Transportation

[SandraVB79]

How does the transportation system work? There are busses/ boats/ monorail from hotel to theme park and back, but is there also transportation from one resort to another?
If not, is using a "hub" easy (i.e. are there regular busses at odd hours, like early in the morning to have breakfast at another resort)??

Thanks for the answers!!

 

[boomhauer]

There is no transporatation from resort to resort, except for the monorail resorts and from Wilderness to Contemporary.

 

[CleveRocks]

There are a lot more details than this, but let me water it down and make it easy for you. From each Disney resort (which means hotel), there is DIRECT transportation to each of the four theme parks, as well as DownTown Disney and the water parks. The form of that direct transportation is USUALLY a bus. So, for example, if you're staying at Caribbean Beach Resort, you walk to a bus stop (there are 7 at CBR, one for each "village" plus one for the food court/pool/shops area). If you stand at that stop for about 15 minutes, there will pass by a bus for Magic Kingdom, a bus for Epcot, a bus for Animal Kingdom, a bus for MGM, a bus for Downtown Disney, and a bus or two for the water parks (I'm not well-versed on the water park details, but the general idea works for the purposes of this example). The buses are very clearly marked on the "digital scoreboards" on the front and sides of each bus. You get on the bus at your resort, you get off at the destination. There's no exact schedule of times, they just run throughout the day. Getting back is just as easy. Outside each park/DTD/water park are clearly-labeled bus waiting areas. You just wait at the bus stop with the sign for your resort.

Grand Floridian, Polynesian and Contemporary are on the monorail. People staying inthose resorts can take the monorail directly to the outside of Magic Kingdom. They can also ride a monorail to something called the Transportation and Ticket Center, which is not as vital and important as it sounds. At the TTC, they can get off the monorail and get onto another monorail to go to Epcot. But if people in those resorts want to get to MGM and Animal Kingdom they wait for a bus at their resort. In addition, people staying at Contemporary are close enough to Magic Kingdom to walk (and it's one of the very few places in WDW where there are sidewalks to make walking along a street safe; Disney really doesn't condone walking ANYWHERE along the streets, except for the above -- they want you to be safe and take their transportation instead).

There are some resorts in the "Boardwalk area" where you can catch a FriendShip boat (or even walk) to Epcot and MGM. People staying at Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness Campground can catch a boat to Magic Kingdom. There's also a boat from one of the Port Orleans resorts to DownTown Disney.

Getting from resort to resort is another story. It can be time-consuming, inconvenient, and definitely not quick. Let's say you're staying at Pop Century but you want to get from there to dinner at Boma, a restaurant in Animal Kingdom Lodge. You'd have to take a bus from Pop to any of the theme parks or DTD, and then from there catch a bus to AKL. I'm not up on my geography, but in this case it would probably make the most sense to take a bus to AK and from there a bus to AKL. I just don't bother with such things, since when we travel with out kids we eat counter service almost all the time, anyway, so we're not going to bother getting to another resort just for a counter service meal.


It seems confusing, but it's not. All you need to know is you can go DIRECTLY from whatever resort you're at to whatever park (or DTD or water park) you want. You really only need to know the details about the ONE resort you're staying at. And if you get confused and you're not sure of the best way to get from your resort to wherever, there are plenty of CMs to ask, and maybe even a nice fellow guest or two.

 

[brentalex]

If not, is using a "hub" easy (i.e. are there regular busses at odd hours, like early in the morning to have breakfast at another resort)??

Thanks for the answers!!

Often times, if you are going to a resort for an early morning breakfast, say to the contemporary to eat at Chef Mickey's, the early morning bus that is going to the MK will take you to the contemporary. You just need to make sure to tell the driver that is where you want to go. Other than those early morning times, getting from one resort to another is not often easy, depending upon the time and whether the parks are open. Once the parks close, if you need to go from resort to resort at night, you need to change buses at DTD, or take a taxi.

 

[betterlatethannever]

Just to clarify a few things.

The bus to DTD also goes to TL.

Depending on the resort, the bus to AK also goes to BB.

There is transportation between the four major parks so you can park hop.

There is no transportation from the parks or TTC to DTD.

If there is anything specific, please ask.

Ed

 

[wdwgoofeeee]

As noted, there are early buses to the various breakfasts all around WDW. For the Magic Kingdom area the buses start at 6:30am daily. It's a 7:00am start for the rest of the World. Always tell the driver where you are going. If time allows he/she will drop you off right at the resort for your breakfast.
At other times always use the closest theme park to get to the resort you want to visit. From the MK it's easy to get to the Contemporary, Poly and Grand Floridian. The WL is only a boat ride away from the MK.
From the Epcot International Gateway it's a short walk to the Beach Club, Yacht Club, Boardwalk, and Swan and Dolphin. You can also get to this area from the Disney Studios by walking or taking the Friendship boats that run between the two parks throughout the day. The boats make three stops at the Epcot resorts.
I never suggest trying to get directly from one resort to another as this can be very time consuming. Spend some time at the closest theme park to break up the travelling.