Wilderness Lodge to MK Extra Magic Hours Transportation

[Donalyn]

First time staying at Wilderness Lodge - Is it better to do boat or bus to MK on an Extra Magic Hour day? On a regular day?

Any other words of wisdom for transportation to the parks from Wilderness Lodge? We will have a car and are happy to use it. And we are rope drop people.

 

[Sonja Reavis]

I feel the boat was fabulous less hassle as they get you over quickly. Now coming back you need to just be aware that everyone is trying to get back so plan accordingly

 

[RolloTomasi]

I use the boat, but I use the boat every time over to Magic Kingdom. I just find it more relaxing. This past trip (two weeks ago) I took it over for EMH, getting a boat about ten to nine and docked just as the fireworks started. Coming back they combined the WL and Fort Wilderness boats, but they do that frequently at night anyway (at least in my experience).

The past couple of trips we’ve driven everywhere except MK (aforementioned boat). Our schedule has been a bit all over the place lately (early risers one day, afternoon trips another) that it’s been easier to drive ourselves to and from the parks rather than wait who knows how long for a bus. It’s also made leaving at night much less stressful. Plus, parking is free!

 

[glamdring269]

We didn’t risk the boat for park openings during our current trip. The sign says it doesn’t start service until 30 minutes prior and that’s too late. Could be that they actually launch sooner but didn’t want to risk it. The bus got us there in what felt like 5 minutes and we could get on much earlier than 30 mins prior to park open.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We prefer the boat. We've stayed at WL three times and have never taken a bus to MK. As PP noted, the MK boat doesn't start running until 30 minutes prior to MK opening, so we hop on the CR/Ft. W boat (which starts at 6:45 am) and go to CR and then walk over. I find the security on the CR/MK path is never as busy as the security checkpoint when you get off the bus.

 

[ShadeDK]

I've only taken the bus from WL to MK one time (see below) and always taken the boat - so much better and peaceful than doing the bus line (and how can you beat arriving at MK by boat?). And having stood in 1+ hour bus lines at closing for other resorts, I'm always thankful when I can skip straight to the small docks leaving MK. That said, the PP comments on taking the boat for rope drop are accurate - the bus or driving yourself is a safer bet if you want to guarantee a good spot for RD. I rarely do RD at MK, but would not rely on the boats to get me there.

As for my one bus trip from WL to MK - it happened last week. We were headed down to the docks after 7am for an 8am opening when we saw a mass of people coming back (and all headed to the bus stop on the other side of the resort). It turned out that they suspended boat service until 9:30am because there was too much fog on the lake to operate safely. So another consideration if you do rely on the boats to get to MK in the early morning - look out to see the conditions on the lake.

 

[KrazeeK120]

The only time we took the bus to MK from WL was for RD. The boat doesn’t operate until 30 min prior to park open. You can boat to CR earlier than that and walk over, but there were barely any people at the bus stop either morning we used it and we had no trouble getting to the park. We used the boat otherwise and it was fabulous!

We drove to the other parks.