How to Get From One Resort to Another at Disney World

When vacationing at Walt Disney World (WDW), one of the lesser-known activities to do is to visit different WDW Resort hotels.

But the question always comes up: How do you get to other WDW Resort hotels? While the answer is straightforward, implementing the different transportation strategies can be convoluted and confusing. However, once you have a good basic understanding of the different WDW transportation options, getting from 1 WDW Resort hotel to the other is a piece of cake.

Here’s everything you need to know to get from WDW Resort hotel to another, including how to use different modes of Disney World transportation, how long each mode of transportation takes, and other options you have at your fingertips. We visit Walt Disney World frequently and have stayed at all the resort hotels plus experienced what it's like to hop between different hotels!

How WDW Transportation Works to Get to Other Hotels

Any of the transportation options give guests staying at a Disney World Resort hotel incredibly convenient options to get around to different theme parks and other resorts.

All you need to do is stop by one of the pick-up points at either your WDW Resort hotel and throughout the Walt Disney World Resort. Each pick-up point is well-marked with their destination, so figuring out exactly where you’re going is straightforward. Keep in mind that certain destinations aren’t direct, meaning you might need to take a connecting mode of transportation to reach your final destination.

In general, Disney World Resort transportation begins 45 minutes prior to your destination Disney theme park opening time and up to 1 hour after your destination Disney theme park closing time. Additionally, buses operate starting at the opening time for Disney Springs and stop operating at 11:00pm to and from Disney Springs.

As if things couldn’t get any better, any of the following forms of transportation are complimentary to WDW Resort hotel guests!

Let’s go over all of the transportation options you have at your fingertips when visiting Walt Disney World.

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Disney World Bus Transportation

The Disney World bus system is the most common and well-known form of transportation at the WDW Resort.

For certain WDW Resort hotels, the Disney World bus is your only transportation option. With that said, you aren’t able to get directly to other WDW Resort hotels. In order to do so, you’ll need to do the following:

1. From your resort hotel, take a bus to either Disney Springs or 1 of the 4 Disney World theme parks. This is your connecting destination.
2. Once you reach your connecting destination, you will get out and transfer to the bus that’s marked to get to your specific WDW Resort hotel destination.

The total amount of travel time depends on when your Disney World bus arrives to pick you up, however, expect each bus ride to take between 10 and 30 minutes, with the majority of bus rides being about 15 minutes. We recommend allowing a cushion time of 15-20 minutes to wait for your bus. Taking this into consideration, it could take a total of 1 hour to get from 1 WDW Resort hotel to the next.

Strictly from a bus transportation perspective, we recommend choosing your connecting destination according to your WDW Resort hotel location. For example, if you’re starting at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge (an Animal Kingdom Resort), taking the bus to Disney’s Animal Kingdom takes 6 minutes compared to taking the bus to Disney Springs which takes 21 minutes.

The only exception to the rule is if you’re taking the bus around the time a theme park opens or closes. This is when all modes of transportation are busiest, which can add up to 30 minutes to your overall commute time.

Depending on which WDW Resort hotel you want to get to, the Disney World bus system may be your most effective choice.

Disney World Monorail Transportation

One of Disney’s most classic modes of transportation is your “highway in the sky” to get from hotel to hotel.

The Walt Disney World Monorail System has 3 separate beams that travel throughout the Walt Disney World Resort and stop at the following WDW Resort hotels (also known as Disney Monorail Hotels):

• Disney’s Contemporary Resort
• Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
• Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
• Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows

Because of the specified stops along the monorail system, guests can only travel between the WDW Resort hotels specified above. However, because the list of WDW Resort hotels is so small, the travel time between hotels is much quicker. To get from WDW hotel to hotel, expect your travel to take between 5 and 10 minutes.

The Disney World Monorail System is an extremely convenient mode of transportation to consider when visiting any of the Disney Monorail Resorts.

Disney World Water Transportation

It really feels like Walt Disney World’s transportation options are endless.

With Disney World’s water transportation, you can set sail on a relaxing boat ride around Seven Seas Lagoon, Bay Lake, Crescent Lake, and Lake Hollywood with the wind in your hair. More than that, Disney World even gives you several boat options to get to other WDW Resort hotels! Here are the Disney World water transportation options you need to know about when traveling from WDW hotel to hotel:

• Water taxis allow guests to travel between Disney’s Contemporary Resort, Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground, and Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
• Friendship Boats allow guests to travel between Disney’s BoardWalk Villas, Disney’s Beach Club Villas, Disney’s Yacht Club Resort, Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel, and Walt Disney World Swan Hotel. These same boats also travel to EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Expect travel time to get to other WDW Resort hotels to take about 10-15 minutes. Most routes run on 15- to 30-min intervals. However, hours of operation can vary depending on water and weather conditions. Finally, since not as many guests tend to travel between these WDW Resort hotels, expect wait times for this mode of transportation to be some of the lowest of all Disney World transportation options.

The Disney World water transportation offers a wonderful perspective of Walt Disney World Resort and some of the shortest commute times on property.

Disney Skyliner Transportation

The Disney Skyliner is Walt Disney World’s newest mode of transportation and one of the most scenic ways to get to other WDW Resort hotels.

Through the Disney Skyliner, guests can glide across the sky in a state-of-the-art gondola system. This is my personal favorite mode of transportation to get around parts of Walt Disney World Resort. However, the Disney Skyliner only travels directly to the following WDW Resort hotels in addition to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and the International Gateway at EPCOT:

• Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
• Disney’s Pop Century Resort
• Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
• Disney’s Riviera Resort

Although the Disney Skyliner technically only has stations at these WDW Resort hotels, the station at International Gateway at EPCOT also gives guests access to the following WDW Resort hotels along Crescent Lake:

• Disney’s BoardWalk Inn
• Disney’s Yacht Club Resort
• Disney’s Beach Club Resort

And while the following hotels are not owned by Disney, because of their proximity to Crescent Lake, guests also have access to the following hotels:

• Walt Disney World Swan Hotel
• Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel

Expect travel time from station to station to take around 10-15 minutes. Note that the lines to get onto the Disney Skyliner can vary. The busiest times to use the Disney Skyliner tend to be in the mornings around theme park opening and in the evenings around theme park closing. During the busiest times, long waits can add another 30 minutes to your overall commute.

Regardless, the Disney Skyliner is my favorite for its beautiful skyline views of Walt Disney World Resort and the Orlando area.

Walt Disney World Walkways

For those who really want to get their steps in, there are plenty of walkways to get you to other WDW Resort hotels.

However, there aren’t walkways to connect every single WDW Resort hotel. If there was, guests would have a lot of ground to cover to get between each and every single 1 of the 31 WDW Resort hotels.

Here’s a list of the walkways between specific WDW Resort hotels.

Disney Monorail Resorts: Disney’s Contemporary Resort, Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa and Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort

These Disney Monorail Resorts feature several walking paths connecting each other.

Here, your walk can take as little as 12 mines from Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa to Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort or as long as 30 minutes from the same starting point to Disney’s Contemporary Resort.

Disney’s Riviera Resort to Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort

This is personally my favorite walkway for its scenery and relative quietness.

Strictly from 1 WDW Resort hotel to the other, the walk takes just 5 minutes. However, given how spread out Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort is, if you’re starting out at the farthest point of the resort, it may take closer to 15 or 20 minutes to get to Disney’s Riviera Resort.

And since these 2 WDW Resort hotels are around a lake, this walkway doubles really well as a running trail!

Disney’s Art of Animation Resort to Disney’s Pop Century Resort

Virtually no matter where you start from, the walkway between these 2 WDW Resort hotels gives you the shortest commute of all walkways and transportation options. Depending on where you start, it can take between 5 and 10 minutes to get from WDW Resort hotel to the other.

And just like the walkway between Disney’s Riviera Resort and Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, this walkway also doubles as a running trail around Hourglass Lake!

Crescent Lake Resorts: Disney’s BoardWalk Inn, Disney’s Yacht Club Resort, Disney’s Beach Club Resort, Walt Disney World Swan Hotel, Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel, Walt Disney World Swan Reserve

This walkway gives guests access to the most amount of WDW Resort hotels on property.

For this reason alone, this walkway is a crowd favorite, especially during the holiday season when the WDW Resort hotels are decked out with holiday décor. It’s also a popular running trail and a fun spot to rent a surrey bike to get around Crescent Lake! The best part is that 1 full lap around this walkway is only 0.8 miles. To put that in perspective, that’s 0.4 miles shorter than 1 lap around World Showcase at EPCOT!

Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside to Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – French Quarter

These 2 WDW Resort hotels are sister resorts that share amenities, so it should be no surprise that guests can walk between them.

In fact, guests staying at either of these resort hotels are free to go from the pool at 1 resort to a pool at the other resort. Getting from the pool at 1 hotel to the pool at the other hotel is just a 10 minute stroll.

Other Ways to Get to Other WDW Hotels

Although all the modes of transportation we just discussed are complimentary, there’s 1 other option guests can use to get from 1 WDW Resort hotel to another.

Rideshare: Uber, Lyft, or Minnie Van

For those familiar with Uber or Lyft, rideshare can be a great option to save a lot of time when traveling to other WDW Resort hotels.

For those unfamiliar with this option, rideshare options like Uber or Lyft allow you to book private drivers on short notice through a mobile app on your smartphone for a fee. And although it costs around $15 to get from 1 WDW Resort hotel to the other, you’re paying for the convenience of time. Not only will your wait time likely be shorter than waiting for any Disney World transportation. Your commute time in most cases will be shorter as well. This makes rideshare options a great option if you’re trying to get to another WDW Resort hotel as quickly as possible.

Note that the Minnie Van service is a rideshare option offered by Lyft in partnership with Walt Disney World and can only be used within the Walt Disney World resort area. For those who want to travel in style and with Disney’s top-notch service, the Minnie Van through Lyft is a great option.

If you’re looking for the quickest commute time possible, rideshare may be your best option.

Getting to Other WDW Resort Hotels: Know Before You Go

There’s just a few things you need to know when using any of the Disney World transportation options.

• No luggage or alcohol of any time is permitted on Walt Disney World Resort transportation.
• All strollers must be folded and stowed out of the aisle of Disney World buses.
• And finally, medical strollers for guests with disabilities will be treated as wheelchairs.

So, which WDW hotel are you excited to visit next?

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