Using The Disney Transportation System

Walt Disney World Resort offers guests transportation options to get to and from the parks and other resorts for FREE!  The Disney Transportation System contains fleets of boats, buses, and, of course, monorails.  The system shuttles guests from resorts to parks and park to park.  Navigating the system is easy, but can be overwhelming if a guest is not sure how the system works.

There’s a great web-site called Our Laughing Place (a reference to Splash Mountain) Walt Disney World Transportation Wizard.  Visitors to the site put in where they are and where they would like to go and the transportation wizard determines the best route using the Disney Transportation System.  Click here to get to the OLP WDW Transportation Wizard.

I’ll never forget the time an adult female guest was getting on the Magic Kingdom bus to go to breakfast at Cape May Café at the Beach Club.  We were at the bus stop at Port Orleans French Quarter and were getting on the Magic Kingdom bus.  She was asking the driver if this was the early bus for character dining and if the bus would get her to Cape May Café.

I intervened.  While the Magic Kingdom bus could get her to the Magic Kingdom and then she could take a Beach Club bus to the Beach Club, the bus to Magic Kingdom wasn’t her best bet.  I asked what time her Advanced Dining Reservation was for.  While I don’t remember the exact time, I do remember that she had given herself plenty of time to make the reservation.  Good for her!  I then suggested that she wait for the Hollywood Studios bus and then take Friendship Boat to the Beach Club.  I told her where to go at Studios to catch the boat—as she wouldn’t actually have to enter the park the get to the boat.  (This is different than at EPCOT, as guests would have to enter the main entrance of the park—using their admission ticket—and traverse to the International Gateway to get to a Friendship Boat launch to get to the Beach Club.)  Going to Studios would be easier.

The lady I was helping asked if I was one of those “moms.”  I replied, “Do you mean a Disney mom?”

“Yeah.”

“No, but I have applied to be a Disney mom.”  I wished her and her family a good day and a great trip.  I’m sure they made it!

When I made the little yellow cards for the husband for our most recent trip—click here to read more—I included information about Disney transportation on the card.  For example, the evening we were having dinner at Garden Grill in EPCOT, I had listed on one card to take Magic Kingdom Ferry to TTC then EPCOT Monorail if Express Monorail from the Magic Kingdom is not running.  At the time of our visit, the Magic Kingdom monorail line was experiencing interruptions due to construction at the Grand Floridian.  So, we had plan A and B to use the Disney Transportation System to get from Magic Kingdom to EPCOT for dinner.  This also meant that we knew which park we were going to be in on which day, etc.  Turns out that the monorails were running—I asked a Cast Member when we exited the park to be sure—and we took the Express Monorail from the Magic Kingdom to the Ticket and Transportation Center and switched to the EPCOT monorail—we didn’t get to ride the Ferry this time.

Guests’ views on the Disney Transportation System are as varied as the guests themselves and opinions vastly vary.  For us, using the Disney Transportation System, including Free Magical Express from Orlando International Airport to our resort, is all a part of the Disney experience.  I can’t wait to hear the music on the bus when it turns the corner at the Magic Kingdom announcing our arrival.  I love to hear the themed music on the various buses for different resorts. All of us enjoy visiting with other guests during the commute to and from the parks.  I like to sit back, relax, and let Disney do the driving!

Be sure to check out the Transportation Wizard and let me know what you think.