Fort Wilderness to Magic Kingdom by Boat

[Eljay]

Can someone please give me an estimate on travel time?

We will be leaving our Ft.W cabin, catching a bus to the marina and taking the boat over to MK. It will be the first day of my niece's first ever visit to WDW and I want to make sure to leave enough time so that we can get to MK in time to see the Welcome Show.

How long is the average wait for a bus that takes you from a cabin loop bus stop, to the marina?

Is the boat usually full in the AM?

If we have to wait for the next boat, how often do they run?

I saw a YouTube video that shows an approx. 11-12 minute trip from MK dock to Ft.W dock. Does that seem correct? The video I watched, showed a non-stop trip, it did not go to Wilderness Lodge or Contemporary, is that what I should expect?

Thanks for any advise, I want to make sure our timely arrival at MK goes perfectly for my little princess!

 

[evnted]

Yea I'd say 15 minutes or so (minus wait time.)

 

[2goofycampers]

I was thinking more like 10 minutes.

 

[Eljay]

Thank you both for your responses.
Are your estimates the time the boat takes to get from Ft. W to MK?

I am hoping someone can tell me how much travel time to allow to get from our cabin, to the MK gate.

Thanks again.

 

[pooh4me]

I would allow an hour from the cabins to the Magic Kingdom. The buses in the cabin loops run about every 10 to 20 minuets,the boat about every 20 minuets,and with walking to the bus stop from the cabin and from the Settlement bus stop to the boat dock this should make sure you are there in time.

 

[2goofycampers]

If you hit everything perfect you could do it in 30 minutes. So an hour would be a good estimate to not be late.

 

[Epeyon]

The trip, if they're going full speed, takes about 12 minutes. If they have to wait on the ferry boat that can bump it up to 15. But it's no more than 20. Unless for some reason the pilots are going slower.

And while the official start time is 30 minutes prior to park open, make sure to get there about 40-45 minutes early as some days they do start a few minutes early.

 

[AuntBJ]

I would suggest leaving your cabin 1 1/2 hours before the official park opening time. If you are a few minutes early, you will be that much closer to the front and can fill your time taking pictures of your niece's first day.

 

[Eljay]

Thank you all.

 

[Mcert01]

Can someone please give me an estimate on travel time?

We will be leaving our Ft.W cabin, catching a bus to the marina and taking the boat over to MK. It will be the first day of my niece's first ever visit to WDW and I want to make sure to leave enough time so that we can get to MK in time to see the Welcome Show.

How long is the average wait for a bus that takes you from a cabin loop bus stop, to the marina?

Is the boat usually full in the AM?

If we have to wait for the next boat, how often do they run?

I saw a YouTube video that shows an approx. 11-12 minute trip from MK dock to Ft.W dock. Does that seem correct? The video I watched, showed a non-stop trip, it did not go to Wilderness Lodge or Contemporary, is that what I should expect?

Thanks for any advise, I want to make sure our timely arrival at MK goes perfectly for my little princess!

The boats start running 1 hour prior to park opening. So the 1 hour 30 minutes time frame makes sense. You want to make sure that you not only catch a bus which gets you there, but gets you there early enough to get on the first boat.

However, even if you miss the first boat they generally are running multiple boats to MK in the morning, so you should be there in plenty of time.

The show is the official open to the park, so if the park opens at 9:00 the show will start around 8:50 or 8:55.