Ferry or Monorail

[omarv]

We are taking our five year old in August. We are thinking of the WL. How long is the ferry ride to the Magic Kingdom? Is a resort with a monorail a better way to go? Our five year old gets tired and cranky. We want to be able to go to the MK and get back to the resort quickly to avoid a meltdown!

 

[baileybrad]

The boat ride is around 8 to 10 minutes if my memory is working correctly. Obviously, the monorails run somewhat more often. The boats seem run every 15 to 20 minutes or more especially during the day. The monorrail holds more folks. They seem to run every 7 minutes or so. It does depend on what resort your are staying on how quick you will actually arrive once you board the monorail. 1st stop - CR, 2nd stop - T&TC, 3rd stop - Poly, and the 4th stop - GF. All of the stops come with the associated unloading and boarding waits. Also, occasionally, during the day you might get caught in one of the "safety checks" that can cost you some wait time. One advantage with the CR is that you can walk back in about 7 to 10 minutes without any wait.

We have done both and it was with small ones....we have 2, 5, and 7 year olds. The monorail is most likely a bit quicker but the boat isn't terrible.

Hope this helps.

 

[Terk-1]

The ferry to and from the MK run about every 15 minutes. The ferry also goes to FWC. I found the ferry to and from the WL very reliable and fairly quick. There is also a ferry that runs every 15 minutes to the Contemporary, where you can grab the monorail. This ferry begins at 7am and runs until 10pm. The ferry for the MK starts 30 minutes prior to park opening (I think this is right) until 1 hour after park closing.

 

[OntFamily]

Just got back this afternoon from 8 nights at the Contemporary (with a 2 year old). I love that walk from MK to the Contemporary -- ten minute walk, and no waiting for buses or ferries. Stayed at WL last year, and while the ferry is nice, I found the Contemporary easier to handle.

 

[Gary M]

As mentioned before the boat ride from WL to MK is less than 10 minutes. Before 3:00 pm the boat runs clockwise WL to MK to FW to WL after 3:00 it runs counter clockwise WL to FW to MK to WL.