Transportation within Walt Disney World

(Updated March 2019*)

Walt Disney World is huge, it covers 40 square miles, which is approximately the size of San Fransisco, you read that correctly! So Disney offers plenty of free internal transportation to all guests, those staying on and off property.

Disney sure knows how to get you from A to B. However sometimes you have to go from A to A.5 to get to B, but we will talk about that a little later.

Monorails – There are three monorail lines within Walt Disney World, one services the three resorts close to Magic Kingdom. The Grand Floridian, The Polynesian and The Contemporary, this monorail also stops at Magic Kingdom. Another runs between Magic Kingdom, TTC (the ticket and transportation centre) and EPCOT. The final monorail runs from the TTC to the Magic Kingdom.

Buses – All the buses within Walt Disney World service each resort, water park and Disney Springs. Buses start running each day around 45 minutes before the parks open and run up to an hour after park closing. The bus stops are extremely close to the entrance of each park. The four parks and Disney Springs act as ‘central hubs’ or ‘connections’ when a bus doesn’t go to a direct location. You can use the ‘hubs’ to connect to where you want to go. I would always recommend to give an hour to get to your final destination, as buses run every 20 minutes. During the low seasons, some resorts, such as the Allstars will share transportation.

*There is now direct bus transportation from resorts to the two water parks, read here for more information.

Watercraft – There are 5 types of watercraft used within Walt Disney World and currently 37 of these in use at one time. The most popular is the ferry running between the TTC and Magic Kingdom. There are three ferries running at one time and each one way journey is around 17 minutes long. The motor launch runs between the three Magic Kingdom resorts, an another from Magic Kingdom to Fort Wilderness. The motor cruiser does a circular operation between Wilderness Lodge, The Contemporary and Fort Wilderness. The water taxi’s service the Disney Springs resorts such as Saratoga Springs, Port Orleans Riverside and French Quarter, check each coloured flag when you are boarding the water taxi to ensure you are on the correct one. The final, (my favourite) the friendship (cute right), runs between the EPCOT, the 3 EPCOT resorts and Hollywood Studios.

Parking lot trams – Trams will shuttle guests from the Disney parking lots to the entrance of the theme parks entrances, except to the Magic Kingdom, where the tram will take you to the TTC.

Minnie Vans – I have written a separate review on Minnie Vans, these are an added expense to any trip as they are not free. I only recommend for early morning ADR’s/EMM or late night journeys back to your resort. I certainly do not see the benefit or paying for a Minnie Van everyday when there are plenty of free transportation options to take.

And finally, the skyliner – The skyliner gondola system was announced in 2017 and while not up and running as of the time this post was written (January 2019), the skyliners are set to open Fall 2019. The routes connect, POP Century, Art of Animation, Caribbean Resort and the new Riviera Resort to EPCOT and Hollywood Studios.

Was this post useful? Do you need help or advice on how to get from A to B? What is you favourite type of transportation? Let me know in the comments