Just thinking about first bus times from AKL for being knees on the rope at rope drop.
Has anyone got any experience of what time the first busses go and if that will get you to the front of Rope Drop for the parks? Wondering whether some mornings it’s worth just splurging on an Uber / Lyft / Minnie Van for MK.
I had read that the first HS or Epcot one is ofter at 715 for an 8am EE, which to me feels like it’s too late. I always think you wanna be there 30 mins before EE starts to be knees on the line.
There was a spreadsheet where liners tracked the first buses. Buses arrived about 1 hour 15 minutes before early opening (so that the buses could get to the park an hour before EE, the time the parking lot gates open). Advice is to get to the bus’s stop 75-90 minutes before EE.
In May we were at the All-Star Movies bus stop at AK around 6:20 am for a 7:30 am EE. We were the first guests at security! I’m guessing we took the 6ish bus, which was the first bus, from All Star Movies to AK. We were the only ones on the bus!
Although no cast member will ever tell you this but I have found that the first bus is usually 1hr 15minutes before EE give or take a few minutes. They try to time it so that it arrives at hour prior which is the earliest they are allowed to unload. For AK i would be at the stop by 6:10-6:15
If I wanted to be knees of the rope, I’d consider uber. For every park except AK, some guests can walk from their hotels and are likely to beat Disney transportation.
MK is only to TTP with an Uber so a Minnie Van would be the option there, but I think getting the first bus would probably be okay from AKL, it’ll be as close to the front of Rope Drop it not exactly on the line.
As @PrincipalTinker stated we charted this on chat daily for almost two years. First bus arrives at all resorts for all parks around 75 minutes before early entry. They can be as early as 90 minutes though so the advice is to arrive at the bus stop 90 minutes if you want to be knees to the rope. Resorts with multiple bus stops might be at the first stop 95 minutes before since it takes 20 minutes to get to all the stops. Chat recommends being at the stop 90 minutes before with your coffee, breakfast bar, etc in hand while you wait.
First buses beat all cars including uber and self parking since they allow you off the bus an hour before but they don’t open the parking lot until an hour before. But if you prefer to drive yourself or uber I’d say the difference is fairly negligible. You won’t be first but you’ll be pretty close to the front.
We don’t update the handy dandy liners bus times spreadsheet anymore since times haven’t changed so it’s not worth the work.
We do still update the spreadsheet if we have something else we’re testing. It’s got helpful phone numbers on it too.
Going to add I don’t have much data for driving to TTC since it’s not recommended usually but someone on chat just posted they got in 90 minutes early to the parking lot (I guess since it takes extra time to ride the ferry, bus or monorail over?)
Idk. I clearly wasn’t thinking that one through. I’ve gotten to the bus stop early before just to have to wait for the next bus so it makes me nervous. Listen to the chat people that know way more than me.
