Using Disney Transportation

One of the many reasons we return to Walt Disney World is due to the Disney Transportation system and the ease of getting from one location to another. There is no need for us to rent a car or learn shuttle schedules. Instead, we learn about and use Disney’s busses, boats, and monorails.




Sometimes getting from one place to another is not as obvious as it may seem. Busses go between parks and resorts or resorts and Downtown Disney. (Click here to read about Disney bus stops.) Going from park to park either requires a bus transfer, a monorail if going from Magic Kingdom to EPCOT or the reverse—and that even requires switching monorails at the TTC, or a boat if going from Hollywood Studios to EPCOT or the reverse.

Here are some things that are important to know:

• TTC---otherwise known as the Ticket and Transportation Center. The TTC includes a monorail station, ferry dock, and some bus platforms. The TTC is walking distance from the Polynesian Resort—there is even a sidewalk that will take you right there.

• Monorails—there are 3 monorail lines. The Express—which takes guests from the TTC to the Magic Kingdom and back. The Resort Line—which takes guests to/from the Contemporary, the Polynesian Resort, and the Grand Floridian, and also stops at the TTC. This line follows the same route as the Express—it just stops at the resort. The EPCOT line—which goes from EPCOT to the TTC and back.

• Boats—They are everywhere! Ferries go back and forth from the TTC to the Magic Kingdom. Fort Wilderness, Wilderness Lodge, the Grand Floridian, and the Polynesian resorts have boats that go to/from the Magic Kingdom. There are boats that service the Boardwalk, the Swan and Dolphin, and the Yacht and Beach Club resorts to take guests to/from Hollywood Studios or EPCOT. And there are boats that take guests to/from Downtown Disney from Old Key West, Saratoga Springs, Port Orleans Riverside, and Port Orleans French Quarter.

• Busses—take guests to/from resorts to theme parks and to/from resorts to Downtown Disney. Busses also take guests to/from the Orlando International using Disney’s Magical Express—click here to read more.



So, now that you know a bit more, let’s have a quiz:



Let’s say you are staying at Port Orleans Riverside and are having breakfast at Chef Mickey’s located at the Contemporary Resort. Do you. . .

a. Take a bus to the Magic Kingdom and walk to the Contemporary.

b. Take a bus to the Magic Kingdom and then the monorail to the Contemporary.

c. Take the bus to EPCOT and the monorail to the TTC, switch to the resort monorail to take to the Contemporary.

If you answered “a” or “b” you picked the best choices. All of the choices are actually correct, but some routes are faster than others and vary depending on crowds, etc. Knowing that there can be more than one way to get to a location is helpful. Here’s a web-site that provides assistance with using Disney Transportation—check it out.



For example, after eating breakfast at ‘OHANA’s at the Polynesian Resort, we were headed to EPCOT. We could take the monorail from the Poly to the TTC and switch to the EPCOT monorail or we could walk to the TTC and take the EPCOT monorail. Since it was shortly after 8:00 and we wanted to get to rope drop at EPCOT, we walked to the TTC and caught the EPCOT monorail—as this way was faster.



Here’s another Williams Family post about busses, trains, boats, and monorails.