Wilderness lodge to MK - best way?

[Torontogal]

We just booked a last minute trip to Disney and staying at Wildnerness Lodge. What is the best way of getting to MK? I heard the ferry can take 80 minutes! Is this true? We will be there Dec. 23rd so it is obviously a busy time.

Thanks.

 

[Robo]

We just booked a last minute trip to Disney and staying at Wildnerness Lodge.

1. What is the best way of getting to MK?

2. I heard the ferry can take 80 minutes! Is this true?

We will be there Dec. 23rd so it is obviously a busy time.

1. Take the boat ("ferry," if you want to call it that.)
Or, take the MK bus.

2. No. (I mean, anything is POSSIBLE, but it doesn't take nearly that long on a regular basis.)
Figure that you might have to wait for the boat to arrive (say, 5-20 minutes)
then boarding can take 3-6 minutes, then the ride to MK will take about 15 minutes.

 

[drquest]

If you're up for it, take the small boat to Contemporary and then you can walk from there to MK. It's a very nice 10 minute walk.

 

[bigtony777]

I think the 80 minute ferry someone told you about is the ferry from the ticket and transportation center. It could take that long if it was really busy and you were a ways out in the parking lot. I would say to get to the boat dock 45 minutes before you want to be at the turnstiles of MK.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

I do not think 80 minutes is in any way common. Perhaps if the whole system broke down, or if there were high winds and boat operation stopped because of it. I can't remember a trip from WL to the MK ever taking more than 20 minutes.

 

[larryz]

What is the best way of getting to MK?

The boat from behind the hotel... get there early enough to beat the crowd, though... everyone loves the boat.
This boat...

NOT this boat...

 

[Budshark]

Just make sure you get on MK boat at Wilderness! There is a boat that goes from Wilderness to Fort Wilderness to MK. It flies a split flag (red and blue?). You want the solid flag that goes straight to MK - line up on the left (there are signs) and ask before boarding. I don't know about 80 mins but if you get on the Split flag boat it can easily take 45.

By the way - I've only seen the split flag a couple times and in conversation with the captain we opted out of taking that one. He advised us it was quicker to wait for the next straight to MK boat than jump on his.

 

[msb578]

Just make sure you get on MK boat at Wilderness! There is a boat that goes from Wilderness to Fort Wilderness to MK. It flies a split flag (red and blue?). You want the solid flag that goes straight to MK - line up on the left (there are signs) and ask before boarding. I don't know about 80 mins but if you get on the Split flag boat it can easily take 45.

By the way - I've only seen the split flag a couple times and in conversation with the captain we opted out of taking that one. He advised us it was quicker to wait for the next straight to MK boat than jump on his.

If we're talking about the same boat, that other one travels between Wilderness Lodge, the Fort, and the Contemporary. It doesn't go to the MK at all.

 

[Budshark]

If we're talking about the same boat, that other one travels between Wilderness Lodge, the Fort, and the Contemporary. It doesn't go to the MK at all.

That's the blue flag boat that docks on right. There is the red flag boat that goes to MK and docks on left.
There is a third route that has a "split flag". It docked on the left but then less than half the people got off. That prompted those of us in line to ask and the captain explained the route. They absolutely went from MK to Wilderness to Fort Wilderness to MK. I've seen the boat more than once but not often.

 

[msb578]

That's the blue flag boat that docks on right. There is the red flag boat that goes to MK and docks on left.
There is a third route that has a "split flag". It docked on the left but then less than half the people got off. That prompted those of us in line to ask and the captain explained the route. They absolutely went from MK to Wilderness to Fort Wilderness to MK. I've seen the boat more than once but not often.

Oh true, it was the blue flag.

Well hmm, that's interesting. Now I want to know when/why the split flag is dispatched

 

[Kae]

If you're up for it, take the small boat to Contemporary and then you can walk from there to MK. It's a very nice 10 minute walk.

And get a coffee at the coffee shop in the Contemporary. It was our favorite way to get to MK and even Epcot

Kae

 

[Budshark]

Oh true, it was the blue flag.

Well hmm, that's interesting. Now I want to know when/why the split flag is dispatched

Yeah! Found it. I was starting to doubt myself! It's a red/green split flag and is used in off peak times to service the MK - Wilderness lodge - Fort Wilderness. So you'd have to be there early afternoon to catch it!

http://www.disboards.com/threads/di...n-and-questions-thread.3372315/#post-52944322

 

[MermaidMommy]

We often take the boat back to WL when we leave MK, but we've found the bus to be quicker in the morning, so we usually take that if we're going to be there for rope drop.

 

[Brian Noble]

What is the best way of getting to MK? I heard the ferry can take 80 minutes!

For rope drop WL->MK, we usually take the bus. For any other trip WL<->MK, we almost always take the boat. The boat never takes anywhere near 80 minutes. The only reason we don't use it for rope drop is the boat doesn't start quite early enough for my liking.

Edited to add: MermaidMommy beat me to it.

 

[AngiTN]

Yeah, if you are trying to make RD at MK you must use the bus. The boat won't run early enough to be assured to get there.
Otherwise we always take the boat.
And for reference, the photo of the boat above is only half way correct.
There is a 2nd type of boat that services WL to MK.
The one photographed above it the one that require strollers to be folded.
There is another type, more like the Friendship boat at Epcot, that allows strollers to be rolled on.
In our experience they alternate, one after the other

This is the other boat type

 

[mdoc]

We've stayed at Fort Wilderness many times, and the boat from the Fort would stop at Wilderness Lodge before going to MK. Even with the extra distance and the stop, it NEVER took anywhere close to 80 minutes, including waiting time. In the morning the boat doesn't get you to MK much before rope drop, so if you want to be near the front of the line you'd want to take the bus.

 

[hakepb]

The Wilderness lodge to MK boat is much better in terms of being much more civilized and scenic.
And you get dropped off right at the MK entrance! So you don't have to join the large cattle herds arriving from the more distant bus or monorail stations.

 

[ktlm]

We've stayed at the Wilderness Lodge multiple times and love the boat. We stayed there with the inlaws once and MIL/FIL took the bus while we took the boat due to the fact MIL had to get an ECV our 2nd day and we found that we usually either beat them back or got back around the same time. I can't imagine an 80 minute wait for the boat on a regular basis. Typically if the lines get horribly long, they will put more boats in service on that route. I will say though that the line to get to MK can be really long in the evenings for people trying to go there just in time for the evening parade and fireworks- I could see that one taking a long time during the busy Christmas break time period. Also, if you leave MK right at park closing and aren't at the front of the pack, I could see it taking a really long time as the lines for all of the transportation out of MK are huge at that time. I could see that wait being an 80 minute wait, but not regularly. When we stayed at the GF, one night at closing there was about a 60 minute wait for the boat and the monorail was not that much better. The moral of that is to either leave a little bit before the park actually closes, or to be at the front of the closing crowd. There also can be a mass exist right after the fireworks- that is another time you either want to be at the front of the pack or hang around inside the park awhile longer and let that crowd disburse. I have been once between Christmas and New Years- at POR not WL though, and it seems like MK stayed open really late and that pretty much eliminated the park closing backlog as people pretty much left sporadically. I'm guessing some of the really late closings at times may be designed partly for that purpose.

 

[hakepb]

In addition, boat captains are generally very enjoyable CM's that love their job, and love talking to guests.

(I realize there are a ton of other CM's that love their job, but boat captains seem to be less stressed-out than other customer-facing positions)

 

[rajak73]

In addition, boat captains are generally very enjoyable CM's that love their job, and love talking to guests.

(I realize there are a ton of other CM's that love their job, but boat captains seem to be less stressed-out than other customer-facing positions)

Our boat Captain last December had us all singing Xmas carols on the trip from MK to Ft Wilderness. It was a blast!