Everything you Need to Know About Walt Disney World Transportation
Heading to Disney World and stuck on how you are going to get around? Have no worries this Disney transportation guide will tell you everything you need to know about getting around Disney World and every form of transportation you can use while you are on your trip. One of the great things about Disney World vacations is that you do not need your own car at all while there and Disney makes it so easy to get around all while being free to use while you are a guest when you use Walt Disney World transportation.
Everything you Need to Know about Walt Disney World Transportation
The great thing about visiting and staying on Disney Parks property is that if you plan to spend your entire trip at Disney, you can save a whole lot of money by using Disney transportation making the need for a rental car unnecessary.
There are some modes of transportation that will not only transport you around Disney grounds between the four theme parks, and waterparks, along with the restaurants, and experiences throughout the Disney World area. Today we are going to be discussing the different types of transportation offered and where each one can take you.
*Note. I highly suggest downloading the My Disney Experience app before your trip. This will make things much easier and the maps will help you find the different locations that Walt Disney World resort guests are able to find transportation.
How Disney Transportation Works
When staying at a Disney Resort, guests are offered complimentary transportation around Disney grounds. All that you need to do to use Disney transportation is to make your way to one of the marked Disney pickup points and there will be transportation options arriving and leaving at regular intervals to get you where you need to go. Using the Disney transportation system you will be able to visit all of the theme parks, the water parks and Disney Springs with out having to worry about having your own car.
Disney makes it really easy to get around once you get on the property and staying at one of the resorts. If you are not staying on property, then while you are on property you are able to use all of the transportation to get you where you need to go.
What times does Disney Transportation Run?
Resort transportation begins running 45 minutes prior to Disney theme parks opening up and run for up to 1 hour after the parks close. This allows for guests to get to and from the parks and their resorts without worrying about rushing. In addition to park transportation, Disney buses also run to and from the Disney Springs area until 11:00 pm each night.
What is the transportation and ticket center?
The TTC as it is referred to as is the main hub for all Disney transportations. It is where you will find magic kingdom’s parking lot and from there the park entrance. This is also the official drop off spot for lyft, uber and the outside busses from other hotels that offer transportation and ride-sharing service.
If you are using the monorail, then this is also the only place to get on the monorail to get to Epcot. It is also the transfer location for those using the monorail from resorts on the monorail line.
You can also take a ferryboat from the transportation center to Magic Kingdom.
How to use Walt Disney World Bus Transportation
Disney offers air-conditioned bus transportation that offers complementary services to and from all four of the Disney World theme parks as well as all Disney resort areas and the Disney Springs area. This complimentary bus service is offered at any resort that doesn’t have another type of transportation. For example, if you are staying at the Grand Floridian you will not have busses as options that take you to Magic Kingdom because there is the Monorail, however, you will have busses that take you to Animal Kingdom as the monorail does not go there from the Grand Floridian.
Things to know when riding bus transportation.
- Depending on where you are going, there may a connecting bus and your route may require you to transfer buses to reach your final destination when you are going between a Disney hotel and a theme park or to the Disney Springs area.
- You may not bring luggage or alcohol aboard any Disney bus transportation, all strollers must be able to fold up and cleared out of the aisle.
Bus transportation is probably the simplest of all Disney transportation services. There are a ton of well-marked bus stops throughout all parks and resorts, you simply need to line up at a stop and if there is not already a bus available to board, one will arrive typically within minutes.
What Disney Resorts have busses?
All of the Disney World resorts have busses, however not all of them have busses to every major theme park on the property. Some have other modes of transportation like ferry boats and the monorail that are the transportation to specific parks. For example the Grand Floridian is on the Monorail track so they have busses to get to Animal Kingdom and to Disney Springs but they do not have buses to take you to Magic Kingdom, you will use the monorail to get there.
What are the hours of operation for Disney Buses?
Disney Buses run one hour before opening and one hour after the closing of the theme parks and the Disney Springs area. If a theme park is having early morning hours or extra magic hours then the busses will run for one hour before or after the closing time from that theme park to the resorts.
If you are wanting to get in on the Early magic hours that is open on select days for select theme parks then you will want to get to the bus stop of your resort about 90 minutes before the park opens.
How to Use Disney World Water Transportation (Boats and ferry boats)
Disney offers two types of water transportation services. These include ferry boats as well as water taxis. Water transportation is available to guests at select Disney resorts and will transport them to and from Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, EPCOT, and throughout the Disney World resort areas.
In order to use Disney water transportation, you simply need to find one of the marked areas for boarding and await the arrival of your transport. As previously mentioned, most routes run on a 15–30-minute interval so if there is no available transport when you arrive, one will arrive shortly.
Things to know when riding water transportation
- Most water service routes run on a 15–30-minute interval schedule
- Hours of operation vary based on the weather and water conditions, if weather/water conditions are deemed unsafe – water transportation will become unavailable until conditions have returned to being safe for water travel.
- No luggage or alcohol is permitted on any of Disney’s water travel services.
Where can I get to with Disney’s water taxis?
From Magic Kingdom Park you can use the water taxi to get to the following locations:
- Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground
- Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
- Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows
- Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
- Transportation and Ticket Center
From Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios you can use ferryboat service to get to the following places:
- Disney’s BoardWalk Villas
- Disney’s Beach Club Villas
- Disney’s Yacht Club Resort
- Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel
- Walt Disney World Swan Hotel
From Disney Springs you can use water transportation to get to the following places:
- Disney’s Old Key West Resort
- Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa
- Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside
- Disney’s Port Orleans – French Quarter
How to Use Walt Disney World monorail system
The Monorail is world famous across Disney World Parks. The Monorail is a railway transportation service that has 3 separate beams traveling between Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Contemporary Resort, Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort, Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, and finally the Transportation and Ticket Center.
If you need to use the Monorail transportation, you will need to go to one of the marked pick-up spots and wait for your ride. Because there are 3 beams running at all times on the monorail, you never have to wait too long for transport to arrive.
Things to Know when using Monorail Transportation
- The Monorail runs 30 minutes prior to the earliest park opening and up to one hour after park closing
- Absolutely no glass containers of any kind are permitted on the Monorail
- It takes just minutes to travel between destinations throughout the Disney World Resort area.
Where does the Monorail travel to at Disney World?
There are 7 stops on the monorail line that are direct from a resort to a park. Some destinations are not direct; you may be required to take a connecting mode of transportation to reach where you are wanting to go. For example you can take the monorail directly to Magic Kingdom from Contemporary Resort, Polynesian Resort and Grand Floridian, but if you are wanting to go to Epcot then you will want to take the Monorail to the transportation and ticket center and then hop on the monorail that goes to Epcot.
- Magic Kingdom park
- Disney’s Contemporary Resort
- Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
- Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
- Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows
- Epcot
- Transportation and Ticket Center
What are the 3 Moonorail lines?
- Express Line which runs from the Transportation and Ticket Center to Magic Kingdom
- Resort Line which runs between Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Contemporary Resort, Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa, Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, and the Transportation and Ticket Center.
- Epcot Line which runs between the Transportation and Ticket Center and Epcot
How to Use Disney Skyliner Transportation
The final mode of Disney Transportation is the Disney Skyliner. It is the newest form of Disney transportation and it is quite the experience. The Skyliner is a line of aerial gondolas that transport between Hollywood Studios, Epcot, and select Disney World resort hotels. The Gondolas are roomy, themed with your favorite Disney and Pixar characters, and are equipped with Disney/Pixar themed audio for passengers to enjoy.
In order to board the Skyliner, you will need to go to one of the boarding stations – these are in select resorts as well as Hollywood Studios and EPCOT, you will be able to board within minutes during operating hours.
Where does the Skyliner travel to at Disney World?
You can use Disney’s Gondolas from a few different Walt Disney World resort hotels to go to Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood studios. You will go to the entrance of the skyliner at your resort and then ride over to the location you want to go to.
If you are staying at Disney’s Boardwalk area at Disney Resort Hotels including Disney’s Yacht Club, Disney’s Beach Club or Disney Boardwalk hotel then you can also take the short walk to the Skyliner station and use the gondola system at the International Gateway at Epcot and get on the skyliner.
- Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
- Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
- Disney’s Pop Century Resort
- Disney’s Riviera Resort
Walking at Disney World Resorts and theme Parks
While Disney World does have the best free ride options that you can get while you are visiting the Walt Disney world resort hotel area or the theme park area there is the option to walk. While it might not always sound enjoyable to walk there are many times we have opted to walk so we had a quicker travel time when we saw lines for things like the monorail or the water taxis.
Now, you can not walk to every theme park or resort, just like you can not use every mode of transportation but there are lots of places that walking is our favorite way to go.
- When we are staying at the Beach Club resorts, the fastest way we have found to get to Hollywood Studios and Epcot is to use the walking path. When you are leaving the resort you will take the path on the right to go to Epcot and the path on the left to get to Hollywood Studios.
- When staying at the Contemporary, Grand Floridian or Polynesian resorts we like to walk to Magic Kingdom. We also like to walk to the transportation center and then hop on the monorail there to get to Epcot and Hollywood studios, even though we can take the monorail the whole way, we find it best for us to add in some walking.
- Walking between Epcot and Hollywood studios. If you are going to be doing both parks in the same day, you can easily walk from one entrance to the other with the walking path take the walking path towards the beaches resorts and then follow it to the other theme park you are going to.
Paid Ride Services at Walt Disney World
If you are looking for personal driving service then you will want to use Minnie Vans. Currently they are not running (June of 2022) but they will be hopefully eventually operational again. Minnie Vans are found through out Disney World Parks, Disney Resorts and the Orlando Airport.
This is the only on property transportation that is not free and have an additional cost to use. They have a flat fee plus a fee per mile to use them. The minnie van service is similar to using taxi services, and the only taxi service style transportation at Disney World.
Minnie Van services are avaliable from 6:30am until 12:30am daily when operating.
Additional Information and FAQ’s
If you are traveling to Disney World there are a few other tips that will help you with transportation when you are getting to Disney resort hotels and theme parks.
Does Disney transport guests from the airport?
The only mode of transportation that Disney does not offer complimentary to their guests is transportation to and from the airport. You may have heard in the past about Disney’s magical express, this service is no longer available but there are different options that you can use to get to and from the airport when you are on a Disney World vacation.
Most people fly into Orlando International Airport. There is a service recommended by Disney World that will transport guests for an affordable rate. This is the Mears Private Ground transportation, their vehicles range from sedans to SUVs, and more ensuring that no matter the size of your party, they will be able to accommodate you and your luggage to get you to your Disney resort in no time.
Do you have to stay at a Disney resort to use transportation?
Disney transportation is available and complimentary to ALL Disney guests whether you are staying at a resort or not. If you are simply looking to travel from one park to another, feel free to use complimentary Disney transportation.
Does Disney offer transportation to parks and attractions outside of Disney World?
Orlando is filled with so many attractions and things to do, unfortunately, Disney does not offer any sort of transportation services to attractions outside the Disney grounds. If you are looking to visit other attractions you will need to make arrangements and/or rent a vehicle in order to get to those destinations.
Disney transportation is so convenient and beneficial to its guests, particularly those looking to spend their entire trip within the Disney grounds. Renting a car or paying for transportation services such as a taxi/uber/lyft can become increasingly expensive. If you plan to stay on Disney grounds for the extent of your trip, you will rack up the savings by utilizing Disney transportation services. I hope that this guide has given you the insight and knowledge around Disney transportation and gives you the opportunity to fully utilize these services on your next Disney trip.
