[staceyheis]

What is the best, i.e. fastest, route to Epcot from WL and approx. how long should I allow? I'm trying to make reservations for lunch at Epcot and we arrive at MCO at 10:45 am.

Great news - booked airlines tickets today - Cincinnati to MCO for two people, direct flights, with trip insurance, for $350!!! Yeah!!

[DisneyTeacher]

We always allow an hour to get from WL to Epcot by bus.

[PeterMac]

It would take @20 minutes by car, and 30-45 minutes by bus. You can also take the launch to MK and transfer to monorail, or take the bus to the TTC and transfer, but the direct Epcot bus would be fastest, as long as the wait's not too long.

[Soundgod]

When staying at WL, we've noticed that Epcot bus service seems to lag service to the other destinations, but the bus is still the quickest and most direct route to Epcot.
Also consider that if you drive, you'll then need to park and deal with the trams, so any advantage in driving is negated by these other factors, unless you have a handicap parking permit.
I'd guess that 45 minutes from the time you arrive at the bus stop until you arrive at the park is average.

[Soundgod]

On rereading your post, you might want to consider having your baggage sent to WL while you board a bus for the Beach Club. Then you can walk into the park, the caveat being you'll already have to have your park passes.
If you don't, then remember, you are going to have to check in at WL if your tickets are included in a vacation package. In this case, I wouldn't even hope to be in the park until somewhere around 2:30, and that's if your flight isn't delayed and if your ME bus takes you to your resort as its first stop and doesn't stop at another resort first.

[CleveRocks]

Originally Posted by Soundgod

On rereading your post, you might want to consider having your baggage sent to WL while you board a bus for the Beach Club. Then you can walk into the park, the caveat being you'll already have to have your park passes.
If you don't, then remember, you are going to have to check in at WL if your tickets are included in a vacation package. In this case, I wouldn't even hope to be in the park until somewhere around 2:30, and that's if your flight isn't delayed and if your ME bus takes you to your resort as its first stop and doesn't stop at another resort first.

I disagree with both points mentioned above.

DME doesn't allow you to take a bus to a resort that is not the one you're registered at. I suppose someone could always try begging and pleading, but it is against DME policy.

I can't imagine that the OP should EXPECT not to reach Epcot 'til 2:30 p.m. for a 10:45 a.m. flight arrival. DME averages 70 minutes from airplane to resort. Even if we say they don't get to their resort until 12:15 p.m. (90 minutes), let's say check-in is quite slow and takes 30 minutes, it's now 12:45 p.m., then 45 minutes MAXIMUM for the wait at the bus stop and the ride to Epcot, and they're at Epcot at 1:30 p.m., assuming long waits everywhere. That's one whole hour before 2:30 p.m.

On the flipside, they could possibly have a 60 minute DME experience (all of mine have been in a range of 56-63 minutes), a 10 minute check-in, and a 15 minte bus experience, getting them to Epcot at 12:10 p.m. I readily admit that I would never EXPECT they'd be at Epcot at 12:10 p.m., but 2:30 p.m. would be horribly later than should be expected.

How does your timeline differ from mine? I'm curious how you arrived at 2:30 p.m.

[bethishooked]

Originally Posted by CleveRocks

I can't imagine that the OP should EXPECT not to reach Epcot 'til 2:30 p.m. for a 10:45 a.m. flight arrival.

On a side note, what does OP stand for? I've seen it a couple of times and can't figure it out.

[DisneyTeacher]

Originally Posted by bethishooked

On a side note, what does OP stand for? I've seen it a couple of times and can't figure it out.

Original poster, the first poster in the thread.

[timkelmom]

I don't know how long this would take, but you check yourselves in, then take the boat to MK and from there take the monorail to Epcot. I fear this may take longer than the bus though. You never know when one of those boats will arrive.

[CleveRocks]

At Walt Disney World, a good general rule is that the wait time for transportation can be longer than the time ON the transportation. Therefore, any direct route has to be better than a route that involves transfers.

With this in mind, the direct bus from WL to Epcot absolutely has to be faster than the following: wait for boat; ride boat from WL to MK; walk to monorail station; wait for monorail; ride monorail to Transportation & Ticket Center (which means also stopping first at Contemporary ... monorail stops take a few minutes); get off monorail at TTC and go to another platform; wait for monorail to Epcot; ride monorail to Epcot. Waiting for a boat and then waiting for 2 separate monorail trains WILL take more time than the direct bus. It will be more scenic and interesting, but it will take MUCH longer than the bus.

It depends if you want to get there ASAP or you want to stop and smell the roses. :-)

[timkelmom]

OK, I just put it in the transportation wizard:

OLP: Transportation Wizard -- Our Laughing Place home of OLPTravel

and they say driving is the first quickest at 18 mins. followed bu taking the bus at 22 mins.

[staceyheis]

Thanks everyone. We won't have a car so bus it will be. Based on all the comments, it looks like I will make reservations around 2 and if I have to cancel because our flight is late, we will have to deal with it. I would rather have the reservation and have to cancel it versus not have one. Thanks for the OLP link - I've never used that one!

[staceyheis]

Thanks everyone. We won't have a car so bus it will be. Based on all the comments, it looks like I will make reservations around 2 and if I have to cancel because our flight is late, we will have to deal with it. I would rather have the reservation and have to cancel it versus not have one. Thanks for the OLP link - I've never used that one!

[CleveRocks]

I'm really not a negative person, so I hate to post yet another negative-sounding post, but I'd also hate for people to get bad info.

The Our Laughung Place transportation website has numerous inaccuracies. It advises us to use some transportation options/routes that haven't been around for years, and ignores some existing options.

I wish it weren't so, but it is. Using that site to plan your in-WDW transportation is not recommended (by me) because you might plan a route that simply doesn't exist.

[Dana]

I would make the ADR a dinner one so if you have delays it won't be a mad rush to get to Ecpot. If you have your heart set on lunch, make it for later on like 2pm. The fastest route to Epcot is the bus from WL...faster still is a taxi.