Fort Wilderness Transportation

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Someone was asking about Fort Wilderness transportation in another thread, and I thought it deserved its own. So here ya go!

As of April 1st, 2002, Fort Wilderness has a new, simplified internal bus system. Although it may sound complicated, it's really quite easy. And, there are color coded maps at EVERY bus stop.

There are two main "hubs"... The Settlement Depot (Pioneer Hall area), and the Outpost Depot (formerly Gateway Parking) Buses depart the Settlement and the Outpost on the :10 minute mark. There are three different routes.

The Yellow Route services the following areas:
Settlement Depot, 300 & 500, 1400, 1500 & Meadows Complex, 1600-1900, and the Outpost Depot.

The Purple Route services the following areas:
Settlement Depot, Creekside Meadows, 2000, 2100-2300, 2400-2600, 2700-2800, and the Outpost Depot.

The Orange Route services the following areas:
TTC, Wilderness Lodge, Settlement Depot, 600 & 800, 900-1000 & Meadows Complex, 1100-1300, and the Outpost Depot.

Each bus will have the Color route on the destination sign, as well as the direction it is heading in. For example, "SETTLEMENT PURPLE" means the bus is travelling to the Settlement Depot along the Purple route.

When the Yellow and Purple buses reach the endpoint, the convert to the other color. So basically, one bus goes Clockwise around FW, and the other goes Counter-Clockwise. For example, the SETTLEMENT PURPLE bus will convert to OUTPOST YELLOW, and conversly, the SETTLEMENT YELLOW will turn into a OUTPOST PURPLE. The Orange bus simply reverses its route. (Note: When it is going to Wilderness Lodge/Transportation & Ticket Center, it will no longer display the color... just the destination)


At the Outpost Depot you can find the following buses:
Animal Kingdom/Blizzard Beach
Epcot
Downtown Disney/Typhoon Lagoon


At the Settlement Depot you can find the following transportation:
Bus to Disney-MGM Studios
Bus to Wilderness Lodge/Transportation Ticket Center
Boat to Magic Kingdom.

You can remember M&M at the SettleMent. Magic Kingdom and MGM. Everything else is at the Outpost.

All these park buses run in standard 15 minute intervals. In the morning times, all MOD buses (Studios, AK/BB, and Epcot) will not be shared with any other resort. After 11am, Studios & Epcot will start to share with WL.

 

[lsyorke]

OK let me preface this by saying I never stay at Fort Wilderness, but that said what a service you perform for doing this. The map is awesome!

 

[clkelley]

I didn't know the purple and yellow busses converted. That definitely makes it easier to get from 2000 loop to the Meadows area.

I have still found that it is much easier to hop on my ECV and drive over to Golf Cart parking at Outpost or Settlement and leave it there and hop on the appropriate bus.

I've only had a problem with that once when I parked the scooter at Settlement parking in the morning and arrived back at Outpost parking later that night. Had to ride the bus through Ft. Wilderness to retrieve my scooter and drive it back to the campsite!

 

[Buzz2001]

You da man Tyler!

 

[Gillian]

That map totally messed me up when we were staying in the cabins! I know the routes were different then, but the part of the purple route that is cut off was the same. We arrived late, tired & hungry & just wanted to get to settlement for food. I looked at the map & thought we had to go back to the outpost to get a bus to settlement! It wasn't until the next day that I saw where the purple route continued at the top. I guess with all the cutbacks, Disney can't afford maps that actually show the whole route!

The drivers always seem very friendly there. If you need to get from settlement to outpost, or vice versa, it doesn't matter what color you take, but if there are a few waiting, you can always ask which particular bus might be the fastest.

 

[DNSDisney]

Can anyone tell me how I would get from the MK to Trails End Buffet at Ft Wilderness? Isn't there a boat?

 

[clkelley]

Yes, there is a boat from the MK that will take you to Ft. Wilderness boat dock, and then it is a short walk to Trails End Buffet.

Great food, you'll love it!!!!

 

[DNSDisney]

Is the Ft Wildreness boat and the WL boat one and the same?

 

[clkelley]

Not sure about the one from MK. I know the one from the Contemporary does a FtW/WL/Cont loop, but depending on crowd levels, WL and FtW may have seperate boats at times.

 

[Gillian]

I'm bumping this up because I have a new question.

Is there an easy way to get from the cabin loops (esp 2500 & 2600) to the campfire program? It sure doesn't look like it! Maybe there wasn't before either. I don't remember.

If I'm reading the maps correctly, the cabins are looking very inconvenient if you want to do stuff around the meadow area (swim, campfire, store).

Thanks!

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Originally posted by Gillian
I'm bumping this up because I have a new question.

Is there an easy way to get from the cabin loops (esp 2500 & 2600) to the campfire program? It sure doesn't look like it! Maybe there wasn't before either. I don't remember.

If I'm reading the maps correctly, the cabins are looking very inconvenient if you want to do stuff around the meadow area (swim, campfire, store).

Thanks!

Just stay on the bus. The Purple bus becomes a Yellow bus. That bus will stop at the 1500 loop, which is also a stop for the other side of the Meadows Complex.

 

[Gillian]

Thanks Tyler! That's simple enough. Purple Settlement? Or purple Outpost? Or either?

I do wonder how long it would take, as it seems like the busses sit for a while at either end of the campground. *sigh* I love the cabins, but I hate not being able to walk most places. The camping areas seem much more convenient.

Once I convince DH to buy a popup & a truck, we'll be all set!!

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Originally posted by Gillian
Thanks Tyler! That's simple enough. Purple Settlement? Or purple Outpost? Or either?

I do wonder how long it would take, as it seems like the busses sit for a while at either end of the campground. *sigh* I love the cabins, but I hate not being able to walk most places. The camping areas seem much more convenient.

Once I convince DH to buy a popup & a truck, we'll be all set!!

Doesn't matter which one, although the Outpost bus often times will sit for less time.

Yellow & Purple buses depart the Settlement and Outpost Depots at the :10 minute mark. Depending on outside bus traffic within the Outpost Depot, they may depart early if the loop becomes congested.

 

[goofy4tink]

I'm so glad to find this thread. Thanks Tyler. Here's our situation...we are staying at WL. One day of our stay we want to spend exploring FW. We hope to do a trail ride, have booked Mickey's BYB. Maybe the campfire, maybe not. Lunch at Trail's End Buff. How easy is it going to be for us to travel around this resort? I'm assuming that we would take the boat over from WL. THis will be mid-Aug so I think it might be too hot to walk.

 

[KittieKat]

im going there this july and was wondering..thank for the info!

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Originally posted by goofy4tink
I'm so glad to find this thread. Thanks Tyler. Here's our situation...we are staying at WL. One day of our stay we want to spend exploring FW. We hope to do a trail ride, have booked Mickey's BYB. Maybe the campfire, maybe not. Lunch at Trail's End Buff. How easy is it going to be for us to travel around this resort? I'm assuming that we would take the boat over from WL. THis will be mid-Aug so I think it might be too hot to walk.

Most of what you want to do is all at the Settlement Depot general area, so you can either take the boat or the Fort Wilderness bus from the WL. When you're there, talk to the bus drivers or the boat pilots, and they'll be able to help you out with the locations of other things. Just remember, never trust any bus information unless it comes from someone wearing purple pants.

 

[goofy4tink]

Well Tyler, that is going to be my mantra..."Never trust info from someone not in purple pants, never trust info from someone not in purple pants." Transportation is the one thing that I don't want to mess up...so it's off to find those in purple pants. Thanks for the heads up (but with eyes cast downward, in order to validate color of pants). I am being completely serious here, no sarcasm intended this time. Really, really serious.

 

[Simba's Mom]

These different color routes are cool! They bring me back to the "good ole' days" of different colored flags on the buses. But I don't remember a purple flag! Anyone else remember the colored flags?

 

[campingcorgi]

I remember the flags. FW transportation sure has gone through changes, hasn't it! I like what they are doing now, though, the best!!

 

[ilvsocr00]

I'm bumping this thread up with another Fort Wilderness question.

We have tickets for the 7:15 pm Hoop De Do Musical Revue show in September. Normally we take the boat back to the Magic Kingdom and from there a bus back to our hotel. This is our first time going in September and with the park historically closing at 6:00 pm what is the best route to follow?

I was thinking that we could still take a bus to the MK and the boat over to Pioneer Hall prior to the show. Afterwards, does the boat run back to the MK area? If the show end around 9:00 pm I doubt that the are still running buses leaving the Mk at that time - Is it possible to then take the monorail to Epcot and then transfer to our hotel?

I know too many questions!