Disney Extra Magic Hours Hotels

May 4th, 2011 · No Comments

disney extra magic hours hotels
Disney World Transportation?

My husband, two teenage daughters and I are planning a trip to Disney World in October (We are from Australia). However, my sister and her family just returned and hated it due to the distance between parks and the fact that you have to constantly get on Disney buses. But are they really that bad?

Is it hard to catch the buses to and from your hotel (Disney resorts) and is it a long trip? Secondly, if you stay for the extra magic hours and watch the fireworks, can you still use the disney buses late at night?

All of the Disney resorts off free, continuous transportation to and from the parks. During busy times of day, such as at park closing, the lines for the buses can be long but Disney is pretty efficient at getting people around quickly!

If transportation time is a concern, the Deluxe resorts are located closer to the parks and offer faster transportation options such as the monorail to the Magic Kingdom or a boat to Epcot. The Epcot area deluxe resorts are even walking distance to both Epcot and Hollywood Studios theme parks! Of course that convenience does come with a heftier price tag!

The moderate and value resorts all offer Disney bus service to all of the parks. The moderates are located closer in to the parks but the difference in time spent on the buses is really minimal. Maybe a 3-5 minute longer ride on the buses, at most, from the value resorts.

There are definitely certain resorts that are better for bus service options than others! For instance at the value resort, Pop Century gets it’s own bus whereas the 3 All Star Resorts share buses so you will have more stops along the way. At the moderates, Port Orleans Riverside and Port Orleans French Quarter are sister resorts and share buses. The buses all stop at French Quarter first so you are first on and first off the buses if you are staying there! That means that you are more likely to get seats together (or get seats at all) in the morning getting on the bus at French Quarter than at Riverside.

If you are staying at a Disney resort, you can always drive to the parks if you have a car with you. Parking at the parks is free for resort guests.

Keep in mind that this advice is for the Disney owned resorts and the Swan and Dolphin resorts. The Downtown Disney resorts have bus service but it is not the same as Disney’s resort bus service. Typically the buses will run on the hour from those resorts rather than continuously as the Disney transportation does. That means if you miss the bus by 2 minutes, you’ve got a 58 minute wait for the next one! That isn’t the case at the Disney owned resorts.

The buses will typically run for 2 hours after the park closes. The buses to Downtown Disney run until 2 am so if you miss a park bus back to your resort, hop on the Downtown Disney bus, then change buses to your resort bus once you get to Downtown Disney!

Coming from Australia, you may want to look in to working with a US based Disney Specialist travel agent. The special offers for the US are typically a lot less expensive than those available Down Under. I’ve worked with several families from Australia in the last year or so and we were able to save all of them quite a bit. An Authorized Disney Vacation Planner will continuously monitor your reservation for available discounts and apply them as soon as they become available. They will also take care of your dining and recreation options for you as well. Many will offer additional services such as itinerary planning to help avoid the long lines and crowds. Definitely worth looking in to!

Hope you have a wonderful vacation!

Lori Hardegree
lori@magicalmemoriestravel.com

http://www.magicalmemoriestravel.com

http://tinyurl.com/3r9exmh for a vacation consult!