Best way to go from AOA to Chef Mickey to MK

[Doug5984]

Hey everyone, new to the boards - so I hope this is in the right place but I'm trying to coordinate the best way to do this. We will be staying at Art of Animation, our first day at the parks we have an early morning breakfast at Chef Mickey, then want to head to the Magic Kingdom for rope drop / the day. If it were any other park I'd simply drive and have my car at the park but since it is MK I'm wondering what people normally do for this. Can I park at the Contemporary since we have breakfast reservations and just leave my car there all day and take the monorail in?

Is there easy transportation early in the morning to the transit center, our reservation is at 7:30, parks open at 9. I know last year we had breakfast at O'Hana and the monorail was closed so it was a real hassle bus jumping to get there and I really want to avoid that if at all possible.

Also, I would just take an Uber, but my daughter is 3 and needs a car seat - so that really wouldn't be ideal either.

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

You can drive to Contemporary and pay for valet parking. Then you can park there all day, and walk to MK. I don't think you get any discount on valet parking for being a WDW resort guest.

Other option is park for free at Contemporary, and move your car to TTC after you finish eating, and then monorail/ferry back to MK, but you would never make it for rope drop.

You could ask a transportation CM (not a resort CM) at AoA, and ask what time the resort monorail starts running that day. It is possible the resort monorail will be running in time for you to park at TTC, and then monorail to contemporary. But, I wouldn't count on that.

 

[siskaren]

Hey everyone, new to the boards - so I hope this is in the right place but I'm trying to coordinate the best way to do this. We will be staying at Art of Animation, our first day at the parks we have an early morning breakfast at Chef Mickey, then want to head to the Magic Kingdom for rope drop / the day. If it were any other park I'd simply drive and have my car at the park but since it is MK I'm wondering what people normally do for this. Can I park at the Contemporary since we have breakfast reservations and just leave my car there all day and take the monorail in?

Is there easy transportation early in the morning to the transit center, our reservation is at 7:30, parks open at 9. I know last year we had breakfast at O'Hana and the monorail was closed so it was a real hassle bus jumping to get there and I really want to avoid that if at all possible.

Also, I would just take an Uber, but my daughter is 3 and needs a car seat - so that really wouldn't be ideal either.

You can't park at the Contemporary and leave your car there all day unless you pay for valet. (Parking at the resorts is intended for resort guests or people who are visiting the resorts- it's not for park access.) If you don't want to take the chance that the monorail isn't running early enough, then you can park at the Contemporary then move it to the TTC when you're done.

 

[kruegeme]

If that is a day that MK has extra magic hours you should be able to catch a bus to the MK and then walk the path to Contemporary (quick, easy walk). Otherwise, I would suggest taking Uber or cab, most have car seat options, and then just walk to MK after breakfast.

 

[greenmom2b]

We have stayed at AOA three times and had early ADRs at Chef Mickey & Ohana. It really depends on the time of year..... we've done it in June with no problem just bus from AOA to MK then monorail to Contemporary & after meal monorail to MK - smooth. You can also walk over to MK from Contemporary.
BUT... this past year we had ressies the week after Christmas Dec 27 I think. We got on the bus at AOA to MK early but SAT in traffic for an hour stop and go. I was panicked. We rushed at MK to get around the huge security lines over to the other side for resort monorail. It was just awful rush. Definitely give your party extra time. You can always walk around the Contemporary if you get there early.
So yes you can do it but not sure what time MK buses will run that early before open. You might have to wait awhile for next bus if you miss one.
You could bus to the park that has early EMH hours and hop the bus back to Contemporary at that park. We've done that for Poly before when monorail was down and had Ohana ressies to avoid taxi. We did taxi one time to 1900 Park Faire at Grand Floridian but it was expensive & I prefer the challenge of using Disney transportation!

 

[Doug5984]

Thanks for the info everyone - looks like when it gets a little closer I'll have to see what time the buses run, but may end up needing to doing an Uber with car seat or reschedule for another day (if at all possible)

 

[srwarden1928]

Personally, I would drive from the resort. I would park in the TTC lot and take the monorail to the Contemporary. Then walk to MK.

 

[Kaytie]

Thanks for the info everyone - looks like when it gets a little closer I'll have to see what time the buses run, but may end up needing to doing an Uber with car seat or reschedule for another day (if at all possible)

The buses start about 6:30 AM every day and come about every 30 minutes until the parks, open.

 

[goofy4tink]

Be out at the MK bus stop at 6:30...that's when they start running. When you get to MK, hop off, walk with the group to the MK area, but as they go towards MK, you want to stay to the right, following the sidewalk that runs beneath the overhead monorail, over to the CR...takes less than 10 mins to walk it. Then, walk back to the MK when you're done eating.