Resort to park travel time

[tom1944]

What is the average travel time by bus from-

Animal Kingdom resorts to Hollywood Studios

Boulder Ridge or Copper Creek to Epcot

Saratoga Springs to Epcot or Magic Kingdom

Old Key West to Epcot or Magic Kingdom

 

[Narcoossee11]

One factor that's makes it hard to tell.
.....TRAFFIC....TRAFFIC....TRAFFIC... traffic....TRAFFIC.
about 75 minutes on average.

 

[coasternut22]

According to Google Maps:

1) Jambo to HS bus drop off - 12 mins
2) Wilderness Lodge to Epcot - 11 mins
3) Saratoga to Contemporary (closest to MK bus drop off) - 14 mins
4) OKW to Contemporary - 12 mins, OKW to Epcot - 9 mins

For transportation within SS and OKW, you have to consider which stop you are at which will add 10-15 minutes to your trip. If you are staying at Kidani, you will go to Jambo before going to the park (except in the morning, busses are generally direct from Kidani to the parks till 9am or so).

 

[tom1944]

One factor that's makes it hard to tell.
.....TRAFFIC....TRAFFIC....TRAFFIC... traffic....TRAFFIC.
about 75 minutes on average.

That would be basically the same if you use your own car?

 

[tom1944]

According to Google Maps:

1) Jambo to HS bus drop off - 12 mins
2) Wilderness Lodge to Epcot - 11 mins
3) Saratoga to Contemporary (closest to MK bus drop off) - 14 mins
4) OKW to Contemporary - 12 mins, OKW to Epcot - 9 mins

For transportation within SS and OKW, you have to consider which stop you are at which will add 10-15 minutes to your trip. If you are staying at Kidani, you will go to Jambo before going to the park (except in the morning, busses are generally direct from Kidani to the parks till 9am or so).

Thanks

 

[Bravefan]

Give yourself at LEAST an hour. Buses and transport goes slower than you'd think

 

[blistex]

That would be basically the same if you use your own car?

No if you use your own car the transit time is pretty much 15 minutes from any resort to any park + however long it takes you to walk to/from your car. Buses involve waiting for buses, waiting for scooter loading, waiting for stroller loading, waiting for full loads, stopping at however many stops you might have before yours. We have done both a fair bit and buses take twice as long as driving your own car, except to MK where you park and then still have to take transit so we always take Disney transit to MK.

 

[CarolynFH]

That would be basically the same if you use your own car?

If we're driving our own car, I plan on roughly 45 minutes to an hour to drive to the park, be directed to a parking space, travel from the parking space to security (whether by tram or on foot), get through security, and then enter the park through the tapstyles. If we're taking the bus/boat/Skyliner, I plan on roughly an hour to an hour and a half - and I hope for better.

 

[coasternut22]

An hour to an hour and a half is a ridiculous estimate. First of all, the next bus times that are posted on the screens at the resort stops are also posted in MDE. These are generally accurate. So be at the stop ten minutes before the posted arrival time and you are good. Of course it could take about 5 minutes to load everyone. The driving times I posted above are pretty reasonable. So if you are going from WL to Epcot,10 minutes to wait, 5 minutes to load, 11 minutes to drive, 5 minutes to walk to gate. 41 minutes from door to door.

Staying at SS or OKW will take longer because of multiple stops. AKL will have two stops, Kidani then Jambo. Weather may affect bus schedules as well.

Note that busses start running one hour before early entry. If early entry is at 8:30, the first bus will leave the resort at 7:30. I suggest getting to the stop at 7:15 in case the bus leaves early. I’ve had a Kidani bus leave at 7:15 (early) and be at the MK bus depot before they even started letting busses in (7:30). That’s only 15 minutes from Kidani to MK, probably the longest distance possible for resort transportation.

 

[CarolynFH]

@tom1944, I guess you can tell that some of us move faster than others between car and park entrance! Only you will know your party’s speed!

PS we’ve also spent 5-10 minutes creeping along in line just waiting to park, especially at AK.

 

[holden]

Could be 15 minutes, could be 1.5hrs. You just never know.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

We always drive to WDW but after the first few trips of driving to the parks we realized that some days you may save 15 minutes and other days you don't. Since then we have always used WDW transportation, not driving is now part of my vacation and I do not have to worry about driving with a bunch of people not knowing where they're going.

 

[tom1944]

@tom1944, I guess you can tell that some of us move faster than others between car and park entrance! Only you will know your party’s speed!

PS we’ve also spent 5-10 minutes creeping along in line just waiting to park, especially at AK.

This reminds me that a big reason I am purchasing DVC is to go to WDW yearly and a big reason for that is to not worry about rushing or getting to do everything.

I have to get the mind set to relax and do what we can at a comfortable pace.

 

[tzvdmd]

I can say that the buses will not necessarily go a route that google suggests. Disney has specific routes for buses to avoid extra congestion on certain roads. Also there are times that buses enter and exit using roads or other areas that personal vehicles are not allowed to use which can either shorten or lengthen the time given when using google maps.

 

[Genie+]

This is what WDW advises for buses, walking and monorail.

 

[CarolynFH]

View attachment 744640
This is what WDW advises for buses, walking and monorail.

That's a cool chart - is it in the resort booklet I don't look at anymore? Maybe I should check it out next time we're there!

And I'll agree with it, too. The drive times are not very long. It's the other things that are unpredictable - wait time for the bus/boat/Skyliner and load/unload times if taking Disney transportation; time from entering the parking lot to actually parking the car and time to walk or ride tram from the parking spot to the park entrance if driving yourself. That's why, if we have an ADR or a LL or some other time constraint, I'll allow an hour to an hour and a half from leaving the resort to arriving at the restaurant or attraction. Many times it doesn't take that long, but sometimes it does!

 

[Genie+]

That's a cool chart - is it in the resort booklet I don't look at anymore? Maybe I should check it out next time we're there!

Yeah I thought the same! It might be UK exclusive? They’ll mail it to UK/Ireland address only. We can access here:

https://www.disneyholidays.co.uk/walt-disney-world/free-planning-tools/

View Guidebook Online

Download Guidebook PDF

 

[sam_gordon]

View attachment 744640
This is what WDW advises for buses, walking and monorail.

Just for others, if I'm reading the chart correctly, this is the travel time to the CLOSEST park from which ever resort you're at. So it won't help for AK Lodge to MK for example.

 

[Genie+]

Just for others, if I'm reading the chart correctly, this is the travel time to the CLOSEST park from which ever resort you're at. So it won't help for AK Lodge to MK for example.

Correct. On the right side page it says travel times are to the nearest Disney Park.

I find it weird the booklet was updated for the 50th and other recent changes yet has no mentions of the Skyliner except for 1 picture I think.