Wanderlust & Wishes

Episode 81: Walt Disney World Transportation 101 - Your Guide to Getting Around the Magic

• Julie & Krystle

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On this episode Krystle and Julie cover Walt Disney World Transportation 101 — your complete guide to navigating the Most Magical Place on Earth! We break down everything you need to know about the Disney Skyliner, Monorail, Boats, Buses, and Walking Paths, plus insider tips for travel times, resort access, stroller rules, and the best routes to save time.

Whether you're planning a stay at a Skyliner resort, heading to Magic Kingdom, rope dropping EPCOT, or hopping between parks, this episode gives you easy, practical strategies to move around Walt Disney World like a pro.

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SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to Wonderlusts and Wishes, the podcast where we explore the world one destination at a time. I'm Julie. And I'm Crystal.

SPEAKER_01:

As travel agents with fantastical vacations, we are here to share our passion for travel and help you turn your wonderlust into reality.

SPEAKER_00:

From hidden gems to bucket list adventures, join us as we dive into the sights, sounds, and stories of our favorite destinations. So grab your passport, pack your bags, and let's embark on this journey together.

SPEAKER_01:

Hi, everybody. Welcome to episode 81 of Wanderlust and Wishes. This week we're going to talk all about Walt Disney World transportation.

SPEAKER_00:

Love it or hate it, it's a great perk of staying in the pebble. In the box.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, it's free. And they just pick you up and take you or, you know, you just take it to wherever you need to go. And you don't have to know where you're going necessarily, as long as you get on the right thing, as long as you get on the right form of transportation, they take you to where you need to go. But they have boats, monorails, buses, skyliner. In some instances, they have walking paths if it's close enough to the park, the resort's close enough to the park. And they also have walking paths from Epcot to Hollywood Studios, although it is a little bit of a hike, but you can also do that as well.

SPEAKER_00:

Fun fact. Walt Disney World has one of the largest transportation fleets in the world.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I mean, considering it's, you know, the size of Manhattan, and I think you've said like San Francisco, so it's not surprising that it has such a huge transportation system and it has to run very smoothly. Did you know that Magic Kingdom doesn't have direct access to the front gate? If you are coming from outside the bubble, you have to go through the TTC or the ticketing and transportation center first and then take the monorail or a ferry across. The only way you're gonna get taken directly to the park itself is if you use Disney transportation, a bus or one of the monorails, or if you happen to be close enough that you can walk.

SPEAKER_00:

This trips so many people up. So this is a very good example of why it's good to kind of have an idea of how to get around. It's totally up to you, especially on those hot days. But your feet actually can keep moving when the monorail might stop in the middle of the tracks for 20 minutes.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. I definitely, if you're staying at contemporary, it is very fast. I mean, it's like maybe 10 minutes from the resort to the front of Magic Kingdom, and you have your own security when you use Contemporary, which is really nice. The other two resorts, you still have to go through the typical security line that everybody else uses, but Contemporary has its own. And then speaking of walking, Epcot and Hollywood Studios has some of the nicest walkways on property. Um, you actually, if you've ever done one of the Run Disney runs, you will know all about this because you use those pathways to get from Hollywood Studios over to where Epcot is, and you kind of come in the back way from where the boardwalk and yacht and beach club to get over to wherever Epcot is and run through Epcot. You're able to use that as a walking path. Um, you also have boardwalk, yacht, club, and beach club are also all three Epcot resorts and very easily walkable over to Epcot. It's one of my favorite areas to stay for that reason because it you just walk right over to Epcot and you actually can see the fireworks. There's it's just a wonderful spot to stay. You're also right around the corner from the Skyliner. If you would rather take the Skyliner over to Hollywood Studios instead of taking a bus.

SPEAKER_00:

Speaking of the Skyliner, did you know it usually only takes five to maybe 10 minutes between stations? It looks like this big system, but in reality, it's very quick and easy to navigate.

SPEAKER_01:

It's amazing because it's constantly moving. There's some exceptions, like whenever someone with an ECB or a wheelchair or something needs to be able to get on, so they have to stop it. But for the most part, it's continually moving. So it's so fast. Even whenever you come up and the line looks long to the skyliner, you're gonna be on it in like probably 10 minutes. So probably the biggest hurdle when it comes to transportation, and one of the reasons it's can be difficult for anybody that's staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge or in that area, Animal Kingdom and then Animal Kingdom Law, there's there's no boats, there's no monorail, there's no skyliner. They just have buses in that area. And so that can sometimes be a deterrent for some people if they're trying to look for somewhere to stay or looking for a park that they can easily get to. And it's kind of uh also like farther away from the other parks in general.

SPEAKER_00:

So, how do we get to each park? Let's do a quick run through starting with Magic Kingdom.

SPEAKER_01:

If you are on a monorail resort, so that is the contemporary Polynesian or the Grand Floridian, you can take the monorail to Magic Kingdom, or you can walk. If you are at Wilderness Lodge or Fort Wilderness, you can get on a boat. Everyone else, you're gonna take a bus to get to Magic Kingdom.

SPEAKER_00:

Same layout for Epcot, Magic Kingdom resorts, take the Monorail, Boardwalk Resorts, which is Boardwalk Yacht Beach, and Swan and Dolphin, you can walk or you can boat. Skyliner resorts, you can Skyliner, obviously. So that would be Riviera, Art of Animation, Pop Century, Caribbean Beach.

SPEAKER_01:

For Hollywood Studios, if you're staying at a Skyliner resort, you're gonna take the Skyliner over there. So as Crystal mentioned, that is Pop Century, Art of Animation, Caribbean Beach, or the Riviera. You can also take a boat if you're staying at one of the Epcot resorts, Yacht Club, Beach Club, or Boardwalk, and then it's bus from everywhere else.

SPEAKER_00:

And like we mentioned earlier, Animal Kingdom is always bus every time. And then we should probably mention there are a couple of resorts that are solely buses to parks. So that would be Old Key West, Saratoga Springs, Port Orleans Riverside, and Port Orleans French Quarter, Animal Kingdom Lodge, each of the all-stars. So all-star movies, all-star sports, and all-star music. And I can't forget about Coronado Springs.

SPEAKER_01:

One of the biggest questions that we get as travel advisors is how do I get from my resort to another resort for dining, or just, you know, you you happen to be going for whatever reason, but dining is typically the most common.

SPEAKER_00:

And the true answer is you don't, not directly anyway. Disney doesn't do resort-to-resort transportation. There is a big asterisk with this. We'll talk about that in a minute. But you're not going to hop on a bus from at a resort and end up at another resort.

SPEAKER_01:

You obviously have the option to take an Uber, a Lyft, a minivan, or if you happen to drive and you parked at your resort, you can also drive. But that's usually going to be the quickest way. The other option you have is to take transportation to the closest park and then use Disney transportation from there to where whatever resort it is, the other resort.

SPEAKER_00:

All right. So let's talk about maps just to kind of give you an idea of where things are at. The Skyliner Hub is at the Caribbean Beach Resort. From there, it's just a couple minutes to the Riviera, six minutes to pop or art of animation, and then about six minutes to Hollywood Studios, and then usually eight to ten to Epcot.

SPEAKER_01:

For the monorail, it's about 20 minutes to do a full loop around Magic Kingdom. If you're trying to get from Magic Kingdom to Grand Floridian or maybe contemporary, like we just mentioned, sometimes walking is going to be faster for you, depending on how long the wait is for the monorail.

SPEAKER_00:

One big thing that I don't think people talk about enough with the monorail is that you have to transfer. Like you will go to the TTC and get off the monorail and go up and down the ramp and get on another monorail, like when you're going to Epcot.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, definitely not a well-known, I don't think. I think people think that the monorail just like does this big loop around Magic Kingdom and also over to Epcot. And it's a completely separate line to Epcot. So even if you're on, as as Crystal mentioned earlier, even if you're on a monorail resort, you still have to switch trains to get to Epcot. And same thing, if you happen to come in and park at the TTC, you have to switch to get over.

SPEAKER_00:

Also, just a note before we move on from Skyliner and Monorail, if it is a thunderstorm, the Skyliner will close down and they will run buses for your resort.

SPEAKER_01:

One of the exceptions that we were mentioning before, like getting from resort to resort, not being able to use transportation, uh Disney transportation, the exception to that is going to be the Monorail resorts and the Skyliner resorts, because you can get from resort to resort using those types of transportation. It's mostly the buses that you're not going to get a bus from one resort to the other. And then obviously, if you're staying at a Skyliner resort and you want to get to a different resort that's not on the Skyliner, then you're going to have to take a different route. But it's very easy if let's say you have breakfast, you have the character breakfast at Topolino's, and you're staying at Pop, you can take the Skyliner over to Riviera for that. Very, very easy. But if you're staying at a resort that's not on a Skyliner, then you are going to have to kind of take the route that we were mentioning, either using an Uber or going to the closest park and using a different type of transportation to transfer over to the resort.

SPEAKER_00:

Just a little bit of bus frequently asked questions as well. Some of the larger resorts have an internal bus loop. Take Fort Wilderness, for example. You will take a bus from where you're at to the main bus stop to get to the resort. It's a little bit confusing when you first get there, but the like Coronado and Caribbean Beach, you'll just get on the bus and they'll just hit all the stops.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, do you just have to stay on it for every stop? But Fort Wilderness kind of has two different loops. It has one loop, internal loop, that gets you around the the huge area of Fort Wilderness, and then it takes you to the main bus stop that then will take you to the park.

SPEAKER_00:

My least favorite thing about all the buses is you have to hold up your stroller, but they are air conditioned, they do get you where you're going, they are pretty reliable. There's a handy tool in the My Disney Experience app that if you're wondering how to get from point A to point B, you can plug it into the app and it will give you options and tell you how to get from where you're going to where you need to be. And then there's also a little section that will tell you what time the bus is expected and all those handy things. I think it's a very underutilized place in the app. So solid fells, look that up.

SPEAKER_01:

I tell my clients about that all the time. The part where you can check on the next when the next bus is coming, because there is nothing worse than walking up to the bus stop at your resort and the bus for the park that you wanted is just leaving. It's so awful because then you have to sit there and wait for the next bus to get there, which is generally gonna be another like 15-20 minutes. So knowing, checking the app and knowing, okay, we need to get going, or if there's no way you guys are gonna make it, then there's no reason to rush if you have another like 10-15 minutes to get over there to the bus stop.

SPEAKER_00:

Very true. All right, we got some rapid fire. Some of these Julie has zero idea about. Nervous. I asked for 10 locations across Disney property, and she didn't know what I was using it for. Maybe she might have an idea, but then I plugged them in. Okay, first, little lightning round. What is your favorite mode of transportation?

SPEAKER_01:

Probably Skyliner, just because it's so fast. You know, the reason I mentioned earlier that it's constantly moving. You don't have to really wait on it. Even when there is a big line, it's gone very quickly. It's my favorite for sure.

SPEAKER_00:

I also love the privacy of the Skyliner. Sometimes when it's really busy, they'll put multiple families in together, especially like rope drop and parklave. But if you're like in the middle of the day, it's so peaceful. They'll give you your own skyliner and you can just have a brain break for a minute and just sit and listen to the Skyliner lady. Yeah. All right. What do you think is the most underrated?

SPEAKER_01:

I feel like, in my opinion, I think the boats, I love the boats. They are slow. So if you're looking for a fast transportation, these are not it. But I do love being out on the water. And I don't know, I just think of a lot of times I'm I think of when I'm riding the boat, it's when I'm riding the boat back over to the resort at the end of the day. And it's just really peaceful and calming, and there's usually a breeze off the water. You know, even whenever it's 100 degrees in the summer, it's not super hot. It's I just yeah, I love the boats.

SPEAKER_00:

And what is your biggest transportation tip?

SPEAKER_01:

Make sure that you're planning enough time to get from one area to the other. I think it's very easy to think, oh, we'll get there in 30 minutes, or you know, that shouldn't take very long. And that's just not the case with with Walt Disney World. It's so big that even if you hit the timing just right, it's still gonna take you longer than you think. And I think that a good rule of thumb is although it seems excessive, it's actually not. You need to plan an hour. If you're trying to get from one spot to another, you need to make sure that you have an hour buffer in there to get from one place to the other. If you're there early, fantastic, but it's that's much better than being panicked that you're not gonna make it in time and you're gonna be late for your dining reservation.

SPEAKER_00:

Very true. All right. Now for some scenarios. First up, you are at Slinky Dog Dash in Hollywood Studios, and you've got a reservation at Crystal Palace. How are you getting there? And I'm going to say we cannot minivan, Uber, or lift for any easy way out here. We're taking free transportation.

SPEAKER_01:

So you're gonna take the bus from Hollywood Studios to Magic Kingdom.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. Good job. Alright, this one's gonna be a doozy.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh no.

SPEAKER_00:

You are at Expedition Everest in Animal Kingdom, and you're heading to Hoop Dee Doo Review for dinner.

SPEAKER_01:

You can take the bus to Fort Wilderness and then take the internal bus over to the section where Hoop Dee Doo is, like the internal route over there.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, good job. Alright. You're watching Happily Ever After at Magic Kingdom, and you need to get to World of Disney after the fireworks at Disney Springs.

SPEAKER_01:

You can take a bus from Magic Kingdom to uh Disney Springs.

SPEAKER_00:

Alright. These might be getting a little harder. You are at Caribbean Beach Resort and you're trying to make storybook dining with Snow White. How are you getting there?

SPEAKER_01:

You will need to take a bus to Magic Kingdom, but then don't actually go into Magic Kingdom. Walk over to the boat area and take a boat over to Wilderness Lodge, and that's where the restaurant is.

SPEAKER_00:

That was a great idea. I was going to say skyline to Hollywood Studios and take the Wilderness Lodge bus from Hollywood Studios. Okay. I think yours would probably be faster.

SPEAKER_01:

It may not be faster. Like I said, I I love taking the boat, and so I think that's always my excuse to take the boat.

SPEAKER_00:

Alright. You're eating at Boma, which is an Animal Kingdom Lodge, and heading to the Germany Pavilion. What's the best transportation combo?

SPEAKER_01:

I'm going from Boma to Germany. I mean you can take the bus to Epcot. I think of a sneaky way to get to the International Gateway. Yeah, I think you would have to take the bus from Animal Kingdom Lodge over to Epcot and then walk over to the Germany Pavilion.

SPEAKER_00:

I guess if you really wanted to get technical, you could take the bus to Hollywood Studios and Skyline in the back.

SPEAKER_01:

That was my other thought is being able to go in the back way through International Gateway. I don't know. I don't know which one would be faster. I don't know if either one of them would necessarily be faster or more direct, but both of them would work.

SPEAKER_00:

This is a I'm gonna stand here and see which bus shows up first.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, true.

SPEAKER_00:

Alright. You had your storybook dining at Wilderness Lodge and you need to get to Slinky Dog Dash.

SPEAKER_01:

What are you doing?

SPEAKER_00:

You can just take the bus back over to Hollywood Studios. Alright. After your Crystal Palace reservation, you want to catch Expedition Everest before the park closes. What is the fastest route? An Uber. But honestly, no. An Uber is not the fastest route from Crystal Palace.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, actually, minivan would be probably. If you want to Uber from Mini, it would be a minivan for sure. You can take the bus from Magic Kingdom over to Animal Kingdom.

SPEAKER_00:

If you are at the Hoop De Do review and you're trying to get to Happily Ever After in time, what's your play?

SPEAKER_01:

It's not always fast, but I think it still would be faster and more direct to take the boat back over to Magic Kingdom. I still think that would be faster than trying to take a bus.

SPEAKER_00:

Hoop de-do is very near the the stop for the boat. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Yeah. There's yeah, it there's there's two different boat stops. I mean there's one for a Wilderness Lodge, and then there's the other one that is for Fort Wilderness, and it's really close to that one.

SPEAKER_00:

You're at World of Disney and you're trying to get to Boma for dinner.

SPEAKER_01:

You can take the bus from Disney Springs over to Animal Kingdom. Or Animal Kingdom Lodge, I should say.

SPEAKER_00:

And make sure you're getting off at the right lodge stop. It's the main Jumba House one. This one's gonna stump you.

SPEAKER_01:

Uh oh.

SPEAKER_00:

You're at the Germany Pavilion and you need to make it to Slinky Dog for a lightning lane. What you doing?

SPEAKER_01:

I'm gonna take the skyliner behind. Hollywood Studios. Which would be so fast. I wish we could I wish we had skyliners for every park. That would be the best.

SPEAKER_00:

I wish so they would loop in Coronado. And I think it would sell that resort so much better. Yeah. People love that tower. I know. Let's see. Any others? You're at Pop Century and you're trying to get to Ohana at the Polynesian for dining reservation.

SPEAKER_01:

You could take my my brain immediately goes to taking a bus to Magic Kingdom and then taking the monorail over to Polly.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I think that's your best bet. Um we didn't really talk about this, but if you're at Old Key West and want to get to Disney Springs, you can take a boat. The Old Key West Certo Springs and Orleans resorts, you can boat to Disney Springs.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, that's fun. It's not fun when you get to Disney Springs and it starts storming and they stop running the boat though. And then you have to go take a bus.

SPEAKER_00:

Alright, let me see if I can find any more that are gonna stump you. This one's interesting. If you are at the boardwalk and you're trying to get to Magic Kingdom, it's gonna depend, I guess, if you do not have a park hopper.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I still think a I think a bus still may be faster because if you're at the boardwalk, even if you go in through the International Gateway into Epcot, you have to walk all the way to the front of the park and then you have to wait on the monorail to get over to Magic Kingdom. I still feel like a bus is more direct and faster than taking the monorail and we'll having to walk all the way from the back to the front of the park.

SPEAKER_00:

For sure. If you are at Art of Animation and trying to get to Topolinos Terrace for breakfast.

SPEAKER_01:

That's just taking the Skyliner over to the Riviera. It's amazing when you stay on the Skyliner resort.

SPEAKER_00:

It is. I've I love doing that because you can knock out so many resorts and then you can bust to Magic Kingdom and hit all the Monorail resorts, and you can knock out so many of the resorts so quickly. Alright. Contemporary to Epcot. That's the Monorail.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, you could take the Monorail and then switch trains. So you'll be on the main Magic Kingdom loop and then you need to get on the Epcot train. Or you can walk over from the Contemporary over to the Monorail station. That actually might be faster to walk over there and get on the Epcot loop.

SPEAKER_00:

Alright, I think that's our full little Walt Disney World Transportation 101 featuring boats, buses, skyliner, monorail. Hopefully gave you a great idea of how to get where you need to go. And if you don't know, use the app. We're as a cast member.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, absolutely. Oh yeah, the cast members are always super helpful. Well, I think in general, the fact that you get transportation around the parks and to the, you know, from the resorts and to the parks, and you have all of that free transportation is a huge benefit. That's very underrated, and I don't know that it gets mentioned enough whenever people think through Walt Disney World and staying on property. That's it's such a huge benefit. But also just remember to plan accordingly for traveling around a park that is 40 plus square miles. Thanks so much, everyone, for listening. We appreciate you all and hope you have a wonderful week. Bye.

SPEAKER_00:

Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Wonder Lust and Wishes. If you enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to subscribe and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform.

SPEAKER_01:

And remember, the world is full of wonders waiting to be explored. Until next time, happy travels. Bye for now.