Welcome to this month’s Blogorail Blue Loop. Today we are sharing some lesser known Disney tips.
Walt Disney World has a lot of different ways to get around the sprawling resort. You can take the monorail, or a boat, or a bus, or even your feet. My post will be focusing on some of the lesser known shortcuts to help shave time getting from point A to point B and spending more time enjoying your vacation. The important thing to look at is “what locations have multiple transportation options” available. Most of the time, these will be at deluxe resort properties. All value resorts have only bus transportation and moderates have bus transportation and some boats to Disney Springs. The deluxe resorts have multiple transportation options. But just because you are staying at a value resort doesn’t mean that you can’t use deluxe resort transportation to help you save time.
Tip #1: Using Beach/Yacht Club buses to get to Magic Kingdom from EPCOT’s World Showcase
My family discovered this shortcut when we were attempting to visit all four parks in one day. We had just finished watching Illuminations and did the quick time math that walking to the front of the park and hopping on a bus or monorail would take a long time.
Yacht Club, on the other hand, was just a short walk away. Magic Kingdom was open until midnight so there would be plenty of buses. We took the short walk from the UK Pavilion to Yacht Club. No crowds to fight. We took a short walk. No line to wait for. Just had to wait a few minutes for a bus. We were able to watch Illuminations and got to Magic Kingdom in time to find a decent spot to watch Wishes.
This is a great tip no matter the time of day. It helps save time and takes some stress off your feet by walking less and sitting more. Always a plus during a busy park day.
Tip #2: Using the Magic Kingdom Bus Depot to Get Anywhere
Disney has put a lot of money into expanding the bus depot at Magic Kingdom. You can use this expanded bus depot to your advantage. Say you want to do some Deluxe Resort hopping before visiting the Magic Kingdom. Take a Magic Kingdom bus from your resort and use that as your “base camp.” From the Magic Kingdom, you can hop on the monorail or boat and get from resort to resort before getting back to the Magic Kingdom and either returning to your resort or heading into the Magic Kingdom. Having a meal at Chef Mickey. Just take a bus to the Magic Kingdom and walk over (see tip #4).
Tip #3: Monorail to the Magic Kingdom from the Grand Floridan, take the boat back
The Grand Floridian is a great location. It is the last stop on the monorail loop before the Magic Kingdom. On the other hand, it is the last stop on the monorail loop when leaving the Magic Kingdom. If you like the monorail, this is a good thing. If you are trying to save some time when leaving the Magic Kingdom, there is another option for you. The boat. There is a boat that goes to the Grand Floridian and the Polynesian. The Grand Floridian is the first stop. WOO HOO! This resort is in the sweet spot of transportation. It’s the first stop both leaving the resort and leaving the theme park. A true time-saver.
Tip #4: Walk to the Magic Kingdom from the Contemporary
This is my favorite tip since I stay at Bay Lake Tower a lot. It’s a long way around on the monorail from the Contemporary to the Magic Kingdom. It can be faster to walk. When leaving the Magic Kingdom at peak times (like after fireworks), it is definitely faster. Only so many people can fit on the monorail, by walking you don’t need to wait for anything (except maybe dawdling children). It can be tough on your feet toward the end of your trip but the time savings can be worth it.
For more lesser known Disney tips,
check out the other great posts from the Blogorail!
Here is the map of our Magical Blogorail Blue | Lesser Known Disney Tips Loop:
- 1st Stop – Saving Up for Disney | Disneyland Insider Tips -Make the Most of Your First Two Hours in the Park
- 2nd Stop – Magical Memories with the Mouse | With Package Pick-Up & Shipping, Disney Makes It Easy to Get That Perfect Souvenir Home
- 3rd Stop – Dad for Disney | Top Walt Disney World Transportation Shortcuts
- 4th Stop – Family Travel Escapades | Five Benefits of Staying in Magic Kingdom After Closing
dadfordisney 
I haven’t done much travel at WDW (only visited once) but so nice to know that the transportation system can be tweaked to your needs!
Thanks for these tips. We are staying at the Beach Club next month and will definitely use these tips.
These are tips we discovered after going a bunch of times. I wish there was resort to resort transport but that would be too much I know.
Great tips! We, too, walk to Beach Club (rather than Yacht Club) to use the buses from World Showcase and always walk to Magic Kingdom from the Contemporary when staying there.
I had heard they were testing resort to resort taxi service (paid with a voucher from Disney like they do for going to the golf courses from a resort). Do you know of any updates on that?
I love the boat option for any resort along Seven Seas lagoon. It seems to always be faster than the bus and sometimes faster than the monorail (especially at closing).
Great tips! Thank you for sharing. I’ll be at WDW in a few weeks. One. Day I’m planning on going from the Magic Kingdom in the morning to World Showcase for the evening. Your tip about using the busses to and from Beach Club and the International Gateway are a more direct way between points.
We used the Beach Club to MK route from EPCOT a couple years ago and were able to see both Illuminations and the late showing of Wishes on the same night.
If I may add a tip, the Friendship boat from Hollywood Studios to the World Showcase at EPCOT is a nice boat ride if you want to hit both parks in one day. Sometimes I even park at Hollywood Studios if I am just wanting to hit the WS to save a lot of steps. And you can stop at any of the resorts along the way (Swan and Dolphin, Boardwalk and Yacht and Beach Club)!