Disney mono-rail & Disney Springs

[TheHughesCrew]

More questions from me!

Can anyone ride the Disney mono-rail? And where does it go? Trying to plan a Disney fix with minimal park time.

Also, what is there to do at Disney Springs? How much time could we spend wandering there? I'm easy to please, boys 12 & 14 less so!

Thank you x

[Simon & Suzann]

In previous trips where we haven't done Disney and had first timers with us we've done a Disney resort loop. One year they didn't want to do Disney and another group another year couldn't stretch to it so we did a budget holiday.

We would go to Disney Springs to park the car then catch the boat to OKW.
After exploring a bit we'd then get bus to MK.
Few pics and onto the monorail stopping at TTC where we'd get on the Epcot monorail and do that loop back to TTC.
We'd get off at each resort to have an ice cream and nose about. Also walk from Polynesian to Grand Floridian.
We'd then get the boat to Wilderness Lodge. After a wander u can get boat or bus to Fort Wilderness where we'd watch Chip n Dale campfire singalong then down to the dock to watch fireworks from Magic Kingdom which has music piped in plus the Water Pageant.
We would then get the bus back to Disney Springs to have a well earned EoS!
Totally free apart from any drinks, ice cream, food or nik naks u buy.
It's also easily shortened if need be eg ditch the Epcot loop or the Fort Wilderness bit.
HTH

[NewtoOrlando]

We love Disney Springs, loads of places to eat and drink, bowling, cinema, lots of shops, sit by the lake having a. Drink, Coca Cola rooftop bar to have a coke flight of different flavours from around the world, in the summer the NBA basketball experience will be open aswell I think! Plus, free parking!

Anyone can ride the monorail, you don’t need a ticket but would have to park at a monorail resort or MK/Epcot, which of course costs, not sure on restrictions on the monorail resort parking though sorry!

[mick]

We've never stayed on site but every year we do the same as Simon and Suzann.

You don't need to be a WDW resort guest, nor have a dining reservation nor have park tickets to use any of the WDW free transport - buses, boats or monorails.

There are three monorail loops. Simply one serves MK from the TTC, one goes from the TTC to EPCOT and back and the other is the three hotel loop including TTC and the MK entrance.

DS is a restaurant and shopping area free to visit and, at present, free to park. See here


disneysprings

Mick

[duchy]

DisneySprings is (expensive) shops and resturaunts not somewhere I'd take teenagers without a full wallet, all the teen brands are there !

[TheHughesCrew]

Am loving the itinery! That's a day out for us right there Thank you. I'm desperate to get some Disney Magic but without doing the whole 6 parks mega ticket. There's an Orlando 'lite' ticket on ATD at the moment with just 2 Disney days. I'm thinking this is what we will do, and then cruise the hotels, with a character meal built in.

I was interested to read that you can see the fireworks from somewhere other than MK.

Thanks so much x

[mick]

Originally Posted by TheHughesCrew

Am loving the itinery! That's a day out for us right there Thank you. I'm desperate to get some Disney Magic but without doing the whole 6 parks mega ticket. There's an Orlando 'lite' ticket on ATD at the moment with just 2 Disney days. I'm thinking this is what we will do, and then cruise the hotels, with a character meal built in.

I was interested to read that you can see the fireworks from somewhere other than MK.

Thanks so much x

See more...

If you park up in either the orange or lime multi-storey parking garage you'll find the WDW bus station in between the two. Catch a bus from here to any of the resorts. Some resorts such as the S&D, Y&BC and Boardwalk share the same bus. If you get fed up get off the first stop (either the Swan or the Dolphin) and catch the free boat over to the Y&BC, Boardwalk then HS.

Buses to the S&D etc though don't start until 11am to prevent people parking at DS for free, catching the bus and then getting into EPCOT from Boardwalk. Nor do buses to the monorail loop resort start until later since MK is an easy walk from the Contemporary.


You don't have to catch a bus. Walk into DS and there's three boat docks with separate services to SSR, POR and OKW


Mick

[Simon & Suzann]

Originally Posted by TheHughesCrew

Am loving the itinery! That's a day out for us right there Thank you. I'm desperate to get some Disney Magic but without doing the whole 6 parks mega ticket. There's an Orlando 'lite' ticket on ATD at the moment with just 2 Disney days. I'm thinking this is what we will do, and then cruise the hotels, with a character meal built in.

I was interested to read that you can see the fireworks from somewhere other than MK.

Thanks so much x

See more...

The chip n Dale campfire is a great Disney fix. They do marshmallow s'more on the firepit but u need to buy the bits there for a few dollars or bring your own. It's great for all ages. They also do a different film on a huge screen there after it.

There's lots of places to watch the fireworks. We love it at the dock of Fort Wilderness as it doesn't get too busy as not many know about it. There's seating there also. Piped music and the water pageant is something that not many see or know about.

Hoop de Doo show is also done there which is very good but costly. They also do horse and cart rides.

AKL is another good place to visit. Get to see a few animals, the main building is amazing to see and they also do a free marshmallow cook out in the firepits for the kids. Not sure of the time though I'm afraid.

Last year we were really lucky at the Grand Floridian. The kids were doing their usual 18 hour shop (that's what it feels like for us men! ) in the soap smellies place upstairs. I was stood on the balcony thing bored just people watching when suddenly Prince Charming & Cinderella came out for a few dances down below by the piano player.
Everyone loved it and i was given the credit by everyone in our group as they thought i had timed it to be there. I wasn't going to correct them ha ha.

A good tip is to get an ice box on wheels. They are about $20 from Walmart but it soon pays for itself with money saved on drinks on just the Disney loop (normally 8 to 12 in our group so 3 bottles of water each at $2 a bottle would be $48 to $72 or get a slab from shop for $4 in the cooler). It's really easy to pull around and makes a great seat but we use it every day on trips to beach, kelly park etc. Park days u can leave it in boot and have ice cold drinks when u get back to car again saving money.

[TheHughesCrew]

Originally Posted by mick

If you park up in either the orange or lime multi-storey parking garage you'll find the WDW bus station in between the two. Catch a bus from here to any of the resorts. Some resorts such as the S&D, Y&BC and Boardwalk share the same bus. If you get fed up get off the first stop (either the Swan or the Dolphin) and catch the free boar over to the Y&BC, Boardwalk then HS.

Buses to the S&D etc though don't start until 11am to prevent people parking at DS for free, catching the bus and then getting into EPCOT from Boardwalk. Nor do buses to the monorail loop resort start until later since MK is an easy walk from the Contemporary.


You don't have to catch a bus. Walk into DS and there's three boat docks with separate services to SSR, POR and OKW


Mick

See more...

Loving the pictures! So helpful. Thank you x

[stan_the_man]

I think Simon & Suzann have hit the nail on the head with the perfect free-to-do itinerary really. The only extra free thing I would put in alongside visiting AKL (which is definitely worth it) is to do their free culinary tour there, which happens at 4pm every day

wdwfanzone/2018/08/j...culinary-tour/

Then head over to the MK area to spend the evening as said, either enjoy the beaches by the lagoon, or watch the fireworks from one of the docks

Technically you could probably fill an entire day of just doing free stuff at Disney