DISNEY 101 is our ongoing series of articles where we talk about the basics of various aspects of your Walt Disney World vacation. In this installment, we will continue to discuss the many transportation options that you have at WDW. You can go here to access the previous article in this series:
Part One: Buses and the Monorail
Where We Left Off
Walt Disney World is a city unto itself – almost the size of two Manhattan’s! Like the real Manhattan, Disney provides guests with a robust set of public transportation options to help you navigate its vast entertainment complex. The most common form of transportation is the bus. Buses allow you to travel between Disney reports and parks, as well as between the parks themselves. Although buses don’t run on a set schedule, the usually run every 20-30 minutes or less depending upon the time of day.
The monorail is Disney’s highway in the sky. There are three separate “lines”. The first line transports you directly from the Transportation and Ticket Center (aka the Magic Kingdom parking lot) to the front gate of the Magic Kingdom. The second line is similar to the first, except it also has stops at the “monorail resorts” (i.e. Contemporary, Grand Floridian, and Polynesian). The third line takes you from the Transportation and Ticket Center to Epcot’s front gate.
Boat Transportation
Given the number of rivers, lakes, canals, and waterways in Central Florida, it makes sense that Disney would use boats to help guests get around. Traveling by water is not only convenient, but it is very relaxing. Honestly, the Disney boats are an attraction in and of themselves!
Walt Disney World features several boat “areas”:
- Magic Kingdom Area
- Epcot Resort Area
- Disney Springs Area
Boats allow travel between various locations within its respective area.
Magic Kingdom Area Boats
The Magic Kingdom area has two big water features: Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake. At any point during the day, you can see boats criss crossing these bodies of water, taking guests to and from various locations. Generally, there are two types of public transportation boats you will find here: ferryboats and water taxis
Ferryboats
As mentioned previously, guests going to the Magic Kingdom don’t actually park at MK’s front gate. They park in a lot next to the Transportation and Ticket Center. From there, they need to get across the Seven Seas Lagoon to get to their final destination. For this, they have two options. First, they can take the monorail from the TTC to the MK, as noted in Part One. However, another option is to take a Ferryboat across Seven Seas Lagoon from the TTC to the MK.
There are up to three Ferryboats that operate on Seven Seas Lagoon, traveling back and forth between the TTC and MK throughout the day. The boats themselves are LARGE. With both and upper and lower deck, they can easily handle hundreds of guests at a time. Therefore you will usually be able to board the next available boat, except at the most busy times.
The obvious question is whether it is faster to take the boat or the monorail to get between the TTC and MK. Generally speaking, it will be faster to take the express monorail. Monorails generally depart more often, and the travel time between stops is less. However, the boat is generally more relaxing. If you are in a hurry to rope drop, take the monorail. If your schedule allows you to take a more measured pace, give the Ferryboat a try!
Water Taxis
The Magic Kingdom area Water Taxi’s allow you to travel between the various resorts on Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake.
There are four different Water Taxi routes
- Gold Launch: Grand Floridian -> Polynesian -> Magic Kingdom loop
- Green Launch: Fort Wilderness -> Magic Kingdom loop
- Red Launch: Wilderness Lodge -> Magic Kingdom loop
- Blue Launch (reopened as of 10/1/2023): Wilderness Lodge -> Fort Wilderness -> Contemporary loop
Using the Water Taxi to get from the Grand Floridian or Polynesian to the MK is generally slower than using the monorail. However, as with the Ferryboat, it is a more scenic and relaxed way to travel.
Fort Wilderness and the Wilderness Lodge also allows you to travel to the MK by bus, but I prefer the Water Taxis. Not only are they infinitely more relaxing and scenic than a bus, you might also get to your destination faster depending upon your timing.
The Blue Launch, which just re-opened a few weeks ago, is a great way to resort hop between the three Bay Lake resorts.
Accessibility
The Ferryboats are completely accessible for those traveling in wheelchairs or ECV’s. Just roll on and roll off!
The Water Taxis, on the other hand, are a bit of a mixed bag. Disney uses two different types of water craft as Water Taxis: launches and cruisers. When you board a launch, you are required to step down about two feet or so. This means that this style of boat requires you to transfer from your wheelchair. In addition, while you can bring your wheelchair onto a launch by folding it, they cannot accommodate an ECV, even if you transfer.
The good news is that the cruiser style Water Taxi will generally accommodates wheelchairs and ECV’s. However, depending upon the water level, access may be restricted.
The upshot of all this is that Water Taxis are not always mobility aid friendly depending upon which style of boat is being used.
Here is a summary of which routes use which style of Water Taxi, based upon the latest information that I have. If you know of any changes, please leave a comment and let me know.
- Gold and Blue Launch: This route uses launches. Wheelchair/ECV accessibility is limited
- Green and Red Launch: This route uses cruises. Wheelchair/ECV accessible
Tips
The main tip, as noted above, is that while these boats are generally slower than alternative forms of transportation, they are super relaxing and scenic. In particular, if you can time it, the Ferryboat is a great place to watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks if you can time it right and if you can stake out a good location on the boat. Alternatively, the Ferryboat docking area at the TTC also makes for a great fireworks viewing location. They pipe in the music, so you can get the full experience without standing in wall-to-wall people.
One other item to note… and this applies to all boat transportation… Disney can and will shut down the boats of the weather make it too dangerous to operate them. Fortunately, there are alternative transportation options in most cases (bus or monorail) so you won’t be stranded if this happens!
Epcot Resort Area Boats
The Epcot Resorts (Beach Club, Yacht Club, Boardwalk, and Swan & Dolphin) along with Hollywood Studios and Epcot itself, are connected by a waterway known as Crescent Lake. This provides Disney with the opportunity to provide transportation between these locations via boat. The boats that sail on this waterway are known as Friendship Boats
Friendship Boats
Friendship Boats are smaller boats that carry maybe around 100 people at their max capacity. Most of the seating is inside. However, there are a few seats outside that allow you to sail in the open air. The boats travel between the following stops:
- Epcot’s International Gateway Entrance (i.e. the “back entrance”)
- Boardwalk Inn
- Yacht Club / Beach Club (both resorts share the same dock)
- Swan and Dolphin
- Hollywood Studios
Once the boat reaches Hollywood Studios, it retraces its steps: Swan & Dolphin, Yacht/Beach Club, and so forth. So depending on what your final destination is, you might want to wait for a boat heading in the proper direction.
Accessibility
The Friendship Boats are all wheelchair and ECV accessible. You just roll on and roll off.
Tips
All of these locations are also linked by walking paths and the Skyliner. Depending upon the time of day, you might find it faster to use one of these alternate forms of transportation. In particular, if you are staying at the Beach Club, it’s probably easier to walk to Epcot’s International Gateway. The walk to the dock may actually take more steps!
Also note that Epcot’s International Gateway is Epcot’s back entrance. You are entering in between France and the United Kingdom in the World Showcase. This is a great place to enter if you are planning on going directly to Remi’s or Frozen Ever After at park open. You’ll probably get to the ride queue ahead of the people entering through the front entrance.
On the other hand, people mistakenly believe that you can transfer from the International Gateway to the Epcot monorail. You cannot. You will need to walk through Epcot to the front entrance to access both the monorail an the Epcot buses. Therefore, if you are trying to get to the Magic Kingdom from one of the Epcot resort, you are much better off just taking a bus.
Disney Springs Area Boats
Disney Springs, Walt Disney World’s outdoor shopping and dining mail, is connected to several Disney reports in the area via boats on the Sassagoula River. There are three main boat routes in this part of WDW:
- Disney Springs to/from Saratoga Springs Resort (two stops: one near the main hospitality house and another near the Treehouse Villas on the far side of the resort)
- Disney Springs to/from Port Orleans (two stops: one at the French Quarter and one at Riverside)
- Disney Springs to/from Old Key West
All of the Disney Springs boats are wheelchair and ECV friendly.
One quick tip: If you are staying in the Congress Park section of Saratoga Springs Resort, it is quicker to just use the walk path that connects the resort to Disney Springs. You’d probably walk farther and wait longer by backtracking to the boat launch.
Bonus tip: While there are no buses that directly connect Disney Springs to the theme parks, you can take one of the Disney Springs boats to one of the above resorts and take a bus from there. It is a very long and roundabout way to go, but it is certainly doable.
Skyliner
The Skyliner is Disney’s newest mode of transportation. One could say that it is the newest highway in the sky. The Skyliner is made up of a series of large gondolas that traverse various resorts and parks in the Epcot / Hollywood Studios resort area. Each gondola can hold around 10 people at max capacity, which makes them around the same capacity as a monorail car, more or less. The only difference is that the gondolas are always loading and unloading.
There are three Skyliner lines
- Art of Animation / Pop Century <-> Caribbean Beach Resort
- Hollywood Studios <-> Caribbean Beach Resort
- Epcot International Gateway <-> Caribbean Beach Resort (with a stopover at Riviera Resort)
As you can see, Caribbean Beach is the hub location for all of the Skyliner routes. Similar to how the Transportation and Ticket Center works for the monorail, you can transfer to any of the three Skyliner routes here. Thus, if you want to go from Pop Century to Hollywood Studios, you would take the Skyliner to Caribbean Beach, get off, and then switch to the route that takes you from Caribbean Beach to HS.
The Epcot route is a little different in that while it stops at Riviera along the way, you don’t have to transfer here. If you want to stay on until your final destination, you can.
Accessibility
Both wheelchairs and ECV’s are able to roll onto a gondola without any issues.
Tips
While there can be a line to board the Skyliner at peak times of the day (park opening and park closing), the line moves relatively fast since the Skyliner is constantly loading. So do not let the line dissuade you.
The Skyliner is not air conditioned. However, while it is moving, you get a nice breeze which is more than enough to keep you cool.
Note that if you are staying at one of the Skyliner resorts (Pop Century, Art of Animation, Riviera, Caribbean Beach), the Skyliner generally is your only option to get to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. However, if the Skyliner isn’t running for whatever reason, Disney will provide bus transportation as an alternative, so you won’t be stuck.
Driving Within Walt Disney World
Traveling by car is certainly a viable option while staying at Walt Disney World. In fact, some people prefer to drive so that they don’t have to deal with public transportation. Personally, although Disney buses are wheelchair/ECV accessible, it is really a pain to load and unload in my opinion. Therefore, we will almost always choose to drive over taking a bus.
Parking at the Theme Parks
Every Disney theme park has a dedicated parking lot. As noted previously, for the Magic Kingdom, the lot is at the TTC. From here you still need to travel to the Magic Kingdom entrance by monorail or boat. However, the remaining theme parks allow you to walk from your car to the front gate of your respective park. However, the lots themselves can be huge, so Disney offers frequent tram service to take you from the outer reaches of the lot to the front gate. Note that these trams are not wheelchair or ECV friendly at all. The good news is that handicapped parking at the parks is very close to the entrance, so you generally won’t need a tram.
Parking at the theme parks costs $30/day at this time. However, if you are staying at a Disney resort or you are an annual pass holder, you can park for free.
Parking at the Resorts
Each resort also offers both self-parking and valet parking. Self park is free, while valet parking generally charges a fee. However, if you have a handicapped parking pass, Disney will allow you to valet park for free, which is a nice bonus. That said, all resort lots do have handicapped self parking, although they can fill up.
Technically only resort guests and those with a dining reservation at a resort are allowed to park in the resort lot. Furthermore guests who are only dining are only allowed to park for three hours. However, we have noticed that enforcement of this rule can vary.
For resorts that have some sort of preferred access to the theme parks, security is more likely to enforce the parking rules. However, at other resorts for which parking is not at a premium, security may let you in if you ask nicely.
Parking at Disney Springs
At Disney Springs, parking is free. There are several large parking garages, as well as a big surface lot, so parking is generally pretty plentiful.
The parking garages have signs which will tell you how many open spots there are on a certain level, which makes it very easy to locate an open spot. No needs to drive around stalking for open spots!
What About Uber/Lyft?
Honestly, we do not have a lot of experience with ride sharing services, so it is hard to give any specific pointers. I do know that all parks and Disney Springs have dedicated ride share drop off and pick up points. Most are located near the main entrance of the park, with the exception of Magic Kingdom. If you are taking an Uber here, your driver will be directed to the TTC, from which you will need to take a monorail or boat to the main entrance.
Disney has also partnered with Lyft to provide Minnie Vans. These are vans that are decorated with Minnie Mouse colors that are operated by Disney employees. You call them via the Lyft app and they pretty much work just like a normal Lyft. The main difference is that Minnie Vans can drop you off at Magic Kingdom’s front entrance, bypassing the TTC. This is a nice perk of using Minnie Vans. However, note that they can be much more expensive than an equivalent generic Lyft.
Conclusion
At this point, you should be pretty well versed on the basics of Disney transportation. Disney has certain made it easy to traverse the “Disney bubble” without having to use a car. However, if you do choose the drive yourself, they make that easy as well.
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