After close transportation between resorts

[hllb]

We have some meals at resorts for after parks close and wondering about transportation (aside from uber and minnie vans). We are staying at the Polynesian

1) Chef Mickey dinner at Contemporary @ 8:30 PM. On this day, MK closes at 8:00 but Epcot closes at 9:00 PM. Does that mean the resort monorail will run until 10 PM? How quickly at 10 PM do they cut off service? If we're done at Chef Mickey at 9:45, will we be able to hop the resort monorail to Poly easily?

2) We have a California Grill reservation at 7:40 PM. On this day, MK closes at 8:00 but Epcot closes at 9:00 PM. Again, assuming the resort monorail will run until 10 PM, so we should be OK with this one, right?

3) We have an 8:45 reservation at Whispering Canyon Cafe. Latest park closes at 9 PM. So this one, I think we'd either have to hop to Disney Springs via bus, or take an uber.

 

[KrazeeK120]

You'll have to check the monorail schedule, but you're probably right on the first 2.

I would absolutely NOT take a bus to DS as a transfer point between WL and the Poly. You will be going way out of your way...probably at least an hour of transport time for what is really a 5 minute trip. Get the Uber! In fact, if you find Disney transport unavailable in any of your scenarios, get the Uber. It'll save you so much time.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

We have some meals at resorts for after parks close and wondering about transportation (aside from uber and minnie vans). We are staying at the Polynesian

1) Chef Mickey dinner at Contemporary @ 8:30 PM. On this day, MK closes at 8:00 but Epcot closes at 9:00 PM. Does that mean the resort monorail will run until 10 PM? How quickly at 10 PM do they cut off service? If we're done at Chef Mickey at 9:45, will we be able to hop the resort monorail to Poly easily?

2) We have a California Grill reservation at 7:40 PM. On this day, MK closes at 8:00 but Epcot closes at 9:00 PM. Again, assuming the resort monorail will run until 10 PM, so we should be OK with this one, right?

3) We have an 8:45 reservation at Whispering Canyon Cafe. Latest park closes at 9 PM. So this one, I think we'd either have to hop to Disney Springs via bus, or take an uber.

Are you going during a time when it’s likely they’ll keep the 8PM MK closes (eg, parts of Jan-Feb) or a time when it’ll likely be extended?

If it is a legit 8PM MK close, the fundamental answer is you’re a bit at the mercy of whatever Disney decides to do with monorail hours on that particular week. Monorail hours can move around a bit, so you have to pay attention to the weekly Times Guide for when you are there.

This website usually publishes it each week, it’s worth a bookmark: http://www.orlandoparksnews.com/p/weekly-walt-disney-world-times-guides.html

Outside of that, I have the Times Guides from a few weeks in early 2017 that have 8PM MK closings so I just checked them. On those nights, the resort monorail hours show them ending at 10:30PM. Granted, past performance is not always a great predictor of future results when it comes to Disney, but hopefully that helps a bit.

I’d suggest watching the Times Guide when we start having 8pm closes to see what the current trend will be.

Does that help?

 

[hllb]

Are you going during a time when it’s likely they’ll keep the 8PM MK closes (eg, parts of Jan-Feb) or a time when it’ll likely be extended?

If it is a legit 8PM MK close, the fundamental answer is you’re a bit at the mercy of whatever Disney decides to do with monorail hours on that particular week. Monorail hours can move around a bit, so you have to pay attention to the weekly Times Guide for when you are there.

This website usually publishes it each week, it’s worth a bookmark: http://www.orlandoparksnews.com/p/weekly-walt-disney-world-times-guides.html

Outside of that, I have the Times Guides from a few weeks in early 2017 that have 8PM MK closings so I just checked them. On those nights, the resort monorail hours show them ending at 10:30PM. Granted, past performance is not always a great predictor of future results when it comes to Disney, but hopefully that helps a bit.

I’d suggest watching the Times Guide when we start having 8pm closes to see what the current trend will be.

Does that help?

That helps quite a bit. We are going end of January/first of February, so I do anticipate an 8 PM MK close. But Epcot is 9 PM, so according to the Disney website, monorails would be open 1 hour later than latest park close (so 10 PM). If they were 10:30 last year, that makes my first 2 evenings easy!

For the third, we likely will do an uber. Just wanted to make sure Disney Springs was the only resort transportation option and I wasn't missing something.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

That helps quite a bit. We are going end of January/first of February, so I do anticipate an 8 PM MK close. But Epcot is 9 PM, so according to the Disney website, monorails would be open 1 hour later than latest park close (so 10 PM). If they were 10:30 last year, that makes my first 2 evenings easy!

For the third, we likely will do an uber. Just wanted to make sure Disney Springs was the only resort transportation option and I wasn't missing something.

Yeah, that “one hour after park close” is the longest running incorrect statement in Disney history. It can be, but sometimes it’s not so best to always go with the Times Guide.

I’d also go uber/lyft/Minnie Van for WL. You might have a boat to CR monorail option, but I’d cut the brain damage and just get a car.

Good luck!

 

[hllb]

Yeah, that “one hour after park close” is the longest running incorrect statement in Disney history. It can be, but sometimes it’s not so best to always go with the Times Guide.

I’d also go uber/lyft/Minnie Van for WL. You might have a boat to CR monorail option, but I’d cut the brain damage and just get a car.

Good luck!

Thanks! My only hesitation with uber and minnievan is that our youngest is only 7. As a family of 5, we won't fit in a regular sized car with a driver, so a van would be necessary, and then, technically, he should be in a booster. But, for the short ride it would be...

Where do I get the times guide? At our hotel when we check in?

 

[PurplePencil]

Thanks! My only hesitation with uber and minnievan is that our youngest is only 7. As a family of 5, we won't fit in a regular sized car with a driver, so a van would be necessary, and then, technically, he should be in a booster. But, for the short ride it would be...

Where do I get the times guide? At our hotel when we check in?

The child seat included with Minnie Van is a convertible with Booster Seat option

 

[joelkfla]

Thanks! My only hesitation with uber and minnievan is that our youngest is only 7. As a family of 5, we won't fit in a regular sized car with a driver, so a van would be necessary, and then, technically, he should be in a booster. But, for the short ride it would be...

Where do I get the times guide? At our hotel when we check in?

Florida law requires boosters thru age 5. They're not required for 6 and above. The size of the car makes no difference.

If you request an UberXL or Lift Plus, you may get a minivan, but an SUV is more likely. Either way, no booster required for a 7-yo.

A property-wide Times Guide will be available at the concierge/Guest Relations desk of your resort, usually in a rack on the desk. You can also view the current week's here: http://www.orlandoparksnews.com/p/weekly-walt-disney-world-times-guides.html

 

[hllb]

Florida law requires boosters thru age 5. They're not required for 6 and above. The size of the car makes no difference.

If you request an UberXL or Lift Plus, you may get a minivan, but an SUV is more likely. Either way, no booster required for a 7-yo.

A property-wide Times Guide will be available at the concierge/Guest Relations desk of your resort, usually in a rack on the desk. You can also view the current week's here: http://www.orlandoparksnews.com/p/weekly-walt-disney-world-times-guides.html

Thanks. Law or not, my son should be in a booster. The size of the car matters for seats. A regular car doesn't fit 6 people so we'd need a minivan or SUV with a third row.

 

[kydisneyfans]

If there's any way to do an Uber over a bus transfer, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

We Ubered Animal Kingdom Lodge to OKW. A bus transfer would be 45 minutes at least, it was less than $10 and took around 15 minutes. The Uber driver was already at Kidani doing a drop off, so the wait time was nothing.

I Ubered Port Orleans Riverside to OKW as my wife wanted the create your own pasta. It was $3.35 and took 13 minutes from the time I requested the car til I was in my room in the back of OKW. That driver was also already within the resort. I took the boat from DS to PORR so only a 1 way was needed.

In your case, try the monorail. I'd Uber the 3rd scenario.

 

[nightskygal]

Good to know. Thanks 4 the info.

 

[ullen]

I have a similar question. We have reservations at Ohana for 8:30pm in January (so no parks will be open by the time we leave) but we are staying at POR. I know I can take an uber,etc. but would prefer to just use the bus. There would be no issues getting a bus from Poly to Disney Springs first and then to our resort, correct? We may even take a walk around Disney Springs first. Are the Disney Spring stores even open around 10pm? I can't find hours yet for January. Thanks!

 

[JimMIA]

If there's any way to do an Uber over a bus transfer, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

We Ubered Animal Kingdom Lodge to OKW. A bus transfer would be 45 minutes at least, it was less than $10 and took around 15 minutes. The Uber driver was already at Kidani doing a drop off, so the wait time was nothing.

I Ubered Port Orleans Riverside to OKW as my wife wanted the create your own pasta. It was $3.35 and took 13 minutes from the time I requested the car til I was in my room in the back of OKW. That driver was also already within the resort. I took the boat from DS to PORR so only a 1 way was needed.

Uber does a thing called "stacked pings" where they often give a ride request to an Uber who is about to arrive for a dropoff, rather than the nearest waiting Uber to the requesting passenger.

(If you think about it, Uber knows where every one of their cars is -- whether they have passengers on board or not -- they know where cars with riders are headed, and they know their ETA at their destination.)

So it's a simple matter to provide the quickest ride to the passenger who is waiting. That means a much quicker pickup for the riders, a much quicker ride for the driver, and greater efficiency in the system overall.

Sometimes, it can be pretty amusing. Joel and Rob may have had this happen, but we have it happen all the time at big hotels on South Beach -- the waiting passengers open the doors for the passengers being dropped off. Big laughs all around...and it happens frequently.