Driving from Ft. Wilderness to Parks for ADR's

[aprylann28]

Hi, my family is going to Disney World for the first time in December. We will be staying at the campsites at Ft. Wilderness. We are debating between using Disney transportation to get to and from the parks or driving our own car. We have early morning ADR's at Cinderella's Castle, Hollywood and Vine, Tusker House, and Akershus before each of the parks open. I keep reading that when using Disney transportation you should allow yourself at least one hour to get to your destination, especially if it is for an ADR. So I have a few questions:

1. Does this one hour of travel time include the time it would take to use the internal busses at Ft. Wilderness to get to the Outpost Depot and then take the external busses to the parks, or is the one hour just for the external busses?

2. If we drive our own car from our campsite to the parks, how long should we allow for travel time?

3. How long should we allow ourselves for getting from the parking lots or bus drop off areas, through the main gates, and to the restaurants? (I am asking this because I don't want to be late for any of our ADR's).

I know some of this will depend on how fast we drive, how fast we walk, traffic, and other things, but if anyone could give me a few estimates, I would really appreciate it. I'm trying to figure this out partially because I don't mind getting up really early in the morning, but my husband likes to sleep in a little bit and is now worried that he won't be able to.

Thanks.

 

[figment_jii]

1. Does this one hour of travel time include the time it would take to use the internal busses at Ft. Wilderness to get to the Outpost Depot and then take the external busses to the parks, or is the one hour just for the external busses?

I don't know about Ft. Wilderness' internal buses, but most estimates for Disney transportation is to allow about 45 minutes to an hour for each leg of your journey.

2. If we drive our own car from our campsite to the parks, how long should we allow for travel time?

In general, driving is probably easiest and fastest. I'd allow about 30 minutes to get to the park, park, and then walk to the entrance. The only exception is MK, where it's faster/easier to take a bus because cars have to park at the TTC and then you have to take the monorail or ferry to the park.

3. How long should we allow ourselves for getting from the parking lots or bus drop off areas, through the main gates, and to the restaurants? (I am asking this because I don't want to be late for any of our ADR's).

It's usually pretty fast to get from the bus stop to a park entrance (maybe around 5 minutes), but depending on when you're going the lines at bag check and the turnstiles might slow you down. If I was driving, I'd allow about a hour to drive to the park, park, get through the gates and to the restaurant.

 

[DebbieB]

If you are going to use the busses, I would drive to the Outpost and park there.

 

[shafke]

For Cinderella Castle you would take to internal but to the Settlement area and then walk down to the marina to catch a boat. I am not even sure you can catch a bus from FW to MK.
If the boat directly to the MK is not yet running you can take to boat to the CR and then walk over to the MK.

 

[aprylann28]

If you are going to use the busses, I would drive to the Outpost and park there.

I thought you were only allowed to drive your car inside Ft. Wilderness if you were leaving the campground or entering the campground after being somewhere else. Wouldn't this make driving to the Outpost and parking there a no-no? Thanks.

 

[tobikaye]

I thought you were only allowed to drive your car inside Ft. Wilderness if you were leaving the campground or entering the campground after being somewhere else. Wouldn't this make driving to the Outpost and parking there a no-no? Thanks.

The Outpost is the entrance to FW and has parking so guests could park there and and catch buses to Epcot, DHS, or AK. Now, does it save much time, it depends on where in the resort your site/cabin is.

OP: I tend to drive from FW to the parks,except for MK. That being said, f I was trying to make an early morning ADR, I would probably still allow 1 hour. That way you have plenty of time if you get caught up in morning traffic. It takes about 10-15 minutes, maybe 20 for AK, to get from FW to the parking gates for the parks. From there, you still have to park, walk/tram to the entrance, go through security and find the right early entrance gate. Depending on how busy it is this can take some time. Many people get to the parks early even if they cannot get in early. Also, from I believe you can usually get in about 10-15 minutes before your ADR if it is before the park opens and Tusker House and Akershus are a good distance walk.

As for MK, once you get to FW, you will want to check out from your site if the Settlement area is within comfortable walking distance or if you need to take the bus. Decide for yourself and then the morning you need to go to MK, take the boat from the marina. You could also take the boat to Contempory and walk, but it is faster to go directly to MK.