On the monorail or moderate resort

We have two children and by the time we go they will be 8 and almost 4. We are trying to figure out if we want to stay at a resort on the monorail or save some money and stay at a moderate level resort (POFQ or Caribbean Beach Club). If we stay at a moderate level we plan on using Uber or something like that. Any opinions if staying on the monorail is worth all the extra money??

I’ve never stayed deluxe, but it does seem that they have pretty bad transportation. I’d stay moderate. POFQ is a really lovely resort, small so there are no bad rooms, and close enough to all parks.

Why would you not use Disney buses if you’re at a mod?

I hear uber is quicker (didn’t have to wait long as opposed to waiting for the bus schedule) and its super cheap (like $5)

I loved the monorail! Easy with a stroller!

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I have done both, and I am not a fan of the buses at all. Although we have not used Uber to get to parks, we have used uber before getting to other places in Orlando. I like the monorail resorts for the transportation options. Since we visit MK and EP the most it is usually only half the trip we have to even consider the buses as an option.

Yes but you can’t get it to HS or AK, you’re going to have to bus or Uber to those anyway.

I’ve also heard the monorail doesn’t run till 9, so you’ve already missed RD. That may not matter to you though, but it would matter to me.

The buses are scheduled every 20 minutes. We rarely waited more than 10.

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If memory serves, the only Moderate that sometimes struggles with buses being overtaxed and there for taking a long time is CBR. We’re going to stay at POFQ this summer and CBR in November. POFQ I don’t anticipate any huge issues from what I’ve read (1st time there), but CBR I’m prepared to Uber most places.

We have done both. Last summer we stayed at GF, and enjoyed the convenience. However, there are frequent service interruptions for the monorail. It’s a very old system and it needs repairs. I did not experience this, but i have ready many complaints on Chat about the monorail not being available.

We stayed at CBR last year and had no trouble with the busses, so long as your expectations are reasonable. You might wait 5 minutes; you might wait 15. You might get a seat; you might not. Know that you will wait if you leave the park after fireworks. Nothing is ever perfect, but you’re at Disney. How bad could it be?

The resort monorail would normally be running in time for rope drop and emh where applicable. If not, then you have an alternative, i.e.: boat for Poly and gf, walk for contemp. And there will be buses for Epcot if there were issues.

On New Years Day DS and I got on the resort monorail from Contemp at 7:30, changed at TTC where they were doing the last tests on the Epcot line. We were told it wouldn’t be long but that there was a bus waiting if we wanted to get it. We just got on the monorail and it left in 5 minutes. We were through security and in the ADR (and tour) line by 7:45. That was for a 9am opening time, so it was running just for early ADRs.

Two things:

  1. I have never stayed on the monorail, but did a split stay at both CBR and POFQ. Buses at POFQ were super easy, only one stop, no need to take an Uber at all. It was also fun to ride the boat to Disney Springs, if that is on your list of things to do. I wish we had taken Uber more often at CBR, however. With the multiple internal stops, if you got on at the first stop, you would be going around the resort for 10 minutes before you actually started heading to the parks, and it was a nightmare if someone with an ECV needed to get on at the last or even second to last stop. (Not at all disparaging people who need ECVs, but frustrated with the Disney bus system at that resort.)
  2. I don’t have kids, but aren’t children under 5 required to be in a car seat in Orlando? That would put your Uber/Lyft expenses way over $5 a trip, because you would need UberFamily or XL. (Uber is going to be closer to $8-10 a trip, anyway, depending on where you are going. And you will be paying surge prices after nighttime shows.)

This comment has just been made on chat - this is what I was referring to when I said deluxe transportation is bad.

Yes, Florida law states children aged 5 and under must be in a restraint. This applies to uber but not to taxis.
MEARS is the Taxi service used by Disney. If you go to their website, you can get an estimate based on address. We did a taxi from POP to Polynesian last year and it cost about $12 one way.

I don’t believe I waited more than 10 min for a bus either - even during CL 9 and 10 days. The one exception was when everyone bum-rushed the buses because it started pouring rain one night. If I am not in a hurry, I don’t mind the Disney buses. I find them less stressful that a taxi, to be perfectly honest. But, I think that has more to do with statistical likelihood of a bus accident vs a car accident (buses are much, much safer)…

If you’ll be spending a lot of time at MK, and with kids 4 & 8 that seems likely, the monorail resorts can’t be beat. It’s so easy to be walking down mainstreet within about 15 minutes from leaving your room. How much is that worth to you though? That’s really hard to quantify. I’d probably price about both options and see what you’re flinching point is and go from there.