Grand Floridian Monorail Concern

[Jenn0619]

So I’m looking at buying our first DVC contract direct from Disney for the Grand Floridian. My worry is the monorail transportation. With it being the last stop on the monorail, before going to Magic Kingdom. Do you have problems with the monorail being full by the time it gets to you? Especially when rope dropping. We are worried we are going to be sitting at the Grand Floridian‘s monorail station, with full cars passing by to Magic Kingdom with no room for us.

 

[pinkxray]

I’m curious about this too. I have stayed at GF before and just can’t remember using the monorails during peak times. I have also stayed at Bay Lake and Poly before and do remember the monorails getting pretty full by the time we got on at Poly.

We do tend to leave super early so hopefully we will be ok. I do enjoy the walk way but with 2 little kids who have just aged out of strollers those extra steps are a lot on their little legs.

DD18 and I did a trip in May and didn’t have any issues. We used the monorail a few times. I do think if we were traveling with our whole family of 5 with our double city mini it would have been tougher. But traveling with a double stroller is a pain no matter what.
We did take the boat back from MK and it was so quick! (We would have walked being the two of us but the walkway was closed on our trip)

 

[tx911]

I’m interested in this issue too.

If it’s a factor I will boat or walk to MK for rope drop.

 

[georgina]

So I’m looking at buying our first DVC contract direct from Disney for the Grand Floridian. My worry is the monorail transportation. With it being the last stop on the monorail, before going to Magic Kingdom. Do you have problems with the monorail being full by the time it gets to you? Especially when rope dropping. We are worried we are going to be sitting at the Grand Floridian‘s monorail station, with full cars passing by to Magic Kingdom with no room for us.

Rope dropped early entry today and there were only 2 other people on the entire monorail. People from the TTC take the express monorail in the morning, and the walk to MK from the Contemporary is very short. So maybe mostly Poly people ahead of you? I have not had an issue during my stay but it is not terribly crowded. The resort monorails run frequently. You can always walk.

 

[Jenn0619]

Rope dropped early entry today and there were only 2 other people on the entire monorail. People from the TTC take the express monorail in the morning, and the walk to MK from the Contemporary is very short. So maybe mostly Ploy people ahead of you? I have not had an issue during my stay but it is not terribly crowded. The resort monorails run frequently. You can always walk.

Thank you for this insight!!

 

[nicket]

Rope dropped early entry today and there were only 2 other people on the entire monorail. People from the TTC take the express monorail in the morning, and the walk to MK from the Contemporary is very short. So maybe mostly Ploy people ahead of you? I have not had an issue during my stay but it is not terribly crowded. The resort monorails run frequently. You can always walk.

What time did you get on the monorail for Early Entry rope drop?

 

[seashoreCM]

Don't CMs restrict Transportation & Ticket Center boardings of the resort monorail (and start of express monorail service) until close to public rope drop?

A few random mornings several years ago I observed the first express monorail and the first big ferry arriving at Magic Kingdom about 15 minutes before public rope drop. This might have been on an early entry day.

 

[georgina]

What time did you get on the monorail for Early Entry rope drop?

EE was 7:30, I was at the GF monorail station maybe 6:50, it came immediately. The last few days crowd levels have been pretty low in general though, a busier time could be different.

 

[Wood Nymph]

We have seen the monorail packed with people with standing room only when trying to go to MK in the evenings.

 

[GinnyBear's_mom]

We own at VGF and never had a problem getting on a monorail at their station for rope drop (even with a stroller). You are less likely to get a seat when going from VGF to Magic Kingdom but at least it is a short trip.

The major transportation issue we have is with VGF busses, the area to wait for busses is so cramped and you usually share busses with the Polynesian so the busses to/from the parks are often packed. We rarely take the bus from VGF to the parks anymore- I find their bus stop stressful and not worthy of the resort.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

There are two monorail beams.

The resort monorail is the one that picks up at the hotels and the express or park monorail that picks up the day guest at the TTC

Yes others try to get on but I have never not be able to…

Unless the weather is bad you are really only competing with the Poly guest and some Contemporary guest …. Not the parking lot guests

 

[KrazeeK120]

We have seen the monorail packed with people with standing room only when trying to go to MK in the evenings.

The resort monorail or the express? Or both?

 

[Robbie Cottam]

The resort monorail or the express? Or both?

I have seen standing room only on the resort monorail in the evening, only leaving, never going, in the evening….

I have seen lots of people stand on the resort monorail in the am, but not standing room only

 

[Wood Nymph]

The resort monorail or the express? Or both?

This was the resort monorail. It was after dinner.

 

[georgina]

Standing on the monorail for a 5 minute ride is doable for most people; I bet someone would give you their seat if you truly couldn’t stand that long.

I only took a bus to AK for EE, at 6:50 AM it wasn’t bad, but busses back from HS and AK I had long waits. I think if I stayed at GF again I would take a bus to MK from those parks instead and take the boat from there to GF.

 

[holden]

There's always the boat...

 

[bholbert81]

I would say option 2 is to walk or boat over, you shouldn't have issues with 1 of the 3 options, cannot beat the location!