Last year, we made our first trip to Disneyland and were very disappointed that the DL Monorail was down for refurbishment during our visit in April.
This year, are making out first trip to Disney World and really want to make the Monorail part of our visit, but not sure the best way to go about it.
We are staying at the Dolphin Resort for a work conference and we have 4-Park Magic tickets which basically get you access to each of the four parks, one park per day.
Ideally, I’d like to do this on a day when we AREN’T at one of the parks.
The Dolphin is technically CLOSE to Epcot, but you can’t get the to front entrance on foot without going THROUGH the park by way of the International Gateway entrance.
So, it seems like my only option is to ride the Disney bus from the Dolphin to the Magic Kingdom Entrance and catch the Monorail there. If I want to ride BOTH Monorails, then I would need to catch the Epcot Monorail at the Ticket center, correct?
1 - Disney bus to MK
2 - MK Monorail to Ticket Center
3 - Ride Epcot loop
4 - Take MK Monorail back to MK entrance
5 - Bus back to Dolphin or alternatively, to Disney Springs.
Does that sound about right? How long would that take?!
That sounds right. You have two options coming from MK, you can take the resort monorail that will stop at each resort, or the express that will go directly to TTC for epcot transfer. I don’t see a reason for doing this unless you were getting off at the resorts to look around, you’ll still pass by the resorts on the express monorail.
I’d plan for a couple of hours.
The wait times and loading/unloading can be unpredictable.
I think including a loop around the resorts is a nice idea, either at the beginning or end of the excursion. In fact, if you did it at the end, you could plan to have lunch or dinner at one of the hotels (Kona Cafe…hint hint).
Especially if you’re doing this on a non-park day, I’d suggest riding the resort monorail on one of the legs, getting off and exploring each of the hotels on the monorail loop. They are relatively impressive, offer some good restaurants (a lunch or dinner ADR at one of the resorts could be ideal) or just snack options and are fun to explore for the ambiance/decor. You can kill a half day easily enough doing the monorail loop. Many will do a bar hopping around the monorail resorts which may or may not appeal depending on the group - a more family group may prefer “cupcakes around the monorail loop”.
Also if you do this, note there’s a boat from the Contemporary to the Wilderness Lodge which is a short fun ride. You can also catch a boat from GF/Poly/Wilderness Lodge directly to the MK to pick up your bus back to Dolphin if you want to maximize your transportation options…
And then there’s the Highway in the Sky Dine Around. A guided tour at each resort for drinks and food, almost like a taster menu in a signature restaurant but with the monorail in between each course! We loved it and would do it again!
Definitely worth the money in my opinion, especially when it includes all drinks and gratuities. Shame it’s booked up, we were lucky to get ours booked when we did. But in case you get a chance in the future this was the menu when we went:
What about leaving MK and talking a loop on the Monorail on our day there? Would that be a huge hassle? We would have to go through security twice,right?
Actually, no you wouldn’t, now that the new security checks have started.
Once you’re in the security zone when you arrive, you can get on the monorail and go right the way around and back into MK without going through security again.
If you got off at any of the resorts you would have to go back through security before reboarding the monorail.
SRGilbert … go for it! We did exactly what you are planning on our last trip. Got to WDW too early to check in at POR so we took a bus to Epcot and road the Monorail for fun. Stopped and checked out each resort along the way and took a bus from the GF back to POR a couple of hours later in time for check in. Unfortunately now, staying at the GF some day is on my bucket list.
Hello everyone! Our trip was a success in no small part to everyone’s help! I’m going to go through my old threads and report my findings on some of the questions I asked in case anyone else is searching for similar answers. Hopefully you can learn from us!
We did end up taking a Monorail tour on one of our off days. We hopped the bus to MK, had to go through Security, hopped on the Express Monorail by mistake got off the Express at the Ticket Center, rode to the Polynesian Resort, looked around, got back on, rode to the Contemporary (to see the Mary Blair mural and shop a little) and then walked back to MK, back through security, and hopped on the bus back to the Dolphin.
We ended up skipping the Epcot loop and decided to skip Disney Springs too. With all the walking we would be doing over the next four days, it’s seemed prudent.
got off the Express at the Ticket Center, rode to the Polynesian Resort, looked around, got back on, rode to the Contemporary (to see the Mary Blair mural and shop a little) and then walked back to MK, back through security, and hopped on the bus back to the Dolphin.