Best Disney World Resort Based on Transportation

In its entirety, Walt Disney World covers over 43 square miles. On Disney World property you’ll find theme parks, water parks, hotels, golf courses, a sports complex, and Disney Springs (a shopping, dining, and entertainment area). If you do not have your own transportation with you on your Disney vacation, you may be wondering how you’ll get around the property and to all the areas you wish to visit.

Luckily, Disney World has its own transportation which includes multiple transportation methods. This makes getting around Walt Disney World super easy and convenient. The best part about it? All Disney transportation is absolutely FREE!

On a Disney vacation, it’s most common for Guests to want to travel from their hotel to one of the four theme parks. Every single Walt Disney World Resort hotel is equipped with bus transportation that takes Guests to and from the theme park. While this complimentary bus transportation is useful and much appreciated, some Disney World hotels have other transportation options as well!

In this article, we’re going to take a look at which Disney World hotel is the best based on its transportation options to and from the theme parks. As someone who frequently visits Disney World, I have stayed in many Disney World hotels and have used all of the transportation methods! I look forward to diving deeper into this topic and giving you insight on which Walt Disney World Resort hotel has the best theme park transportation.

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Disney World Transportation

As I mentioned earlier, Disney World has multiple forms of transportation. Throughout your time there, you may see or use many of them! Disney World transportation includes buses, the Skyliner, water taxis, ferry boats, and the Monorail. I also noted that the bus system is the only one that connects to all of the Walt Disney World Resorts hotels. Although every resort has the option to use the buses, some resorts have other transportation options as well! I will go through these resorts in order to determine which Disney World resort is the best in terms of theme park transportation. But first, let's go over the different transportation options that are available at Walt Disney World!

Buses

The buses are by far the most common form of transportation and the system that can transport Guests to the most locations. It is also the only transportation system that continues running when the weather gets bad, making it the most reliable. While other transportation options may be newer, more convenient, and more pleasant, the buses are continuously there for your transportation needs.

Downsides to the buses are wait times and crowding. Wait times for the buses are generally longer than they are for other transportation methods. You could find yourself waiting 10-20 minutes for a bus and still not be able to get on that one due to it filling up with other Guests, resulting in you having to wait on the next one. Due to the time it takes for buses to go from stop to stop, they usually like to fit as many Guests as possible on a bus. Buses will be packed so tightly that the seats will be filled and many Guests will have to remain standing. This often makes for unpleasant bus rides.

The Skyliner

The Skyliner is Disney World’s newest form of transportation. While called the Skyliner, this system is actually a series of gondolas that transport Guests to select destinations around Walt Disney World. Since this system is constantly moving and has a continuous loading and unloading process, the Skyliner is very efficient. You generally won’t run into long lines or have to wait too long when you want to get on the Skyliner.

You also won’t be jam packed into the gondolas like you often are on buses. Each gondola carries a select number of Guests. They are also convenient for those with wheelchairs or strollers as they can be rolled right onto the gondola.

There are two big downfalls when it comes to Disney’s Skyliner. The first is that it currently only travels to certain areas. Only a select number of Disney World hotels are on the Skyliner route and it only takes Guests to two of the theme parks: EPCOT and Hollywood Studios. The second issue is that it doesn’t run when the weather turns bad. This results in it shutting down frequently. Especially in the summer when Florida has a lot of storms.

Boats

With multiple lakes, rivers, and waterways throughout Walt Disney World Resort, water transportation is a great way to get around. This is both a relaxing and scenic way to get from place to place.

However, the water transportation system tends to suffer from the same disadvantages as the Skyliner. Not every Disney World hotel has access to water transportation. Furthermore, the ones that do, only have access to select locations on property. As you can imagine, the boats also don’t run when the weather gets bad.

Monorail

Disney’s Monorail is similar to a train. However, rather than being on a railroad track on the ground, it's on an elevated track. This transportation system is commonly referred to as “The Highway in the Sky”.

While also being a quick and efficient form of transportation, it does have its setbacks. Like others, the Monorail also suffers from only being able to transport Guests to certain areas. This transportation system only travels to a few resorts and can only take Guests to EPCOT and Magic Kingdom.

In regards to weather, it does take a lot more to shut down the Monorail than it does the boats or Skyliner. However, it does happen. Specifically during lightning storms.

A Little Extra Theme Park Transportation

As we look into which Disney World resorts have the best transportation to the theme parks, let's not forget that ALL of the Disney World Resort hotels have bus transportation to ALL of the theme parks. We're simply going to be looking at which ones have additional transportation options to the theme parks as well!

There are two resorts that have just a little extra transportation available to them. These resorts are Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort and Disney's Wilderness Lodge. Both of these resorts have one additional method of transportation that takes them to one theme park.

Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort

• Water Taxi to Magic Kingdom

Disney's Wilderness Lodge

• Water Taxi to Magic Kingdom

Additional Theme Park Transportation

While these next resorts also only have one additional method of transportation, they are going higher up on the list since they are able to get to two theme parks on that method as opposed to just one. The next resorts on our list, which will provide you with additional transportation to the theme parks, are Disney's Art of Animation, Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort, Disney's Contemporary Resort, Disney's Pop Century Resort, and Disney's Riviera Resort.

Disney's Art of Animation

• Skyliner to EPCOT
• Skyliner to Hollywood Studios

Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort

• Skyliner to EPCOT
• Skyliner to Hollywood Studios

Disney's Contemporary Resort

• Monorail to EPCOT
• Monorail to Magic Kingdom

Disney's Pop Century Resort

• Skyliner to EPCOT
• Skyliner to Hollywood Studios

Disney's Riviera Resort

• Skyliner to EPCOT
• Skyliner to Hollywood Studios

Great Theme Park Transportation

These next two Walt Disney World Resort hotels both have great theme park transportation options. However, we're not quite to the best yet! Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa and Disney's Polynesian Village Resort are next up on our list. While they both offer two additional methods of transportation, one method takes them to two theme parks while the other only takes them to one.

Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa

• Monorail to EPCOT
• Monorail to Magic Kingdom
• Water Taxi to Magic Kingdom

Disney's Polynesian Village Resort

• Monorail to EPCOT
• Monorail to Magic Kingdom
• Water Taxi to Magic Kingdom

BEST Theme Park Transportation

We're now at the top of our list. These are the best Disney World resorts based on transportation to the theme parks. These three resorts made it to the top of our list because they all have two additional transportation methods and both of those methods go to two theme parks. The Disney World resorts with the best theme park transportation are Disney's Beach Club Resort, Disney's BoardWalk Inn, and Disney's Yacht Club Resort.

Disney's Beach Club Resort

• Skyliner access to EPCOT
• Skyliner access to Hollywood Studios
• Water Taxi to EPCOT
• Water Taxi to Hollywood Studios

Disney's BoardWalk Inn

• Skyliner access to EPCOT
• Skyliner access to Hollywood Studios
• Water Taxi to EPCOT
• Water Taxi to Hollywood Studios

Disney's Yacht Club Resort

• Skyliner access to EPCOT
• Skyliner access to Hollywood Studios
• Water Taxi to EPCOT
• Water Taxi to Hollywood Studios

These resorts all made it to the top of the list since they offer the most options of transportation as well as the most theme park access. It may be a surprise that these resorts made it to the top since they aren't officially listed on the Skyliner route. Luckily, they are all in very close walking distance to a Skyliner station and therefore have Skyliner access.

Disney World Resort Transportation

When planning your Walt Disney World vacation, transportation to the theme parks may be something that’s important to you. Will you be staying at any of these Disney World resorts on your next vacation? While the Disney buses are a nice, complimentary source of transportation, sometimes having additional, more convenient options is a great idea too!

While the resorts we just went over have additional transportation to the theme parks, some resorts have additional transportation to other locations! Water taxi transportation is available to take you to Disney Springs from Disney's Old Key West Resort, Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa, and Disney's Port Orleans Resort – Riverside and French Quarter. You can also use water taxi transportation to go between Disney's Contemporary Resort, Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort, and Disney's Wilderness Lodge.

If you need help picking the perfect resort for your next trip to Walt Disney World, don’t forget that Get Away Today can help you with all of your Disney vacation planning needs. Their agents will help you decide which resort is best for you based on your wants and needs. Don’t miss out on Get Away Today’s discounted Disney World tickets and concierge-level vacation planning services. Get a free quote on your vacation package today!

Plan Your Walt Disney World Vacation

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• Disney World Weather by Month
• Walt Disney World Skyliner Guide
• Best Disney World Hotels: Top Option for Each Visitor Type
• Magic Kingdom Rope Drop and Early Entry Strategy

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