Transportation at Walt Disney World: Getting Around the Parks & Hotels
When you’re planning a Walt Disney World vacation, one of the biggest decisions is picking the right resort for you and your family. Something that plays a big factor into most peoples’ choice is the transportation available at the hotel. And, Walt Disney World has more options than a lot of destinations around the U.S. - another factor that makes it so immersive!
In this brief, thorough article, we will give you a simple guide to understanding the main modes of transportation in Walt Disney World transportation options by going over Rental Cars, Rideshares, Disney Bus system, Water Taxis, the Monorail and the Gondolas.
So, when considering on-property and off-property hotels the obvious differences are the proximity to the parks as well as the transportation to and from the parks. In the past, Disney’s Magical Express was also a benefit to Disney packages. Today, we are going to go over all the different modes of transport around the Walt Disney World resort, for all types of guests.
Rental Car - No matter if you’re staying off property or on, rental cars are the first option for travelers. The average cost of a rental car in the U.S., according to Kayak, is $36 per day. To add to that, a lot of hotels will have a mandatory daily parking fee of typically $10-25. If you’re hotel includes free parking, you’ll still end up paying $20-$25 a day to park at the Disney parking lot. That makes for around $76 per day to use a rental car.
Rideshare - Typically $10-15 per trip, a rideshare can easily cost $30 just to get to the park and back to your hotel. If you plan to use this as a main method of transportation for getting to other parks/resorts and avoiding traffic on Disney transportation systems, Uber or Lyft can quickly become expensive.
And keep in mind as we go over Disney’s transportation inside the parks, these do not cost money to use when visiting the theme parks.
Disney Buses - Unless it’s your first visit to Walt Disney World, you are probably familiar with the Disney bus system. As the most extensive form of transportation in the Disney parks, the Disney buses can take you to AND from all four theme parks, the two water parks, all the Disney resorts & hotels, and the Disney Springs area. This is a method you can mix and match and use if you’re not staying at the Disney resorts, but they do not come off Disney property to other resorts.
If you do stay off-property in the Disney Springs area, and don’t mind some extra walking, you can walk to Disney Springs and take a bus from there to a Disney resort and from there, get to the theme park of your choice. You can also walk around the pond to Saratoga Springs resort, and catch a bus to any theme park. This is of course a much longer, roundabout method of getting to the parks, but it can save money.
Water Taxis - You can use Water Taxis at Disney’s Fort Wilderness, Grand Floridian, Polynesian Villas and Bungalows and the Disney’s Wilderness Lodge to get to and from the Magic Kingdom park; Disney’s Boardwalk, Beach Club, Yacht Club, Swan and Dolphin resort to get to and from Epcot and Hollywood Studios theme parks; Old Key West, Saratoga Springs, Port Orleans Riverside and French Quarter to and from Disney Springs.
Monorail - The monorail has stops at the Magic Kingdom and Epcot theme park entrances, transportation and ticket center, Polynesian Village, Grand Floridian, and Contemporary Resorts. Even if you don’t need to use this service, it is a fun experience to ride the monorail and see some different angles of the parks.
Aerial Gondolas - as the newest method of transportation to come to the Walt Disney World theme park, the gondolas are pretty popular. They are a surprisingly quick form of transportation, and unless you are deathly afraid of heights, quite relaxing. The gondolas can take you to and from the Hollywood Studios entrance and France pavilion at Epcot theme park, the Art of Animation, Pop Century, Caribbean, and Riviera resorts. The gateway at the French Pavilion in Epcot is also right next to the water taxis port.
For an understanding of where resorts are in relation to theme parks and around the Disney property, click here and hit “more information” to view downloadable maps of the Walt Disney World theme parks as well as interactive maps of the Walt Disney World property!
I hope this was a quick way to give you more insight into all the options there are at the Walt Disney World resort!
To get help planning your Walt Disney World vacation, contact Once Upon A Time Travel, a Disney specialized agency, at (503)899-0811, or request a free quote at travelonceuponatime.com!
Until Next time!