We rode the boat from WL to MK so I can confirm that is running.
Ah. Okay. Very good. I thought I remember that someone had done it! I’m not crazy! (Well…at least not about that!)
Yes, the boat from WL to MK is running.
But someone suggested getting the boat to Contemporary. The boat that circles Bay Lake visiting WL, FW and Contemporary is not running.
That is a different boat, from a different dock (red vs blue, I think blue is the circular route).
You cannot go from WL to Contemporary directly.
Okay. Makes sense.
That was me. I was merely questioning whether a boat would be going to Contemporary as well.
In all of this, it seems to open up a struggle for on-site guests who want to get around after park closures. Even though Disney isn’t encouraging resort hopping, they are allowing guests to have dining reservations. But how do on-site guests (without a vehicle) manage this during this time without having to rely on outside-Disney transportation? Minnie Vans are not operational, which leaves guests with Lyft/Uber only I suppose…or doing the whole dance with DS. Of course, bus service to/from DS is quite the pain.
BUt what’s the alternative? Once your park closes for the day, does Disney expect you to stay on your resort property only? With early closing times, and cooler temperatures, all they are offering is pool? It is a bit inconsistent.
I’m hoping to see Disney adjust things better. If they want more people to come, they really do need to start making it more appealing for guests…not JUST having parks open, that kind of thing.
Regardless, we’ll make our trip work, no doubt. But planning for the transportation when we decided to fly in December is a bit of a challenge! 
I would suggest considering renting a car. It makes things so much easier, plus reducing exposure. I will say we booked DME for both stays recently just in case we decided to use it, and did not get charged any parking fees at the resorts.
If we did that, we would have just stuck to driving. We just about break even if we drive versus fly when there are just two of us. If we fly and rent, it would cost almost twice as much in travel expenses!
BTW, we haven’t flown since our Honeymoon. This will be the first time since then. (I flew last year to Florida…which is the first time I’d flown since my honeymoon…but only so that I could help drive the moving truck back from Florida to Michigan. My parents moved back here after being in Florida for years!)
1 Like
I think they really want you to go to Disney Springs. If you want to get to another resort for dinner it would be easier to book it for say an hour after the park you’re visiting closes, then you could just get the resort bus.
To get home you will need either a car, a ride share or go via DS.
It’s catch 22. Until they have more people booking it isn’t cost effective for them to open more restaurants up. Activities are different, the social distancing rules make them difficult to run.
And one reason for closing parks early is because the experience at DS has shown it’s harder to enforce mask wearing and social distancing after dark.
1 Like
You might just check Autoslash occasionally between now and then and see what rate you can get. I was able to get a minivan for 10 days plus one hour down to $460. If you can do with a smaller car and have a shorter time it could be quite affordable.
ETA: That was with an on-airport reputable chain. Could have been much cheaper if I wasn’t picky.
Ha! Apparently at DS, it doesn’t have to be after dark!
I disagree.
I believe DS is a harder space to enforce it in because there are not so many roaming CMs AND they lease the space to various entities who may or may not be on the same page. So they don’t necessarily feel/seem/appear to be able to retain as much control over enforcement.
I don’t think night time has anything to do with it.
2 Likes
Hmm. This all makes me wonder something else.
Let’s say HS closes at 7:00 pm. Now, we walk from Boardwalk to HS and catch a bus at 5:00 pm over to, say, WL to eat and look around. We finish at 7:00 pm. Now, I know Disney runs the buses from HS about an hour after the park closes…but what about getting back TO HS. If we go to the WL bus stop at 7:10 pm, will they allow us to get on and take it back to HS? If so, we’d arrive at HS and then just walk back to Boardwalk. But I could see them not allowing people to head BACK to the park after it has closed.
This kind of lines up with what I observed.
And, this leads me further off topic to share this.
The night we were at DS when it started to downpour, due to social distancing, most of the stores were very quick to block ANYONE from coming inside to get out of the rain. I was temporarily separated from my wife because she ducked under a very small overhang at an exit from Lego store, whereas I had made it to the Starbucks. After a brief text to locate one another, we ran back to meet her. But we could barely stay out of the rain.
But here’s the ironic part. Another family came to this exit and stood in front of us as well as the door (we were off to the side of the door). Now, the store employee had LOCKED the door from the inside so no one could come in or out, but when this other family stood there, the employee briefly unlocked and opened the door and told them they could not stay there because it is a fire hazard. Then she proceeded to close the door and LOCK IT. Um. I think the greater fire hazard is having a locked door, not having a family standing in front of the doors trying to stay out of the rain. The whole experience, to me, was incredibly rude on the part of the handling of the store. I get not letting people get in, but honestly, if there was a fire in the store in that moment, I’m certain anyone standing there would have happily moved out of the way to let people out! The locked door? I’m not sure the fire marshall would have been happy about that.
1 Like
I don’t see why you couldn’t do this.
You could always ask at WL. If they say there aren’t any buses going to DHS at that time you then book a ride share / taxi. There may not be any buses going there after a certain time but if there is then you’d be able to catch the bus.
If you really just want to get free transport, you could take a WL bus to Epcot then take an Epcot bus back to BW, assuming Epcot is the last park open that night.
Nice try. But here are the new park hours (assuming they remain the same for December):
ETA: So, HS works out to be the best choice, since it is opened the latest (tied with EP), but is within walking distance of BWV.
1 Like
If they extend a park’s hours, I would bet it would be Epcot due to dining. Also, it’s still unclear whether you can still dine after the park closes, which may effectively extend the bus operating hours - the below story is from 5 days ago, so I may have missed something since then.
What if you went to WL for lunch on your MK day?
Good grief @ryan1
The solution is easy.
Plan 1 which operates by current park times and utilizes lunch resort meals.
Plan A which assumes Epcot is open till 9 by December because Disney at Christmas. Thus using Epcot buses “home” after dining at a resort.
Plan Other - a version of plan 1 but utilizes DS buses to [un]hop to resorts for supper.
Plan next - you’re on your own. I mean, it’s Disney planning, right? Plan, already . . .
2 Likes