Figuring out buses, boats, & monorail?

[Wall-e]

I have never been to WDW, and I am always amazed at how many of you know which bus to take, transfer to, etc. to get where you need to go! Is there anyway to study up on all of this stuff, or do I just need to kind of figure it out when I get there? It sounds like if you know what you are doing you can really save yourself some time!

Thanks!
Liz

[Strmchsr]

It's really very easy. At your resort the lines are clearly for which bus will pull up where and each bus also has its destination displayed on the front. Monorails are also clearly marked with signage. Disney has signs all over the place so it really is incredibly easy to find your way around. If you feel confused just ask a cast member and they'll be glad to help.

[DonaldsBFF]

The biggest thing to remember is that bus service does not go between resorts. Sometimes you need to get creative when traveling in WDW, but as mentioned above it is not hard as everything is clearly marked.

[Polynesian Dweller]

Strmchsr is absolutely correct, it really is very easy. Just look at the sign posts and you'll know which ones to take. The trickiest part is getting to DTD from a park. You have to go to a resort and transfer, again just look at the signs as you.

So, there is direct bus from any theme park to any resort and vice versus. There is a direct bus from DTD to any resort but no Theme Parks. That's about as complex as it gets and that makes it sound harder than it is.:mickey:

The Monorail has three lines. The Express just stops at the TTC and MK while the resort line stops at each resort plus the TTC and MK. The Epcot line just travels between the TTC and Epcot.

[Disney4us2]

If you are park hopping between Epcot and DHS there is a boat that can take you to the other park instead of a bus. It also stops at several different Epcot area resorts. It was a nice relaxing ride from one park to the other.

There is also a boat that goes between DTD and Port Orleans French Quarter and Riverside resorts.

Have fun planning:mickey:

[Tick-Tock]

Intercot's Info Central has a discussion of transportation options at Getting Around Walt Disney World (http://www.intercot.com/infocentral/transportation/gettingaround.asp)

[5MemphisTiggers]

Where are you staying? The answers given here presume you are staying on site. The buses run between Disney's resorts, parks and DTD. If you are offsite, you will have to arrange other transportation to get to one of these places.

That said, the bus basics are pretty easy. You will probably spend the majority of your transport time going from your resort to a park or DTD, and then from that location back to your resort. Just get on a bus that going to the destination you want. The pickup points at the resorts are clearly labeled. At the parks there will be a main sign that points you in the direction of your stop (e.g., AS Music - 14, POR - 8, Poly - 2, etc.). Just head to the correct numbered stop and the bus to your destination will pick you up there.

Some resorts also have boat transportation available as an alternative, and there are a few other boat rides you can enjoy. But all of there are in addition to the buses, so you can get anywhere you want to go without needing to ride a boat. (But there are a lot of fun! I'm a boat person. :D )

Polynesian Dweller covered the tricky part about transferring. You will also have to do this if you are going from one resort to another (e.g., staying at POR but eating dinner at O'hana).

The monorail is always fun to ride, but it only loops through the Poly, GF and Contemporary resorts, the MK and the TTC. A separate line runs from the TTC to EPCOT. For fun, on the day you visit EPCOT, first take a bus to the MK. Don't enter the park, but instead head for the monorail station. Take the monorail to the TTC. There you will transfer to another monorail train that runs to EPCOT. It's a fun ride, and it circles SSE before dropping you off at the station. At the end of the day you can simply catch a bus back to your resort -- or do the monorail thing in reverse.

And remember . . . it's Disney. :mickey: Cast Members are always willing to answer questions and help you get where you want to go. Don't be afraid to ask.

[Wall-e]

Thank you all for your responses I knew I could count on you! :mickey: Our trip is not until Oct. 2011, but I have been waiting for a couple of years to start planning this trip (I think I am getting close enough :blush:). Right now I am leaning toward staying at POR. From what you all have explained, getting around isn't nearly as intimidating as I orginally thought. Sounds like traveling between resorts will be the only really tricky part. Thanks again, I really appreciate it!

[Goofy4TheWorld]

I disagree with those that say it is very simple to take full advantage of WDW transportation without planning ahead. You may get to where you need to go without doing your homework, but it will probably be the long way around for those of us lacking experience. I stayed at Port Orleans in 2004 and never knew that there were boats to DTD. Heck, I didn't even know there were bridges that connected the far side of POR (where I was staying :() to the Food Court and Lobby without having to walk all the way around the lake. There may have been signs, I might have been told during check-in, but I was so green I NEVER had a clue about the bridges or the boats.

I think the transportation system is so vast, that for my upcoming trip I have a cheat sheet of transportation tips that is three pages long! I would post it, but it is VERY rough draft (full of misspellings and probably some wrong information) and it is written from the perspective of me staying at the Contemporary, so you staying at POR would need to know things from your resort.

Anyway..... My point is, if you want to truly master the art of limiting your transportation time by being aware of ALL your options, you better listen to your mama and do you homework!

[Fastpasssteve]

In the main lobbly of your resort will be a concierge who can help you plan any trip you need to take on WDW Transportation. Your main mode of travel will be bus from your resort.

Most intricacies occur when one is trying to make a dining reservation at another resort. Let's say you're going to breakfast at 1900 Park Fare. The concierge will tell you that you'll simply take the bus to the Magic Kingdom and then tranfer to the Monorail OR the boat launch that goes directly to the Grand Floridian.

Most of us who have been going for years know the lay of the land, so all this will make more sense once you're there. This map always helped me out to get a sense of what resorts were close to what parks and so on:

http://www.intercot.com/infocentral/images/map.jpg

and

http://www.intercot.com/infocentral/images/disneyworld_map.gif

[Tink#64]

In addition to what all previous posters have said, I also think it's handy to print out the transpo info from this site:
http://www.intercot.com/infocentral/transportation/gettingaround.asp

Our trip 4 years ago our plans had to be rethought due to an afternoon thunderstorm that really delayed the start of our evening & I had to rethink what to do & how to get there! Looking at a WDW map, I was able to locate Fantasia Gardens putt putt & from the info I had printed out from this site, I was able to figure out that we could get there by taking a bus from Pop to DHS & then the boat to the Dolphin, walk across the street from that resort to play putt putt! I wouldn't have known this without my handy dandy printout from Intercot! :thumbsup:

[Tink#64]

Sorry, I meant to add that if you are trying to travel from one resort to another, usually the easiest way is to again consult a WDW property map & take a bus from wherever you are to the park that closest to your destination & then take the bus from that park to the resort of choice.

Good luck & you'll be fine! Most everyone at WDW is eager to help should you have any questions once you are there! :mickey:

[5MemphisTiggers]

I don't disagree with Goofy4TheWorld. It can take some planning and an understanding of how the transportation system works in order to take full advantage of it. My point was that, at least on a basic "entry level," the system is pretty easy to use. You can always get more out of it by planning ahead, but don't stress if you don't have time to do that as you can still get around the parks with relative ease.

If you do want to read up on it, study some of the park maps that others have linked to. Also, I believe Disney gives you a brochure that describes the transportation system when you check in. I wouldn't be surprised if they would send you one ahead of time.

[Tick-Tock]

Sorry, I meant to add that if you are trying to travel from one resort to another, usually the easiest way is to again consult a WDW property map & take a bus from wherever you are to the park that closest to your destination & then take the bus from that park to the resort of choice.



We've found that you don't always want to wait for a bus to the "closest" park (especially if it seems like they're a long time coming). Sometimes it's faster to take the first bus that comes, then transfer there.

For example, we were meeting friends at GF. At POFQ, we took the Epcot bus because it was there when we got to the stop, and then took the monorail. At AKL, they waited, and waited, and waited for a MK bus. We beat them to GF by something like a 1/2 hour. I never thought to tell them to take any park's bus if there wasn't a MK bus within a reasonable amount of time.

[faline]

If I had to think back to my first visit, I'd say what seems so obvious to those of us who have been there many times, may not be so to someone who is taking their first trip. For example, our first trip (many years ago but I'm not going to be more specific than that) was a camping trip to Fort Wilderness. We spent our entire trip on buses traveling from our site to connectng buses to the park. It was not until the very end of the trip that we learned we could have also taken boats to some of our destinations!

Don't be afraid to ask! Ask bus drivers. Ask other passengers. Sometimes, you'll be led astray. I've heard bus drivers and other cast members provide inaccurate information. I've provided information to others and have been ignored as I'm just as "guest" and could't possibly know what I'm talking about.

So, yes, some of it is trial and error but I have no doubt you'll soon learn your way around!

Between now and the time of your trip, be sure to take in all the wonderful information offered here on Intercot. You'll be much better prepared than many others who visit with no knowledge at all!

[kemps@wdw]

All resorts and park bus stops and monorail destinations are clearly marked, so finding the right one for your destination is relatively easy. However...a few pointers...the monorail actually has two different tracks. One makes the "loop" around the "monorail resorts (CT, Poly, and GF) and hits the MK and TTC, with stops @ all. The other goes from the TTC to EPCOT and back. So, if you want to get from one onto the other (like going from MK to EPCOT or vice versa), you'll have to change trains @ the TTC. With bus travel, all buses make several stops on the way to their final destination, so leave plenty of travel time (up to an hour) to reach your intended park w/time to spare. Hope this helps.:mickey:

[CleveRocks]

We've found that you don't always want to wait for a bus to the "closest" park (especially if it seems like they're a long time coming). Sometimes it's faster to take the first bus that comes, then transfer there.

For example, we were meeting friends at GF. At POFQ, we took the Epcot bus because it was there when we got to the stop, and then took the monorail. At AKL, they waited, and waited, and waited for a MK bus. We beat them to GF by something like a 1/2 hour. I never thought to tell them to take any park's bus if there wasn't a MK bus within a reasonable amount of time.Well, I don't agree that it's always best to use the closest park as a hub, but I also don't agree that it's alwats best to take the first available bus, either. If the first available bus doesn't make geographical sense, then it'll be a big waste of time.

For example, if you're at POR and you have dinner reservations at Animal Kingdom Lodge, it would be a huge waste of time to take a bus from POR to Magic Kingdom and then a bus from MK to AKL ... you'd be traveling a shape that looks like an inverted "V" ... instead, from POR you'd be MUCH better off with a bus to Epcot or Disney's Hollywood Studios, since they are almost in a straight line between POR and AKL, and of course a bus to Animal Kingdom would be just dandy, too, since it's so close to AKL.

It really depends on where you are and where you're going ... there's no "one size fits all" solution.

[DizneyRox]

A lot of the ins and outs just need to come from experience.

We use 100% Disney transport once on property. Often for me it's not about time, it's about waiting. I'd rather be moving than waiting in a line for something to come, even if it's slower, at least I feel like I'm accomplishing something.

I have found, that if you can walk it (safely), that's usually the fastest way to get from here to there. After that, it's mostly a wash.

Park to Resort, we do busses with a couple of exceptions mostly in the MK area.

Resort to Resort is just about the same, any resort (for us) worth going to, is usually right next to a park, so we'll bus to the park and then walk/boat/monorail to our final destination.

To get from any resort to the Contemporary, Poly, Grand, Fort Wilderness or Wilderness Lodge go to MK.

To get from any resort to Boardwalk, Beach Club, Yacht Club, Swan or Dolphin, go to MGM (or Epcot depnding on your ticket).

To get to SSR, PO, or Old Key West, head to DTD, but allow time for another transfer. SSR is walkng distance, but many people will complain abot the distance. I don't know if you can rely on the boat to PO or OKW on off hours.

I can't really think of a reason to get from any resort to any of the others, unless you're staying there.

I'm sure there are other ways to get aound, but until you feel comfortable, stick to the basics. Playing around can cost you lots of time, cause you to miss meals, etc, or otherwise un-necessarily tire you out having to back track, etc.

[Tick-Tock]

Well, I don't agree that it's always best to use the closest park as a hub, but I also don't agree that it's alwats best to take the first available bus, either. If the first available bus doesn't make geographical sense, then it'll be a big waste of time.

For example, if you're at POR and you have dinner reservations at Animal Kingdom Lodge, it would be a huge waste of time to take a bus from POR to Magic Kingdom and then a bus from MK to AKL ... you'd be traveling a shape that looks like an inverted "V" ... instead, from POR you'd be MUCH better off with a bus to Epcot or Disney's Hollywood Studios, since they are almost in a straight line between POR and AKL, and of course a bus to Animal Kingdom would be just dandy, too, since it's so close to AKL.


Yes, you're illustrating my point. I was just trying to say, think outside the "closest" park idea. If you know that AK is closest, but Epcot and DHS still aren't too far out of the way, you don't need to pass up a DHS bus and an Epcot bus, and another DHS bus, all while waiting for a AK bus. (Using my example, my friends apparently watched several DHS and several Epcot buses go by, but they never thought that they could transfer there just as well as MK. They just knew that GF was near MK.) I wouldn't take a MK bus just because it's first, but I wouldn't wait for an AK bus either.