Our family visited WDW in July of this year and we stayed at the BWV in the wing near the bus stop (the “Hollywood Studios” wing). Invariably the conversation got around to “Was it better to walk or ride the boat”. So one morning my 10-year-old grandson and I decided to do some investigating. We went to the dock at the Boardwalk and walked to the Hollywood Studios – our pace was 2.8 mph – not fast, but not slow either. The trip took us 17 minutes 50 seconds. For that trip, we walked down past Jelly Rolls but we later determined that if we cut through the BWV pool area, the trip would be 2 minutes 35 seconds faster (15 minutes 15 seconds). We then took the boat from Hollywood Studios to its first stop (the Swan and Dolphin). That ride took 8 minutes and 30 seconds. We got off there and walked to the Boardwalk dock. That took 5 minutes and 15 seconds. From there we walked to the boat dock at EPCOT. Exactly 6 minutes. Next we walked to the boat dock at the Y/BC which took 5 minutes and 30 seconds. And then on to the S/D (again on foot) which took 6 minutes 30 seconds. We then switched to the boat for the 3 minute 30 second boat ride back to the Y/BC. After a 1 minute 45 second stop to unload and load, it was off to the Boardwalk dock. That took 1 minute 40 seconds. We observed that at each stop the boat’s unload/load time was always between 1 minute 40 seconds and 1 minute 55 seconds – except at HS and at EPCOT. Our final boat trip was from BW to EPCOT and that took 3 minutes 30 seconds. On one of our boat trips we had a long conversation with Captain Johnny (we were the only passengers going FROM HS early in the morning). Here’s what he told us: There are exactly 4 boats running from before the parks open until after the parks close. Disney (who runs the boats) is under contract to the Swan and Dolphin hotel to provide this service. The boats are evenly spaced and leave both HS and EPCOT on the hour, 15 after the hour, 30 after the hour and 45 after the hour (aha, that’s why the wait time at the HS and EPCOT docks varies). We checked this out and (at least in July) what Captain Johnny told us was true. So, just like the buses in our hometown, the boats are on a schedule. But the good Captain also told us that there are two addition boats over in the EPCOT lake ferrying people between the countries there – until 7:30 pm (depending on park closing time) when they shift over to the International Gateway dock and are added (as needed) to the fleet to get people back to the hotels as they leave the parks. Incidentally, each boat can hold 104 people. Captain Johnny told us that Friendship 3 and Friendship 8 were the two fastest boats and that Friendship 2 and Friendship 5 were the slowest. At the BW dock, as you walk down the ramp leading to the boats, the boat going to EPCOT is on the right and the one going to HS is on the left. The opposite is true at the Y/BC dock.
We were staying in room 3131 (which is at the very end of the hall) and the walk from our room to the BWV dock was 4 minutes 30 seconds. But there is also a back door which led down to the path to HS and the walk from our room to the path was 1 minute 30 seconds. From this spot on the path, the walk to HS was 10 minutes 45 seconds. Which means (interestingly enough) that from our room in BWV the walk to HS was 12 minutes 15 seconds and the walk to EPCOT was 10 minutes 30 seconds. We always thought we were much closer to EPCOT. It’s also interesting to note how long the BWV halls are. From the furthest end on the Boardwalk View wing (near Jelly Rolls) to the elevator is 575 feet (about a 2 ½ minute walk). From the furthest end on wing nearest the Hollywood Studios to the elevator is 600 feet. From the elevator to the entrance to the BW dock is 300 feet. Sorry to bore you will all these numbers. So what do they mean?
You can walk from the exit of Hollywood Studios to the Bag Check area of the EPCOT International Gateway in 21 minutes and 15 seconds (at a 2.8 mph pace – for those of you who are used to treadmill paces) if you cut through the BWV pool area. 2.8 mph is how fast a grandfather and his 10 year old grandson walk when they are serious about getting from one place to another. The boat, once it leaves the HS dock, takes (on the average) 24 minutes to make the trip to the EPCOT dock. You have to add to that the “wait time” for the boat to arrive at the HS dock. You can cut down on the wait time by remembering that the boats leave either end of their run (HS or EPCOT) on the hour and :15, :30, and :45 after the hour. But it’s always faster to walk although the distance that you have to walk is almost exactly one mile. A lot of people are reluctant to add a mile onto their daily walk total just to save a few minutes. Plus it’s a pleasant boat ride!
On average, once the HS-bound boat arrives at the Y/BC dock, it takes 1:40 to unload and load and another 3:30 to travel to the S/D dock – a total of 5:10. This is the same time it takes to walk from the BW dock to the S/D. So, if you’re at the BW dock and you just missed the boat to HS and it hasn’t left the Y/BC dock, you can catch up with it at the S/D dock.
