Disney World has built extensive infrastructure to make transportation a breeze. Once you get yourself to Orlando, all the rest of your transportation is taken care of. Unless you plan to venture off property quite a bit, you really don’t need a car.

Disney’s Magical Express

Let’s start with Magical Express. This is the name of Disney’s bus transportation to and from Orlando International Airport (MCO). This perk is included free if you book a Disney World package that includes a resort stay.

To utilize the Magical Express, you’ll need to provide Disney with your flight information. A few weeks before your flight, they’ll mail you some yellow luggage stickers and instructions for how to use them. If you attach these tags to the luggage you check, Disney’s baggage handlers will retrieve your bags for you and deliver them right to your room at your resort.

The luggage delivery service is available for arrivals from 5am up until 10pm, but you probably won’t want to use it if you’re arriving after 7pm because it can take up to 3 hours for the bags to be delivered. Make sure you have anything you’ll need immediately packed in your carry-on bags.

When you arrive at Orlando International, you’ll take a monorail from your gate area into the central atrium of the airport. From there, descend to level B1. You will see signs guiding you to the Magical Express check in area. There, a cast member will scan your Magic Band to pull up your account information and send you to the correct bus.

Disney Transportation on Property

Once you’ve arrived at your resort from the airport, you can get anywhere you need to go via Disney’s bus, boat, monorail and (soon) gondola systems.

Disney’s Bus System

Most transportation around Disney World is handled by a large fleet of buses that run around the clock. The sprawling moderate resorts Port Orleans Riverside and French Quarter, Caribbean Beach Resort, and Coronado Springs all have multiple bus stops ringing the perimeter of the resort so you never have to walk too far.

Disney’s value resorts and deluxe resorts all have one main bus pick-up area in front of the resort. The bus stops have separate waiting areas for each park. A digital sign keeps you posted on current bus wait times.

In theory, a bus for each destination should arrive every 20 minutes. In practice, it’s much more varied than that, but it’s unusual to have to wait more than 20 minutes. The good news is, the My Disney Experience app keeps track of bus arrival times, so you won’t need to leave your room until a bus is on it’s way.

If you’re trying to keep a schedule, it’s a good idea to give yourself about 45 minutes travel time. That allows for up to a 20 minute wait for the bus and a 25 minute travel time.

From any resort, you can get to any park or Disney Springs. You cannot, however, get from one park to another via bus. If you are traveling from your resort to another, you’ll have to transfer at a park or Disney Springs.

For example, if you are staying at Caribbean Beach Resort and you want to get to Wilderness Lodge, you’ll need to take a bus to Magic Kingdom and from there, take a boat to Wilderness Lodge.

Monorail

There are 3 monorail loops at Disney World. The Magic Kingdom Resort Monorail loop makes a circle around the Seven Seas Lagoon, stopping at the Contemporary Resort, the Ticket and Transportation Center, The Polynesian Resort, The Grand Floridian and The Magic Kingdom.

The Express Monorail Loop follows the same path but only stops at the Ticket and Transportation Center and Magic Kingdom. This is one of two options for Magic Kingdom guests who drive and park at the Ticket and Transportation Center. The other option is to take the ferry across the lagoon.

The third loop travels from the Ticket and Transportation Center to Epcot. If you want to go from Magic Kingdom or one of the hotels on the monorail loop to Epcot, you first take the resort monorail to the Ticket and Transportation Center (guests at the Polynesian are close enough to walk), then transfer to the Epcot Monorail.

Boat

Boat transportation is available to and from Magic Kingdom to The Contemporary, The Polynesian, The Grand Floridian, Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness.

Boats also travel between The Boardwalk Inn, The Yacht & Beach Club, The Swan & Dolphin, Hollywood Studios and Epcot (entering through the World Showcase near the UK pavilion).

You can also catch a boat from Disney Springs to and from Port Orleans Riverside & French Quarter, Old Key West and Saratoga Springs Resorts.

Any Disney guests can use the buses, monorails and boats from any location. You do not have to be a guest of a particular resort.

Slated to begin operation in the fall of 2019, a new gondola system will be transporting guests between Hollywood Studios, Epcot, Pop Century Resort, Art of Animation Resort, Caribbean Beach Resort and the yet to be completed Disney Riviera Resort.

While no one enjoys waiting for a bus at the end of a long day in the parks, Disney World’s transportation system is generally well run and efficient. Over a typical week-long stay, we might experience one or two long bus waits. When you compare that to the nightmare that is driving the Orlando roads and dealing with parking, it’s a joy. Okay, maybe calling the buses a joy is a stretch – but they are convenient and free. The monorails are fun, and the boats actually are very pleasant. Time will tell, but I think the new gondolas will be pretty popular as well.

What do you think of the Disney transportation system? Pros & Cons? Do you prefer it to driving your own car? Leave your comments below.