walking/travel within the parks

[MDDdisney]

Are there trams or transportation options within the parks? As an example, Animal Kingdom looks huge: if you want to go from Pandora to Asia, is there a way to get there other than walking? Or does the map make it look farther than it actually is? Are there scale maps or can anyone approximate the distance?

 

[Spunky946]

No trams inside the park and yes it’s a bit of a walk.

Animal kingdom is the biggest park and most spread out

 

[holden]

Everything is farther than it looks on the map...especially in the heat of the summer lol!

We walk about 20miles a day on our trips.

 

[Mome Rath]

Are there trams or transportation options within the parks? As an example, Animal Kingdom looks huge: if you want to go from Pandora to Asia, is there a way to get there other than walking? Or does the map make it look farther than it actually is? Are there scale maps or can anyone approximate the distance?

The train in Magic Kingdom is the only real in park "transport." The main depot is on Main Street and it stops at Frontierland and Fantasyland, and you can get on or off at any depot or simply ride the whole thing. I always think that being in the parks themselves make it seem "shorter" between two points because you are there and shopping, people watching, and just generally excited, but I'll add that on a slow day we walk 7+ miles in the parks.

 

[AngiTN]

There is a train at AK. You can't reach Rafiki's area without it
There are a few modes to take you down Main St but wouldn't call them a mode of transportation. More a novelty ride
Otherwise, it's all your feet. We avg 10 miles a day
You can use Google maps to track any distances you are curious about. Just put it on walking mode

 

[MDDdisney]

Thank you for your replies! I have no problem walking all day but I need to revise my plans so I'm not going back and forth. Was lucky to get a Fast Pass for FOP but I think I'll have to cancel lunch at Yak & Yeti or I'll be going from Africa, to Asia, to Pandora, back to Asia.

 

[AngiTN]

Thank you for your replies! I have no problem walking all day but I need to revise my plans so I'm not going back and forth. Was lucky to get a Fast Pass for FOP but I think I'll have to cancel lunch at Yak & Yeti or I'll be going from Africa, to Asia, to Pandora, back to Asia.

that is not a long walk really. Not at all. Though you may want to check the menu at the QS in Pandora. We love Yak and Yeti but Sautili Canteen is better.

 

[Mome Rath]

The hike from Pandora to Yak and Yeti or vice versa isn't really that bad at all if you really want to try Y&Y. You'll basically walk diagonally through Discovery Island, which is the hub land of AK.

 

[MDDdisney]

Do you have any idea of the distance between Pandora and Asia? The map makes it look like miles!

 

[Mome Rath]

Do you have any idea of the distance between Pandora and Asia? The map makes it look like miles!

Google maps is giving me about .3 or .4 miles

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Thank you for your replies! I have no problem walking all day but I need to revise my plans so I'm not going back and forth. Was lucky to get a Fast Pass for FOP but I think I'll have to cancel lunch at Yak & Yeti or I'll be going from Africa, to Asia, to Pandora, back to Asia.

That's really not a terrible walk, but if it's hot out, it can be kind of brutal. I think it's a good idea to look at a map and consolidate touring as much as you can in any of the parks. You will be walking a lot anyway, why walk more than you have to?!

In EP, you can use the Friendship boats to cut down on walking a little in WS.

 

[AngiTN]

That's really not a terrible walk, but if it's hot out, it can be kind of brutal. I think it's a good idea to look at a map and consolidate touring as much as you can in any of the parks. You will be walking a lot anyway, why walk more than you have to?!

In EP, you can use the Friendship boats to cut down on walking a little in WS.

I think they have retired the WS boats. If memory serves the only route left ended in November.
Hopefully someone else will confirm if I'm right or wrong

 

[MDDdisney]

Google maps is giving me about .3 or .4 miles

That's not bad at all, thank you! Didn't think to use Google Maps but that's a good idea.

 

[HopperFan]

Epcot has the largest footprint for guests and there really are no short cuts given the lagoon in the middle. Not sure the status on the FriendShip boats. I didn't even notice them a couple weeks ago if they were there. I would for sure plan your day there to avoid any back and forth at all.

AK, we pretty much plan our days to make the circular swoop but you do have crossovers on the island that helps for any backtrack.

Studios, non-issue, not large not even once the new lands are open.

MK, you can plan and plan but we find the back and forth are inevitable if we want to work with shorter wait times. At least there is the hub to cut through. Here we make time for rest stops.

 

[slpeters]

I worried a lot about trying to plan to avoid the back and forth before we went and found it to be pretty much a non-issue for us. In my opinion the maps make the parks look much bigger than they are. On the other hand we were two relatively fit adults--we might have felt different if we were towing a bunch of kids or had any kind of mobility issue.

 

[CarrieR]

I think they have retired the WS boats. If memory serves the only route left ended in November.
Hopefully someone else will confirm if I'm right or wrong

There was a boat out last Sunday (1/28) - it was pre-WS opening and went from the one FW-side dock to the other (kinda weird - in prep for opening I presumed) but a bit later I saw it at Morocco twice. I didn’t pay enough attention to notice if there were people on it at Morocco - just enough to know that it was blocking my photos. Lol!

 

[FastPasser.]

I think they have retired the WS boats. If memory serves the only route left ended in November.
Hopefully someone else will confirm if I'm right or wrong

Canada/Morocco boat transportation is still available. Except when they were taping The Chew and WoF, the Mexico/Germany route ended at least 6 months ago. It's shown on the Epcot map.

 

[AngiTN]

Canada/Morocco boat transportation is still available. Except when they were taping The Chew and WoF, the Mexico/Germany route ended at least 6 months ago. It's shown on the Epcot map.

Good to know. I knew Mexico/Germany was stopped first. But someone had (erroneously) reported that they eliminated the Canada/Morocco route too, just before our New Years trip. Glad they were wrong. I didn't look and we never use it as it doesn't save anything but others seem to like it. Personally, I do much better walking than standing and by the time I stood and waited on a boat I could walk to the other side.

 

[FastPasser.]

we never use it as it doesn't save anything but others seem to like it. Personally, I do much better walking than standing and by the time I stood and waited on a boat I could walk to the other side.

Being at the closed dock regularly and being asked if it's open dozens of times each night, I get the sense that people who don't visit Epcot often assume that it's a time saver. In most cases it's not.

 

[Robo]

Being at the closed dock regularly and being asked if it's open dozens of times each night, I get the sense that people who don't visit Epcot often assume that it's a time saver. In most cases it's not.

Disney took out a lot of the benches.
So, if you want to sit for awhile (once boarded,) enjoy the view from the water, and not have to walk from point A to point B...
the Friendship ride is very nice.

Not everything is about saving time.