Boat from Fort Wilderness to Wilderness Lodge/Contemporary ?

[RMColosimo]

So the boat to Magic Kingdom is running, but is the boat to wilderness lodge and contemporary running now as well? We have a dinner at Artist Point in two weeks, and staying at the Fort, and wanted to know if I had to get a different way to get there...

Thanks.

 

[morrik5]

It wasn't running s of May 1st when we were there however the bus was running to the Lodge. I haven't heard from this board that it has restarted but perhaps someone else has more inside info.

 

[RMColosimo]

It wasn't running s of May 1st when we were there however the bus was running to the Lodge. I haven't heard from this board that it has restarted but perhaps someone else has more inside info.

Thanks, I was afraid of that. We will have our car, so most likely just drive over to the Lodge.

 

[Jimsig]

I want to say a year ago when we were there they had a bus that goes between FW and WL.

 

[Stratman50th]

If you're staying at the Fort the quickest way to Wilderness Lodge is the yellow bus.

 

[RMColosimo]

If you're staying at the Fort the quickest way to Wilderness Lodge is the yellow bus.

Thanks! writing that down now.

 

[Stratman50th]

Thanks! writing that down now.

I forgot to mention that you pick it up at the settlement bus stop.
It might also be an internal loop bus but I don't know as we always have a golf cart and don't use the internal buses.

 

[tetera]

That is correct - the yellow bus from FW to WL is an internal loop bus from the settlement bus stop (so also has the bonus of that it usually plays bluegrass unlike the "regular" WDW transport busses).

 

[DISNEY FIX]

Soooo...if staying at WL I can take the yellow bus to the fort, correct? Is there any park busses that do the same?

 

[Carol_]

We missed dinner reservations at FW because we drove from WL and the parking was completely full. Beyond full. Had to cancel. The boats were part of the reason we chose CCV as a home resort.

 

[bama_ed]

Soooo...if staying at WL I can take the yellow bus to the fort, correct? Is there any park busses that do the same?

Well, yes sorta. When you walk out of WL and go to the bus drop-off/pick-up line-up outside, I don't think the Fort Bus overhead sign says "Yellow Route" as that's an internal Fort designation. IIRC when I took the bus it simply says "Fort Wilderness" when it's waiting at Wilderness Lodge. I think it changes signs once it arrives at the Fort Settelement Bus Depot near the Tri-Circle-D Horse Barn.

All the parks have a bus depot location for a bus to Fort Wilderness. The MK bus will take you past Wilderness Lodge to the Settlement Bus Depot down near the lake. The buses from the other three parks (and Disney Springs) return you to the Outpost Bus Depot up near the check-in building and main parking lot.

The internal Fort bus lines (Yellow, Orange, Purple) run between the two aforementioned bus depots.

Bama Ed

 

[DISNEY FIX]

Damn you good!!! Thank you.

 

[bama_ed]

Damn you good!!! Thank you.

Nah. Just old.

I've come to learn about myself over the decades that I LOVE Fort Wilderness campground more than I love the theme parks. So over the years I spend relatively few days in the parks compared to the number of days I spend outside the parks (mostly around the Fort).

I'm the kind of nerd that will go down to the Fort boat dock on a non-park day just to see when the first boat to MK shows up.

Last thing is that more recent visitors have more/better info than I do-I go about once a year on average. So take what I say with a grain of salt.

Ed

PS - and we have several great posters on the DIS Camping Board who are more knowledgeable than me and post often to help folks. Some are more local, some stay longer on their trips than I do, some visit more frequently than I do.

PPS - it's often been my gripe that at the theme parks, the bus stop location for the Fort is often the FURTHEST one away from the entrance spot of the bus stations. That fact continues to feed my conviction that the Fort is treated as the "red-headed step child" of WDW resorts.

 

[cinderellagirl2280]

So sadly as of this past week the boat is still not running to the resorts

 

[Jimsig]

Some one recently posted on another thread (not sure if camping board or transportation board) that they noticed the flags on the docks for the resort boats have been taken down, I can't remember if they said the signage was gone as well.

They are currently using the smaller boats between FW and MK. Not sure if they are also using them between WL and MK.

 

[bama_ed]

In the September trip report thread, @proudmomof4 shared this picture of the Fort dock:

Note there is still the green flag sign on the pole upper left for the big boat to MK. On the corresponding pole on the right side, the sign where the blue flag resort boat would come in is covered/painted over/missing. As has been discussed, it could be a staffing issue. Only Disney knows.

If the blue flag sign was still on display, I would have had hope that the resort boats would return soon. I'm still hopeful, just not very much now.

Bama Ed

 

[Douglas Dubh]

They are currently using the smaller boats between FW and MK. Not sure if they are also using them between WL and MK.

They usually run two cruisers between MK and FW for park opening and closing, then a cruiser and a launch the rest of the time. Between WL and MK, they usually run one cruiser (normally the Mermaid) and one launch all day.

 

[vleeth]

Has this started running again or has Disney not taken the Blue Launch off the map on the website?

 

[Stratman50th]

It's not running.

 

[vleeth]

It's not running.

thanks!