travel time between resorts and parks

[jamoka]

Hey - We are tentatively planning a stay at AKL.

Basically, we cannot afford a hotel on the monorail... so here is my question... Which resorts have the shortest travel time/experience between the resort and the parks. Lets just use MK as a point of discussion. I Know that some resorts are closer to other parks etc...

I just read that some people spend an hour trying to get from their room to MK... Is this typical? Is it faster to drive/ park and take the monorail? Do people staying in the resorts have better parking options than people staying off site?

Just looking for advice. My husband really likes to go back and forth between the parks and the room... I just want to minimize time lost traveling!

Last time we went, we were in BLT.... We were spoiled!

Thanks in advance!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

From Any given resort, Disney transport will beat driving to Magic Kingdom. You have to park at the TTC (free) but there isn't special parking for on-site guests that is better than the other parking. Then you have to wait for transport from the TTC.

The cheapest-best MK access is from Fort Wilderness or Wilderness Lodge. Everywhere else not on monorail will be 20 minutes by bus, once the bus is leaving the resort.

 

[DisBuckMan]

If you have a car there, we find that it's almost always quicker to drive and park. It's very rare that the bus you'll need will be sitting there waiting for you at your resort. There is no special parking...you'll have to park with the offsite guests.

That said....we almost exclusively use Disney transportation.

 

[roydavid7771]

It's usually much quicker to go anywhere with your own vehicle. MK is a bit more time consuming with having to take the ferry or monorail after you park (not to mention the tram ride as well). That being said, I love the fact that I let someone else do the driving when I'm down in Disney. If I absolutely have to be somewhere and I'm pressed for time, I usually Uber. Almost every tijme I've Ubered I've gotten a cast member who was off and knows all of the roads like the back of their hands.

 

[tiggergal15]

I learned the hard way...plan an hour from resort bus stop to park...any of them.we almost missed out on Anna and Elsa because I was sure we didn't need an hour...wrong. Its better to be safe than devistated!

 

[Lisa P.]

Hey - We are tentatively planning a stay at AKL.

Basically, we cannot afford a hotel on the monorail... so here is my question... Which resorts have the shortest travel time/experience between the resort and the parks. Lets just use MK as a point of discussion. I Know that some resorts are closer to other parks etc...

Here's a chart of the distances from each of the Disney resorts to each of the Disney World theme parks:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/resorts/resort-distances.htm

There's quite a difference between travel times to Magic Kingdom, comparing Wilderness Lodge (2 miles, driving) and Animal Kingdom Lodge (12 miles, driving). A self-drive to Magic Kingdom also adds the transport (boat/monorail) time to the bus driving distances shown. We've had short drives from offsite (faster than some of these onsite drives), when very nearby, so a couple miles really doesn't necessarily make an actual difference for some routes. But if trimming travel time is very important to you, and if you plan to visit MK more than the other parks, you may consider choosing a resort that's closer than AKL. Even POR has a faster bus ride to MK than AKL.

 

[DisBuckMan]

Here's a chart of the distances from each of the Disney resorts to each of the Disney World theme parks:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/resorts/resort-distances.htm

There's quite a difference between travel times to Magic Kingdom, comparing Wilderness Lodge (2 miles, driving) and Animal Kingdom Lodge (12 miles, driving). A self-drive to Magic Kingdom also adds the transport (boat/monorail) time to the bus driving distances shown. We've had short drives from offsite (faster than some of these onsite drives), when very nearby, so a couple miles really doesn't necessarily make an actual difference for some routes. But if trimming travel time is very important to you, and if you plan to visit MK more than the other parks, you may consider choosing a resort that's closer than AKL. Even POR has a faster bus ride to MK than AKL.

That chart is WAY off on some of its distances. It states that it's a 4 mile drive from Coronado Springs to MK, while it's a 12 mile drive from AKL to MK. This is simply way off. It's only about 3 miles from AKL to Coronado Springs...so how is it 8 miles further from AKL to MK than CSR to MK? I've measured the driving distance to all the parks before, and AKL is about 8 miles from MK. 6 miles from CSR to Epcot, but only 1 mile to HS? Lots of inaccuracies in that chart.

 

[AshleeH]

We will never ride a bus again when at Disney. Hours of our vacation are saved by driving to the parks - words cannot describe the relief I feel when leaving at the end of the night and knowing I will be in bed in our hotel before the line for the buses even gets on a bus. Hours spent waiting for a bus are much better relaxing in the room (with air conditioning!) or sleeping.

We stayed at AKL our first family vacation and it's beautiful, but it is far from everything! We switched to the Contemporary/MK hotels after that trip because it's all about location, location, location for us.

 

[terri33inne]

To get to MK from another resort I like to take a cab to GF, and then hop on the monorail one stop to MK.

 

[KonaKaiTom]

I agree with PP that allowing an hour is the safety buffer for a bus that is leaving, Disney recommends 90 minutes for ADRs as the scenario is you walk up to your bus stop and the bus you want is just pulling away. Twenty minutes later another bus shows that is going to the park you want to go to. Ten minutes to unload and load the bus (and that is being generous for first thing in the morning) and off you go. But it is rush hour, there is traffic everywhere and you get to your park in another 20 - 30 minutes. You are now at 40 -50 minutes when you pull up -- now you still have to get through security checks for you bags, metal detectors and then scanning your magic band....which says you don't have park passes available and you have to go to guest services to work that out. Yup, you've just spent 90 minutes. Just expect that it will take that long and you won't be disappointed if it takes less. We've stayed everywhere from GF with a 48 second monorail ride, FW with a 10 minute boat ride, AOA with a 20 minute bus ride and pretty much everywhere in between. While 20 minutes is a good number to keep in mind regarding getting from ANY Disney hotel to ANY Disney park -- that doesn't mean real time -- that's just the time you get on the bus until you get where you need to go.

Tom

 

[Sue M]

The Epcot resorts are more centrally located. I don't like driving in Wdw so I use the Wdw transportation. Much less stressful to me, and I can have that Grand Marnier slushy at Epcot!!
But I have driven once or twice. I found probably it was quicker to use a car to the parks with the exception of MK, where you park at TTC, then wait for parking lot tram, then wait for monorail or boat to get to MK. It was easier & quicker to take Wdw transportation.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Hey - We are tentatively planning a stay at AKL.

Basically, we cannot afford a hotel on the monorail... so here is my question... Which resorts have the shortest travel time/experience between the resort and the parks. Lets just use MK as a point of discussion. I Know that some resorts are closer to other parks etc...

I just read that some people spend an hour trying to get from their room to MK... Is this typical? Is it faster to drive/ park and take the monorail? Do people staying in the resorts have better parking options than people staying off site?

Just looking for advice. My husband really likes to go back and forth between the parks and the room... I just want to minimize time lost traveling!

Last time we went, we were in BLT.... We were spoiled!

Thanks in advance!

The cheapest option for a quick trip between MK and a resort will be Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness. The best resorts for a total experience, the shortest commutes when adding all the parks together, would be an Epcot resort. The bus to MK from BC is about 15 minutes long. It is a walk to Epcot and a walk or boat to DHS. We took taxis a few times between POR and a park when we were in a hurry. That worked well, too.

 

[Schulyn]

We stayed on monorail. it was really convenient for MK and Epcot, but then when we went to HS or AK it was awful. Everytime the waits were forever and the buses infrequent. Just my thoughts on the monorail

 

[lennyd]

If your looking to save time make your adr in the park you are going to that day don't plan a trip to Epcot and then have dinner planned for cinderllas castle in the magic kingdom , Disney is big