EP to HS - faster by bus or boat?

[JessicaW1234]

Thinking to hop from EP to HS- is it faster to take the bus or friendship boat?

 

[Alesia]

The fastest way is to walk it.

 

[joelkfla]

Boat takes about 20 minutes; bus takes about 5. But if you're on the back side of WS, the walk to the bus stop probably about evens out the time.

 

[shoreward]

The ride on the Friendship boat, which departs from the dock near the International Gateway, takes from 30-35 minutes. After departing Epcot, it stops at the Boardwalk, YC/BC, and Swan/Dolphin, before heading over to Hollywood Studios.

The walk takes between 23-30 minutes, after exiting Epcot from the International Gateway. On top of those figures, add another 5-15 minutes to get to the IG, if in another area of the park.

If not concerned about saving 15-20 minutes, the boat ride is very relaxing and a nice way to take a short break.

 

[JessicaW1234]

The fastest way is to walk it.

Someone had said it was about a mile walk - is that accurate?

 

[loki_]

I'll regularly walk a loop from the dhs parking lot to the epcot parking lot and back. walking and the boat take about the same amount of time when you factor in boat stops. Its about 1 mile, so my leisurely walking pace is about 20 mins from gate to gate.

 

[joelkfla]

The ride on the Friendship boat, which departs from the dock near the International Gateway, takes from 30-35 minutes. After departing Epcot, it stops at the Boardwalk, YC/BC, and Swan/Dolphin, before heading over to Hollywood Studios.

I've timed the ride at 24 minutes, from cast-off at Epcot to start of unloading at DHS. Add a few minutes for loading and unloading.

Someone had said it was about a mile walk - is that accurate?

On Google Maps, it's 1.2 miles if you stay on the main walkways. There are a couple of shortcuts that can lower it to about a mile.

 

[shoreward]

I've timed the ride at 24 minutes, from cast-off at Epcot to start of unloading at DHS. Add a few minutes for loading and unloading.
On Google Maps, it's 1.2 miles if you stay on the main walkways. There are a couple of shortcuts that can lower it to about a mile.

Then, you had a fast trip.

Of the many times I've made the trip,over the years, the captain usually quotes the time about 30-35 minutes, and many times tells those onboard that they can walk it much faster.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

Boat time of 30-35 minutes sounds about right, depending on loading and unloading delays. For example, at the BW dock, if a boat has just docked as a second boat approaches, they may hold departing passengers onboard until the second boat has also been secured to the dock. This introduces a delay in the boat cycle. I think they do this because part of the dock floats and they don’t want passengers bounced around if the docking boat hits the dock too hard. Otherwise, the boat crews tell me they try to maintain a 30 minute trip time between EP and HS in either direction. A 60 minute round trip means they need 3 boats running to maintain the claimed average of 20 minutes between boats or 4 boats running to get the average time down to 15 minutes. Over more than 50 stays at the BWV in the last 18 years, the timing has been pretty consistent in this regard.

 

[a742246]

If you are is World showcase take the boat, if you are in Future world take the bus.

 

[DOOM1001]

Fastest way is walking but the choice between bus or boat should depend more if you're in WS or FW,FW take the bus,WS boat or walk.The problem with the boats is that they're slow,they make three stops before getting to DHS and if you arrive just as one left you're going to be waiting 15-20 minutes for the next one and then you have to add 25-35 minutes for the trip making it 45 minutes to an hour to get between parks.Personally I can't wait for the gondolas.

 

[joelkfla]

Personally I can't wait for the gondolas.

Length of travel path will be 2 miles. Maximum speed is about 13mph. Assuming Disney scales that back to 10mph, and adding time for passing thru the stations and possibly transferring at CBR, I'm estimating trip time at 20 minutes, plus queueing.

 

[DOOM1001]

Length of travel path will be 2 miles. Maximum speed is about 13mph. Assuming Disney scales that back to 10mph, and adding time for passing thru the stations and possibly transferring at CBR, I'm estimating trip time at 20 minutes, plus queueing.

I pretty much know the gondolas won't be that fast but the gondolas will be like a ride with transportation attached as well as helping to spread out the crowds so maybe the boats will have less people waiting and at times like when a park lets out that's a big deal as having to wait for a second boat because the line is too long happens all the time.

 

[joelkfla]

I pretty much know the gondolas won't be that fast but the gondolas will be like a ride with transportation attached as well as helping to spread out the crowds so maybe the boats will have less people waiting and at times like when a park lets out that's a big deal as having to wait for a second boat because the line is too long happens all the time.

I wasn't meaning to say that they would be slow. IMHO, 20 minutes is pretty darn good compared to the boats, and even not bad compared to most bus trips when you factor in wait time. And they'll be consistent: once you size up the queue, you'll be able to predict your arrival time pretty accurately, without worrying whether the next boat or bus will arrive in 5 minutes or 30 minutes. I'm expecting queue time to be pretty low, except at park exit.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

I wasn't meaning to say that they would be slow. IMHO, 20 minutes is pretty darn good compared to the boats, and even not bad compared to most bus trips when you factor in wait time. And they'll be consistent: once you size up the queue, you'll be able to predict your arrival time pretty accurately, without worrying whether the next boat or bus will arrive in 5 minutes or 30 minutes. I'm expecting queue time to be pretty low, except at park exit.

Since the EP gondola station is adjacent to the IG boat dock, you could size up the situation and make a decision which means of transportation to use for EP to HS in real time.