AKL Transportation Questions!!!

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Tue, 04/24/2012 - 21:54

drj898

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AKL Transportation Questions!!!

Ok...I have my basic itinerary all mapped out (still tool'ing around with the minor adjustments..) for my trip with my girlfriend in July (12th to 18th) club lvl in AKL. I was hoping you guys could give me an idea of when to leave for where! Any help would be tremendously appreciated!

How long would it take to get from point to point? Approximately of course...

AKL to DTD at around 8pm?
DTD to AKL at around 11pm-12am?

AKL to DHS to make rope drop?
DHS to AKL at around lunchtime?
AKL back to DHS to make our 6pm ADR?

AKL to MK to make our 8am ADR?
MK to AKL around lunchtime?
AKL to MK to GF for our 6pm ADR @ Citricos?

AK to Poly for our 5pm ADR @ Ohana?

AKL to Epcot to make rope drop?

I know...it's a lot..but any input would be awesome.

Thanks ahead of time!!

Tue, 04/24/2012 - 22:35

Mase

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Its way to hard to give you exacts because it depends on the bus system the most. Depends on how many buses are allocated to each spot. DTD usually has a decent amount... but since its the farthest one away, you could end up waiting on a bus for 20 minutes. I would just say allocate anywhere to 30-45 minutes to get to your destination. Maybe even more in the evenings.

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Wed, 04/25/2012 - 00:24

drj898

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I gotcha...thanks Mase.

I guess my biggest question is: If I want to make rope drop for any park, when should we be at the bus stop at AKL for each park? 7:45? 8am?

Wed, 04/25/2012 - 01:02

Mase

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Last visit we went... we left our room at 8am, and got there at 8:40am. (We always stay at AKL) And we were there to see all the festivities without any problems. The thing with MK is they have a train come in with all the characters. Get there too early and literally stand at the gate to be let in... you wont see it very well, or your neck will hate you afterwards! lol... So its a toss up. I would say if you want right at the rope.... 7:45am... if you would like to see the welcome you get to the MK... then 8am is plenty. Also depends on crowd level as well. We go when all the parks have a highest rating of 3 out of 10, and usually stick to a park with a 1 and 2. So you also have to throw in the crowd level to into the time. Just a lot of variables and the only person I think who could give you exact times is that guy from the show "Numbers"... lol

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Wed, 04/25/2012 - 01:03

JoAnn C

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This site has a trip calculator so you get an idea of the approximate time between the resort and the parks.

http://www.ourlaughingplace.com/aspx/twiz.aspx

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Wed, 04/25/2012 - 01:29

drj898

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Mase wrote:

Last visit we went... we left our room at 8am, and got there at 8:40am. (We always stay at AKL) And we were there to see all the festivities without any problems. The thing with MK is they have a train come in with all the characters. Get there too early and literally stand at the gate to be let in... you wont see it very well, or your neck will hate you afterwards! lol... So its a toss up. I would say if you want right at the rope.... 7:45am... if you would like to see the welcome you get to the MK... then 8am is plenty. Also depends on crowd level as well. We go when all the parks have a highest rating of 3 out of 10, and usually stick to a park with a 1 and 2. So you also have to throw in the crowd level to into the time. Just a lot of variables and the only person I think who could give you exact times is that guy from the show "Numbers"... lol

Lol...you seem to have a great response to virtually ALL my posts! And being an AKL veteran, I can foresee having a lot of questions for you! Thanks!

Actuallyyy..it looks like I gotta make this more specific: I just wanna make sure I get to Epcot & DHS for RD. AK and MK we'll already be in the park for character breakfasts (Sunrise Safari-Pizzafari for AK morning, and Crystal Palace for MK).

I'm REALLY concerned about getting from AKL up to the GF for our dinner at 6pm at Citricos. Actually my plan is to pop our heads into Narcoosees when dinner begins around 4:30 and ask if they can get us a table before going straight to Citricos. But regardlesss.......think we should just grab a cab? Or should we do the bus-to-MK-to-monorail thing (hour+ I heard)??

Wed, 04/25/2012 - 02:09

Mase

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drj898 wrote:

Mase wrote:
Last visit we went... we left our room at 8am, and got there at 8:40am. (We always stay at AKL) And we were there to see all the festivities without any problems. The thing with MK is they have a train come in with all the characters. Get there too early and literally stand at the gate to be let in... you wont see it very well, or your neck will hate you afterwards! lol... So its a toss up. I would say if you want right at the rope.... 7:45am... if you would like to see the welcome you get to the MK... then 8am is plenty. Also depends on crowd level as well. We go when all the parks have a highest rating of 3 out of 10, and usually stick to a park with a 1 and 2. So you also have to throw in the crowd level to into the time. Just a lot of variables and the only person I think who could give you exact times is that guy from the show "Numbers"... lol

Lol...you seem to have a great response to virtually ALL my posts! And being an AKL veteran, I can foresee having a lot of questions for you! Thanks!

Actuallyyy..it looks like I gotta make this more specific: I just wanna make sure I get to Epcot & DHS for RD. AK and MK we'll already be in the park for character breakfasts (Sunrise Safari-Pizzafari for AK morning, and Crystal Palace for MK).

I'm REALLY concerned about getting from AKL up to the GF for our dinner at 6pm at Citricos. Actually my plan is to pop our heads into Narcoosees when dinner begins around 4:30 and ask if they can get us a table before going straight to Citricos. But regardlesss.......think we should just grab a cab? Or should we do the bus-to-MK-to-monorail thing (hour+ I heard)??

Epcot and HS is pretty simple for rope drop. Especially since they dont do anything special like MK. For both of those places... you probably have up to 2 hours before the parks start getting packed, and possibly more for Epcot. Rope drop will benefit the most at HS because of Toy Story Mania. No matter what time of the season it is... that ride always has an hour wait. But every other ride in the morning... you should almost walk on or have a 10 minute wait.

As for Epcot. I cant remember if I have ever did rope drop for it. That park is almost dead in the morning and even up till noon. See... all the family are heading for rope drop at MK or hit MK in the morning. Epcot is an evening place for a lot of families. So you could virtually do EVERYTHING in Epcot... even go back in the countries and be done around noon to 1 if you do rope drop. So basically... if your 15 minutes late from hitting rope drop at Epcot... you will still be fine... lol

As for GF. I have never been there before to be honest. I know some members have done cabs before. Me... I love the monorail. So if you do do that... then yeah... if your coming from AKL to MK then mono it to GF.... you are probably looking at an hour. So I guess that is ultimately up to you.

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Wed, 04/25/2012 - 03:33

drj898

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Mase wrote:

Epcot and HS is pretty simple for rope drop. Especially since they dont do anything special like MK. For both of those places... you probably have up to 2 hours before the parks start getting packed, and possibly more for Epcot. Rope drop will benefit the most at HS because of Toy Story Mania. No matter what time of the season it is... that ride always has an hour wait. But every other ride in the morning... you should almost walk on or have a 10 minute wait.

As for Epcot. I cant remember if I have ever did rope drop for it. That park is almost dead in the morning and even up till noon. See... all the family are heading for rope drop at MK or hit MK in the morning. Epcot is an evening place for a lot of families. So you could virtually do EVERYTHING in Epcot... even go back in the countries and be done around noon to 1 if you do rope drop. So basically... if your 15 minutes late from hitting rope drop at Epcot... you will still be fine... lol

As for GF. I have never been there before to be honest. I know some members have done cabs before. Me... I love the monorail. So if you do do that... then yeah... if your coming from AKL to MK then mono it to GF.... you are probably looking at an hour. So I guess that is ultimately up to you.

Thanks so much. So maybe we'll hit Epcot a lil later...no rush for absolute rope drop. I just wanna be able to not wait on a line for more than like 20min and I figured to get short lines, beat the heat and crowds, we'll just get there early and hit Soarin' first, etc. But I'm not anticipating going back to AKL in the middle of the day the way I'm planning for DHS and MK's Noon to 3-4pm break so we're honestly going to be at Epcot all day long. 5:45 ADR for Tutto Italia and then Illuminations before going back to the resort...

Wed, 04/25/2012 - 12:07

Mase

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drj898 wrote:

Mase wrote:
Epcot and HS is pretty simple for rope drop. Especially since they dont do anything special like MK. For both of those places... you probably have up to 2 hours before the parks start getting packed, and possibly more for Epcot. Rope drop will benefit the most at HS because of Toy Story Mania. No matter what time of the season it is... that ride always has an hour wait. But every other ride in the morning... you should almost walk on or have a 10 minute wait.

As for Epcot. I cant remember if I have ever did rope drop for it. That park is almost dead in the morning and even up till noon. See... all the family are heading for rope drop at MK or hit MK in the morning. Epcot is an evening place for a lot of families. So you could virtually do EVERYTHING in Epcot... even go back in the countries and be done around noon to 1 if you do rope drop. So basically... if your 15 minutes late from hitting rope drop at Epcot... you will still be fine... lol

As for GF. I have never been there before to be honest. I know some members have done cabs before. Me... I love the monorail. So if you do do that... then yeah... if your coming from AKL to MK then mono it to GF.... you are probably looking at an hour. So I guess that is ultimately up to you.

Thanks so much. So maybe we'll hit Epcot a lil later...no rush for absolute rope drop. I just wanna be able to not wait on a line for more than like 20min and I figured to get short lines, beat the heat and crowds, we'll just get there early and hit Soarin' first, etc. But I'm not anticipating going back to AKL in the middle of the day the way I'm planning for DHS and MK's Noon to 3-4pm break so we're honestly going to be at Epcot all day long. 5:45 ADR for Tutto Italia and then Illuminations before going back to the resort...

You got this. Your gonna be a pro even before ya get there!

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Wed, 04/25/2012 - 12:15

drj898

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lol, that's what my TA tells me! My girlfriend thinks I'm really sweet for being so organized and stuff. My mom thinks all the planning is "ridiculous and pathetic". "Just go and have a good time!"

PS: I added a ticker last night lol. Like it?

Wed, 04/25/2012 - 12:24

Mase

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drj898 wrote:

lol, that's what my TA tells me! My girlfriend thinks I'm really sweet for being so organized and stuff. My mom thinks all the planning is "ridiculous and pathetic". "Just go and have a good time!"

PS: I added a ticker last night lol. Like it?

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- My Int3ractiv3 Trip R3port '12 - CLICK HERE!
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Wed, 04/25/2012 - 12:33

Kristen K.

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drj898 wrote:

I'm REALLY concerned about getting from AKL up to the GF for our dinner at 6pm at Citricos. Actually my plan is to pop our heads into Narcoosees when dinner begins around 4:30 and ask if they can get us a table before going straight to Citricos. But regardlesss.......think we should just grab a cab? Or should we do the bus-to-MK-to-monorail thing (hour+ I heard)??

I also frequently stay at AKL, and I'm a cab fan. I take a lot of them to get places on time when it matters.
I would take a cab, it gives you more time to get ready to go, and it's direct transportation to where you want to be.

Wed, 04/25/2012 - 12:54

campbell87

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Staying at AKL with GF ressies, we usually go to MK then catch the monorail, we always like to get there early and explore the resort, I really like their gift shop for some reason lol.

You could, if you leave before 5pm for the 6pm ADR, get a bus to AK - only takes 5minutes, then get the GF bus from AK. I think AK to GF is about a 30min ride?

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Wed, 04/25/2012 - 12:55

Lizzy_B

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Great pic! Nice to see your faces!

I can't weigh in on the transportation question (never stayed at AKL and I'm local) but I will add my two cents on Epcot and mornings. You probably know that World Showcase doesn't open until 11am. That means that between 9-11, many of the Futureworld attractions can build up a line. For instance, I've seen Spaceship Earth snake around on a queue for 20-30 minutes in the morning. If you wait until afternoon to ride it, you normally walk right on.

Soarin' on the other hand...unless you get there early, you will need to get a Fastpass. Standby yesterday was at 70 minutes around 11am for instance, so we just grabbed FP and went back later. Unless you get there really early, that will probably be what you face.

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Wed, 04/25/2012 - 15:07

drj898

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Lizzy_B wrote:

Great pic! Nice to see your faces!

I can't weigh in on the transportation question (never stayed at AKL and I'm local) but I will add my two cents on Epcot and mornings. You probably know that World Showcase doesn't open until 11am. That means that between 9-11, many of the Futureworld attractions can build up a line. For instance, I've seen Spaceship Earth snake around on a queue for 20-30 minutes in the morning. If you wait until afternoon to ride it, you normally walk right on.

Soarin' on the other hand...unless you get there early, you will need to get a Fastpass. Standby yesterday was at 70 minutes around 11am for instance, so we just grabbed FP and went back later. Unless you get there really early, that will probably be what you face.

Thanks Lizzy!! I forgot to mention I added that photo of us last night lol. I figured I'd show you guys what we look like...put some faces to my username. Anyways, Soarin' is the main reason why I'd like us to make rope drop...I heard it's crazy lines. Same way Toy Story Mania is in DHS. We'll spend our nice shiny 2hrs til 11am in Future World til the WS opens. We'll check out the lines for Spaceship Earth before WS opens, and if it's too long, we'll ride it in the afternoon. When all the crowds are there like 12pm-3pm, we'll be in WS hanging out, grabbing a bite to eat at a couple different countries, CS, having done all the top rides & attractions.

PS: Your profile pic...is that a cupcake I should make time for, on our trip? lol What is it, and is it really THAT good lol, and where can I find it?

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