Please help me understand the distances between the parks.. im confussed

[sara969]

Hi everyone,

At the moment i am imagining the parks to be quite near to one another, not walking distance, but around 10-15min drive from one another.

However, i have just learnt that Bucsh Gardens is a 1 hour drive from Orlando

I am now wondering where the other places are???

Is:

1) Seaworld, IOA, Aquatica, Discovery Cove ..... all close together?

* Within walking distance or a short drive from each other ?
* Are the above parks close to the Disney Park & water parks ?

2) Is the Disney Parks, Seaworld etc and the water parks ALL reasonably close together or are they a drive like BG?

 

[Claire L]

No only BG is such a distance away as it is closer to the Gulf Coast. Universal is about 25 minutes from WDW and Seaworld is about 15 minutes away.

Claire

 

[lagunn]

We drive to all of the parks , i would not attempt to walk to any of the parks in the heat. Disneyworld is the size of Greater Manchester, all the disneyparks have a fantastic bus service to go to and from all the parks and resorts.

 

[orangetiggs]

disney itself so all parks and hotels is 47sq miles so its quite big

i have read its the size of birmingham

seaworld is around 15/20 mins depending on traffic and US is a bit further

http://www.orlando-maps.info/top_down_maps/default.htm

looks a good map to judge where things are

mk is prob DLP and the studios put together! you will have a bit of a shock at the difference

 

[sara969]

Thanks everyone, i am glad that everything else is close I was starting to get worried

Does anyone know which park 'Downtown Disney' is the closest too, within walking distance?

I am roughly planning which resturants are more appealing in each park.
There seems to be quite a few nice resturants in Downtown Disney, but i am not sure how far it is and which park is the closest to it.

Also does anyone know what time resturants and shops close in Downtown Disney?

Many thanks

 

[Danauk]

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/miles.htm

This link tells you the distance in miles between all the various on property resorts, parks and water parks. This should give you some idea of the size of WDW.

Seaworld, Aquatica and Discovery Cove are all quite close to one another, about 15 minutes drive from WDW.

Universal Studios and IOA are about a 25 minutes drive away from WDW, but you can walk between the 2 parks there.

WDW is massive and it takes a while to drive off property from some of the theme parks depending on where you are staying.

Down Town Disney isn't within walking distance of any of the theme parks, but you can catch a bus there from any resort. If you are at the MK then catch a bus from the contemporary to there, if you are at Epcot/DHS walk to Beach Club/Boardwalk or if you are at Animal Kingdom catch the bus to AKL then transfer to DTD.

Edit: Don't forget to look at the restaurants in the deluxe resorts, you can easily get to those restaurants when you are at the park closest to that hotel. Some of the hotels have really nice places to eat, in fact we tend to have more sit down meals at the hotels than in the parks on an evening.

 

[Claire L]

Thanks everyone, i am glad that everything else is close I was starting to get worried

Does anyone know which park 'Downtown Disney' is the closest too, within walking distance?

I am roughly planning which resturants are more appealing in each park.
There seems to be quite a few nice resturants in Downtown Disney, but i am not sure how far it is and which park is the closest to it.

Also does anyone know what time resturants and shops close in Downtown Disney?

Many thanks

None of the parks would be in walking distance to DTD, best bet is to drive there. DTD closes quite late gone 11pm for some places.

Claire

 

[UKDEB]

The Disney parks, Universal Parks and Sea World parks are all within easy travelling distance of one another. That's precisely what I was saying in your other thread - with so many on your doorstep, the hour's drive to Busch makes it a park too far and the obvious one to leave out for a first trip.

The four Disney parks and two water parks are all contained within the parameters of Walt Disney World, but that itself is the size of a large city with 6 lane highways running through it. It's physically possible to walk between Epcot and Hollywood Studios (albeit it's a good half hour walk), but on the whole you need to take Disney transportation or have your own vehicle to get around it. All the parks and resorts onsite, though are within 15 minutes drive of one another, so your assumptions are correct on that score.

Universal Orlando comprises Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, CityWalk, and the 3 Universal hotels. Again they're all part of one overall property, but, unlike WDW, once you're parked up, you walk between them. From the parking lot, you enter the complex at CityWalk and the entrances to both parks are off that.

Sea World, Discovery Cove and Aquatica are all adjacent to one another, but not self-contained. That's to say they all have separate entrances off the highway.

The Universal and Sea World parks are at opposite ends of I-Drive. If you were driving between the two, you're looking at 10-15 minutes along Universal Boulevard (longer if you elect to use I-Drive itself).

 

[UKDEB]

Downtown Disney is a destination in itself and well worth visiting. As others have already mentioned, it's not within walking distance of any of the parks and, as you'll have your own car, driving is the best option. It's not possible to get a Disney bus directly from the parks to DTD - as Dana says, you need to go via a resort and that can take hours (quite literally in some cases).

We like to visit both during the day and in the evening, but it's probably fair to say it's at its best at night, when it all comes alive.

 

[MrGLWatson]

Thanks everyone, i am glad that everything else is close I was starting to get worried

Does anyone know which park 'Downtown Disney' is the closest too, within walking distance?

I am roughly planning which resturants are more appealing in each park.
There seems to be quite a few nice resturants in Downtown Disney, but i am not sure how far it is and which park is the closest to it.

Also does anyone know what time resturants and shops close in Downtown Disney?

Many thanks

Sara,
if you are thinking, I'll visit a park, go for a meal in downtown disney and then go back to the park, then I'd reconsider.

Getting from say the car park at Magic Kingdom, taking the boat / monorail to the Kingdom itself and then entering the park may take you 30 minutes.

I'd say you would be better off planing to eat at the park you are visiting to cut down on the time taken to travel between the parks.

Gary

 

[MrGLWatson]

Downtown Disney is a destination in itself and well worth visiting. As others have already mentioned, it's not within walking distance of any of the parks and, as you'll have your own car, driving is the best option. It's not possible to get a Disney bus directly from the parks to DTD - as Dana says, you need to go via a resort and that can take hours (quite literally in some cases).

We like to visit both during the day and in the evening, but it's probably fair to say it's at its best at night, when it all comes alive.

A visit to DisneyQuest during the day is good because it is so much quieter then during the evenings.

Gary

 

[Goofyish]

This map gives a good idea where things are in relation to each other:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/propertymap.htm

Also Google Maps Satellite view is good too, or try Bing Maps for some very good birdseye view of the area

http://www.bing.com/maps/

 

[anthony2k7]

Sara,
if you are thinking, I'll visit a park, go for a meal in downtown disney and then go back to the park, then I'd reconsider.

Getting from say the car park at Magic Kingdom, taking the boat / monorail to the Kingdom itself and then entering the park may take you 30 minutes.

I'd say you would be better off planing to eat at the park you are visiting to cut down on the time taken to travel between the parks.

Gary

definitely. Its not only the driving distance/time you need to consider. Its the walking/queueing as well! Some of the park car parks are quite a distance to walk and can almost double the travelling time that you need to allocate!