Is There A Way To Go From One Theme Park At Disney World To Another Without Using Their Transportation?
Looking to go from one theme park to another without using Disney World’s transportation?
It is actually really simple to get from one theme park to another at Disney World without using Disney’s free transportation services.
Some of the theme parks you can walk between, like Epcot and Hollywood Studios.
For others that are further away from each other, you can take a rideshare service or public transportation.
The most obvious choice though is to drive your own car if you brought one or have a rental.
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Is There A Way To Go From One Theme Park At Disney World To Another Without Using Their Transportation?
Here are 5 different transportation methods to get around Disney World that are not Disney provided transportation options.
1. Driving Yourself
If you brought your own car or have a rental car, a great way to get from one theme park to another is just driving yourself.
Once you’ve paid for parking at one park, you’re covered for the whole day, as long as you keep your receipt.
There is a lot of signage to help you get from point A to point B, but there are definitely some navigational gaps.
I highly recommend using a GPS if you’re going to drive yourself around Disney World.
I know all the roads very well, but still use one anyway, since some parks have a few different routes you can take to get between them.
You also never know if there will be a road closure due to an accident or construction, so you’ll be able to find your way around better with a GPS.
As a side note, the Disney World app can tell you where you parked or you can take a photo or send your parking row to someone to reference later, so you can find your car easily.
2. Rideshare
Rideshare is very popular at Disney World for people that are in a hurry.
It’s great if you have a dining reservation you need to get to and don’t have time to wait for a bus.
You never know if the bus will be there in 2 minutes or 20 minutes and many times that can be the difference in making it to your reservation on time or not.
If you’re not in any hurry and don’t have any sort of unique needs that require private transportation I really do recommend just taking Disney’s free transportation.
Depending on which parks you’re trying to get to, you may be able to take a bus, monorail, Skyliner, boat, or ferry.
Minnie Van
A cool option that Disney World offers for rideshare services is their Minnie Van, which you can book through the Lyft app.
These are driven by actual Disney cast members.
They always hold up to 6 people, and have 2 car seats available for free.
There are even ECV and wheelchair accessible Minnie Vans.
The best place to take a Minnie Van though is the Magic Kingdom entrance.
It’s the only way to get dropped off right at the front of the theme park entrance without taking a Disney bus or monorail.
All other rideshares and drop-offs have to go to the Transportation and Ticket Center and then from there you would have to take a ferry or monorail over to Magic Kingdom.
For more information on this, I have a blog post that goes super in-depth on how to use rideshare services at Disney World.
3. Public Transportation
Taking public transportation that isn’t Disney owned and operated only works for a select few options.
The LYNX bus system, which is Orlando’s bus system, has stops at Disney Springs and the Transportation and Ticket Center (which is where you’d go to get to Magic Kingdom).
Disney Springs does not offer bus transportation directly to the theme parks because parking at Disney Springs is free and theme park parking is not free, so it’s to deter people from taking advantage of the system.
If you got dropped off at Disney Springs, you’d have to take a Disney bus to one of Disney’s resort hotels and then go to the theme parks.
Or you could take a rideshare directly to a theme park from Disney Springs.
If you really wanted to, you could walk over to the Saratoga Springs resort hotel and take the Disney bus from there to whichever theme park you’re trying to get to.
With the Transportation and Ticket Center, you have direct access to Magic Kingdom and Epcot by monorail.
4. Walking
I mentioned this at the beginning, but Epcot and Hollywood Studios are actually a walkable distance from each other.
If you exit Epcot from their World Showcase entrance, you just have to walk to the other side of the Boardwalk resort.
From there, there is a pathway that follows along the river to the entrance of Hollywood Studios.
There is signage along the way, but since it’s pretty much a straight walk, it would be hard to get lost.
It’s about a 45 minute walk for most people.
5. Getting Dropped Off
The same things generally apply to this option as if you were driving yourself.
Each theme park has a guest drop off area, so you don’t have to pay for parking if someone is just dropping you off and going somewhere else.
Cast members will direct you where to go if you’re ever confused.
The drop off area should be the same area that rideshare services pick up and drop off, unless you’re at Magic Kingdom.
At Magic Kingdom, again you have to meet at the Transportation and Ticket Center.
When you’re at the Transportation and Ticket Center, you’ll go to the rideshare pickup/drop off area.
Other than that, whenever you’re ready to go from one park to the next, you just have to have whoever is picking you up meet you at the drop-off/pick-up area for any given park.
Then I still recommend using a GPS to get to your next destination since the road signs don’t always list every single park along the route.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are a few common questions I see about getting around Disney World without using their transportation.
What is the fastest way to get from one theme park to another without using Disney transportation?
It depends on which theme park you’re going to, but here are some examples:
Magic Kingdom to Epcot – rideshare or driving yourself
Epcot to Hollywood Studios – walk
Animal Kingdom to anywhere – rideshare or driving yourself
Does Disney’s transportation cost money?
Nope!
Disney’s transportation services are completely free whether you’re a paying guest or not.
There is no system for checking who is staying on property or who has valid park tickets when using Disney’s transportation.
The only thing that would cost money is the Minnie Van, which is a rideshare service through Lyft, but it’s driven by a Disney cast member.
Where To Stay At Disney World
If at all possible, it is always best to stay at a Disney Resort Hotel.
These come with a bunch of additional perks and immerse you more in the Disney experience.
As a second choice, there are also a ton of partner hotels that are on Disney property, but aren’t owned by Disney.
For example, there’s all the hotels in the “Disney Springs Resort Area” along Hotel Plaza Boulevard and the Bonnet Creek Resort Area hotels.
Additionally, there is the Swan & Dolphin, Shades of Green, and the Four Seasons that are all on Disney property.
If none of those are available or are out of your price range, then I recommend local timeshare resorts.
They are available to non-timeshare owners just like a regular hotel would be, but they usually have more amenities like full kitchens, extra bedrooms, and more.
I’ve reviewed a ton of my favorites on another blog of mine called Timeshares, Resorts, and More.
These are some of the resorts I recommend checking out:
Aqua Sol
Aqua Sol is the furthest away.
It’s on the far side of Animal Kingdom, but it has it’s own mini water park and mini golf and a ton of other resort amenities.
The 2 bedrooms are recently renovated and absolutely beautiful and so spacious.
For the rooms themselves, this is my first choice.
Cypress Pointe
Cypress Pointe is just 5 minutes outside of Disney Springs and it’s my favorite place to stay when I can’t stay on property.
It’s one of the cheapest of the resorts and they have a really nice volcano pool and cafe.
I won a drawing for a free pool cabana for a day and made the absolute most of it!
Grande Villas
Grande Villas is actually right across the street from Cypress Pointe.
These two resorts actually share their amenities and guest access points with each other since they are both owned by Hilton Grand Vacations.
I enjoyed the pool deck area of Grande Villas because all of the amenities and entertainment were centrally located.
It’s usually pricier than Cypress Pointe, but the rooms are nicer.
Grand Beach
Grand Beach is on the south east end of Disney, closer to places like Wide World of Sports and Art of Animation, but still easily accessible to Disney Springs.
This resort looks like the Grand Floridian, so you might have seen it before when driving around Orlando.
The rooms are definitely a little dated, but the jacuzzi tub in the room is really nice and so is the pool.
It was one of the quieter resorts I’ve stayed in too.
Mystic Dunes
The last one I want to mention is a good compromise between all the resorts.
It’s usually pretty cheap, but not the absolute cheapest.
It’s about 15 minutes from just about any of the Disney theme parks, so it’s really convenient.
The resort is closer to more residential type areas and is really spacious.
There’s a golf course and it has more of a vacation resort feel than all of the others.
We’ve stayed here several times and it’s also the most convenient for us to visit family.
The Wrap-Up: Is There A Way To Go From One Theme Park At Disney World To Another Without Using Their Transportation?
Getting from one theme park at Disney World to another without using Disney’s transportation is really simple.
There are so many options to choose from, including driving yourself, using a rideshare service, using public transportation, walking, or having someone drop you off and pick you up.
I personally would still use Disney World’s transportation since it is free whether you’re staying there or not.
But there are definitely some circumstances where it’s easier or quicker to choose another option.
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