Disney Transportation as an Excursion

[LuCruise]

Looking at booking the Disney Transportation for our day at Port Canaveral.  We are in port from 12pm-9pm and the bus drops you at the TTC.

We aren't going to purchase park tickets, but we're thinking of just going to Disney Springs and maybe view one or two resorts on the monorail.

 

Anyone done this and visited Disney Springs?  Did you find it enough time?  Or on the flip side, too much time for Disney Springs and any other non-park items?

From the TTC, we would walk to the Polynesian and bus from there to DS.  However, we would uber back from DS either to the TTC or to a resort (e.g. Polynesian, GF or Contemporary if we were done and still had time before the return bus).

 

If anyone has done this, would like to hear your feedback.

[Chippytoes]

While I've not specifically done this, to answer your question, plenty of time to do DS and maybe do a monorail "resort crawl" for fun. You should also be able to take a bus to DS from TTC, unless you wanted to walk over to Poly to walk around there. 

[LuCruise]

Thanks.  Am really pondering what to do....Our 14 son thinks he'll be quite bored for the day.  We can either do an excursion that goes to Orlando Outlets and Disney Springs (currently booked) or Disney Transportation and do as above. Sounds like we would have time to visit resorts as well on the monorail and also visit DS.  

 

 

[Chippytoes]

Orlando Outlets sounds dreadful, haha!! Just kidding...I'm a huge Disney fan, so I'd totally do the Disney transportation. Funny all teenagers think they'll be bored 😂All the monorail resorts have plenty to see and do. 

[LuCruise]

9 minutes ago, Chippytoes said:

Orlando Outlets sounds dreadful, haha!! Just kidding...I'm a huge Disney fan, so I'd totally do the Disney transportation. Funny all teenagers think they'll be bored 😂All the monorail resorts have plenty to see and do. 

Yep...and add to that a boy teenager who hates shopping.  (Our younger one is a girl and so she may be ok).  This is one reason I'm thinking at least the Disney Transportation option is better than the Outlet and Disney Springs excursion.  Only thing is that we don't know Disney World and so we need to feel comfortable getting around ourselves from the TTC and then to meet back there to catch the bus.

[Chippytoes]

So I poked around a bit for you. You would need to walk to Poly, (like 5-10 min walk), from TTC. There are no longer buses from TTC to DS. If you're set on DS, I'd start there first. Again, loads to see and do. Lots of good places to eat and shop. Then, depending on the time, bus to the Grand Floridan and start on the monorail "tour". Take the loop with stops at Contemporary and then end at Poly. Probably plan at least an hour r/t on the bus...probably not than long, but plan it that way. About 45 mins to an hour from port to Disney property, again, maybe not that long, but we ALWAYS plan an hour for transportation at Disney. Just the nature of the beast 😀

[Capt_BJ]

to expand

 

when Disney greatly expanded the free parking at Disney Springs folks began parking there and using free bus service to TTC ....

 

SO they ended direct bus service (during prime hours anyway)

 

so if you want to do your original plan look deeper into the details of transportation so you don't miss your ride back to the port . . . 

[LuCruise]

Thanks.  Yes...my understanding is the bus goes from resort to Disney Springs.  Can see why they don't have direct bus for parking reasons.  

 

45 minutes ago, Chippytoes said:

So I poked around a bit for you. You would need to walk to Poly, (like 5-10 min walk), from TTC. There are no longer buses from TTC to DS. If you're set on DS, I'd start there first. Again, loads to see and do. Lots of good places to eat and shop. Then, depending on the time, bus to the Grand Floridan and start on the monorail "tour". Take the loop with stops at Contemporary and then end at Poly. Probably plan at least an hour r/t on the bus...probably not than long, but plan it that way. About 45 mins to an hour from port to Disney property, again, maybe not that long, but we ALWAYS plan an hour for transportation at Disney. Just the nature of the beast 😀

 

When you say to plan at least 1hr on the bus....do you mean from Polynesian to Disney Springs?  Or from Port Canaveral to the TTC?  I know the port ride will be about that, but if the Disney internal bus is that long, then doesn't sound worth taking the Disney Transportation excursion and then getting around Disney ourselves via Disney buses.

 

So I just found a video of the walk from TTC to Polynesian.  Video is about 6 min long.  Not knowing Disney, it looks complicated. 😬 Is it actually when you are there in person?  Or is the walk obvious?  Guess we would need to go to the parking at Polynesian lot to catch the bus.  

 

Not sure...maybe we should keep the Orlando Outlet and Disney Springs excursion.  It's less flexible (and may cause some boredom) but more straightforward.  Thoughts?

 

My son actually commented that he doesn't want to do either...as it makes for a long day (and he doesn't want to miss dinner in the main dining room on the ship...and honestly I don't blame him).  The thing is, if we don't go to Disney Springs, then there is not much to do in Orlando, and our next stop of Nassau is underwhelming too.

 

[Chippytoes]

Yes, an hour from Poly to DS. Again, probably not that long, but to be safe it's best to plan for an hour.

 

It's easy peasy...there is a TON of signage and there is a sidewalk all the way, no crossing busy roads or anything. There is a dedicated Disney bus transportation pick up area at Poly, again loads of signs and people are always around to help. 

 

All that being said, I TOTALLY get not knowing Disney, it can be very overwhelming. Are you still going to be dropped at the TTC if you do the Outlets/DS that you have planned now or is directly dropped off at DS? If so, I'd say stick with that if you're feeling uncomfortable about traversing around. But if you're being dropped at TTC, you're still going to need to walk to Poly. It is really easy! 

 

Boo on Nassau, I agree! 

 

 

Edited February 26, 2020 by Chippytoes

[LuCruise]

29 minutes ago, Chippytoes said:

Yes, an hour from Poly to DS. Again, probably not that long, but to be safe it's best to plan for an hour.

 

It's easy peasy...there is a TON of signage and there is a sidewalk all the way, no crossing busy roads or anything. There is a dedicated Disney bus transportation pick up area at Poly, again loads of signs and people are always around to help. 

 

All that being said, I TOTALLY get not knowing Disney, it can be very overwhelming. Are you still going to be dropped at the TTC if you do the Outlets/DS that you have planned now or is directly dropped off at DS? If so, I'd say stick with that if you're feeling uncomfortable about traversing around. But if you're being dropped at TTC, you're still going to need to walk to Poly. It is really easy! 

 

Boo on Nassau, I agree! 

 

 

Ugh....That's a long bus ride for internal transportation. (I get that you are estimating on the high end..but that's a long rider after an hour ride from the port)

 

The "Outlet and Disney Springs" excursion is literally that.  It goes from the port to the outlet mall.  I think it stops there for about 2.5 hrs.  Then it goes from the outlet mall to Disney Springs.  I think we also get about 2.5 hours.  Then it returns to the port.  So yes, more straight forward.

 

SO wish we were there longer to actually go the parks but not enough time for the cost of park tickets.  So this still gives us a Disney fix.  

 

Sounds like you feel the same on Nassau. We typically make a Nassau day a sea day. 🙂

 

You've been really helpful.  Thank you!

[Chippytoes]

You're very welcome!! You'll have fun no matter what (well, maybe not your son 😉). Let me know afterward which you decided to do. Good luck!

 

Yes, we've actually starting planning our cruises around not having Nassau as a stop, haha!