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Question about Marriott Grande Vista and Disney World

T

Toppermom

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Location
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I am taking my family to Grande Vista in June. I am wondering if anyone can offer suggestions about the easiest transportation between Grande Vista and Disney World. Are there any "tricks of the trade" for the most convenience, the lowest price, and the least amount of difficulty? Is there any place we could park a vehicle and ride a shuttle??? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. This is our first trip to the area and I will have 3 of my children, their spouses, and 6 grandchildren (ages 14-2 ½) with me. Thank you for your help.
 
There is no shuttle service from grand vista. With 14 people you could rent a 15 passenger van? How long will you be at grand vista? How many days at wdw? Going to other theme parks? Or are you just hanging at the resort?

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frank808 said:
There is no shuttle service from grand vista. With 14 people you could rent a 15 passenger van? How long will you be at grand vista? How many days at wdw? Going to other theme parks? Or are you just hanging at the resort?

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We will be there from Sunday, the 4th, through Saturday, the 10th. I think we are planning on 5 days at Disney World (actually my daughters are doing most of the planning for Disney World) I am just trying to help organize transportation in the most efficient way possible. We will have 2 vehicles available, but I was hoping there might be an easier way rather than driving our own vehicles into the park.
 
Toppermom said:
We will be there from Sunday, the 4th, through Saturday, the 10th. I think we are planning on 5 days at Disney World (actually my daughters are doing most of the planning for Disney World) I am just trying to help organize transportation in the most efficient way possible. We will have 2 vehicles available, but I was hoping there might be an easier way rather than driving our own vehicles into the park.
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Driving your vehicles would be the easiest and cheapest even though you will pay for parking for 2 vehicles. Uber or taxi for that many people would be way more than $40 roundtrip.

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frank808 said:
Driving your vehicles would be the easiest and cheapest even though you will pay for parking for 2 vehicles. Uber or taxi for that many people would be way more than $40 roundtrip.

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Thank you!!
 
Assuming everyone in your party is planning to do the parks each of the days you go, there really is no 'good' alternative to biting the bullet and paying the $20 daily parking fee (which grants you in and out privileges as well as park hopping privileges to park at any other WDW parks for that same day). If you have anyone not interested in doing a park on a given day, WDW allows drivers to make free 'drop-offs'/'pick-ups'. Also, if anyone in your party has an annual park pass, that should include free parking for the vehicle they are traveling in. Otherwise, you would need to be a Disney Resort guest to park free (or use the Disney Transportation System buses from the resorts to the parks and back again).

Also, note that parking at Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon, Winter Summerland Mini-Golf, Fantasia Gardens Mini-Golf, Fort Wilderness, Wide World of Sports and self-parking at Disney Springs is free to all guests, including those staying off-property.
 
Can the OP saved some money by purchasing a Five (5) or seven (7) days Hopper Pass for both parks. We purchased them years ago.
 
I have stayed multiple times at Grande Vista, and at Cypress Harbour, and once inside Disney at Old Key West Resort and even longer ago at the Contemporary Resort. if I remember names right. Grande Vista is an easier ride to the parks than from inside the resort believe it or not unless you are on the monorail. Maybe a 10 to 15 minute ride to the park you want. One year I bought a park hopper pass for 7 days from AAA because it included the right to park in a special area just at the entrance to each venue. Check with them. This may not seem like much but it can give you extra time in the parks plus avoid unnecessary walking. With your own car you have more freedom. And the buses going into and around all Disney's resorts and parks are noisy and slow in my opinion. I didn't like staying inside for that reason. The buses are everywhere.
 
skyequeen said:
One year I bought a park hopper pass for 7 days from AAA because it included the right to park in a special area just at the entrance to each venue. Check with them.
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They no longer offer the AAA Diamond parking at WDW.
 
Disney offers an upgraded parking for parking closer to the entrance. It might be $25. Worth every penny with little kids and strollers.
 
When at MGV, we generally drive into Disney as well. It's about a 20 min drive. While parking daily is still outrageous ($20/day), it is still less expensive than taking a taxi or a bus. Cram as many people into the seats/rows into as few cars as you can.

Years ago, I think you could pay per person to take a van service from MGV to Disney. We did that one year. I think it was around $15-20/pp one way. I don't believe they still offer that service. We ended up taking a taxi back early on the return trip that year (someone wasn't feeling well) and it was quite expensive. Since then, we drive. Much easier, cost effective, on our own schedule, etc.
 
Preferred parking is now $40 I believe.
 
How about this???? I NEED SOMEONE TO TRY IT. If you can park at one of the Disney timeshares, you can take one of the free shuttles to the park of your choice. SOOOO, you book a reservation at Olivia's restaurant at Disney Old Key West. You tell the guard that your entering for the reservation. You park and catch the next shuttle to your park of choice. Four hours later, you come back, eat at the restaurant, traffic was heavy so you were delayed. and then leave.

The other for a couple is you park at Disney Market Place, walk over to Saratoga Springs, and catch the shuttle to your park of choice. Who is willing to try that out and report back.
Patrick
 
IMHO, paying for parking is a small amount compared to the price of tickets, etc. Staying off-site is usually cheaper and many times better space. But it is off-site and driving/paying parking is one of the trade offs. I imagine that SSR will start beefing up security, scanning MB, etc. as more people try to park and walk over to hop on the buses.
 
Just suck it up and pay for the parking at the parks. Anything else will be a pain in the rear end and will take at least an hour round trip out of your day (assuming you want to park at Disney Springs for example). I always tell folks that having a car is key in any negative scenarios like a child gets sick and has to go back to the timeshare.
 
Berea1 said:
How about this???? I NEED SOMEONE TO TRY IT.
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To save $20 bucks? Why bother. If I want to save to save $20 bucks. I will throw a few granola bars into my bag and not buy a bucket of popcorn and a pretzel for family snack time. Doing the park at a resort plan will only waste 30-60 minutes of the day.
 
Big Matt said:
I always tell folks that having a car is key in any negative scenarios like a child gets sick and has to go back to the timeshare.
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Been there - DD was almost 2 at the time. She started vomiting in Magic Kingdom. Bus ride with a sick kid...not fun. Then a taxi to a walk in clinic. The walk in sent her to the ER (they had a shuttle) then the next morning back to the resort. Honestly...the transportation surrounding all of this was more worry than I needed at that moment.
 
Berea1 said:
How about this???? I NEED SOMEONE TO TRY IT. If you can park at one of the Disney timeshares, you can take one of the free shuttles to the park of your choice. SOOOO, you book a reservation at Olivia's restaurant at Disney Old Key West. You tell the guard that your entering for the reservation. You park and catch the next shuttle to your park of choice. Four hours later, you come back, eat at the restaurant, traffic was heavy so you were delayed. and then leave.

The other for a couple is you park at Disney Market Place, walk over to Saratoga Springs, and catch the shuttle to your park of choice. Who is willing to try that out and report back.
Patrick
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Dining reservations at WDW resort restaurants only gets you 3 hours of free parking. Boardwalk was an exception but I have heard (though can not confirm) that it now has a 3 hour limit for 'free' validated parking as well.

Disney Springs (nee Disney Market Place) DOES have free parking. But you can't go TO any of the parks from Disney Springs directly - you have to go to a resort or ticket and transportation first. When tickets are in the neighborhood of $100/day per person I just can't see myself saving the $20/carload to get to spend an hour or so on a pair of buses in the morning. Unless you have an annual pass...but then parking is free anyway.
 
You might look into getting an annual pass for someone. Depending on how many days and what you plan to do it might be worth it.
Free Park at $20/day.
Free Memory Maker (and everyone who is linked as family to that account gets pictures too). $140-$170
10% Discount on Merchandise.
10-20% Discount on food.
Discounts on Tours.
 
Berea1 said:
How about this???? I NEED SOMEONE TO TRY IT.

park at Disney Market Place, walk over to Saratoga Springs, and catch the shuttle to your park of choice. Who is willing to try that out and report back.
Patrick
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This would work, but it's not worth the hassle, in my opinion. Disney buses are often unpredictable in frequency and incredibly crowded.

Getting an annual pass idea for 1-2 people is a great idea for a group that large to have Disney pictures and free parking.

When we stayed inAugust 2014, Grande Vista was a 20 minute drive to the parks. The left turn out of the entrance and light at 535 can take a bit. Having a spacious unit and beautiful Marriott property was totally worth it. The massive indoor play structure for little ones is wonderful. Enjoy your stay!
 
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