WDW Transportation Basics

[LKing]

I'm looking for an easy-to-use guide to WDW transportation. Can anyone recommend a website or app where I can indicate my location and where I want to go and the site can tell me the best way to get there?

Questions:
How close do the buses drop off/load relative to the entrance turnstiles?
I've read complaints about lines for buses. Is that just EE and at the end of the day? Are the lines also bad throughout the day?
I recently learned that the skyline is at the back of EPCOT. Are there any other modes of transportation that are within the parks?

 

[CarolynFH]

Surprisingly, the MDE app isn’t too bad for transportation directions. You can use the Search function (magnifying glass at bottom) to find one location, then tap Get Directions. Fill in your starting location, and it will show a map and give instructions and estimated travel time.

The bus stops are closer than the regular parking lots but farther than the dropoff locations for the parking trams. But maybe a five or ten minute walk or so to the security check from the farthest stops. Long lines are at park closing or right after fireworks, not during the day or less busy times.

The Epcot Skyliner station is outside of Epcot, at the International Gateway. The only transportation inside parks is the MK railroad that you can ride from Town Square on Main Street to Frontierland to Fantasyland and back to Town Square (there might be transportation from the MK Town Square to the Hub in the early morning hours, but it doesn’t run very long).

 

[LKing]

The Epcot Skyliner station is outside of Epcot, at the International Gateway.

Thanks for the clarification. Was that always there? I don't mean the skyliner, but was there always an entrance/exit at that end of the park?

 

[Mikey15]

Thanks for the clarification. Was that always there? I don't mean the skyliner, but was there always an entrance/exit at that end of the park?

I don’t know for sure but I believe that entrance has been around since they added hotels on that side with boat transportation to the International Gateway. Swan, Dolphin, and Beach Club opened in 1990, following MGM Studios in 1989 at the other end of Crescent Lake.

 

[Miffy]

Q: How close do the buses drop off/load relative to the entrance turnstiles?
A: It depends on (a) where you're staying and (b) which park you're going to.

For a couple of examples: If you're staying at AKL and going to DAK, although your wait for the bus won't be long since the distance between the resort and the park is minimal, the AKL/AKV bus stop at DAK is pretty far away from the turnstiles.

If you're staying at POFQ and going to Epcot, not only will you not wait long for a bus--the resort and park are a 10-12 minute drive away from each other--but you'll be dropped off closer to the entrance than almost any other bus at Epcot.

Q: Lines for buses. Is that just EE and at the end of the day? Are the lines also bad throughout the day?

Lines for the buses can be awful or amazing at almost any time, although if you leave MK right after the fireworks, you are going to be in a very long line for your bus, assuming you're not staying at a monorail/boat launch resort. Lines can be nonexistent or awful at any time of the day. It depends on so many factors, it's almost impossible to know. I mean, a bus could need service mid-route, and everything could be delayed. The weather could become intolerable and everyone at whatever park could decide to leave at the same time. Just as two examples.

All that being said, when I stay at WDW, I use WDW bus transportation and it works pretty darn well most of the time.

Q: I recently learned that the skyline is at the back of EPCOT. Are there any other modes of transportation that are within the parks?

Another poster answered this--the train at MK. However, I think there still might be at least one Friendship boat inside Epcot--not that I'd recommend using it for anything other than a chance to sit down. As a mode of transportation it falls very very very short.

I hesitate to call this a "mode of transportation," but, assuming they're available--and they do sell out--one can rent an ECV at all the parks and use at the park. It's expensive and you can't take them outside the park, but if there's a mobility issue, they are an option.

 

[LKing]

Thanks for your help. I visit Disneyland several times a month, but haven't been to WDW in since 2009. I see people comparing DLR and WDW on the Disneyland side of this site and one thing that is often mentioned is food. I am in the stage of planning where I'm trying to figure out how much time and money we want to spend on eating. People comment that quick service is much better at Disneyland than at WDW. When we go to Disneyland, it doesn't matter if a meal is 10 min or two hours because we are there so frequently that we can return for rides or shows on another day. However, we rarely go to WDW, so our focus will be different.

In a Disneyland thread comparing food at WDW and DLR, I asked for WDW food recommendations. It seems like it is common to leave a park and eat at a resort. That's what spurred my question about transportation. If we are in the back of a park and decide we want lunch, wouldn't it be a trek to work our way out to the front, wait in line for a bus, arrive at a resort, eat and catch a bus back? Or is it easier than I am envisioning?

For reference, we are staying off site and will be driving in each day. We will have 9 days with no park hoppers.

 

[Genie+]

https://wdwprepschool.com/disney-world-transportation/

This is the best page I’ve found that covers all the options. It’s alot of info but they try to keep it concise.

 

[Miffy]

Thanks for your help. I visit Disneyland several times a month, but haven't been to WDW in since 2009. I see people comparing DLR and WDW on the Disneyland side of this forum and one thing that is often mentioned is food. I am in the stage of planning where I'm trying to figure out how much time and money we want to spend on eating. At Disneyland, people comment that quick service is much better than WDW. For sit down meals, it doesn't matter if a meal takes 1-2 hours because we are there so frequently that we can return for rides or shows on another day. However, we rarely go to WDW, so our focus will be different.

In a Disneyland thread comparing food at WDW and DLR, I asked for WDW food recommendations. It seems like it is common to leave a park and eat at a resort. That's what spurred my question about transportation. If we are in the back of a park and decide we want lunch, wouldn't it be a trek to work our way out to the front, wait in line for a bus, arrive at a resort, eat and catch a bus back? Or is it easier than I am envisioning?

For reference, we are staying off site and will be driving in each day. We will have 9 days with no park hoppers.

It's common to leave a park and eat at a resort? We eat in the parks. There are so many places to eat in all 4 parks--it's really not a problem unless you're looking for a foodie-type eating experience, which I don't know enough about to comment on.

Also, remember, if you're reading social media, people love to complain. It's like a hobby.

 

[tzvdmd]

Thanks for the clarification. Was that always there? I don't mean the skyliner, but was there always an entrance/exit at that end of the park?

The International Gateway was not original to Epcot. But with the opening of the Epcot resorts, starting with the Swan and Dolphin there was a tram that serviced those resorts along with the Disney resorts that were built. Eventually it was deemed that due to increased foot traffic around these resorts that the tram would stop running. But the canopy for the queue stayed in place for years and the gateway was a unique "back" entrance to Epcot for those resorts.

 

[LKing]

Also, remember, if you're reading social media, people love to complain. It's like a hobby.

I follow several Disneyland pages on social media. 99% of the time they are positive. The negative comments I'm reading are on the DisBoards.

 

[Genie+]

The International Gateway was not original to Epcot. But with the opening of the Epcot resorts, starting with the Swan and Dolphin there was a tram that serviced those resorts along with the Disney resorts that were built. Eventually it was deemed that due to increased foot traffic around these resorts that the tram would stop running. But the canopy for the queue stayed in place for years and the gateway was a unique "back" entrance to Epcot for those resorts.

Back then there used to be bus stops inside Epcot too. Double deckers transported people around the park.

https://www.yesterland.com/wstransportation.html

 

[loves to dive]

Thanks for your help. I visit Disneyland several times a month, but haven't been to WDW in since 2009. I see people comparing DLR and WDW on the Disneyland side of this site and one thing that is often mentioned is food. I am in the stage of planning where I'm trying to figure out how much time and money we want to spend on eating. People comment that quick service is much better at Disneyland than at WDW. When we go to Disneyland, it doesn't matter if a meal is 10 min or two hours because we are there so frequently that we can return for rides or shows on another day. However, we rarely go to WDW, so our focus will be different.

In a Disneyland thread comparing food at WDW and DLR, I asked for WDW food recommendations. It seems like it is common to leave a park and eat at a resort. That's what spurred my question about transportation. If we are in the back of a park and decide we want lunch, wouldn't it be a trek to work our way out to the front, wait in line for a bus, arrive at a resort, eat and catch a bus back? Or is it easier than I am envisioning?

For reference, we are staying off site and will be driving in each day. We will have 9 days with no park hoppers.

I think it depends upon which park. Often I see people comparing DL with MK, remember WDW refers to all four parks and the two water parks, not just MK. As far as leaving the park to eat, again, I think that happens more at MK then the other 3 parks. It's an easy boat/monorail/walk to the 3 MK resorts from there. AK, HS and Epcot all have many, many food options within the park (as does MK but most people aren't huge fans of the MK offerings, I'm o.k. with them personally). If you are an adventurous eater AK and the WS in Epcot has loads of options. HS is stepping up their game in the QS offerings as well and have a number of TS offerings that aren't bad. As far as being at the back of a park, again depends on the park. If you are at the back of Epcot, you are WS which has just about anything you could ask for but it's also a short walk out IG to any of the Epcot resorts (YC, BC and BW) or even Swan/Dolphin. If you are at the back of HS you are probably in Galaxy's Edge, which has decent food or you walk through TSL which has o.k. food or you walk through the rest of the park which has a number of good spots. As far as the buses, it depends on the time of day. It might take the bus a tad longer to get there during the non-busy parts of the day because there really aren't that many people leaving and going back to resorts or you might get lucky and walk up to a bus stop right when one is arriving. It all depends on so many factors. I'm a fan of WDW transportation and use it or my feet all the time, I even have my car with me and park that sucker and don't get in it again until I leave to go home. I'm also a fan of the food and have never had an issue finding somewhere to eat in any of the parks. I have never had a hamburger at a QS at WDW either or chicken fingers for that matter so you can see there are options that are not just those.

 

[sam_gordon]

In a Disneyland thread comparing food at WDW and DLR, I asked for WDW food recommendations. It seems like it is common to leave a park and eat at a resort. That's what spurred my question about transportation. If we are in the back of a park and decide we want lunch, wouldn't it be a trek to work our way out to the front, wait in line for a bus, arrive at a resort, eat and catch a bus back? Or is it easier than I am envisioning?

I wouldn't say "common", but "not unusual". However, I think it's safe to assume it takes at least an hour (on average) to get from a given place in a park to a resort (even one that's close), then an hour for a meal (if sit down), then an hour to return to a park. So that's three hours out of the day.

If you're near an entrance, you might save 20-30 minutes on exiting, but if you need to wait on a bus, that time could disappear.

IMO, that's too long with the limited time most people have. However, if you're staying for a week or longer and have multiple days you're going to be in each park, it might not have an impact.

I'm sure others will disagree and that's fine. Just my .02.

 

[Lewisc]

The International Gateway was not original to Epcot. But with the opening of the Epcot resorts, starting with the Swan and Dolphin there was a tram that serviced those resorts along with the Disney resorts that were built. Eventually it was deemed that due to increased foot traffic around these resorts that the tram would stop running. But the canopy for the queue stayed in place for years and the gateway was a unique "back" entrance to Epcot for those resorts.

I thought the tram predated Crescent Lake. The lake and boats replaced the tram.

 

[tzvdmd]

I thought the tram predated Crescent Lake. The lake and boats replaced the tram.

The tram ran for a short time after the Boardwalk opened.