would be most fitting for pretending to get to an island.

[CleveRocks]

It's one of those rumors that just won't die, that buses start running 1 hour before park opening. Every day of the year, they start running around 6:30 a.m.

I know this not only from bus drivers reporting it, but also from sitting on my balcony at Polynesian and seeing buses start dropping people off at MK around 6:45 a.m.

The boat ride from MK should be fun. It's a relatively small boat that is low and close to the water; just keep in mind that in that direction it will stop at Grand Floridian first.

As for the resort monorail, Polynesian will be the next-to-last stop before returning to MK, with the last stop being Grand Floridian.

[YogiBrain]

How long does the boat ride usually take? 6:30am? the earlier the better, although on vacation I have NO PLANS of sleeping in an any day. Late nights and early mornings the entire trip, we can sleep at home.

[YogiBrain]

oh and how late will the last buses run? anyone know? is it different from parks and downtown Disney?

[faline]

Plan on a total of 40 minutes for the boat ride - if you just miss one, you could be waiting for 10-20 minutes for the next one. From the Magic Kingdom to the Poly, with a stop at the Grand Floridian - it could run another 15-20 minutes depending on how quickly folks load and unload.

Busses from parks to resorts typically run until the park receives and "all clear" in that all guests have departed. Busses from Downtown Disney to resorts typically run until 1 or 2 in the morning.

[yourmagicalguide]

How long does the boat ride usually take?

The boat ride will depend on how many people on your boat are going to the Grand Floridian and if any passengers have special needs that require assistance. It usually doesn't take more than 20-30 minutes, but that completely depends on the situation. I would guess that early in the morning, you won't have too many other people on the boat with you - especially heading to the resorts from MK versus the opposite.

Just so you know another possibility, DH and I got on the resort boat with just a few other people who were all going to the Poly from MK, so the driver took us straight to the Poly instead of stopping at GF. Since we went straight there, it took less than 15 minutes :thumbsup:

Best wishes! Sounds like a wonderful first trip for your family :mickey:

[YogiBrain]

If the parks stay open late, like Magic Kingdom will be open until 1am the day we arrive. Buses will wait until the park closes for extra magic hours?

[faline]

If extra magic hours are being held in a park, the busses will continue to run from that park to the resort(s) until the park is cleared of guests.