disney transportation

[grangrad]

we have hired a villa at rolling hills and i have been informed that there is a 'back' enterance to animal kingdom close by to where we are staying.

would it be possible to park each day at animal kingdom (trying to avoid crowded roads/parking area's) and use the disney tansportation to get to other disney parks.

or, would we be as well driving to and parking at the relevent park that we were going to on that particular day?

it really wouldn't matter to us but it was just a thought.

[Snapper]

Tbat's going to be the Sherbeth Road / Osceola Parkway short-cut I bet.

To be honest, I'd say just to head straight for whichever theme park you are going to and park there. It will save you heaps of time on the day. You'll be able to drive between the parks quicker than the Disney transportation, so you will be cutting out the time spent waiting for the Disney buses.

Everywhere around Disney is really well signposted so you shouldn't have any worries finding each and every attraction it has to offer.

Another thought I had was that sometimes Animal Kingdom closes earlier than the other theme parks. If you were parked at AK and hopping you would have to keep one eye on the time of the last bus back to Animal Kingdom to collect your car.

[RIS]

Grangrad what you are asking is possible. If you were to park at the Animal Kingdom Lodge ( a Disney hotel ) that would get around the problem with park closing times etc. and you could then take the Disney transport. HOWEVER as Steve has said above you could be wasting a lot of your precious holiday time. If I were you I'd just drive to where you wanted to go in the first place. Have a great holiday! [msnsmile2]

[thornton]

We parked at Animal Kingdom to find out how quick, etc. it was to get around and definitely decided it was not worth it. We had no problem getting back to the park to collect the car after the Magic Kingdom fireworks.

The only time I would think using Disney transport would be worthwhile would be at peak time when the parks get full very early and you want to park hop.

[RIS]

I should also add that to park at the AK Lodge you should also really be using one of the hotels facilities like the bar or restaurant. [msnwink]

[CERICROWLEY]

It will be just as easy to take the car to whichever park you decide to do on that day.

If you park in AK for day, you will need to take the Disney bus to a Disney hotel first and then onto the disney park you wish to visit, and then same on the return trip to your car. As well as Steve has already mentioned AK closes at about 6.00pm although the car park is open about upto an hour after, if you spend the evening in MK, you might have difficulty getting back to your car afterwards.

If you decide to park hop in between the day, The disney buses are great for that, and if you plan to do MK and then Epcot they have a monorail inbetween the parks, so no Hotel stop in between.

But once you pay for parking in any of the Disney parks, that's it for the day, you can enter any other disney park free. So all you need is the travel time in between, and its really not that long a distance between any of the parks, really.

[Newhomebuyer]

I sometimes leave my car at MGM Studios and use Disney transport to park hop from there. Its only 5 minutes from Rolling Hills using World Drive if you go early.
MGM is on the right hand side as soon as you enter World Drive. From there you can get the boat to Epcot and if you have the energy and you want to, you can hop on the monorail to Magic Kingdom. This is so much more pleasant than using the buses and you can take in the Boardwalk on the way.
I do always time it so that I am not picking the car up as Fantasmic is coming out.
The Sherbeth Road route is really only quicker if you want Animal Kingdom. As long as you leave early enough then World Drive is just as quick if not quicker for the other parks.

[Jules]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by RIS
Grangrad what you are asking is possible. If you were to park at the Animal Kingdom Lodge ( a Disney hotel ) that would get around the problem with park closing times etc. and you could then take the Disney transport. HOWEVER as Steve has said above you could be wasting a lot of your precious holiday time. If I were you I'd just drive to where you wanted to go in the first place. Have a great holiday! [msnsmile2]
[/quote]

If you choose to park at Animal Kingdom lodge, or I presume any of the other hotels, as you are not a hotel guest you will be asked the reason for your visit, for photo ID and your car registration will be noted down by the security guard on the gate, you will then be given a pass for a limited length of stay. I think it's 2-3 hours i.e. long enough to use the restaurants etc but I can't remember exactly long it's for. I guess this is to stop non guests using the hotel car parks and the Disney transport to avoid paying parking charges [msnwink]

[mistert]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Newhomebuyer
I sometimes leave my car at MGM Studios and use Disney transport to park hop from there. Its only 5 minutes from Rolling Hills using World Drive if you go early.
MGM is on the right hand side as soon as you enter World Drive. From there you can get the boat to Epcot and if you have the energy and you want to, you can hop on the monorail to Magic Kingdom. This is so much more pleasant than using the buses and you can take in the Boardwalk on the way.
I do always time it so that I am not picking the car up as Fantasmic is coming out.
[/quote]

Just be careful to check when the last boat back to MGM leaves if you plan to go back from Epcot or Boardwalk. Its a long walk from B'walk or even Swan/Dolphin hotels when it's the end of the day & you are tired - I know 'cos we missed it once & I had to walk then come back to pick up the family at B'walk Hotel!!

[RIS]

I'm sure that you're right Julie, although when I have parked there (always for a legitimate reason of course) I have always been waved through by security. Must be my honest face! [msnwink]