If you are staying at one of the value resorts, what is the realistic bus time both from the value resorts to Disney Springs?
Other than Lyft, are there more efficient ways other than the direct bus?
Specifically, if my son has to be back to his resort to board MDE around 1:00 pm, when should he be at the DS bus stop?
Alternatively, are you allowed to board MDE from another resort than the one you are staying at? Say, if they were at DS and walk over to one of the DS resorts like Saratoga (?). Can they just catch the MDE there instead, assuming they have their luggage with them?
I think it depends on the value resort. Pop and AoA are closer to DS. I always give myself 45-60 minutes for DS, which includes waiting for a bus. I don’t know of any other way to get there than the bus or Lyft.
I have heard of people asking to switch where DME picks them up, but I think that is a pixie dust situation. They typically require you to return to your resort. The DME pick up is scheduled. We have asked to ride an earlier bus from our resort and they made us wait to see how full the bus was. You typically can’t just hop onto any DME bus like the buses to get to the parks.
Buses back from DS can be unreliable - we waited an hour in August for a bus that was going to all 5 EP area resorts. Honestly I think I would Uber or Lyft.
It can take a long time to get around on the bus And DS is huge. I’m with the others about allotting 1 hour for taking the bus once you get to the bus stop. The issue with DS is if you begin running short on time, the ride share pick up areas are at both ends whereas the bus stop is closer to the middle of DS. Someone pipe up if there is a third pick up area at DS for ride share.
Update: My son decided to pay a little extra and do Port Orleans French Quarter instead of a value resort. This means they can use the water taxi to/from DS. Anyone have any idea what the timing is for this? I mean, if they were at DS, and needed to be back to the resort by 1:00 pm for DME, when would they need to be at the dock in DS to board the water taxi?
We did this scenario in 2018 staying at POR. I would still allow at least an hour, as the ferry is not fast. It goes back and forth and I think there are 2, but if you happen to catch it wrong, then you will have to wait. It’s like a 20 minute boat ride.
Maybe for less money than staying at Port Orleans, he could just Lyft to Pop! It’ll be about $8-$14 and all said and done, it will be about 15 minutes from the time he confirms a Lyft ride to when he arrives at Pop.
But a stay at Port Orleans… I’ll just keep dreaming and live through others.
Well, I recommended Pop to him because I figured they would want to save as much money as possible. They will be staying 9 nights with the family (in the 5 bedroom house we rented) for the trip. I thought that he might want to have a least one night alone with his wife, and so suggested they book a value resort on-site so that they can use DME the next day to get to the airport (since we’re leaving early).
Anyhow, when they went to book, they decided, apparently, to splurge a little. POFQ was more their vibe, so they went with it. Can’t blame them!
Our last day is at Islands of Adventure. We’ll drop them off at their resort around 3:00, and we’ll head back to the house.
