The Walt Disney World Resort covers about 40 square miles or 25,000 acres, which is about the size of San Francisco. With an area this large, it is no wonder the Walt Disney World Resort instituted what is considered by some to be the best transportation system in the world. The Walt Disney World Resort offers several forms of transportation including buses, boats, trams, and the world famous monorail.

Monorail

Since 1971, The Walt Disney World Resort’s monorail system has logged enough miles to make 30 round trips to the moon. To accommodate the increasing guest population over the years, the monorail system went through several upgrades to provide better service along the 14 mile beam way. The monorail has three separate beam way’s that service different area’s of The Walt Disney World Resort.

• The first monorail beam way is for express service to the Magic Kingdom Theme Park and Transportation and Ticket Center.
• The second monorail beam way is for express service to Epcot and The Transportation and Ticket Center.
• The third monorail beam way is called the resort monorail, and services Disney’s Contemporary Resort, Polynesian Resort, and Grand Floridian Resort & Spa with stops at the Magic Kingdom Theme Park and The Transportation and Ticket Center.

Buses

The Walt Disney World Resort hosts three types of buses for guests.

• The first bus is called Disney’s Resort bus and takes guests from their Disney Resort to the theme parks and Downtown Disney.
• The second bus is called Disney’s Magical Express and takes guests to and from the Orlando International Airport.
• The third bus is called the Disney Cruise Line bus and takes guests to and from Port Canaveral where the Disney Cruise ship docks.

Note: BE AWARE that no bus service (only boat service) is available to and from Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios if you are a guest at either Disney’s Beach Club Resort, Boardwalk Inn Resort, Yacht Club Resort, World Dolphin Hotel, or the World Swan Hotel.

I learned my lesson on this topic the hard way. My family and I were at Epcot in the middle of an afternoon rain storm and we found out that we could not get back to Disney’s Boardwalk Inn Resort by bus. We then took the bus over to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Guess what, no bus to the Boardwalk. We then jumped on another bus that took us to Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Great! There was a bus back to the Boardwalk Inn, but we had to run in the pouring rain to the adjacent set of bus stops to catch it. My family and I were completely soaked from head to toe. Florida rain can be extreme at times. It took us about an hour and a half to make the trip from Epcot to the Boardwalk Inn. A valuable lessons learned.

Of course there's boat service to and from Epcot and the above resorts, and in nice weather many people choose to walk. It's a picturesque stroll by the lake to get to Epcot's World Showcase entrance.

Boats

The Walt Disney World Resort hosts a fleet of boats that service guests to certain Disney Resorts and theme parks. Read the Disney World Boat Transportation article for details.

Trams

Finally, The Walt Disney World Resort hosts a fleet of trams designed to transport guests from the parking lots to the theme parks. The trams typically begin service about one and a half hours prior to the parks opening and typically conclude service about one and a half hours after the parks close.

Have a Magical Day!

Patrick

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