Disney World Transportation 101

Spanning over 30,000 archers in the hot swamp of Florida, Walt Disney World is a very large vacation destination. Due to its grand size, there are several different types of transportation modes that you can use to get you from point a to point b on property. Within this post, I am going to be exploring the four main types of transportation that Walt Disney World offers and my tips for each one.

1. Buses

The most commonly used and talked about form of Disney transportation are the buses. You can take a bus to almost anywhere on Disney property. If you are staying on property at a Walt Disney World Resort you will be able to pick up a bus in front of your lobby to any of the four parks, two water parks, and Disney Springs.

Once you arrive at a park and are done for the day you can pick up a bus back to your resort or another park. Every park has a large bus depot that runs to every resort and park on property. Make sure to check for the numbered signs outside of the depots to see which number your resort or next destination is. This number is going to tell you which line to wait in for a bus.

Buses run every 20 to 25 minutes and can sometimes be even shorter depending on how close you are to where you are going. If you are at your resort lobby there are normally TVs placed around the waiting areas with approximated times for the next bus. You can also check these times in the My Disney Experience App.

Keep in mind there is sitting and standing room on the bus but if you are closer to the end of the line you will probably be standing. Also, be prepared to be packed in like sardines on a busy day. There have been many times I have been packed on a very busy bus to my next destination. But everything is within a 20 minute to 30-minute ride so it isn’t too bad.

Strollers are allowed on the buses but be prepared to fold up your stroller before entering the bus. Motorized scooters are also allowed on Disney buses.

Even though there are other types of transportation on Disney property, if you are planning on heading to Animal Kingdom a bus is going to be your only option. Animal Kingdom is the only park that does not have access to other types of transportation like the sky-liner or monorail.

It is also important to keep in mind that since the buses are the most popular form of transportation they are also the busiest, especially at park closing. If you are planning on staying in a park till closing, I recommend waiting around and visiting the gift shops for 20 to 30 minutes after closing. Most gift shops stay open for one hour after the park closes. When the park closes everyone rushes to the buses only to wait in extremely long lines with hundreds of other people. I tend to hang out in the gift shops and wait it out. This is also a great time to grab some cool nighttime photos in the parks with next to no one in the background.

2. Monorail

The most famous transportation amongst Disney lovers is probably the monorail and will always be one of my favorites. Although it is one of my favorites it is very limited throughout Disney. There are two main tracks that the monorail runs, the resort loop and the Epcot/ Magic Kingdom loop.

I recommend Monorail if you plan on traveling between Epcot and Magic Kingdom. It is much faster than the buses and has a higher chance of getting a seat than the buses. I also love that if you leave Magic Kingdom and go to Epcot you do not have to go through bag check again. This is also the same if you go from Epcot to Magic Kingdom. This is because you have to go through bag check to get to the monorail and you never go outside of Disney “boundaries” while on the monorail so you do not have to go through bag check again. If you were to take the bus you would have to go through bag check again. Bag check lines can get extremely long and take time out of your day so this is a great way to avoid them.

One thing to remember is that you will stop at the Transport Center when you leave Epcot or Magic Kingdom. You will need to get off the Monorail at the Transportation Center and board another monorail depending on where you are going. Many people make this mistake and think it is one continuous loop. A monorail goes from Epcot to the transportation center and a different monorail goes from Magic Kingdom to the transportation center.

In addition to the Epcot/Magic Kingdom loop, there is also the resort monorail loop. This monorail travels around the resorts surrounding the Magic Kingdom stops at the transportation center, and also Magic Kingdom. This loop is great if you are staying at any of the resorts surrounding the Magic Kingdom like the Polynesian or Grand Floridian. You can also use it if you plan on eating at any of the many restaurants within those resorts. I like to plan a Magic Kingdom day and plan a reservation at one of those restaurants. That way I can jump on the monorail to get to my reservation quickly. It is also always fun to have breakfast at the Chef Mickeys in the Contemporary and then jump on the monorail over to Magic Kingdom for a day of fun.

3. Skyliner

The most recent addition to transportation at the Walt Disney World resort is the Skyliner and it has slowly become a fan favorite. If you haven’t visited the parks in a few years you may be unfamiliar with this new addition to Disney transportation. The Skyliner is a system of gondolas that run between Hollywood Studios, Epcot, and a few of the resorts on property.

I was able to take full advantage of this new system during my last trip to the Disney parks in January 2020 and they are now my favorite type of transportation on property. One of the reasons I have grown to love the Skyliner is the ease and speed of the system. The system runs on a continuous loop with little to no starts or stops, unlike the buses that get stopped at red lights and in traffic.

At the time of writing this post, the Skyliners home base station is Caribbean Beach. From Caribbean Beach, three lines run to Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Pop Century/ Art of Animation. During my last trip, we stayed at Pop Century and were able to take the Skyliner to Caribbean Beach in less than 5 minutes every time. From there you can board the line to Epcot or Hollywood Studios. Epcot is going to average around an 11-minute trip because it stops at the new Riviera Resort and Hollywood Studios averages around 4 minutes. All in all, it is an extremely quick trip and less crowded than the buses or monorail.

Hollywood Studios Skyliner drops off outside of the park but Epcot’s Skyliner line drops off right outside of the World Showcase between England and France. You cannot access the monorail or any other form of transportation from the Skyliner drop off at Epcot. You will need admission to Epcot and will have to walk to the front of the park, exit, and then board the monorail or some other form of transportation. Also keep in mind that if you stay at Pop Century, Art of Animation, Riviera Resort, or Caribbean Beach, Disney has slowly started to decrease the number of buses that will travel to Epcot and Hollywood Studios to encourage you to use the Skyliner.

Another reason to love the Skyliner is the new views of Disney World you are going to see. Similar to other gondola systems you are going to be around 60 feet in the air. This height allows you to experience Disney in a new and fun way. But you may need to keep this in mind if anyone in your party is scared of heights. A commonly asked question is about strollers and the Skyliner. You can take strollers on the Skyliner as long as they are folded up. Every type of Disney transportation allows for strollers if they are folded and can be loaded onboard.

4. Boats

The last form of Disney owned and operated transportation to make sure you take advantage of is the boats. There are several different boat lines that run throughout the Disney resort. For the most part, the boats are a great way to get from your resort to a park that may be nearby. At this time the only boat that runs from Park to Park and not resorts to Park is the Epcot/ Hollywood Studios line. Personally, now that the Skyliner is up and running I prefer to take it instead of the boats if I’m park hopping between Epcot/ Hollywood Studios. This is due to the time it takes to get from one park to the other. The Skyliner is going to take you about 15 minutes while the boat is going to take around 30 minutes. This is because of the speed of the boats and it also stops at the few resorts along the way. This is something to keep in mind if you’re trying to get to a dining reservation or fast pass. I have also seen many people take advantage of this long ride to allow their children to take a quick nap.

I recommend reading this quick breakdown of the boats and where they pick up and go to on the Disney website. Click here! The page gives a quick breakdown of which resorts have access to a boat and where it goes. For the most part, this is going to include those resorts near Magic Kingdom or Epcot/Hollywood Studios. The boats are a great way to avoid the buses but also try to allow for longer transportation time depending on the route.

Bonus: Minnie Vans

Since being added a few years ago Minnie Vans are slowly becoming more and more popular. This is a newer service provided by Lyft in collaboration with Disney. Like a regular Lyft or Uber, you can get a ride using the Lyft app and paying for a Minnie Van anywhere on Disney property. Since this is not a free form of transportation I decided to add it as a bonus to this list. A Minnie Van is going to start at around $25 and increase in price the farther you go. It will also hold around 6 people and has car seats available. Read more about it here!

So there we have it, every type of transportation offered by Disney that is free of charge for all Walt Disney World guests to use whether you are staying on property or not. Even if you plan on driving and staying off property, I highly recommend using some of the Disney Transportation to park hop. Normally grabbing the Skyliner to Epcot from Hollywood Studios is going to be much faster than walking back to your car, driving to the next park, parking, and walk to the front of the park.

I hope that this post helped you explore and understand all of the types of transportation Walt Disney World has to offer! It is very important to understand each type of transportation and how it can improve your Disney vacation.

Have a Magical Day!

-Magical Montana

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