Pages Navigation Menu

Your Disney Vacation Specialist
Making Dreams come true, one vacation at a time

Tip Time Tuesday: Transportation Time

Disney monorail

Passing under the monorail as it enters the Contemporary. This shot was taken from the boat that travels from the Magic Kingdom to Fort Wilderness.

Today’s tip is brought to you by the mother in me! Whenever you make dining reservations or when I am talking to a client about getting to a meal – there is the standard, “Please allow up to 90 minutes of travel time” that you just say. And most people I know, myself included, often scoff at the idea of 90 minutes to get to your destination. C’mon, it can’t be that far away, right? Truthfully, no it isn’t that far away but that doesn’t mean that the transportation is running on your schedule. Even within the parks, have you ever timed how long it can take to walk from Spaceship Earth all the way over the Restaurant Marrakesh. If you are thinking it is a quick little 5, maybe 10, minute walk – you are mistaken. Especially if you have been walking all day, your feet are tired, you are pushing a stroller or if you have little feet that are walking with you. I have realized standing at the entrance of Journey into Your Imagination that our lunch reservations at Le Cellier (in Canada) were in 5 minutes. Walking as quickly as we could, we were still late. Now imagine you’re not even in the same park or you are heading to a resort for a meal. You must allow up to 20 minutes from the time you arrive at the bus stop until the bus shows up. (Yes, it is usually faster than that, but Disney tells you to expect about a 20 minute wait between buses to each location.) Now you need to ride the bus to its destination which can be anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes. Time adds up fast! This can be particularly true if you are going from resort to resort.

I love Disney dining! The food and the experiences are amazing and the time it takes to get there is simply a factor that you need to consider. So, the mother in me will tell you to allow plenty of time to get to your destination. And while it can be difficult to leave whatever it is you are doing – take a little extra time to get to your destination and if it is built in and you aren’t hurrying – you might just find some awesome new things along the way!

9 Comments

  1. I love riding the monorail.

  2. I love riding the monorail.

  3. I love riding the monorail at Disney World.

  4. I love the riding the monorail.

  5. Yeah we learned this the hard way the first time we went. You really do have to have that 90 minute start!

  6. Thanks so much for the tips! I realized how long it takes to get from point a to b on our last trip…It is always nice to have a reminder.,..We loved the monorail.

  7. Yes definitely leave enough time when trying to move from one park to another, or resort to resort, or park to resort. You could just miss a bus, you could hit a busy time and have to wait for multiple buses to reach the front of the transportation line. Leaving enough time is key to ensuring you don’t miss you meal! I love trying all the different restaurants at Disney.

  8. We love the monorail! Especially if we are feeling tired and want to head to downtown Disney to have lunch at The Rainforest Cafe.

  9. Thanks for the reminder! We always leave enough time for travel to our dining reservations. We’ve used all modes of transportation during our vacations & even if it seems that taking your own car (we usually drive down) would be more convenient, you then have to drive wherever you’re going & then find parking, etc. To avoid the hassle, we just usually make reservations in or around the park we’re visiting for the day.

Leave a Reply to Amy Bedore Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *