EMM - drive or bus?

[KrazeeK120]

You could do either/or...whichever is most comfortable for you!

 

[KrazeeK120]

We did early morning magic this past Tuesday (2/13) and planned to take the bus. Except it was not running from wilderness lodge.... There were expected times for all the other parks but magic kingdom had a line through it. We asked other bus drivers and concierge and no one knew why there were no buses running so we ended up taking a lyft to the ttc which was another mistake because neither the magic kingdom monorail or ferry were running. We took the resort monorail which took three very long stops (like over 10 minutes one time) and got there right at 7:45. I would attempt to take the bus but have a back up plan that was better then mine. The lines to check bags at the ttc were also extremely long with only two lanes open that time of morning.

In that particulr scenario, I would have taken the boat to the Contemporary and walked.

 

[thegales]

Another scenario if you don't mind spending money; get a Minnie Van. It drops you at the bus loop at MK.

 

[mcm574]

Another scenario if you don't mind spending money; get a Minnie Van. It drops you at the bus loop at MK.

Is that an option from AoA, though? (Understanding, of course, that things may change in the next six weeks before our trip actually starts!)

 

[soniam]

Is that an option from AoA, though? (Understanding, of course, that things may change in the next six weeks before our trip actually starts!)

This is the last link that I could find about the Minnie Van and no AOA yet.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/news-stories...ow-picking-up-at-disneys-port-orleans-resort/

We are in the same boat for March. We did EMM in late July. We drove to the TTC and got through security and to the monorail about 7:20am, which hadn't run at all yet that morning. There was a problem with it, so they said we could get out. We saw the ferry, but it wasn't running yet. I don't know if that normal, or if it had an issue. The other monorail wasn't running either; I don't know if that was planned or an outage. There were no buses to MK. The ferry finally started up about 7:40am, and we ended up arriving a few minutes after 7:45am. They had already started letting people onto Main Street, and we couldn't find the people to give us wristbands. We finally found the person that could check us in, got our bands, and ran to 7DMT. We still got to ride a ton. I rode 7MDT 11 times. DH and DS rode 7DMT 13 times. We all rode Peter Pan once. Pooh was down. We still had a few minutes before park opening. We ate breakfast around 9:30am. The monorails were incredibly unreliable during that trip. I think we only rode it once where it didn't break down while we were on it or had already been broken down so we couldn't take it

So, we had thought about driving and paying for valet parking at Contemporary. From there, we could walk to MK. However, there is no guarantee that they will even let you valet park without an hotel reservation or ADR, especially since it will be a busier time for us. We will be at POR, so we could do the Minnie Van, which drops off at the MK bus depot. However, I don't think it's very reliable. We are leaning toward the bus. We have had good luck with the buses, even for a 7AM EMH. We have been able to catch the buses before 6:30am on those days. I think the odds of the buses running at 6:30am on that day are very high, because that's usually when they start. Unfortunately, it's our last day, so we will have to take the bus back to the hotel to get our car before heading to the airport.

EDIT: The other option that I just remembered is to walk to the Poly from the TTC and take the hotel ferry, if the monorails, ferry, and buses are not running. I know during the day they don't require you to be a hotel guest to take the hotel ferry. I don't know about park opening. It may not matter, since it's not an AM EMH day. I also don't know what time the Poly ferry starts.

 

[lisa cameron]

Urgh, yeah, I would find that REALLY frustrating at that early hour! (And I know my kids will be total nightmares if that happens to us, as this will be our first day in the parks - their first time ever - and they'll be SUPER antsy to get going!)

We took Uber and Lyft multiple times over Presidents Day weekend, so much easier! We even walked from MK to the contemporary (10min walk) and too an Uber from there back to our resort (Shades of Green); was $10. The lines were for the monorail were ridiculous. We have 2 boys and this was a much less stressful option for us vs mobs of people over the busy holiday weekend.

 

[123SA]

I have done both taking the bus and driving...and I've problems with both, and had both go smoothly. It just seems to be a crap shoot. Pick one and have a back up plan.

 

[revdon64]

We did EMM in January and took a bus from POFQ. No issues whatsoever with transportation.

 

[WaterLinds]

Good to know that that's the standard - have you ever done Bus on an EMM day? Would love to hear how it worked for you!



Oh, so sorry to hear it (but glad you got there at 7:45, just in the nick of time!). What time did you end up bailing and getting the Lyft?



Oooh, interesting. Have you driven on an EMM day? Either way, how much more time would you estimate driving takes over taking the bus, assuming it's a day when the bus doesn't fail you?

We also did bus from POFQ last week. It was definitely running before 7 because we saw one pull away from the bus stop as we were walking out there. it was about 25 minutes until the next one showed up, but then it was quick and efficient, and we were still there in time, just towards the back of the crowd.

We drove to MK on a regular day because my kid wanted a ferry/monorail experience, and I much preferred taking the bus.

 

[soniam]

We took Uber and Lyft multiple times over Presidents Day weekend, so much easier! We even walked from MK to the contemporary (10min walk) and too an Uber from there back to our resort (Shades of Green); was $10. The lines were for the monorail were ridiculous. We have 2 boys and this was a much less stressful option for us vs mobs of people over the busy holiday weekend.

Where did you get dropped off by Uber/Lyft? At the Contemporary? Did you go inside the hotel gate or just on the street? Thanks

 

[b52hbuff]

Honestly, it just hadn't occurred to me - we'll be park hopping two of our four days and will definitely take the buses those days - but we're going to have a rental car as we'll have been visiting family in Naples, and driving up straight from there - so I just thought it might be worth leveraging the car as long as we have it anyway. We don't do Lyft or Uber, but that doesn't mean we can't start (or that we can't just call a cab!). How much would that cost us, do you know?

We were at WDW during a couple of weeks in December. We were staying at Contemporary, so our experience isn't directly transferrable. As I review the Magic Morning chart we made, it looks like most of them started at 8AM and there were a couple that started at 7AM. We would be an hour early for every MM. So for an 8AM EMM @ AK, we'd be out the door by 6:15AM and at the bus stop before 6:30AM.

My tip is to go down to the AoA bus stop and look at the real time arrival information. Make a deal with your family to set a deadline of say, 7AM, so if the bus isn't there by 7AM, you'll drive or hail some other ride. In our experience, we only had to Uber it once because we couldn't get a bus by 5:30AM.

I would highly recommend downloading Uber and Lyft. It'll give you the most options. You can configure both of these services to use ApplePay, so you'll never have to give the actual companies a credit card.

The other thing you didn't talk about was fatigue at the end of the day. One of the great things of a WDW vacation is not having to drive when you're tired.

 

[b52hbuff]

The Resort Monorail is ‘usually’ running that early under normal circumstances, but monorail hours can change week to week so you need to keep an eye on the Times Guide for the week you are there.

Here’s a helpful link with this week’s Times Guide: http://www.orlandoparksnews.com/p/weekly-walt-disney-world-times-guides.html

Using this week as an example, the 7AM start time means it’s a valid option for getting to EMM.

Hope that helps.

The "Times Guides" are awesome. Where does this come from? Is it paper handed out to guests? Or is only for CMs?

 

[mcm574]

My tip is to go down to the AoA bus stop and look at the real time arrival information.

Sorry, can you explain what you mean? - is there electronic signage doing tracking? (This is our first visit since 2005!) If so, that would definitely alleviate my anxiety!

I would highly recommend downloading Uber and Lyft.

I have a husband who's a little obsessive about online privacy (he deals with this issue for a living, so he's hyper aware of how all of our data is being used and, often, misused)... and I, personally, am uncomfortable supporting Uber specifically, due to their entrenched corporate misogyny. I guess I could download Lyft and then delete it upon departure... but I'm kind of inclined to just keep the rental car as the backup option.

The other thing you didn't talk about was fatigue at the end of the day. One of the great things of a WDW vacation is not having to drive when you're tired.

Ah, see, to my mind the fatigue is a reason to drive instead of taking the bus! I'd much rather be in control of my own transportation at that point than have to wait with dozens of other guests, maybe through multiple busloads, and then possibly have to stand on the bus. Driving at the end of a long day is something I'm comfortable doing, and really might alleviate frustration for us.

 

[Robo]

- is there electronic signage doing tracking? (This is our first visit since 2005!) If so, that would definitely alleviate my anxiety!

Yes.
Video displays with bus arrival times for each park.

 

[b52hbuff]

Sorry, can you explain what you mean? - is there electronic signage doing tracking? (This is our first visit since 2005!) If so, that would definitely alleviate my anxiety!

There is digital signage that gives real time updates on when the next bus will arrive. Here is a great video from Touring Plans. It shows how to get from AoA to Pandora. I know you're not going to AK, but it'll show you what to expect for the signage. And you should watch if you plan to go to AK. I'll queue the video at the bus stop, but you can restart it if you're interested.

...looks like I can't, or don't know how to start the video at a certain time. Start the video at 0:50 to see what signs look like.

I have a husband who's a little obsessive about online privacy (he deals with this issue for a living, so he's hyper aware of how all of our data is being used and, often, misused)... and I, personally, am uncomfortable supporting Uber specifically, due to their entrenched corporate misogyny. I guess I could download Lyft and then delete it upon departure... but I'm kind of inclined to just keep the rental car as the backup option.

To each their own. I need to get from A to B.I have two daughters and given the option of making our AK EMM RD for FoP or sending a virtu-signaling message about Uber, I think they'd prefer to ride FoP.

I live in a big metro area. It is pretty easy to get rides from either service. I'm not sure how easy/hard it is to find a ride at WDW at 5:30AM (my requirement, I know). The third issue is whether Lyft works at WDW. I know Minnie Vans are scheduled through Lyft, so I wasn't going to risk Lyft not working due to WDW protectionism. Minnie Van service needs to be enabled in your Lyft app, and it is supposed to only be enabled for guests staying at certain resorts. I'm pretty sure AoA isn't one of them. So you _should_ be able to Lyft from AoA.

If I were you, and you decide to take a ride service, I'd go to the Contemporary and walk so you don't have to worry about the Ferry or Monorail schedule.

What is your husband worried about credit card theft or something else?

Don't tell him about all of the data collection possibilities of the Magic Band. He may not want to register for FP+.

https://www.wired.com/2015/03/disney-magicband/

Ah, see, to my mind the fatigue is a reason to drive instead of taking the bus! I'd much rather be in control of my own transportation at that point than have to wait with dozens of other guests, maybe through multiple busloads, and then possibly have to stand on the bus. Driving at the end of a long day is something I'm comfortable doing, and really might alleviate frustration for us.

To each their own. You may want to research what the even rush is like in the parking lot. I have no idea if it is good or bad, but I hate waiting in traffic if I don't have to.

We never had to wait for more than one or two bus/monorail cycles even at peak load. When we awoke at 4:45AM for a 7AM AK RD, it was great to be able to sit on the bus and let someone else drive and navigate. Particularly in a rental car where I don't have my navi or iPhone mount.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Good to know that that's the standard - have you ever done Bus on an EMM day? Would love to hear how it worked for you!

We took the bus in September to MK for EMM.

We were staying at ASSP. There were only about 6 of us on the bus. We got there in plenty of time.

 

[lisa cameron]

Where did you get dropped off by Uber/Lyft? At the Contemporary? Did you go inside the hotel gate or just on the street? Thanks

By contemporary enterance but I bet they could drop you off by the gate if you

Where did you get dropped off by Uber/Lyft? At the Contemporary? Did you go inside the hotel gate or just on the street? Thanks

We walked to the contemporary front doors and got picked up there.

 

[Disnsyncey]

We were waiting for an AM EMH bus to AK in October at 6:45am a AS Sports , and we saw at LEAST 3 buses to EMM at MK by the time we got our one bus to AK at about 7:10....

 

[thegales]

Is that an option from AoA, though? (Understanding, of course, that things may change in the next six weeks before our trip actually starts!)

Recognizing YMMV, we were guests at Animal Kingdom. I had the Lyft app on my phone, but I don't think I had even logged into it yet. While in the lobby, I opened the app, and Minnie Van was one of the options. I did not have to get a code from the desk, and I don't think there was enough information for the systems to make a connection between Lyft and my stay at AK. So, if you have time the night before, go visit one of the participating hotels to see if it 'magically' appears.

 

[b52hbuff]

Recognizing YMMV, we were guests at Animal Kingdom. I had the Lyft app on my phone, but I don't think I had even logged into it yet. While in the lobby, I opened the app, and Minnie Van was one of the options. I did not have to get a code from the desk, and I don't think there was enough information for the systems to make a connection between Lyft and my stay at AK. So, if you have time the night before, go visit one of the participating hotels to see if it 'magically' appears.

Interesting. Do you remember getting a registration link? We didn't require intervention from a human, but I did remember getting the activation link as mentioned in this article.

https://*******.com/minnie-van-service-now-available-dvc-resorts/