Any ETA on when the resort boats will resume operation such as Ft. Wilderness?

[Zhaan]

First my heart goes out to the parents of this tragedy and I don't want to seem insensitive. It's horrible and I fully understand and support any new safety measures taken by Disney. This is not a complaint just a logistics question.

This Sunday, I have a reservation for Trail's End brunch on our Magic Kingdom day. It was already a bit tight between FP reservations. If we have to take a bus instead of the boat, that will add time because then we'll have to also take the internal bus (twice, both coming and going). I'm not sure mentally how much longer it will be. I've stayed at Ft. Wilderness many times & I'm very familiar with the internal bus system, however I don't have a feel for how long it takes to get to Ft. Wilderness from MK on a bus, because I've always taken the boat.

My questions:
1) I know some people here are really plugged in (CMs etc). Does anyone have any idea when the resort boats will resume operation? I know the ferries have started again, but not resort boats.
2) If the resort boats aren't running by Sunday, how much more time do you think I need to allow to get to and from Trail's End? Do you think it will take longer?

Thanks!

 

[w84no1]

According to the OLP WDW Transportation Wizard, it takes 13 by boat and 56 minutes by bus. Those numbers are a little off because they say

"If you happen to show up when the boat has just pulled in, it will be 13 minutes. If you just missed a boat, you might wait close to 20 minutes before your 13 minute boat ride. Also, they sometimes wait up to ten minutes to fill the boat. I still prefer the boat ride, because it is more relaxing than the bus and monorail option." ​

 

[tobikaye]

According to the OLP WDW Transportation Wizard, it takes 13 by boat and 56 minutes by bus. Those numbers are a little off because they say...

Since OLP tells you to bus to AK and then bus to FW, it is kind of useless. When buses are not normally running between MK/FW, then guests should use WL, not AK, to transfer.

My questions:
...
2) If the resort boats aren't running by Sunday, how much more time do you think I need to allow to get to and from Trail's End? Do you think it will take longer?

Thanks!

If the boats are not running, then I would think they would have a bus running from MK to FW. It should not take more than 10-15 minutes once on the bus to get from MK to FW, unless the bus stops someplace first. I would think the bus would drop off at the Settlement near TE since when they did have a regular bus route to/from MK years ago it was based at the Settlement.

Normally there are no direct buses to/from MK, so if someone at FW wanted to take a bus to MK, they would need to bus to WL and then bus to MK. In this case, it could take a bit based on transfers, but the drive between WL and MK is only minutes apart.

 

[PeasandCarrots]

I read they do have buses going to Ft. Wilderness while the boat service is down. I do know from staying there it will drop off at the outpost - all of the other park buses do. So that still requires catching the internal bus to the Settlement, but it's *usually* pretty quick. I think allowing 30-45 minutes sounds reasonable (depending on the wait for each bus).

 

[Skywise]

The speculation is that the state of Florida is still checking out the lagoon and/or Disney is trying to find the alligator they believe responsible for the attack. I'm expecting the resort launches to be up ASAP when they're officially done with the investigation.

 

[zaccaglin]

They were back into operation Yesterday.