There can be a lot of unexpected problems that come up during your Disney World vacation.
Tram to the Transportation and Ticket Center
The weather can cause ride closures, you could forget your phone charger at the hotel, or someone in your group could get sick. Many of these issues you can plan for ahead of time and find solutions, which we like to help you out with! So, we want to talk about another unexpected problem you might run into in Disney World, and how to handle it.
There are a lot of problems that can arise in the theme parks, but sometimes you might have issues just getting INSIDE the parks! We experienced this issue today over at Magic Kingdom.
Our reporter got to the parking gates a little before 9AM, and already noticed a big line of cars trying to get into the parking lots at the Transportation and Ticket Center.
This doesn’t bode well
We were able to park right after 9AM, but then we noticed another big issue — the line for the trams! These trams will take you from the parking lot up to the Transportation and Ticket Center so you don’t have to walk a far distance. But, when we saw how many people were waiting in line, we decided to speed walk instead.
Line for the tram this morning
And, it’s a good thing we did, because it was faster! So, 1 problem avoided. But then, we saw that the Monorail was down at the Transportation and Ticket Center. Yikes!
Awe, man
This means that instead of people being able to choose between taking the Monorail or the Ferry to Magic Kingdom, everyone had to take the Ferry, which caused some pretty long lines.
A ferry long line (ha-ha, get it)
This also added on to the amount of time it took us just to get to the front of Magic Kingdom. We scanned into the park a few minutes before 10AM. So, it took about an hour from the time we got to the parking lot to get into the park. For reference, this usually takes us about 20-25 minutes total.
Magic Kingdom park entrance crowds in June
AND this was our wait without waiting in that tram line and without having to go through the bag check at security. So, it would’ve been longer if we did either of those things!
Security
This can be a HUGE setback when you’re trying to get into the park early — especially if you’re trying to make it to a dining reservation or a Lightning Lane. You can forget about beating the crowds!
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
So, what’s the solution? Well, avoiding this situation in the first place would be the BEST way to deal with it. So, if you’re staying at a Disney World hotel, there is a different way to get to Magic Kingdom. The resort buses take you right to the front of the park, so you don’t even have to deal with the Transportation and Ticket Center. The Disney World hotels that don’t have buses to Magic Kingdom will have other forms of transportation like a boat from your hotel or a walking path.
Magic Kingdom bus station
You could also park at Disney Springs and take the bus from there to Magic Kingdom, which will still place you at the very front of the park. Then, just take the bus back to Disney Springs at the end of the day.
Disney Springs Buses
But, what if you don’t want to or aren’t able to do these things? Well, we would suggest getting to Magic Kingdom as EARLY as you possibly can. That way, if there is an issue like the Monorail being down, you have more time to deal with it and will waste less of the time that you could be spending inside the park.
Try and get here EARLY!
You can also walk from the Transportation and Ticket Center to the front of Magic Kingdom by taking the path that goes past the Polynesian and the Grand Floridian hotels. But, be warned — it’s a pretty long walk. When we mapped it on our phones, it’s almost 2 miles and takes over 40 minutes. So, it might end up taking you the same amount of time that you would spend waiting for a ferry. Plus, you’ll be walking a lot more to start your day off than you had intended, so your feet could get tired more quickly during the day.
Walkway to Grand Floridian
There were also very long lines at the ticket booths at the Transportation and Ticket Center, which can take up a lot of your time. We would suggest buying your tickets online ahead of time so you don’t have to deal with waiting in line. And, if you have any other issues or questions, we would recommend trying to call Disney beforehand so you can have everything worked out and just scan into the park when you arrive.
Ticket lines!
Situations like this can also arise at the other Disney World parks, but things are a little bit simpler. All of the 3 other Disney World parks have parking lots that go straight up to the entrance of the park. So, you can walk straight there if the tram lines are too long, and you don’t have to worry about things like the Monorail being down. But, we would still suggest getting there to park pretty early if you want to do your best to avoid the crowds!
Walk right to the entrance!
Transportation issues can be a really big pain at Disney World, so make sure you know ALL of your options before your trip. There are boats, the Monorail, buses, the Skyliner, and walking paths at Disney World, and there are also rideshare options available like Minnie Vans and Ubers.
Minnie van
Stay tuned to DFB for more Disney World news and updates.
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Thank you for this article. Disney is pretty good about disabled peoples’ physical limitations for inside the park, but long lines like these don’t take those kinds of limitations into account. It’s nice to know what kind of alternatives, or secondary steps can be taken into account.
Sorry but there are no buses from Disney Spring directing to any of the parks. This information was told to us about 6 months ago by a cast member at Hollywood Studio. To the best of my knowledge that has not changed. A bus will take you to a hotel but not to a park.
I have to back up Holly’s comment. Buses do not run between Disney Springs and the parks because people would park there to avoid the parking fee. Info straight from a cast member.
You can take a bus from Disney springs to a resort and then take a bus to magic kingdom but there are no buses directly from Disney springs to the parks.
As mentioned, there are no buses from Disney Springs to the parks. There are also no direct from the parks to Disney Springs. Prior to the pandemic, bus transportation was available from the parks to Springs after 4pm. This is no longer the case. Another option also might be to walk from the TTC to the Poly boat dock and take the launch from there. I would suggest updating the text of this article because most people won’t read these comments to learn this info.