Bus or Drive to Magic Kingdom

[Frozen2014]

Hi,

We'll be coming to DW in October and plan on staying at Art of Animation resort. We will be renting a car since we'd like to go offsite for one of the days.

My question is about getting to Magic Kingdom. I've heard that parking there is a pain where after you park your car, you have to take a tram and a ferry to get to the park. So what is the best option:

1) Drive to MK and park in the parking lot?
2) Take the Disney provided bus from our resort? (but not a fan of long waits)
3) Drive to a nearby resort such as Polynesian or Contemporary, park there and then take a monorail?

If #3, we could always plan on breakfast at the resort and go on from there to MK.

I should note that we would go to the park for the day (i.e. not using park hopper)

 

[dfherrera]

Either way I think you are fine. We always drive our car down to Disney when we go on vacation and drive to the various parks and have not had a problem.

When I am down on business, I ride the buses and have not had a bad time that way either.

Pick the one that works best for you situation on the particular day and you should be fine.

 

[Little Flower]

We always use transportation to get to the park but never to magic kingdom otherwise we miss the ride over the lagoon! I don't mind the extra time it takes as it's just so lovely

 

[Frozen2014]

But is it true about the parking at Magic Kingdom? Sounds like a pain to have to take 2 more transportation options AFTER you park your car. I imagine the monorail is quite efficient....but am just speculating.

 

[rwdavis2]

If you get to the TTC parking lot early you won't need a tram, you can walk to the TTC.

One thing we did was park early at TTC, ride the monorail to Epcot for most of the day. Then back to MK for the Christmas party and when it was time to go the car was parked in close.

 

[North of Mouse]

Hi,

We'll be coming to DW in October and plan on staying at Art of Animation resort. We will be renting a car since we'd like to go offsite for one of the days.

My question is about getting to Magic Kingdom. I've heard that parking there is a pain where after you park your car, you have to take a tram and a ferry to get to the park. So what is the best option:

1) Drive to MK and park in the parking lot?
2) Take the Disney provided bus from our resort? (but not a fan of long waits)
3) Drive to a nearby resort such as Polynesian or Contemporary, park there and then take a monorail?

If #3, we could always plan on breakfast at the resort and go on from there to MK.

I should note that we would go to the park for the day (i.e. not using park hopper)

Bus, for sure!!

You 'can't' drive to MK. You have to park in parking lot, then take monorail/ferry over which takes much more time.

In fact I find it better to use Disney transportation to all the parks. The hassle of parking, then walking, to me, is way more time consuming than leaving the 'driving' to Disney. JMO

 

[tjmw2727]

But is it true about the parking at Magic Kingdom? Sounds like a pain to have to take 2 more transportation options AFTER you park your car. I imagine the monorail is quite efficient....but am just speculating.

The TTC - Transportation and Ticket Center is the main parking lot for the Magic Kingdom. From there you do have to take either the monorail or a ferry over to the Magic Kingdom. Depending on where you park you may have to take a parking lot tram from your car to the entrances for the ferry/monorail.

You may have to wait for a ferry or monorail but it shouldn't take long.

I am a fan of WDW Transportation so I would just take the bus to MK. You may have to wait a bit as they run every 20 minutes (more often in the AM and at closing) but you will be dropped off at the entrance gates to the MK rather than the TTC.

As for your number 3 they often limit the parking at the monorail resorts to guests of the resort or those with dining reservations. If you have a dining reservation you will get a 3 hour parking pass = not parking for the day. In addition I don't see this as saving you any time over the TTC as you will still have to walk take a boat or monorail to MK from the resort.

 

[tobikaye]

I have driven and taken the bus and my preference is to do whichever matches that day's trip. If I need extra space that morning before dealing with being close to others, I drive and then take the ferry. If I do not feel like driving, I take the bus.

 

[Little Flower]

But is it true about the parking at Magic Kingdom? Sounds like a pain to have to take 2 more transportation options AFTER you park your car. I imagine the monorail is quite efficient....but am just speculating.

It is a bit of a "faff" to park so far away but we really enjoy catching the tram from the car park to the TTC and then catching the ferry. It kinda builds up the anticipation for MK

 

[Pembo]

We've done both - bus and drive to MK. I didn't find either one more of a nuisance than the other.

Bus - you have to walk a long way to and from the bus stops at the MK and you may have a long wait to get a bus back to your resort

Car - we are rope drop people, so we have parked very close and had no problem walking to the TTC. We always take the ferry. It is a great start to the day. And for afternoon breaks, we liked being in our car and on the way to the resort in minutes. Also when returning after a break, we found close parking spots as well. Again, no tram needed.

I always thought driving to the MK would be a huge hassle, but was pleasantly surprised at how easy it really was. **Remember we are rope drop people. Not sure how I'd feel if we were getting to the MK later in the day.

 

[wdwrich]

We've done both - bus and drive to MK. I didn't find either one more of a nuisance than the other.

Bus - you have to walk a long way to and from the bus stops at the MK and you may have a long wait to get a bus back to your resort

Car - we are rope drop people, so we have parked very close and had no problem walking to the TTC. We always take the ferry. It is a great start to the day. And for afternoon breaks, we liked being in our car and on the way to the resort in minutes. Also when returning after a break, we found close parking spots as well. Again, no tram needed.

I always thought driving to the MK would be a huge hassle, but was pleasantly surprised at how easy it really was. **Remember we are rope drop people. Not sure how I'd feel if we were getting to the MK later in the day.

Agree with this! We've actually divided into two groups going to/from MK with half of us driving and the other half taking the bus. We all arrived within 2 minutes or less of each other.

 

[Frozen2014]

We've done both - bus and drive to MK. I didn't find either one more of a nuisance than the other.

**Remember we are rope drop people. Not sure how I'd feel if we were getting to the MK later in the day.

What do you mean by rope drop?

Hmmm...I think I'm getting confused with all. What exactly do you have to take when you park "at" Magic Kingdom....a tram, ferry or monorail????

 

[Little Flower]

What do you mean by rope drop? Hmmm...I think I'm getting confused with all. What exactly do you have to take when you park "at" Magic Kingdom....a tram, ferry or monorail????

Rope drop is the opening ceremony at the park.

To get to the park once you park you get the tram from you parking space to the transport and ticket centre and then either catch the monorail or the ferry over to the park

 

[SmallWorld71]

What do you mean by rope drop?

Hmmm...I think I'm getting confused with all. What exactly do you have to take when you park "at" Magic Kingdom....a tram, ferry or monorail????

Rope drop just refers to being at the entrance to the park when it opens.

If you drive to Epcot, Animal Kingdom or Hollywood Studios you park your car in the parking lot and then either walk from your car to the main gate or walk to the end of the row your car is parked in and take a tram to the main gate. If you get there early, you are better off just walking as it is much faster.

The same holds true for Magic Kingdom, at least initially. You arrive at the Magic Kingdom parking lot (also referred to as the Transportation and Ticket Center). If you have arrived early enough (such as being there for park opening or "rope drop") you can just walk to where you would get the monorail or ferry. However, the MK parking lot is enormous and if you don't arrive early, you will likely want/ need to take a tram through the parking lot to where you will get the monorail or ferry. The monorail or ferry will take you to the entrance of the Magic Kingdom.

I agree with other posters. Having done both, it's a toss-up. You either wait at your resort for a bus or you wait for a monorail or ferry. Sometimes one choice is faster, sometimes the other.

It sounds confusing, but it's all but impossible to make a mistake as no matter what your choice there will be lots of other people doing the same thing. Just follow the crowd.

 

[Frozen2014]

Is there any reason one would take the monorail vs the ferry? Seems odd that they have both.

 

[SmallWorld71]

Is there any reason one would take the monorail vs the ferry? Seems odd that they have both.

When we drive (we often don't have a car with us and take the bus), I like to take the ferry TO the MK and then the monorail back. I just think it's really pretty on the water and kind of exciting to watch the castle get closer and closer.
One exception would be if we arrive before 8, as only the resort monorail is running then.

 

[KrazeeK120]

I prefer to drive everywhere and spend the least amount of time on crowded transportation with other people as possible, especially at the end of the day when there are a lot of tired/whiny kids (and adults!).

The ferry affords a very exciting view of the castle coming into view, however, it is much slower than the monorail (at least in my experience).

OP, please also note that you cannot park your car at a resort all day unless you're valet parking. But, that may be an excellent option for you, particularly at the Contemporary. You can walk to MK from there.

 

[BigAlsGal]

I loathe driving to the MK. One time we stayed off property because it was just a one day trip and wanted to save some money. It was apparently a busy day. We waited 20-30 minutes just to get from the parking ticket gates to the parking spot. Then you wait for a tram to pick you up (if you're not there early enough to get a front spot). Then you get dropped off at the ticket center. Wait for a monorail. Sometimes it's long...sometimes it's not. Just depends.

By the time we got to the gates of the magic kingdom it had taken an hour. While we were riding the monorail my husband looked at me and said "always staying on property, always taking the bus, I forgot how terrible this is". I totally agreed.

Then at the end of the night you have to make the whole trip back to your car. Bah!! Bus always for us!!!

 

[supersnoop]

In almost every case, it's quicker to take the disney bus to Magic Kingdom than it is to drive.

 

[wdwrich]

In almost every case, it's quicker to take the disney bus to Magic Kingdom than it is to drive.

I have to disagree with this. As mentioned earlier, we've actually divided into two groups going to/from MK with half of us driving and the other half taking the bus. We all arrived within 2 minutes or less of each other.