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134. Disney World Transportation Explained for Families · Mom Street USA

0:05
Welcome everybody to another episode of Monster.
0:07
USAI am your host Jackie. And on today's episode, we are
0:10
talking about Disney transportation.
0:13
Now, when you hear that, you may not think that that has enough
0:17
to be an entire podcast episode, but don't you worry, don't you
0:22
worry. I've got plenty of notes for
0:23
today. And the goal is to kind of
0:26
explain it in a way that is beneficial to families that are
0:29
visiting, right? Because getting around Disney
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can be so confusing. There are so many options and
0:36
some places can only be reached by specific transportation
0:39
modes. So today we're going to break
0:41
down all of the transportation options and then I'm going to
0:44
give you some like parenting information and notes and tips
0:48
for each. Things that you might want to
0:50
keep in mind when you're traveling with kiddos around
0:52
Disney World property. Because not all of the
0:55
transportation at Walt Disney World is created equal,
0:58
especially if you are considering traveling with
1:01
littles, traveling with a stroller, traveling with a large
1:04
family. All of those aspects can really
1:07
affect how and what transportation you want to use.
1:11
So we're going to talk about kind of all of the different
1:14
forms of transportation and I'll give you all the details of
1:16
those as we go through. So we are going to start today
1:20
with the buses. These I feel like are the most
1:22
well known Disney transportation method that there is, but every
1:27
Disney resort has buses to some or all of the parks.
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This is the standard way to get around when you're staying on
1:37
Disney property. The way that the bus stops work
1:40
at the resorts really depends on the resort.
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Some resorts are going to have one main bus stop near the main
1:49
building that serves the entire resort.
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Others are going to have kind of that, but also like central bus
1:57
routes that you can take to get to different parts of the
1:59
resort. So the bigger resorts actually
2:01
have internal loops of their buses and with those, these kind
2:06
of cycle through all of the different stops and then take
2:10
you to the park. So just for your knowledge, like
2:14
I said, generally speaking, most resorts just have one main bus
2:17
stop that you're going to have to figure out your walking
2:20
distance to get to. But the following Disney resorts
2:23
have multiples bus stops within their grounds.
2:27
So just something to note, Caribbean Beach Resort, Coronado
2:31
Springs, Port Orleans, Riverside, Fort Wilderness, Old
2:35
Key West and Saratoga Springs. All of those are going to be the
2:40
resorts that have that multi stop bus system inside.
2:45
Now sometimes you will also see from the parks side of buses
2:51
that some of the resorts will share bus stops from time to
2:55
time. So places like yacht and Beach
2:57
Club, because they're directly next to each other, they may
2:59
share a bus stop at the at the parks when you're going to leave
3:04
the parks to go back to the resort.
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Same thing with the Magic Kingdom area, So Grand
3:09
Floridian, Polynesian and Contemporary, they will
3:11
sometimes all share a bus route. Also same thing for Wilderness
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Lodge in Fort Wilderness. So don't be alarmed if you see
3:20
that it's just simply because there are already so many buses
3:25
and bus routes that run on Disney property.
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So when they can consolidate and combine, they they do try to do
3:31
that. So again, the buses run from the
3:34
resorts to the parks and from the parks to the resorts.
3:38
The buses also will run from park to park starting around
3:43
10:00 AM. So if you're looking to park
3:45
hop, you're not going to be able to do that via bus until around
3:49
10 AM. And that's like not a hard 10
3:52
AM. It's not like 10 AM.
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The bus is going to be parked in that spot ready to go.
3:58
It could be 10, it could be 10:15.
4:00
So it's not like a hard 10 AM on that.
4:04
And then also do note there are no resort to resort buses.
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So that is the hardest way to get around using Disney
4:12
transportation is if you are trying to go from a resort to
4:16
another resort. So let's say you're staying at
4:20
All Star Music, you have a dining reservation at the
4:23
Polynesian. You're not going to be able to
4:25
take a bus directly from your resort at All Stars to the
4:29
Polynesian. You're going to have to go to a
4:31
park before you can get to the other resort.
4:34
So do keep that in mind with you are looking at your
4:38
transportation for your trip and planning out how you're going to
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get where you need to go and thinking about how much time you
4:44
need to get to where you need to go.
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I always tell people that the buses, while they are fairly
4:52
reliable and it has gotten better during the pandemic and
4:56
right after, buses were really tricky because they just, they
4:58
weren't running as many, they weren't letting as many people
5:01
on the buses. The buses have gotten more
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consistent over the last couple years to where they do typically
5:07
come every 15 to 20 minutes. Now that being said, if you're
5:12
in a super long line, you may have to wait for another bus
5:16
because the bus that pulls up, you may not be able to get on if
5:19
it gets full to capacity, right? So you always want to leave a
5:24
minimum of an hour to get to where you're trying to go if
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you're doing the buses. So if you're trying to get to
5:30
rope drop, if you're trying to get from to a dining
5:34
reservation, any of those reasons why you may be going
5:38
across Disney property at least an hour, if not more.
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If you're going resort to resort and you have to take multiple
5:45
buses or multiple modes of transportation, that's something
5:49
else to consider when you're leaving yourself enough time.
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So let's talk about where the bus stops are at the parks.
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Again, at your resort, you're just going to have to look and
5:58
see on the map or look, Disney does a really nice job on their
6:02
website of showing the amenities and all of that for each resort.
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So you can likely find a map on there that will show you where
6:11
the bus stops are or just a quick Google for your resort.
6:14
But let's talk about the bus stops at the parks, because this
6:17
is something just to note that they are usually fairly close to
6:23
the front, but occasionally you may have a little bit of a
6:26
distance to walk. So at Magic Kingdom, the buses
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are up front and if you're looking at the entrance, they're
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on the right hand side. At Epcot, same thing, They are
6:35
at the front of the park to the right of the entrance.
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As you're looking at it for Hollywood Studios, it can be a
6:40
little deceiving because you actually have to pass the sky
6:43
liner, which we'll talk about the sky liner here in a little
6:46
bit. But you have to pass the sky
6:48
liner entrance that is kind of straight ahead out of the out of
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the park and then they're going to be on the left.
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And then at Animal Kingdom, they are in the front also to the
6:58
left of the entrance there. So again, just making sure you
7:03
understand where you're going and where to find those bus
7:08
stops can be really helpful. So as you are leaving the parks,
7:11
if you are trying to get back to your resort or you're trying to
7:14
get to another resort because you're going to resort hop or
7:18
check out the site somewhere else.
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When you get to the first like entrance of the bus stop area,
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they're going to have these big huge signs and on that sign are
7:30
going to have all of the resorts listed.
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And then they're going to tell you what bus stop number you
7:34
need to go to. So don't worry if you're like, I
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have nowhere, no idea where to go.
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They have that sign. And also typically there is a
7:43
security officer or a cast member that is standing nearby
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as you kind of enter those pathways.
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Because what typically happens as you are going to back go back
7:54
to the resorts is there are usually like 3 or 4 rows of bus
7:58
stops that you can take. So when you approach that area,
8:02
where that sign is situated is going to be kind of like a fork
8:04
in the road. So you're going to need to know,
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do I need to go left to go to this row or do I need to go
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right to go to this row or do I need to go all the way to the
8:12
end to go to that row? So those are all laid out for
8:15
you. They're all very easy to see,
8:17
which is really nice. I will say one note about the
8:20
bus stops. Typically speaking, deluxe
8:24
resorts have better dibs on location of their bus stops.
8:29
So they're typically going to be closer to the park or closer to
8:34
like the entrance of where the bus stop start.
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And unfortunately it kind of trickles down to your value.
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Resorts typically not always have the furthest away bus
8:46
stops, unfortunately. So that's just the way it works.
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But that is kind of just a little note about if you don't
8:52
know what bus stop to go to, there will be a sign or somebody
8:55
that you can ask for help. So don't fret about that.
8:59
Just a note about off property resorts because do keep in mind
9:03
that everything we've talked about so far has been for Disney
9:05
resorts if you're staying on property.
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But off property resorts often do also have buses.
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But keep in mind that these buses usually do not drop you
9:16
off at the same place that the Disney buses do, so they're
9:20
going to have a separate bus area that you will have to go
9:24
for these shuttles. Also, some of these off property
9:27
resorts may only run to like one or two parks each day.
9:32
So be sure if you're staying off property to double check about
9:36
the parks, buses when you book and also when you check in.
9:41
So that way you weren't surprised when you get there,
9:43
right? You don't want to be planning to
9:45
go to Animal Kingdom, but the day that you're going, you're
9:48
off property. Resort only is running shuttles
9:50
to Epcot or Magic Kingdom, right?
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So it just gets a little more complicated from there.
9:55
So keep that in mind if you're looking off property, you may
10:00
end up needing to pay for transportation, which then may
10:05
or may not offset what you saved staying off property.
10:09
If you kind of catch my my vibe with that, because typically
10:13
speaking, if you have one of those resorts, it doesn't go to
10:17
every park. You're going to be paying to do
10:19
an Uber or Lyft something along the the the means of that.
10:22
So again, just note about that. Also note that the magic Kingdom
10:30
drop off for off property resorts is actually the ticketed
10:33
transportation center. So it's not even at Magic
10:37
Kingdom like the Disney buses do.
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So again, you get dropped off. You then have to take a monorail
10:42
or a ferry, but which we'll talk about those in a little bit, but
10:45
just not nearly as convenient as the on property Disney buses,
10:49
especially for Magic Kingdom. Now, a couple notes about the
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buses before we move on and chat about some of the other
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transportation options. And these are just like things
11:01
that I've learned from taking all of these transportation
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modes and things that I would suggest and like things to note
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if you're a parent trying to navigate this.
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For the buses, all strollers, all strollers, no matter what
11:15
shape or kind or makeup must be folded up in order to board the
11:19
bus. So you're not going to be able
11:22
to leave your kiddo sitting in their stroller, leave your
11:24
sleeping baby in the stroller. They are going to need to be
11:28
taken out. So that way you can fold that
11:30
stroller up because there's just not a ton of room on those buses
11:33
and they want to get as many people as they possibly can on
11:35
those buses, especially first thing in the morning and last
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thing at night. Just again, another parent note
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on these buses, there are obviously no seatbelts or any
11:45
kind of restraints. Now, that doesn't matter in a
11:50
sense that like Florida does not require your toddlers to have a
11:55
car seat on these buses because it's considered public
11:57
transportation, right? But just a note that if you've
12:01
got a couple kiddos with you, you want to be smart about how
12:04
you situate them so they're not like hopping up and down or
12:07
crawling all over the seats, you know, typical toddler behavior.
12:11
So just a mental note about that.
12:13
Something else to consider also is as you're waiting in line for
12:17
the bus, the later you get on a bus, so like if you're one of
12:22
the last, I don't know, 10 or 15 people on the bus, the more
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likely you are that you're going to have to stand, right?
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So they have seats on the bus, but then they have a ton of
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standing room in the aisle. So the later you get on the bus,
12:35
the more likely you are to have to stand.
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So consider this one you're boarding with little ones, it
12:40
may be worth the stress and the hassle to just wait.
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You may say no, I think we can handle it and you may get on the
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bus. And usually 9 times out of 10,
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if an able bodied adult sees kiddos that are standing,
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they're usually going to give up their seat, right?
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I've been there before where I had a seat next to my kids.
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They were old enough to handle it.
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So I gave up my seat for another kid and I just stood right in
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front of them, right? Definitely still super close to
13:08
where my kiddos were, but just keep that in mind if you are one
13:12
of the last groups to get on a particular bus.
13:16
Just a piece of advice that I have about the buses is when you
13:20
have more than one adult and you're able to, you got to
13:23
divide and conquer. So like what we typically would
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do is when the bus pulls up, we would be ready to, I would take
13:30
the kids and the bag or the backpack or whatever we had that
13:33
we needed to hold. And then my husband would do the
13:37
stroller and he would fold it up and, and be the one getting on
13:40
and off the bus with that. And I would have the kids with
13:43
me. So you definitely want to have a
13:45
plan for what you're doing with that.
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Like when we went with my extended family last May, it was
13:53
we went to get on the buses and I, because my kids are older and
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they know the buses, they know how to handle it.
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We are with my nieces who were not quite one and not quite 5
14:04
when we went. So with my sister and her
14:07
husband, I would just say, OK, give me the baby and I would
14:11
just hold her and she would be my responsibility when we got on
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the bus. That way they could handle their
14:15
older kiddo and the stroller. My kiddos were fine.
14:19
We didn't have a stroller for my kiddos.
14:21
So like it was good to just kind of divide and conquer.
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So if you're able to, that's super helpful.
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If not and you need help, you just got to ask for it, right?
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Ask a friendly person that you're standing in line with,
14:35
Ask the bus driver if you need help, just like lifting your
14:37
stroller up into the bus, See if they're able to help grab that
14:41
and lift it up. So that way you have some help
14:43
with that because it can be stressful, but it doesn't have
14:47
to be if you can be just an advocate for yourself.
14:50
And something else to note in my last little tidbit about the
14:53
buses is for some kiddos that visit Disney World, these buses
14:59
are just an absolute brand new, super cool experience and a huge
15:05
plus to visiting Disney. My kids on previous trips have
15:09
gotten mad and upset when we don't take the bus and we opt to
15:14
drive to the parks instead. They like I can distinctly
15:18
remember a couple trips ago. This was probably 3 years ago.
15:22
We stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter and we typically just
15:26
drove because it was just easier.
15:28
Our buses, the buses there were fine, but our car was like even
15:32
closer to us than the bus stop was.
15:33
So we're like, we're just going to drive.
15:35
But like there were days where they were like, can we take the
15:37
bus, please? It's so much like it's so much
15:39
more fun when we get to take the bus.
15:40
So for some kiddos, that is something to think about and to
15:45
remember. The other thing that I will
15:47
mention again about the buses is if you've got kiddos that are
15:50
prone to falling asleep in the car, they're going to fall
15:53
asleep on that bus. So situate them in a way that is
15:57
comfortable and that you are going to be successful getting
16:01
off the bus with a sleeping child on your on your hip,
16:05
right. So these are just little things
16:07
to think ahead about as you are kind of figuring out how to
16:09
navigate the buses. But hopefully that will give you
16:12
some insight and kind of give you a leg up as you are planning
16:17
for bus transportation at Disney.
16:20
So let's talk about now a different form of
16:22
transportation. So from the ground to the sky,
16:25
let's talk about the monorail. The monorail is such an iconic
16:30
mode of transportation at Disney.
16:33
I feel like you can't think about Epcot or Magic Kingdom
16:36
without thinking about the monorail.
16:38
So the monorail at Disney serves 3 different resorts and then the
16:43
two parks that I just mentioned, Magic Kingdom and Epcot.
16:47
Now the thing that confuses people the most about the
16:50
monorail is there are three different monorail lines.
16:54
So there is a chance that depending on your starting point
16:58
and your ending point that you will have to change tracks in
17:02
the middle of your journey. So three different monorail
17:06
lines. There is the resort monorail,
17:09
the Express monorail, and then the Epcot monorail.
17:13
So the resort monorail has four different stops, technically 5
17:20
locations, but once you get on it, then it's four different
17:23
stops, right? But the locations that it stops
17:26
at are the TTC, which is the transportation and ticket center
17:29
that is essentially the parking lot of Magic Kingdom, the
17:32
Polynesian Resort, the Grand Floridian Resort, the Magic
17:36
Kingdom, and then the Contemporary.
17:38
So those five locations are where the monorail is going to
17:43
visit. This monorail typically runs
17:46
clockwise around 7 Seas Lagoon. It's sometimes does reverse and
17:52
go the other way. There's really no rhyme or
17:55
reason to why they do that. But like I know earlier this
17:58
year, even in 2026, like in the spring, there were news articles
18:02
about they reversed the direction of the monorails.
18:06
Sometimes they go opposite, sometimes they go the same
18:08
around Magic Kingdom. You're just going to have to
18:10
keep an eye out and look and see.
18:11
But that means that they are going in that order that I just
18:14
listed. So if you're getting on at the
18:16
Ticket and Transportation Center, you're going to go to
18:18
the Polynesian first, then the Grand Floridian, then Magic
18:20
Kingdom, then the Contemporary. So that's the order that you're
18:23
going to go. Now this monorail loop is best
18:27
for guests that are staying at those monorail resorts or guests
18:33
that are wanting to take in the views and resort hop at those
18:37
monorail resorts. So if one of those are you, then
18:41
this is the monorail loop that you're going to want to take.
18:44
Let's talk about the express monorail.
18:46
This monorail is the quickest way to get from the TTC to Magic
18:52
Kingdom. That's why it's called the
18:53
Express Monorail. Only two stops on this one.
18:56
It starts at the ticket and Transportation Center and then
18:58
goes directly to Magic Kingdom and then back again.
19:00
So just those two stops on that one.
19:03
This is best for guests that are arriving to Magic Kingdom via
19:09
the TTC. So that would be if you're
19:11
driving and parking at the at Magic Kingdom for the day or if
19:16
you have a non Disney resort bus like we talked about earlier
19:21
with the buses that is bringing you to Magic Kingdom for the
19:25
day, it's going to drop you off at the TTC.
19:27
So if you are arriving to Magic Kingdom via the TTC for whatever
19:32
reason, this Express monorail is the best option for you.
19:36
The other monorail loop is the one that services Epcot, so it
19:40
is the Epcot monorail. It's got two stops, one being
19:44
the TTC and then one being the Epcot Monorail station that is
19:47
directly out front the front gates of Epcot.
19:51
This is best for guests that are traveling from Magic Kingdom to
19:56
Epcot, obviously, or Epcot to Magic Kingdom.
20:00
Now do keep in mind this is one of those instances where you are
20:05
going to have to change monorails.
20:07
So if you have visited Magic Kingdom for the morning and you
20:11
want to hop to Epcot for lunch, let's say you're going to go
20:14
grab some festival food at World Showcase from Magic Kingdom.
20:19
You are going to need to take a monorail to the TTC.
20:23
So that would be either the express monorail or the resort
20:27
monorail, which I'll talk more about that comment in just a
20:30
minute. So let's say you got you jump on
20:32
the express monorail, you go to the TTC, you get off of the
20:35
Express monorail and then you have to get on the Epcot
20:39
monorail. That Epcot monorail will then
20:41
take you to Epcot. It kind of loops around which is
20:44
a really fun view. You get to be able to look down
20:46
in the parks and see a little bit of the I like it, especially
20:51
during flower and garden when they have all the topiaries and
20:53
all the, the, the flower beds are all beautifully vibrant and,
20:58
and full of, you know, gorgeous flowers.
21:00
But it takes you kind of around the front part of Epcot to that
21:04
station. So Magic Kingdom to Epcot is 2
21:07
monorails. Same thing in reverse, right?
21:10
The Epcot monorail. If you're leaving Epcot and
21:12
going to Magic Kingdom, Epcot monorail to the TTC.
21:15
And then from the TTC, you take one of those transportation
21:17
options to get over to Magic Kingdom.
21:20
Another reason that you could take that Epcot monorail is just
21:24
if you're kind of transportation hopping, right?
21:27
So let's say you, your end goal is to get from Magic Kingdom to
21:32
Port Orleans Riverside. But you don't just want to get
21:36
on a bus to go there. You want to, you want to take
21:39
them on a rail. You want to take them on a rail
21:41
through Epcot once because you've never done it before.
21:43
So like, that would be another reason that you could do it.
21:45
Not the best way, obviously, to get from a park to a resort, but
21:49
definitely an option if that's something that you're looking to
21:51
do. With these three monorail loops,
21:55
please, again, keep in mind that they all merge at the TTC, so
21:59
the TTC is the central hub location for all three
22:02
monorails. So you've got to double check
22:04
your signs before you go up the ramp to hop on.
22:07
The good thing is they are very well marked.
22:10
So if you're arriving at the TTC, you're going through
22:13
security, you come through the Plaza where you have the
22:16
monorail directly in front of you.
22:18
You're going to see the like overhead signs that say where
22:23
the monorail is going and it's going to show you exactly what
22:26
you need. The two you're going to see in
22:27
front of you are going to be the Epcot one and the Express 1.
22:32
Then down to the left, I believe it is a little bit of the ways
22:35
is the Resort 1 if you need to hop on that one.
22:37
So they're all very clearly marked.
22:40
You just have to make sure you're paying attention to that
22:42
signage when you get to the TTCA.
22:45
Couple notes and parents tips for taking the monorails if you
22:50
are going with a stroller. One of the nice things about
22:53
this is that strollers can remain out and your children can
22:56
remain in their strollers when you are taking the monorail to
22:59
and from. So that is a nice little perk.
23:02
However, I will note that if you have parked at the TTC and you
23:08
are taking the monorail from Magic Kingdom to get back to the
23:10
TTC to in order to take the parking tram, you have to fold
23:16
your stroller up. So you're out of the woods for a
23:19
little bit. And if you can walk to your car,
23:21
you'll be fine with us if you have like a sleeping kiddo.
23:24
But if not, just a note about that.
23:29
Another note about the monorail is that some of the seats do
23:34
face backwards. So depending on which direction
23:38
the monorail is coming and going, some of them are forward
23:40
riding, some of them are backwards riding.
23:42
So if that bothers anyone in your group, just a mental note
23:45
about that to pay attention to which direction the train pulls
23:49
into the monorail station. So that way you know which side
23:53
of your monorail car is going to be facing forward.
23:56
If that monorail is full with the seats, you may end up
24:00
standing and holding on to the silver poles like you would on
24:04
the buses as well. So another note about that.
24:06
The hardest thing with that is if the monorail is really full
24:10
is finding a spot for a stroller, right?
24:13
So just be patient, check the ends.
24:16
The cast members can also help you kind of figure out if
24:19
there's a good spot you may need to split up.
24:21
If you got like an older kid and two adults that you can divide
24:24
out to fit, you know, there's lots of different scenarios with
24:27
that. But just keep in mind that you
24:29
there is a lot of standing room on the monorail as well.
24:33
Just a note that anyone who frequents the monorail also
24:37
knows is there's not a lot of ventilation in there.
24:42
So if you are visiting Disney World during the heat of the
24:46
summer later in the day, the monorail has a bit of an odor to
24:51
it. So just be prepared for that.
24:53
But always do also keep in mind that if you are trying to take
24:58
the monorail to get to the TTC from Magic Kingdom, you can take
25:04
either the resort monorail or the Express monorail.
25:08
So either one will get you there.
25:11
You will find especially at night, the cast members that are
25:15
stationed at the monorail station, like after fireworks
25:18
will be telling people like, hey, both monorails will get you
25:21
to the TTC. Like take both of them because
25:25
they want to divide out those lines.
25:28
But if that's not happening and you see that the Express
25:31
monorail line is really, really, really, really, really long, but
25:33
the resort monorail line is like 1/3 of that.
25:36
Get on the resort monorail. Will it take you a few extra
25:39
stops? Yes, but it's totally worth it
25:43
either way. It's super fun to ride through
25:45
the contemporary on that monorail, so no complaints
25:48
there. So let's talk about boat
25:50
transportation. I feel like this is one of the
25:52
transportation methods that not a lot of people realize is
25:56
available at Disney, unless it's one that you frequent yourself
26:00
because of where you're staying, right?
26:02
So not every resort and every park has boat transportation to
26:07
get to it. So we'll talk about which
26:10
resorts have it here in a moment.
26:12
But do keep in mind that like Animal Kingdom does not have any
26:14
boat transportation to get to it.
26:16
Unfortunately, it's you're stuck with buses only on that one.
26:19
But the other three parks, Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Hollywood
26:22
Studios all do have some boat transportation.
26:25
So keep that in mind when if you are someone that's like, I'd
26:28
really like to take a boat because I've never done it
26:30
before. That's where like a lot of this
26:32
comes into my list. Like I took a boat last trip
26:36
between Epcot and Hollywood Studios because I'd never taken
26:39
it before and I just wanted to see what it was like.
26:41
So to me, that is a, that is part of the reason why people
26:46
take the boats because they like it.
26:48
They want to slow down, they want to see the sights.
26:50
And they've never done it before because the boats as a whole do
26:52
tend to run slower than the buses.
26:55
But of course they're absolutely more scenic if you are viewing
26:58
things from the water. So let's talk about the
27:00
different boat locations based. And we're going to base this on
27:04
the parks that they run to and from.
27:06
So we're going to start with Magic Kingdom.
27:08
Magic Kingdom has several different boat options.
27:12
All of the boat launches and docks are going to be straight
27:17
ahead as you exit the park. So the buses like we talked
27:21
about, if you're, if you're leaving the park, the train
27:24
stations behind you, the buses are going to be to your left,
27:28
the monorail is going to be to your right, and the boats are
27:30
going to sit smack dab in between those two.
27:33
The main boat that you will see at the Magic Kingdom is the
27:37
ferry boat. This ferry boat runs directly
27:40
between the TTC and Magic Kingdom.
27:43
So this is the alternative to the monorail.
27:45
So if that monorail line is looking insanely long and crazy,
27:49
the ferry boat might be a really great option.
27:51
So again, it's straight ahead as you're leaving if you're trying
27:55
to get from the TTC to Magic Kingdom, as you get to like the
28:01
main Plaza where you're looking at the monorail, if you go down
28:04
to the left, you'll see the ferry boat launch down there.
28:07
So it is just straight a shuttle across across 7 Seas Lagoon to
28:12
take you between the TTC and Magic Kingdom.
28:16
I like the ferry boat a lot. It's nice.
28:18
There's a really high capacity, you fit a ton of people on that
28:21
boat and there's usually a nice breeze, so that's a benefit for
28:24
that. A couple of the other boat
28:26
launches that you can find at Magic Kingdom are one that will
28:30
go to the Grand Floridian and the Polynesian and one that will
28:34
go to Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness.
28:37
So there are in total 4 routes of smaller boats in the Magic
28:43
Kingdom area. And each of these is going to be
28:45
designated by different signage at the boat launch and then a
28:49
different colored flag on the boats.
28:51
And you'll see this across all of the rest of the boat routes
28:55
that we're going to talk about is that they all have a
28:57
different colored flag on them. So the routes for these
29:01
typically run every 20 to 30 minutes and they typically open
29:08
about 30 minutes before park opening and will go until 90
29:12
minutes after park close. So just to give you kind of a
29:17
rundown of what boat launches there are, the Gold Flag launch
29:21
carries guests from Magic Kingdom to the Grand Floridian
29:24
and then continues to the Polynesian and then returns to
29:27
Magic Kingdom. The Green Launch carries guests
29:31
from Magic Kingdom to Fort Wilderness and then back again.
29:34
The Red Launch will carry guests from Magic Kingdom to Wilderness
29:39
Lodge and then back again. And then the blue launch
29:43
consists of kind of two different sub launches because
29:48
it will take you between Wilderness Lodge, Fort
29:51
Wilderness and the contemporary. So take a look at that one if
29:55
those are where you want to go from there.
29:57
Now do keep in mind that you can hop on any of these boats at any
30:01
of their stops. So if you just want to go over
30:05
to check out the Grand Floridian and maybe you want to take a
30:09
boat instead of taking the monorail, you can do that.
30:12
And then you can take the same boat route back from the Grand
30:15
Floridian back to the Magic Kingdom.
30:18
You just have to stop at the Polynesian in between.
30:20
So any at any point in any of these routes, you can hop on the
30:24
boats and get to any of those locations.
30:27
Now over at Epcot and Hollywood Studios, there are a couple
30:30
different kinds of boat routes that you can take.
30:35
The first is the Friendship boats that go outside of the
30:38
park. So this is the boat dock that
30:41
you see if you are leaving Epcot out the International Gateway
30:46
heading kind of towards the boardwalk.
30:48
It's directly across from the sky liner, which we'll talk
30:51
about the sky liner very soon, but it's directly across from
30:54
the sky liner. So this one goes between Epcot
30:59
in Hollywood Studios. This is the boat I took on my
31:01
last trip and I liked it. It was fun.
31:03
It stops in between at, if you're starting at Epcot, it
31:07
stops at the Boardwalk, the Beach Club, the Yacht Club, and
31:11
the Dolphin and Swan. So all of those are going to be
31:15
able to use that boat transportation.
31:18
And then after it visits the Dolphin and the Swan, it will go
31:21
on to Hollywood Studios and then switch that and reverse it,
31:25
right? If you're going from Hollywood
31:26
Studios to Epcot, where it drops you off at Hollywood Studios is
31:30
kind of the corner around from where the sky liner is across
31:35
the water from the buses. So it's kind of a hidden boat
31:38
dock off to the side out front of the Hollywood Studios
31:44
entrance gate there. So those are the kind of
31:48
external outside of the park friendship boats.
31:51
But there are also friendship boats that run inside of Epcot.
31:54
So inside of Epcot in World Showcase, there are two
31:58
different routes that these friendship boats will take and
32:01
they are the only transportation method that you can take to get
32:04
between the countries and the pavilions of World Showcase
32:07
without just walking. So they run across World
32:12
Showcase in two different routes.
32:14
They both originate in World Showcase Plaza.
32:17
World Showcase Plaza is kind of the the entrance area to World
32:21
Showcase as you leave World Celebration and go towards all
32:25
of the different country pavilions.
32:28
So they originate from there. One of them goes then to Morocco
32:32
and back, so directly back and forth between the two.
32:35
And the other one goes to Germany and back directly
32:38
between the two, Which I didn't even realize that there were two
32:41
of these until my last trip. And someone in my live chat when
32:44
I was live streaming at the parks told me that there were
32:47
two different boat launches across World Showcase Lagoon.
32:50
I had no idea. I thought there was, I thought
32:52
there was only one, but there are two.
32:54
So Morocco and Germany are your two spots that you can get to
32:58
via those boats. Those boats I don't recommend
33:02
for being a time saver. I do recommend them for being a
33:06
foot saver, right? If you need to get to the other
33:12
side of World Showcase, your feet are just done.
33:14
You need a break. You'd like to sit on a boat for
33:16
a few minutes to get there instead of walking half a mile.
33:19
I do suggest those for that. Another boat option that you can
33:25
look at is actually not in a park.
33:28
It is at Disney Springs. And now the boats at Disney
33:31
Springs have been the topic of debate and rumor and new policy
33:39
over the last couple weeks as I'm recording this.
33:41
So as it sits currently, water transportation from Disney
33:48
Springs to the resorts is only for resort guests and guests
33:53
that have a dining or activity reservation at that resort.
33:59
So unfortunately, if you're just trying to resort hop the Disney
34:03
boats, the Disney Springs boats are no longer an option.
34:07
So take that for what it is. Remember that so you don't get
34:12
stuck. Also, I didn't touch on buses at
34:15
Disney Springs again because this has been topic of debate,
34:18
but the Disney Springs buses are operating the same way.
34:21
So you cannot take a bus from Disney Springs to a resort
34:26
without being a resort guest or having a dining reservation.
34:31
However, if you are someone that is eligible to take the boats at
34:34
Disney Springs, their water transportation is typically
34:37
offered daily from about 10:30 AM to 11:30 PM.
34:41
So 1/2 hour on either end of the operating hours of Disney
34:46
Springs. Usually there are several
34:48
different routes that run to and from Disney Springs.
34:50
So if you are somebody that is staying at one of these resorts,
34:53
these are great options for you to be able to get to Disney
34:57
Springs. The yellow route is the Sasagula
35:00
River Cruise that runs to and from Port Orleans, French
35:02
Quarter and Riverside. The green route runs to and from
35:08
Old Key West. The blue route runs to and from
35:11
Saratoga Springs. Now currently all of these boat
35:15
routes are running from the Marketplace dock, which is down
35:18
like past the Christmas store and past the end of like World
35:23
of Disney around that side. Previously there were three
35:26
docks at Disney Springs that they would use and there used to
35:29
be a red route that would run between the West side, the
35:33
landing and Marketplace. However, it doesn't seem that
35:38
those are operational at the moment and that it looks to be
35:42
online that every resort boat is using that marketplace dock.
35:47
I could be wrong, I haven't physically gone and looked at
35:50
the dock to check and see, but that seems to be what it looks
35:53
like from the maps and information that I can find
35:56
online. So let's talk about a few parent
35:59
notes and tips for the different boat transportation that you may
36:03
be considering taking. Strollers will typically need to
36:07
be folded up on the smaller boats.
36:11
The ferry boats they do not have to be folded up on.
36:13
So if you're going from the TTC to Magic Kingdom or vice versa,
36:17
you can just wheel that stroller straight on, leave your kiddos
36:20
in it, and be good to go. But on the smaller boats, I
36:23
would suggest having a plan to fold them up because it makes
36:26
more room for other passengers as you're traveling back and
36:29
forth between resorts and parks. Also be mindful if you let your
36:33
kiddo pick your seats. A lot of these boats have like
36:38
an interior where there are seats and then like an outside
36:43
area where there are seats and you don't necessarily want to
36:46
get stuck outside in the sun on a hot afternoon in Florida.
36:52
So be mindful of that. Maybe guide them to an interior
36:57
if it's available and if you are able to for that.
37:01
And just my personal note, and I mentioned this earlier, I prefer
37:05
the ferry boat at the end of the day from Magic Kingdom.
37:08
It's got a much higher capacity. It's a faster load, it's got a
37:11
better breeze. And I also just in general love
37:14
the boat transportation around Disney.
37:16
I think it gives you such a unique look at so many of the
37:20
different sites that you typically see from a different
37:22
perspective. So I really like the boat
37:24
transportation, but if you are going from resort to park or
37:28
park to resort, the boats are definitely not the fastest.
37:31
They're the prettiest, but they're not the fastest.
37:33
So let's talk about the sky liner.
37:35
This is the newest form of Disney transportation on Walt
37:38
Disney World property and that the sky liner is really just
37:42
like a gondola transportation system and it runs between
37:47
Epcot, Hollywood Studios and then four different resorts,
37:50
Caribbean Beach, the Riviera, Art of Animation, and Pop
37:53
Century. The gondola cars are all decked
37:56
out with like your favorite Disney characters from movies
37:59
and shows and the parks. They're adorable and brightly
38:03
colored and super fun. So that is a big draw for the
38:07
sky liner. And it is also the fastest way
38:10
to travel between Epcot and Hollywood Studios, and it's also
38:15
the fastest way to travel between those resorts and Epcot
38:17
and Hollywood Studios. So it's a great option.
38:20
I really like the sky liner. I think it is super fun and it's
38:23
one of those things that, at least with my family, has become
38:26
kind of like a quintessential part of our Disney trip is like
38:30
we have to ride the sky liner, right?
38:31
We have to ride the monorail and we have to ride the sky liner.
38:34
Those are like two things that my kids always request to do
38:36
when we go. Something to note, if you are
38:38
taking the sky liner to Epcot, the entrance that it takes you
38:44
to is the International Gateway entrance.
38:47
It is not the front entrance by Spaceship Earth.
38:50
It is between the UK and France. Pavilion on that side of
38:56
International, The International Gateway on that side of World
38:59
Showcase. Also keep in mind that if you
39:03
are trying to do transportation hopping or resort hopping or
39:09
just exploring the the the property and Disney World in
39:14
general, you cannot get between the Epcot Monorail Station and
39:20
the Epcot Sky Liner Station without going through the park.
39:25
This is something that trips a lot of people up because they
39:28
assume, like Hollywood Studios, you can get between the buses
39:32
and the sky liner and all that no problem.
39:34
It's all out in the front of the park.
39:35
But with Epcot, it is not because that sky liner station
39:39
does take you to International Gateway.
39:41
In order to get to the monorail, you have to go through the park.
39:44
So if you've got a ticket that day that can get you in and go
39:47
through the park, fabulous, great, no problem.
39:50
But if you don't have a park ticket for the day or you don't
39:52
have a park hopper and Epcot's not your park for the day, you
39:55
need to find a different way to get where you're trying to go.
39:58
So just something to keep in mind because that can be really
40:01
tricky when people are trying to navigate places like the
40:04
Boardwalk or Yacht and Beach Swan and Dolphin.
40:07
Any of those resorts that are in that space right outside of the
40:11
International Gateway entrance can be a little tricky with
40:14
that, with the sky liner. Caribbean Beach is the main hub.
40:18
So most of the lines that you're taking to get where you need to
40:23
go, you are going to need to switch lines at that time.
40:27
So there are three main lines for the sky liner.
40:33
One of them runs from Epcot to the Riviera to Caribbean Beach.
40:37
And then at Caribbean Beach, you would have to get off to get on
40:40
a different line. The, the second line is
40:43
Hollywood Studios to Caribbean Beach.
40:45
So again, when you get to Caribbean Beach, you're going to
40:47
hop off. And then the other one is Pop
40:49
Century and Art of Animation. They share a sky liner hub and
40:53
that one takes you again directly to Caribbean Beach.
40:57
So all of those lines, let's say you're trying to get from
41:01
Hollywood Studios to Epcot, you're going to have to go
41:03
Hollywood Studios to Caribbean Beach, hop off, get on the other
41:07
line to then go through the Riviera to get to Epcot.
41:10
If you're starting at Art of Animation and you want to get to
41:12
Hollywood Studios, you're going to go Art of, you're going to
41:15
get on at Art of Animation, get off at Caribbean Beach, hop on
41:18
the other line to get to Hollywood Studios.
41:20
So there's typically going to be a swap over unless you're
41:23
staying at Caribbean Beach and then you're just lucky because
41:25
you can hop on any of those 3 and you only have to do one line
41:29
to get to where you're trying to go.
41:31
As far as the travel time goes, now this does vary sometimes
41:35
with weather or things that happen, but from Caribbean Beach
41:40
to Hollywood Studios is about 5 minutes.
41:43
From Caribbean Beach to Epcot, because you have to go through
41:46
the Riviera is about 12 minutes. And then Caribbean Beach to Pop
41:50
Century Art of Animation again is about 5 minutes.
41:53
So really fast option. The biggest unknown about this
41:57
transportation system is how long is the line waiting that is
42:01
waiting to get on the line you need to get on.
42:04
So if you're starting at Pop, you have to go to Caribbean
42:06
Beach. How long is the line at
42:07
Caribbean Beach to get to Hollywood Studios?
42:10
That's going to be the biggest variable in your travel time.
42:13
But generally speaking, the lines move super fast.
42:17
The sky liner is a continually moving transportation option, so
42:22
that really helps with those lines as well.
42:25
The Sky Liner typically starts running about 60 minutes before
42:28
Epcot and Hollywood Studios open for early entry.
42:31
If you're staying at a sky Liner resort, I would go the night
42:34
before your first park day and double check.
42:36
They're going to have a sign outside of the sky liner station
42:40
that has the hours for for the upcoming days.
42:44
So I would go and double check that because the morning time at
42:48
any of those resorts, especially like Pop Century Art of
42:51
Animation, that line gets crazy long.
42:55
So you want to make sure that you are in line ready to go.
42:58
So that way you don't have to wait 40 minutes just to get on
43:02
the sky liner. Now, like I said, it typically
43:04
moves very quickly. It's usually not a huge deal,
43:06
but that line can get very, very long.
43:09
The sky liner typically runs for about 90 minutes after Epcot and
43:12
Hollywood Studios close. But if they're extended evening
43:15
hours or like events or things like that, it may stay open
43:19
longer. But you're going to want to just
43:20
double check that before you get stranded because occasionally
43:24
the sky liner sky liner will still close at normal time and
43:26
they'll provide buses instead. So like that's really important
43:29
to know, especially if you're at an extra magic hour event at
43:34
Epcot. You need to know which look,
43:36
which exit to use to be able to get back to your resort.
43:39
So definitely double check with that.
43:41
Ask the people working the sky liner or ask a guest relations
43:44
and they can help you out with that.
43:45
The sky liner does close for inclement weather.
43:48
So this is one that is a little bit tricky with the sky liner
43:50
primarily lightning and heavy rain will close it, but
43:54
occasionally strong winds will close it as well and it does
43:57
often go down for routine maintenance in January.
44:00
So they have already announced A refurb for the Disney sky liner
44:04
in January of 2027. So it will be closed from the
44:08
24th through the 30th of January.
44:10
So like that last week it will be closed for refurb.
44:14
So something to keep in mind and that's typically normal.
44:17
They went an extra year this time it had been closing like
44:21
yearly in January, but they didn't close at this past year
44:24
for whatever reason. So but January 2027, it does
44:27
have already a down period for maintenance for that resorts
44:31
with the sky liner access. Something else to keep in mind
44:35
is they do not run buses to Epcot and Studios.
44:41
So if you're staying at Caribbean beach, your only
44:46
option to get to Epcot in Studios is the sky liner.
44:49
Same with Riviera, Pop Century and Art of Animation.
44:52
They will not run buses unless the sky liner is down and then
44:57
they will run the buses to help get people where they need to
44:59
go. So if the if the weather is
45:02
looking a little questionable, you will still be able to get to
45:05
and from where you're trying to go, it just may not be via the
45:08
sky liner. So you may have to backtrack a
45:10
little to get to the bus stop if that becomes an issue with
45:13
weather for that. Couple notes for my parents
45:18
visiting and planning to take the sky liner.
45:21
There is no air conditioning in the sky liner but they do have a
45:25
good breeze. Be sure to open the windows if
45:28
they are not open. They have these little handles
45:31
along the top and there are at least one on every long side of
45:36
the sky liner up at the top that you can like pull down and push
45:40
out to open up the the windows to vent that.
45:44
Because then once you get flowing, there's usually a nice
45:46
breeze in there and it's not not a huge deal.
45:50
The only other issue is if you get stopped because from time to
45:55
time the sky liner will stop even if you're on it and it's
45:58
running perfectly normal. Sometimes they have to unload
46:00
and load cars. Sometimes people may need help
46:02
getting in and out of the sky liner so they will stop it on
46:06
occasion. So if you do stop it can get a
46:08
little warm in there. So maybe have your your handheld
46:12
fans ready just in case you need them.
46:15
Each gondola of the sky liner can hold up to 10 guests or six
46:20
guests. If you are traveling with
46:21
somebody with a wheelchair or ECV.
46:24
Single strollers and inline double strollers can roll right
46:28
on and do not need to be folded up.
46:32
That is a huge benefit. Now if you have a side by side
46:35
stroller where there are two seats next to each other, those
46:38
will have to be folded up in the same way that they do for the
46:41
buses. So just be ready for that.
46:44
Again, be prepared to divide and conquer the best that you can.
46:50
If you're traveling with little littles, they will definitely
46:52
need a hand to hold to help them get on and off of the sky liner
46:56
because like I said, it is a continually moving
46:58
transportation system. Those gondolas do not stop.
47:01
So you definitely are going to want to have a hand on them.
47:03
Even my 7 and 9 year olds, especially my 7 year old, I will
47:07
grab her hand and make sure that she's all good getting on
47:10
because it can be a little wobbly when you have to step
47:13
onto a moving gondola from a stationary platform.
47:17
So just be prepared for that. One other note about the gondola
47:21
movement is as you are coming into the station, wherever
47:27
you're headed, if it's Epcot, Caribbean Beach, Holly Studios,
47:30
any of those, they come in fast. Don't be alarmed.
47:35
It's a little bit jarring though because they do come in faster
47:39
than they hit the brakes as you approach the station.
47:42
That is perfectly normal. So just brace yourself for that
47:46
as you approach. Again, this the sky liner system
47:50
does have seats that are forward and backward facing like we
47:53
talked about for the monorail. So be aware of that.
47:57
If you've got somebody that's like, I cannot go backwards,
47:59
make sure they get on the correct side of of the the
48:03
gondola whenever you are loading.
48:06
And just a note, if you're staying at Caribbean beach and
48:08
you want to know what areas are the closest to the sky liner,
48:11
Jamaica, Barbados, the Trinidad pirate rooms and Aruba.
48:18
Aruba has access to the Riviera station, but the other three are
48:22
all going to be your closest options to the Caribbean beach
48:25
station of the of the sky liner over there.
48:29
A couple more options for transportation here.
48:33
The next one is let's talk about rideshare on property.
48:36
So this would be your Uber or your Lyft.
48:39
These are all readily available all around Disney property.
48:43
They function just like they do in outside of the Disney bubble
48:47
in the quote UN quote normal world.
48:50
Every park has a ride share drop off area, so they're going to
48:56
have a designated space that you can go to meet your rideshare or
49:00
to get dropped off by your rideshare.
49:03
Most of the parks are out near the parking lot or the bus
49:06
areas, but Magic Kingdom is at the TTC, so there is no
49:12
rideshare except I'll get that in a second, but the typical
49:16
rideshare option for Uber and Lyft drops you off at the TTC.
49:20
So then from there you have to get on one of the other
49:22
transportation options that we talked about a little bit ago.
49:26
Parent notes about the rideshare option.
49:29
This is a great option for getting somewhere at rope drop
49:33
and for getting a cross property for like a dining reservation.
49:37
So I talked about there's no direct resort to resort
49:40
transportation like buses. So Uber and Lyft are a really
49:45
good way if you need to get a cross property for a dining
49:48
reservation and you don't want to have to leave an hour and a
49:50
half in advance to make sure that you're not late.
49:53
My only issue with this is car seats can be a concern.
49:57
So if you are a family that's got littles that need to be in a
50:00
car seat, that can be a concern because Uber and Lyft, while
50:04
they do have those options, they're not always super
50:06
reliable and it may take longer for you to be able to get a
50:13
driver that has access to those car seats for you.
50:16
But I have a solution if you have the budget for it, and that
50:21
solution is minivans. So when I say minivans, I'm not
50:25
talking about the one parked in my garage right now.
50:27
I'm talking about Minn i.e. Minnie Mouse minivans.
50:31
These are adorable Lyft cars and SU VS that are painted like
50:37
Minnie Mouse's infamous red and white polka dotted skirt.
50:40
They are adorable. You will see them all across
50:43
property. They are so much fun with these
50:47
though. If you need a car seat, these
50:49
include up to two complementary car seats if needed and those
50:53
are required for children under six years of age per Florida
50:57
law. So if you've got kiddos that are
50:59
three 4-5 and need a car seat, the minivans will come equipped
51:02
with up to two included in every single one that you book.
51:07
The other thing to know about the minivans is they do have
51:10
more of a prioritized drop off location and then your standard
51:14
lift cars do because they are run through Lyft but by Disney.
51:21
So for example, at Magic Kingdom, the standard Lyft drop
51:26
off is at the TTC, the minivan drop off is inside of the bus
51:33
stop drop offs. So it is right there with the
51:35
buses. It's actually like the front and
51:38
corner very first bus stop at Magic Kingdom that you come to
51:41
is the minivan 1. So definitely prioritized there.
51:45
Same thing goes for the other parks where they will have
51:48
spaces usually within the bus area that they're going to pick
51:52
up and drop off. So it's going to be a lot closer
51:54
than your standard rideshare options.
51:58
This was something else that I found interesting about the
52:00
minivans that I didn't know because I never looked into
52:02
them. Minivans are typically not in my
52:04
budget and I usually just take Disney transportation and just
52:07
kind of hope for the best timing wise.
52:09
But minivans do also have ECV and wheelchair accessible vans,
52:14
which is so great for anybody that's travelling with somebody
52:19
with an ECV across property and you don't want to take a bus,
52:21
the minivans can help with that. So with the minivans, they have
52:25
seating for five people. They do still have one
52:29
complimentary car seat which can be used by one of the five
52:32
passengers. So that number is included in
52:34
the five. And then they have two spaces
52:36
for mobility devices. And with these vans, the guests
52:40
may actually remain in their mobility device for the duration
52:43
of the ride. So similar to the buses in that
52:46
they can just wheel on, they park them, they get them all
52:49
secured and situated, but then they can just stay in their ECV
52:52
or wheelchair for the duration of your ride.
52:54
So minivans are a super fun option.
52:57
Now they are, they do come at a cost, right?
52:59
A standard lift and a minivan are not going to be the same
53:03
cost for your party to get where you're trying to go.
53:06
So just look at it as an option again, prioritized drop off and
53:10
pick up locations. And those car seats are the 2
53:13
main draws and they're just super fun and cute to look at
53:16
and to get to drive in while you're at Disney.
53:19
So another option again there. And like I said, the rideshare
53:23
options are really just your standard rideshare when it comes
53:27
to navigating across the Disney parks.
53:29
So the last thing I want to talk about with our Disney
53:32
transportation explained for families is not really an
53:37
external transportation system. It's zero and two feet.
53:41
So let's talk about walking paths because there are actually
53:44
a few areas of Disney World Resort where you can walk
53:47
between resorts and parks or parks and parks or resort to
53:50
resort. So let's talk about those
53:55
because there may be a better option for you rather than
53:58
having to wait on a bus if you're in a group that is able
54:00
to walk these distances. So over in the Magic Kingdom
54:04
area, the the first one that I want to talk about is the
54:08
walkway between the Contemporary and Magic Kingdom.
54:12
This one I feel like is utilized a lot and is fairly well
54:17
advertised and a lot of people know about it.
54:19
So this is exactly what it sounds like.
54:21
You walk from right inside the security actually to the
54:28
contemporary and you're going to walk directly by the bus stops
54:32
at the contemporary. So if you're already at the bus
54:35
or you're, you know where the bus stops are because you're
54:37
staying there, walk past them down that sidewalk.
54:41
You're going to pass some parking lots.
54:42
You're going to have to cross the road at the crosswalk.
54:44
There's lights and all that good stuff.
54:47
But the nice thing about this one is this pathway actually
54:49
includes a designated security stop.
54:52
So you don't have to go through the busier park entrance bag
54:55
checks. You can go through the smaller
54:58
one. If you're coming from the
54:59
contemporary, they'll check your bags, you'll go through the
55:01
metal detector and then you can go straight to the tap styles to
55:04
get in. So that's a benefit of that.
55:06
And it's not a long walk it with kids.
55:08
It maybe take took us 10 minutes when we take took it with our
55:11
kids before. If you've got adults or teens,
55:13
it's a little bit shorter than that.
55:15
I mean, there's hardly ever a line at that security stop.
55:18
So that's a really great option for that.
55:21
Another one that you can walk is from the Grand Floridian to
55:24
Magic Kingdom. So this is a relatively newer
55:27
path. They were doing some
55:28
construction and things on it in the the past months here.
55:33
But it is open. It'll take you about 20 minutes
55:37
to walk. And it's very scenic with like
55:40
Florida wildlife, right? There's not a ton to look at.
55:43
You're not walking through parking lots and crossing roads
55:46
this way. It's much more of a scenic,
55:49
woodsy style walk if that is something that you want to do.
55:54
The other one in the Magic Kingdom area is the Polynesian.
55:58
So from the Polynesian, you can actually walk to different
56:00
places. You can walk to the Grand
56:02
Floridian, so you can walk in between both of those.
56:04
They're nice and close to each other.
56:06
And then you can also walk from the Polynesian to the TTC.
56:11
So this path is kind of a combination of the Polynesians,
56:15
like internal walkways that walk just through the resort that
56:19
then connect directly to the TTC.
56:22
The most direct trip from the front of the Great Ceremonial
56:25
House of the Polynesian to the TTC is about 1/3 of a mile.
56:29
So it's really not that far. So if you want to, especially
56:33
like if you're at the Polynesian and you want to get to Epcot, I
56:36
would walk to the TTC and then hop on the Epcot monorail.
56:39
Because otherwise if you're at the Polynesian and you're
56:42
wanting to get to Epcot, you are going to have to go Polynesian,
56:48
Grand Floridian, Magic Kingdom Contemporary and then the TTC.
56:52
So it's going to be a much bigger time saver if you're able
56:55
to walk. Now if you're not able to walk,
56:57
then just go to the monorail and do the, the normal quote UN
56:59
quote pathway. But highly suggest looking at
57:02
that that pathway if you are trying to get to Epcot from the
57:07
Polynesian. In the Epcot and Hollywood
57:11
Studios area, there's a lot of the different resorts that are
57:15
outside of the World Showcase International Gateway entrance
57:19
that you can walk from. So walking from that area is
57:24
called Crescent Lake. So walking from the Crescent
57:26
Lake resorts to Epcot. So that would be Yacht Club,
57:29
Beach Club, Boardwalk, Swan, Swan Reserve, and Dolphin are
57:32
all walkable distance to Epcot. Same thing with those resorts to
57:37
studios. However, it's a lot longer of a
57:40
walk to studios. All of those resorts are fairly
57:44
well under a mile to get to Epcot.
57:47
If you look at the Boardwalk, Yacht Club, Beach Club, those
57:49
are really close. Swan and Dolphin are the further
57:51
ones out, but like Yacht Club, Boardwalk Beach Club, super
57:54
close to Epcot. All of those though are going to
57:57
be at least a mile to get to Hollywood Studios.
58:00
It is walkable, it's just quite a bit further to get there.
58:04
Same thing for walking from Hollywood Studios to Epcot.
58:09
Hollywood Studios front gate and Epcot's back gate, the
58:12
international gateway are connected via all those Epcot
58:15
area resort paths. This is the longest walk in that
58:19
area and it is over a mile. So it is like 1 1/4 miles to get
58:25
between the two. But it is walkable if the sky
58:29
liner goes down for some reason other than whether you're not
58:32
going to want to walk this in a thunderstorm, but or you just
58:36
you want to go on a walk to get some extra steps in because you
58:39
didn't get enough in in your park day.
58:41
Which if that's you, sure, that's fine.
58:46
But if you want to get some extra steps, that is a fun
58:48
pathway that you can take that walks you through several
58:51
different resort areas and is really nice to kind of look
58:54
around and see where everything's going.
58:56
The other thing you could do is you could walk part of it and
58:59
you could hop on the boat. We talked about the friendship
59:00
boats earlier that take you from those same Crescent Lake areas
59:05
to Hollywood Studios. So you could walk from Epcot to
59:08
the boat, take the boat part of the way and then walk the rest
59:10
of the way. So lots of different
59:11
combinations with that if that's something that you want to look
59:14
into. Just another note also from the
59:17
Swan, Swan Reserve and Dolphin, you can actually walk to the
59:21
miniature golf course Fantasia Garden.
59:24
So if that's something you want to do because you're planning to
59:27
do the mini golf anyway, that's probably a much better bet to
59:33
get there and then trying to navigate the buses and all of
59:36
that to get to mini golf because that's a whole nother
59:41
complicated way to to get there. But you can walk from Fantasia
59:45
Gardens to Swan Swan Reserve and the Dolphin.
59:49
Now in the Disney Springs area, you can actually walk on a path
59:54
from Disney Springs to Saratoga Springs.
59:57
So the edge of Saratoga Springs actually has a designated
1:00:01
walking path from the Congress Park section of the resort.
1:00:06
And that is the best way to get to Disney Springs if you're on
1:00:09
that side of the resort now. Saratoga Springs is a massive
1:00:13
resort, so if you're not on that side, probably not the fastest
1:00:17
way to get there because it would be a significantly further
1:00:21
walk to just get to Congress Park to then be able to get to
1:00:25
Disney Springs. So I would look at one of the
1:00:27
other options for transportation if you're going from one of the
1:00:32
other sections of Saratoga Springs to get to Disney
1:00:35
Springs. And then as far as walking goes,
1:00:37
you can also walk between several resorts like I mentioned
1:00:40
earlier, Fort Wilderness and Wilderness Lodge are very easy
1:00:43
to walk in between. Art of Animation and Pop Century
1:00:47
are literally across the bridge from each other, super easy to
1:00:50
walk in between. Same thing with Port Orleans
1:00:52
Riverside and Port Orleans French Quarter, they basically
1:00:54
sit almost touching each other. They're almost like one big
1:00:57
resort over there and that one is absolutely beautiful to walk
1:01:01
through. If you're looking for a nice
1:01:03
scenic stroll to take and then same for Caribbean beach and
1:01:07
Riviera, which shouldn't surprise you given that they
1:01:09
both have access to the sky liner.
1:01:11
You can easily walk between the two of those.
1:01:14
Now, there are some other places that you can walk on Disney
1:01:18
resort property, but those are kind of the best options.
1:01:22
I know there are several of the resorts like the All Star
1:01:24
resorts, you can walk to the local McDonald's that's right
1:01:27
there, you know, so there's some other walking paths that you can
1:01:31
take if you need to or choose to.
1:01:33
But these are just the ones that I thought would be most helpful
1:01:36
for for people to to take note of if you're staying at any of
1:01:39
these places or want to resort hop between any of these places.
1:01:44
Now before we wrap today, just an overall general note about
1:01:48
navigating around Disney property.
1:01:51
The best way to navigate and figure out what transportation
1:01:57
methods you have. If this is all too much, you
1:02:00
can't remember it. You just need the tried and true
1:02:02
simple way to figure out transportation.
1:02:05
Use your My Disney Experience app.
1:02:07
The map feature on that app has direction options, or you can
1:02:12
also access the directions through searching for like key
1:02:16
places at the location you're trying to get to.
1:02:18
So let's say for example, you're at Magic Kingdom and you know
1:02:23
that you want to go to Fort Wilderness.
1:02:28
If I go on My Disney Experience and I start at the train
1:02:34
station, OK, I started the train station.
1:02:38
See how when I click the train station, it's going to say I'm
1:02:41
going to say get directions. So I'm going to get directions
1:02:45
and then I'm going to flip this. So I'm starting at the railroad
1:02:51
station and then I'm going to type in here, Fort Wilderness.
1:02:58
And then I'm just going to pick like, OK, let's look.
1:03:02
I want to get to try Circle D Ranch because I want to go see
1:03:08
the horses over there. So now this is showing me all of
1:03:11
the options that I have. It's showing me if I want to
1:03:13
take a bus, it's showing me up at the top if I want to take a
1:03:17
boat, if I want to take the monorail.
1:03:20
And you can click through the different options and it will
1:03:23
show you what to do to get to where I need to go.
1:03:27
So that is the best way that I would suggest doing it.
1:03:31
You can also search like let's say I want to get to Primo
1:03:37
Piato, which is the quick service restaurant at the
1:03:41
Riviera. If I'm on that page, I also have
1:03:44
a get directions option on there as well.
1:03:46
So I click get directions and let's say I'm staying at All
1:03:51
Star Music. Star Music, I want to get to
1:03:54
Primo Piato. This is showing me the options
1:03:58
that I need to do. So it's telling me to from the
1:04:03
All Stars, take a bus to Hollywood Studios and then jump
1:04:08
on the sky liner. So then it's also showing if I
1:04:13
want to do all buses because I don't want to do the sky liner.
1:04:16
It's telling me bus to Animal Kingdom because that's the
1:04:19
closest park, and then from Animal Kingdom bus to the
1:04:22
Riviera. So that is the best way to
1:04:25
figure out your transportation needs and options.
1:04:29
You can also ask the concierge at your resort, if you say, hey,
1:04:32
I'm trying to get here, what is my best option to get there?
1:04:35
They're going to be able to give you that information as well.
1:04:39
The thing to note about that and about all of these different
1:04:42
transportation options are time and convenience are the main two
1:04:45
things to consider when traveling across Disney
1:04:47
property, right? How much time do I have to get
1:04:49
where I'm trying to go and how convenient is it?
1:04:52
Do I have to take 4 bus routes or can I just hop on the sky
1:04:55
liner to get to where I need to go?
1:04:56
Right? So all of those things are
1:04:58
things to keep in mind when you're looking at
1:05:00
transportation. Hopefully all of the information
1:05:03
that I gave you today was helpful so that way you have a
1:05:06
little bit of a better grasp on what locations have what kind of
1:05:10
transportation and how can I get from this resort to this resort
1:05:13
and this park to this resort. So hopefully this at least gave
1:05:16
you a better understanding of some of that.
1:05:18
If you still need help and you're like, I'm so lost.
1:05:20
How do I get here from there? I'm trying to plan for my trip
1:05:23
in the fall and I don't know where I'm going.
1:05:26
Send me a message. You can always find me at Mom
1:05:28
St. usa@gmail.com or you can reach out to me at Mom St.
1:05:32
USA on any of our social media platforms.
1:05:34
Again, Patreon is a great way to send me a message over there as
1:05:39
well. Coming up next on Mom St.
1:05:41
USA, we are going to be talking about 5 things I wish I knew
1:05:45
before visiting Walt Disney World.
1:05:47
So hoping to give you my 5 best tips when it comes to visiting
1:05:52
Disney. But for now, that is the end of
1:05:55
this episode. Thank you all so much for being
1:05:56
here for this episode of Mom St. USA.
1:05:58
Thank you all for supporting and sharing and commenting and
1:06:02
hanging out and being here. You are all so appreciated and I
1:06:04
will see you on the next episode of Mom St.
1:06:07
USA. Bye.