Did I find a loophole for getting from one resort to another easily? About This Page:

[thenewsmiths]

We're staying at the Boardwalk for our upcoming trip. I made a reservation for dinner at Boma for our first evening there.

The plan is to walk to DHS (still called MGM in my head) and catch a bus to AKL. Am I missing something or will this work?

[Dave Marx]

Welcome to PassPorter!

Yes, that works, though I'd hardly call it a loophole. It's the way the system works.

Like air travel, when traffic between two points is not enough to justify a dedicated route (how many people need to travel between BoardWalk and AKL at any given time?), you're routed through a hub. For Disney's purposes, the parks (including water parks) and Downtown Disney are hubs. In this particular case, walking may seem less like hub-and-spoke travel than taking two buses, but the underlying strategy is still the same (get to a park to get to a different resort). The resorts on Bay Lake, Lake Buena Vista, and Crescent Lake do offer some direct resort-to-resort travel, but only to nearby resorts.

[thenewsmiths]

I suppose I should have specified as a "single bus loophole." Waiting for multiple buses with a toddler isn't an ideal situation. She's much more pleasant on a 15 minute walk than waiting on another bus.

[Dave Marx]

Yep, that's definitely a circumstance that makes "hubbing" much less painful. Of course, the boat from BoardWalk to Studios is also an option, and definitely less troublesome than getting a stroller and child on and off a bus.

[wishes]

That's exactly what we did last month. Except DH & I took the boat from the BW to HS, then the bus to Boma. We did take a cab back after dinner, though. Enjoy!

[Professor_Whistleteeth]

One thing to note is that this works for lunch and dinner but might not work for breakfast. Buses that go to the parks first thing in the morning are "dead heads" (Drop off only) and usually won't pick up passengers to take back to a different resort.

[DVC393]

When we eat at Boma or any other resort, we'll take a cab. The cost is usually around $20 with tip. After dinner we'll catch the bus to Downtown, shop, enjoy the entertainment and then catch the bus back to our resort. We've done this for breakfast also.

[MelissaL]

Another issue to keep in mind when using parks to transfer between resorts is that you need to make sure the park you want to take a bus to will still be open after dinner. Busses from parks to resorts run for at least an hour after park closing, but busses from resorts to parks may stop running when the park closes.

In offseasons, Hollywood Studios may close at 7. Epcot stays open until at least 9, but walking through to International Gateway, especially right before or during Illuminations, would be time-consuming.

When we dine at Boma or Jiko without a car, we usually take a taxi back to the resort, as mentioned above, unless one of the parks had evening Extra Magic Hours or is open late for everyone.

Happy planning!
Melissa

[thenewsmiths]

I made our reservation for the toddler-friendly time of 5, so I think we should be ok for timing.