Guests who visit Walt Disney World have access to an entire city-sized network of free transportation, from buses and monorails to boats and aerial gondolas. There’s a lot of ground to cover and no shortage of ways Disney helps guests travel across its property — whether to one of Disney World’s four theme parks, two water parks, more than 25 hotels, Disney Springs, more than 525 eateries and more.
Disney World has a team of more than 3,500 transportation cast members, not including hundreds of engineers and maintenance cast working behind the scenes to ensure every vehicle in the fleet is ready to move the tens of thousands of guests who use Disney transportation every day.
“We’re one of the most-visited vacation destinations in the world, and we spend a lot of time thinking about how to get everyone where they need to go,” said Ketan Sardeshmukh, Director of Transportation Operations at Disney World. “We’re always looking at ways to move people safely and efficiently, while also creating the easiest, fastest and friendliest experience possible.”
Disney Monorails
The Walt Disney World Monorail System has transported hundreds of millions of guests since it first opened in October 1971, with an annual ridership of about 22 million.
A fan favorite for more than 50 years, Disney cast continue to find new ways to keep the experience fresh for guests. To celebrate the resort’s 50th anniversary, Disney engineers designed a feature that illuminates the beam underneath each train at night. This week, they’re adding another new feature, which allows the logo on each train to glow in the dark.
Disney Boats
Like the monorail, boats have been around since day one at Disney World. 36 different vessels carry guests around Seven Seas Lagoon to the Magic Kingdom, across Crescent Lake to Hollywood Studios or EPCOT, and through Village Lake to Disney Springs daily.
Each Disney World ferryboat can transport up to 600 passengers to and from Magic Kingdom per trip. They share the waterways with two other kinds of boats: motor cruisers and motor launches. The motor launches — often referred to as water taxis — have been in service since Disney World first opened in 1971.
Across Disney World’s property, there are two other areas of watercraft transportation: FriendShip Boats and the Sassagoula River Cruise.
- FriendShip Boats sail between EPCOT, Hollywood Studios and several surrounding resorts. These boats were an opening-day attraction at EPCOT, starting their service on Oct. 1, 1982.
- The Sassagoula River Cruise offers transportation between select resorts – like Port Orleans French Quarter – and Disney Springs. With 15 boats, the Sassagoula River Cruise has 13 more vessels than the New Orleans RTA, which transports passengers to and from the real French Quarter, according to the French Quarter Journal.
Disney Buses
Last year alone, Disney buses transported 73 million guests. According to the Federal Transit Administration NTD report, Disney World ranks third in the United States for bus riders per square mile of service, only behind New York City and San Francisco. In fact, Disney’s bus network outpaces many metropolitan areas around the country with more than 420 buses in the fleet.
Disney Skyliner
Disney Skyliner is the newest mode of complimentary transportation at Disney World. This 300-cabin aerial gondola system has made a big impact in the five years since it opened. The system connects EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios and four resorts that accommodate nearly every family size and budget.
Learn More About Disney Transportation
For more information on how to get around the resort, visit the Walt Disney World website.