Who can I email about a Disney Springs shore excursion?

[cooncat_mom]

Hi!  We're doing an Oasis of the Seas cruise to the Bahamas in Sept (in a Boardwalk Balcony - looking forward to it!)  and were hoping to meet up with family at Disney Springs.  I noticed that Royal  DOESN'T offer a Disney Springs transport and thought that was a little odd.  NCL does, and on our last cruise with them, they actually had to get another bus because it was quite popular. I noticed while searching that there are several people on the boards who would like to go to Disney Springs only  and I was wondering who in RCI could I email to ask why they don't consider it. Any suggestions? 

[JessyCruises]

Sorry I do not have a suggestion for you but if you really want to get to Disney Springs, there is already an excursion for to the Magic Kingdom Transportation and ticket center which is the central hub at WDW.  If you walk over to the Polynesian or grab the monorail to any of the resorts on the loop, you can grab a bus over to Disney Springs.  I know it adds time, but its an option.

 

We are renting a mini van from Enterprise and driving ourselves when we are there on our Anthem sailing in a couple weeks.  It is much cheaper.

Edited February 20, 2020 by Canadian Disney Mom

[LuCruise]

You have a stop at Port Canaveral? Our Anthem cruise has a "Orlando Outlet and Disney Springs" excursion and "Disney Transportation" excursion. If you have the latter , you could take that. It drops you off at the TTC and then you can take Disney bus from a near by resort or Uber. (Never done it but learned from research...deciding ourselves between the two options)

[LeeW]

The problem with going to the Transportation and Ticket Center is that there are NO buses from there to Disney Springs.  This is to keep people from parking for free at Disney Springs and going to the Magic Kingdom.  Buses from the Springs run only to the resorts.

[LuCruise]

3 minutes ago, LeeW said:

The problem with going to the Transportation and Ticket Center is that there are NO buses from there to Disney Springs.  This is to keep people from parking for free at Disney Springs and going to the Magic Kingdom.  Buses from the Springs run only to the resorts.

I think Polynesian is a short walk?

[JessyCruises]

28 minutes ago, LeeW said:

The problem with going to the Transportation and Ticket Center is that there are NO buses from there to Disney Springs.  This is to keep people from parking for free at Disney Springs and going to the Magic Kingdom.  Buses from the Springs run only to the resorts.

 

Correct.  That is why I suggested walking to Poly or taking the monorail to one of the MK resorts.

[JessyCruises]

27 minutes ago, LuCruise said:

I think Polynesian is a short walk?

 

Yes it is.  Or there is a resort monorail that leaves from the TTC and stops at the 4 resorts then the MK before returning to the TTC.

 

The walk is probably 5-10 minutes

[Merion_Mom]

1 hour ago, cooncat_mom said:

Hi!  We're doing an Oasis of the Seas cruise to the Bahamas in Sept (in a Boardwalk Balcony - looking forward to it!)  and were hoping to meet up with family at Disney Springs.  I noticed that Royal  DOESN'T offer a Disney Springs transport and thought that was a little odd.  NCL does, and on our last cruise with them, they actually had to get another bus because it was quite popular. I noticed while searching that there are several people on the boards who would like to go to Disney Springs only  and I was wondering who in RCI could I email to ask why they don't consider it. Any suggestions? 

 

Ask on your Roll Call if there are others.  Then either rent a van together or take an Uber XL together.  The per person cost should be low.  :) 

[monorail81]

39 minutes ago, Canadian Disney Mom said:

 

Yes it is.  Or there is a resort monorail that leaves from the TTC and stops at the 4 resorts then the MK before returning to the TTC.

 

The walk is probably 5-10 minutes

There are only 3 resorts and the MK. (I’m very sure of this because I used to drive the monorails.) 😊

 

The walk to the Poly is very easy. The busses to the Springs are supposed to run about every 20 minutes. BUT, it’s not a direct route. You will also stop at the Grand Floridian.  If you are meeting family, can they pick you up at the TTC and drop you off?  It would save you some time.  

[JessyCruises]

16 minutes ago, monorail81 said:

There are only 3 resorts and the MK. (I’m very sure of this because I used to drive the monorails.) 😊

 

 

Sorry I was counting Bay Lake as separate from Contemporary in my brain.  Not sure why as it is the same monorail station and Contemporary is in its name. 🤣

 

That is very cool!

Edited February 20, 2020 by Canadian Disney Mom

[allisonb22]

We did this last Jan on anthem. We took the regular disney "excursion" and then went to the monorail at the contemporary (or maybe Bay Lake towers.. i can't remeber which of the two) from the transpo center and got on the bus to another resort and then took the disney bus from there to Disney Springs. It was easy but we were really mindful of the time as to not miss the bus from the transpo center back to the ship! 

Edited February 20, 2020 by allisonb22

[LuCruise]

9 hours ago, allisonb22 said:

We did this last Jan on anthem. We took the regular disney "excursion" and then went to the monorail at the contemporary (or maybe Bay Lake towers.. i can't remeber which of the two) from the transpo center and got on the bus to another resort and then took the disney bus from there to Disney Springs. It was easy but we were really mindful of the time as to not miss the bus from the transpo center back to the ship! 

Did you take the bus or Uber/Lyft back to the TTC?  And did you just visit Disney Springs, or also visit some resorts or book an ADR?  Deciding between outlet/Disney Springs excursion or switching to Disney Transportation.

[spookwife]

12 hours ago, cooncat_mom said:

Hi!  We're doing an Oasis of the Seas cruise to the Bahamas in Sept (in a Boardwalk Balcony - looking forward to it!)  and were hoping to meet up with family at Disney Springs.  I noticed that Royal  DOESN'T offer a Disney Springs transport and thought that was a little odd.  NCL does, and on our last cruise with them, they actually had to get another bus because it was quite popular. I noticed while searching that there are several people on the boards who would like to go to Disney Springs only  and I was wondering who in RCI could I email to ask why they don't consider it. Any suggestions? 

they do transport to ITT/Magic Kingdom.    from there you take a bus to Disney Springs.

 

 or just do a private  transport//Uber/Lyft etc.  that way you have full control over things.  

[orville99]

12 hours ago, LuCruise said:

I think Polynesian is a short walk?

The closest resort to the Transportation Center is the Contemporary.

[cooncat_mom]

Thank you for the good ideas - it does help.  I will, though, ask at the ShorEx desk who I can email to suggest they actually do a direct transfer.  Let’s face it, from my NCL sailings, I think they’re missing out on some $$$ there!

[papaflamingo]

Are you sure you have enough time?  Just looked at your cruise and you arrive at 1 pm and depart at 9 pm.  This could put you in some fairly heavy traffic in Orlando depending on what time you get on the road each way.  That might be why they aren't offering the shuttle.  

[allisonb22]

8 hours ago, LuCruise said:

Did you take the bus or Uber/Lyft back to the TTC?  And did you just visit Disney Springs, or also visit some resorts or book an ADR?  Deciding between outlet/Disney Springs excursion or switching to Disney Transportation.

we went to disney springs but also visited some resorts (only the ones on the monorail trail so it'd be easy to get back). sorry, not sure what an ADR is.. but we did an excursion through RCCL that was a bus transfer to/from the TTC in disney so no uber or lyft.

 

also someone just posted about worrying if there was enough time. if you are on a RCCL excursion (aka you did the transfer to the parks through the ship's excursion) no matter what the ship will wait for you. i'd err on the side of caution and go with the ship's transfer rather than renting a car/uber, even if its a little more expensive, it'd probably be worth it to not have to worry about traffic and other factors preventing you from being back in time

[JessyCruises]

10 hours ago, orville99 said:

The closest resort to the Transportation Center is the Contemporary.

 

The closest resort to the Transportation Center (TTC) is Poly.  The closest one to MK & the bus drop at MK is Bay Lake Tower/Contemporary.

[JessyCruises]

1 hour ago, allisonb22 said:

sorry, not sure what an ADR is

 

It is Disney nerd speak for "Advanced Dining Reservation" so a restaurant reservation.  And when I say Disney Nerd, I do not mean it as an insult.  I am one too 🤣

[LuCruise]

3 hours ago, allisonb22 said:

we went to disney springs but also visited some resorts (only the ones on the monorail trail so it'd be easy to get back). sorry, not sure what an ADR is.. but we did an excursion through RCCL that was a bus transfer to/from the TTC in disney so no uber or lyft.

 

also someone just posted about worrying if there was enough time. if you are on a RCCL excursion (aka you did the transfer to the parks through the ship's excursion) no matter what the ship will wait for you. i'd err on the side of caution and go with the ship's transfer rather than renting a car/uber, even if its a little more expensive, it'd probably be worth it to not have to worry about traffic and other factors preventing you from being back in time

Sorry, my question wasn't clear.  I agree...we as well would only venture to Disney by a ship excursion. Some will suggest uber to get there, but we wouldn't be comfortable with this either.

 

My question was more about when you were at Disney.  For example, if we use the standard Disney Transportation, we are thinking of walking to Polynesian and then catching a bus from there to Disney Springs.  However, when we are done, am thinking we would uber from Disney Springs back to the TTC (or a nearby resort if we have time) just to relieve the stress of trying to time the bus back ok.  

 

Canadian Disney Mom already answered your question about ADR...was wondering if you booked a sit down restaurant.  

 

Just trying to figure out how much time there is if we go this route.  (Or we may keep the Disney Outlet and Disney Springs excursion)...Not OP but looking at the excursion to get there.

 

I think I heard as well...that there are multiple buses and they will return to the port once they fill up? (which could be prior to the return time)

[time4u2go]

12 hours ago, orville99 said:

The closest resort to the Transportation Center is the Contemporary.

Nope.  It's the Polynesian.

Edited February 21, 2020 by time4u2go

[allisonb22]

3 hours ago, Canadian Disney Mom said:

 

It is Disney nerd speak for "Advanced Dining Reservation" so a restaurant reservation.  And when I say Disney Nerd, I do not mean it as an insult.  I am one too 🤣

haha thanks!! 

i should've texted my mother before asking... my parents are DVC members and disney obsessed. she'd probably be embarrassed i didn't know that! 

[JessyCruises]

1 minute ago, allisonb22 said:

haha thanks!! 

i should've texted my mother before asking... my parents are DVC members and disney obsessed. she'd probably be embarrassed i didn't know that! 

 

That is okay, our lips are sealed. 🙂

 

I am a DVC member too

[allisonb22]

1 hour ago, LuCruise said:

My question was more about when you were at Disney.  For example, if we use the standard Disney Transportation, we are thinking of walking to Polynesian and then catching a bus from there to Disney Springs.  However, when we are done, am thinking we would uber from Disney Springs back to the TTC (or a nearby resort if we have time) just to relieve the stress of trying to time the bus back ok.  

 

Canadian Disney Mom already answered your question about ADR...was wondering if you booked a sit down restaurant.  

 

Just trying to figure out how much time there is if we go this route.  (Or we may keep the Disney Outlet and Disney Springs excursion)...Not OP but looking at the excursion to get there.

 

I think I heard as well...that there are multiple buses and they will return to the port once they fill up? (which could be prior to the return time)

oh! so sorry, i misunderstood! 

 

uber was in the back of my mind when we were getting to the end of our day but we had no problems getting back in time with the disney buses/monorail. i think it's a good idea if you think you may cut it close on time to getting back to the bus. 

 

we did do a sit down restaurant- we went to whispering canyon in the wilderness lodge. i'm 90% positive one of my parents booked through the disney app before we got there. it was NYD and we were nervous it was going to be packed. we probably didn't need the reservation but it was good to have it.

 

i could look back at our compass/tickets and see but if i remember correctly we had at least 4-5 hrs in disney, not including the commute to and from port. (we had plenty of time in disney springs, enough time before our lunch reservation we left to go explore the polynesian and grand floridian)  

 

there were multiple buses and a few buses left at the last return time (i think i remember that one was making a trip back earlier if people wanted to head back before the scheduled return time) 

 

forgive me, i don't remember all the details... hope this helps a little! 

[LuCruise]

15 hours ago, allisonb22 said:

oh! so sorry, i misunderstood! 

 

uber was in the back of my mind when we were getting to the end of our day but we had no problems getting back in time with the disney buses/monorail. i think it's a good idea if you think you may cut it close on time to getting back to the bus. 

 

we did do a sit down restaurant- we went to whispering canyon in the wilderness lodge. i'm 90% positive one of my parents booked through the disney app before we got there. it was NYD and we were nervous it was going to be packed. we probably didn't need the reservation but it was good to have it.

 

i could look back at our compass/tickets and see but if i remember correctly we had at least 4-5 hrs in disney, not including the commute to and from port. (we had plenty of time in disney springs, enough time before our lunch reservation we left to go explore the polynesian and grand floridian)  

 

there were multiple buses and a few buses left at the last return time (i think i remember that one was making a trip back earlier if people wanted to head back before the scheduled return time) 

 

forgive me, i don't remember all the details... hope this helps a little! 

Thanks for all the info....And sorry OP, I hijacked your post a bit.

 

Good to know that you were able to keep it to the Disney buses  and monorail once there.  

 

The time of 4-5 hrs is about what I estimate as well for our day....although we are there form afternoon to evening.  And good to know that there were in fact multiple buses with some leaving earlier than the return time if you wanted to head back (and i assume enough people filled it up).

 

Nothing to forgive.  Appreciate the info. 😊