Consider this your complete guide to understanding how to use buses, boats, and beyond to get from theme park to hotel to Disney Springs and back.
There’s definitely a learning curve that comes with mastering transportation at Disney World. However, once you’ve visited once or twice, you’ll quickly get the lay of the land – and know how to factor different modes of transportation into your theme park or resort travels.
Once you arrive at your Disney World resort hotel or hit the theme parks, you’ll need to rely either on a vehicle of your own or the different Disney transportation options offered. While buses are a popular way to get around, you do have other options, including buses, boats, gondolas, and even monorails (just not trains – those are only found in the parks).
If you’re unsure where to start, we’ll help you figure out everything from buses to the Disney Skyliner to driving yourself below.
Explore Transportation at Disney World
Disney World Bus Transportation
Photo by Laurie Sapp
One of the most common and readily available modes of transportation at Disney World are Disney’s complimentary buses. With bus stops scattered throughout the resort, including theme parks, water parks, Disney Springs, and Disney’s own hotels, it’s easy to grab a ride to just about anywhere.
Disney World Resort hotel guests can enjoy complimentary bus service resort-wide, which is both convenient and efficient. You do have to wait for buses (they run on a set schedule, which will be posted at your resort), but you won’t have to deal with the hassle or cost of driving, parking, and navigating the resort yourself. Plus, the buses run continuously from early in the morning to late at night, offering options for every guest’s schedule.
Oh, and there’s another perk: Disney’s buses are air-conditioned, so you’ll have relief from the Florida heat when you climb aboard.
Find out everything you need to know about bus transportation at Disney World in our guide.
Disney World Boat Transportation
Photo by Eddison Esteban (Don’t forget you can take the Friendship Boats from EPCOT’s International Gateway to the EPCOT Resort Area)
At Disney World, it’s possible get wherever you’re going in true Florida fashion: via boat! Depending on where you’re headed within the resort, there are a few different ways you can leverage Disney’s very own boat transportation system to hit the water and enjoy the scenic, speedy ride.
Also known as Disney World water transportation, Disney’s boats will take you to and from theme parks, Disney Springs, and even certain resorts. Boat transportation includes trips on both ferry boats and water taxis (or water launch). Typically, you can pick up boat transportation every 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the route you’re traveling.
You’ll find boat transportation available at locations around Seven Seas Lagoon, Bay Lake, Crescent Lake, and Lake Hollywood. That means Magic Kingdom Resort Area, Magic Kingdom Park, EPCOT, EPCOT Area Resorts, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios are all accessible via ferry or water taxi.
Disney Springs, as well as certain resorts located on the waterways near the shopping, dining, and entertainment district, is also accessible via boat.
Find out everything you need to know about boat transportation at Disney World in our guide.
Walt Disney World Monorail Transportation
Photo by Cliff Wang
While you can hop aboard the Disney World Monorail System and take a ride as if the futuristic mode of transportation was a theme park attraction (like it is in Disneyland Park out in California), it’s actually a helpful way to get around the resort.
The world-famous monorail is actually comprised of three different lines, each of which will take you to different destinations:
- The Resort Monorail, which takes guests to Magic Kingdom, the Transportation and Ticket Center (TTC), and multiple Magic Kingdom Resort Area hotels
- The EPCOT Monorail, which travels between the TTC and EPCOT
- The Express Monorail, which travels from the TTC to Magic Kingdom and back
While the EPCOT Monorail and Express Monorail lines make round-trip service between their two stops, the Resort Monorail actually makes five stops. On this line, you’ll visit:
- Magic Kingdom Park
- Disney’s Contemporary Resort
- Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
- Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
- The Transportation and Ticket Center
Both the Resort Monorail and Express Monorail open 30 minutes prior to Magic Kingdom’s opening time and run until 1 hour after the park closes. The EPCOT Monorail opens 30 minutes prior to EPCOT’s opening time and runs until 2 hours after the park closes.
The Disney Skyliner
Photo by Laurie Sapp
Buses might be the most common mode of transportation, but the Disney Skyliner is definitely the most popular way to get around Disney World. A relative newcomer to the resort, the Skyliner first opened in 2019 and quickly became a favorite of guests of all ages (and kids in particular really love to ride!)
It’s both fun to fly through the sky in one of the Skyliner’s gondolas and wonderfully convenient. The Skyliner is a continuously-moving gondola system, which means it doesn’t stop as it picks up guests – a huge perk when you’re looking at lengthy wait times for resort transportation.
Plus, the Disney Skyliner can take you from multiple Disney World Resort hotels to two theme parks, offering awesome views along the way.
The Skyliner ferries guests to and from the following locations:
- Disney’s Hollywood Studios
- The International Gateway at EPCOT
- Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
- Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
- Disney’s Pop Century Resort
- Disney’s Riviera Resort
Find out everything you need to know about traveling via the Disney Skyliner in our guide.
Driving, Ridesharing, and Parking
Photo by Cliff Wang
If you aren’t sure you want to use Disney’s various transportation options to get around during your Disney World vacation, you do have the option to map your own routes. You can drive your own car, or even opt to use rideshare services, if you’d prefer to skip the wait for buses, boats, and other forms of Disney transportation.
Driving and using rideshare services does come with some complications, since you’ll be setting up your own transportation versus using Disney’s already-perfected systems. But if you’d like to
Driving Your Own Car at Disney World
If you’d like to drive yourself as your primary mode of transportation around Disney World, you’ll either need to drive to the resort or rent a car if you’re flying in. Driving is pretty easy, since Disney World is situated right along major highways and features easy-to-navigate roadways for the theme parks, water parks, resorts, and more.
Plus, there’s an abundance of parking everywhere you’d like to go. You can easily find parking at the resorts and theme parks – but note that parking can fill up fast, leaving you with a bit of a hike from your car to the entrance.
Additionally, parking your own car or a rental car does come with some added costs. If you’re staying at a Disney World Resort hotel, you’ll be able to park at the hotel for free. However, if you’re staying at an off-property resort or hotel, you may encounter fees of $20 or more per night.
At the theme parks, you’ll need to pay $30 per day, per vehicle to park. However, once you pay that parking fee, you’re able to park at any of the four theme parks. Water parks offer complimentary parking, which alleviates some of the added cost.
Can’t decide if you want to rent a car and drive yourself around? We’ve broken down the pros, cons, and logistics of having a car at Disney World here for you.
Disney’s Minnie Van Service
You can enlist any ridesharing service you’d like to get around Disney World – Uber, Lyft, and even taxi services local to the Lake Buena Vista area can all help you go from place to place. The theme parks, water parks, and Disney Springs all offer convenient drop-off locations, which saves you the hassle of parking.
However, if you’d like to use Lyft, you can take advantage of a particularly unique perk when you opt for ridesharing. Disney World offers Minnie Van™ Connected by Lyft service, which sends a Minnie Mouse themed minivan (or an accessible version of the same vans) to come whisk you away to your chosen destination.
To use Disney World’s Minnie Vans, you’ll just need to download the Lyft app and request a ride to or from Disney destinations across the resort. You can use the service to resort hop, head to the theme parks, or move anywhere else within Disney World property. It’s essentially a Disney-owned form of transportation, but with all of the usual convenience of a rideshare app.
Best of all, you don’t actually have to rideshare. You and your family can use the Minnie Vans yourselves – and the ride includes up to two complimentary child seats, if you need them. That’s a perk your typical Uber can’t offer.
Just note, though, that you do have to pay for Minnie Van service. Like any Lyft ride, you’ll be given an estimated cost when you go to request a ride, plus an ETA. That price will vary depending on the time of day and the distance traveled to your destination.
