Cheap Transportation at Orlando/DisneyWorld (Lynx Buses)

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I figured I would start a thread on the local Orlando Lynx buses. We used them on our recent trip to DisneyWorld and we paid $16 for a weekly pass, which included transportation to and from the airport and from our hotel to and from all 4 Disney parks each evening. Total $16 per adult and $8 per child or $48 total for all 4 of us (2 adults and 2 children).

In the next few posts I will detail the different lynx buses which will get you from the airport to the Disney area/Disney Springs and the buses from your hotel to DisneyWorld.

 

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The Lynx 311 bus goes from Orlando Airport to Disney Springs and costs $2 per person. The bus stops at Terminal A at the airport and goes every 30 minutes and runs from around 5 AM to 10 PM. The trip takes around an hour.

You can bring luggage within reason onto the bus. We each had our small under the seat carry on and our overhead bin carry on. I personally would not attempt to carry a 3rd piece of luggage, like a big check in, in addition to the other 2 carry ons, as they have no specific place on the bus for luggage. While you might be able to get away with it on the airport bus, there is a good chance they will not let you bring 3 pieces of luggage onto any of the other Lynx buses you are transferring to. I did see someone on the bus who had a larger check in suitcase and the smaller under the seat carry on. As I said before, I would not try to use the bus with more than 1 suitcase and 1 small carry on.

If you are staying at any of the hotels along Palm Parkway (Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress, Delta Hotels, Candlewood Suites, Sheraton LBV, Westgate Blue tree, Hyatt Place LBV, Legacy Resorts, Residence Inn LBV), you would get off the Lynx 311 bus at the Destination Parkway Supercenter and transfer to the Lynx 350 which goes down Palm Parkway. You can also transfer to the Lynx 350 at Disney Springs and go back to Palm Parkway but that would just be going out of the way. (I saw some tourists from London who mistakenly did that.)

If you are staying at a Disney Resort, you can't bring luggage with you onto the Disney buses so you will not be able to transfer to the Disney bus at Disney Springs (And further, the Disney buses are on the opposite side of Disney Springs than the Lynx buses.)

However, if you are staying at Disney's Saratoga Springs, you can walk from the Lynx bus stop to the main entrance of the Springs and it is about a 7 minute walk. (more on that later)

 

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The Lynx 350 will take you from the Palm Parkway hotels to Disney Springs. Depending on which hotel you are at, you will have to cross Palm Parkway to get to the bus stop. Just wait for a break in the traffic and cross halfway to the median and then wait for a break in traffic and cross the rest of the way. Make sure to take small children by the hand or carry them.

Once at Disney Springs, you will walk around 9 minutes into Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort and catch the free bus from there to Animal Kingdom, Epcot, or Hollywood Studios. (For Magic Kingdom, see the next post.)

The easiest way is to pull up google maps and ask for walking directions to "The Springs at Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa" and it should take you to the bus stop. You basically walk from the Lynx 350 bus across the Strawberry Parking Lot at Disney Springs (You will pass all the Minnie Vans) to the Saratoga Springs Nature Trail. There will be a sign that says walkway to Saratoga Springs (or walkway to Disney Springs on the way back.) Once you enter Disney Springs, you will walk across a bridge, past all the golf carts, and then to the main entrance at the Springs. The bus stop is right past the pool.

Saratoga Springs is huge resort, and the bus has 5 different stops (The Grandstand, The Carousel, The Paddock, Congress Park and The Springs.) When you are going to the parks, the stop you get on at (The Springs) is the last stop in Saratoga Springs, so once you get on the bus you will be going straight to the park.

When returning from the parks, you get on the Saratoga Springs bus at the park, get off at Saratoga Springs, walk back to Disney Springs, and get on the Lynx 350 bus back to your hotel.

On the way back, you will get off the bus at the first stop in Saratoga Springs which is the Grandstand. (The Grandstand and the Springs are the same walking distance to Disney Springs, so it makes sense on the way back to get off at the Grandstand which is the first stop instead of getting off at the Springs which is an extra 10 minutes on the bus ride.)

On google maps, pull up walking directions to "Disney Springs West Side Transfer Center" (Google maps might change it to E Buena Vista Dr and Bonnet Creek Pkwy which is the same place). Basically, you want to turn so your back is facing away from the grandstand bus stop and walk directly away from the bus stop and then just follow the directions on google maps. The walk again is around 9 minutes.

Again, all Lynx buses are $2 per ride, but as I mentioned before, if you are going to use the Lynx bus every day, just buy a 7 day pass and it will be cheaper. You can get the 7 day pass in the Lynx Pawpass app.

 

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If you are going to the Magic Kingdom, you can transfer at Disney Springs from the Lynx 350 bus to the Lynx 300 bus. The Lynx 300 bus takes you directly to the Magic Kingdom Transportation and Ticket Center and from there you get on the Monorail to the Magic Kingdom. Of course, if you want you can still walk to Saratoga Springs and catch the bus from there to the Magic Kingdom.

(You can also transfer to the Lynx 300 to go to Epcot but you would first have to go to the Magic Kingdom and then take the monorail from there to Epcot and it will probably be longer. Similarly, you can transfer to the Lynx 300 and then once you get to the Magic Kingdom, you can get on a bus to the Animal Kingdom or Hollywood Studios, but again, it will probably be a lot longer.))

 

[LAS2AMS]

Great thread. I want to add - I’ve brought, and have seen many others bring, luggage on Disney busses. It’s not that uncommon as many people change hotels. I don’t know Disney’s official policy, but I do know that the bus driver likely won’t care. Just don’t do it during rush hour!!

 

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Great thread. I want to add - I’ve brought, and have seen many others bring, luggage on Disney busses. It’s not that uncommon as many people change hotels. I don’t know Disney’s official policy, but I do know that the bus driver likely won’t care. Just don’t do it during rush hour!!

Here is the official Disney policy:

"Know Before You Go​

Some routes may require you to transfer buses. No luggage or alcohol of any type is permitted on Walt Disney World Resort buses. All strollers must be folded and stowed out of the aisle. Medical strollers for Guests with disabilities will be treated as wheelchairs."

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/g...ion/?msockid=2a4eb7cb12e26e542d4fa4ac13fb6f19

So my guess is that it will be YMMV on bringing luggage onto the Disney buses depending on whether the driver cares.

 

[scrump]

WOW - thanks for starting this thread. I have been looking into the Lynx busses for my next trip to WDW, and was planning on taking the Lynx 311. The info about Saratoga Springs and the Lynx 350 is super helpful, as I was hoping to get to MK and was expecting to take a bus to a resort to catch another bus to a theme park.

 

[mikehn]

Im sure its posted on the Universal boards, but link 42 is the MCO/Universal route.

 

[Perrypooh]

Have the bus drivers been forcing the nu luggage on the buses from Disney springs, if you brought a carry on and a backpack?

 

[Sportypyro]

That’s a pretty sweet deal for the Lynx buses! I never thought of using them to get to Disney from the airport. Definitely beats paying for rideshares or shuttles. Appreciate the detailed breakdown!

 

[5kidsmommy]

Thanks for this thread. We are staying at SSR and only bringing carry-on so I think we are going to give this a try. Always looking for savings.

 

[LoveToDisney]

Thanks for this thread. We are staying at SSR and only bringing carry-on so I think we are going to give this a try. Always looking for savings.

Be sure to give us feedback after your trip!

 

[5kidsmommy]

Be sure to give us feedback after your trip!

Will do. We've walked past the bus stop when walking from SSR to Disney Springs before and it's a short walk. I think it's the perfect set up for folks traveling with just a backpack or for people staying at SSR. I'm going to consider it an adventure and will report back.

 

[5kidsmommy]

Be sure to give us feedback after your trip!

So here is my feedback. We loved it!! The bus arrived shortly after we got to the stop. We left about five minutes later. It took us one hour and two minutes to get to Disney Springs. There were at the most 8 people on the bus at various times. My husband and I each had a backpack and a carryon bag.

We are staying at Saratoga Springs so it was an easy 10 minute walk to the lobby once we arrived. We brought quarters for the $2 fare.

For us it was an awesome option. We’ll take it to the airport when we leave on Friday afternoon. Great option if you don’t have much stuff and don’t mind a little longer of a ride.

 

[LoveToDisney]

Great! We look forward to hearing about your return trip!

 

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Update August 2025, I have updated the original post so that when you come back from the parks you should get off at the Grandstand instead of the Springs, since I discovered this year they are literally the same exact distance away from Disney Springs.