Fastest way from Art of Animation to Magic Kingdom

Walt Disney World Other
1

What is the fastest way from Art of Animation to Magic Kingdom? We will be leaving 11/01 at 10:30 am. We are two adults and one 2 year old, and we will have a stroller with us. Here are a few options I am contemplating:

  1. Get the bus from AoA to MK
  2. Get a cab from AoA to MK
  3. Get a cab from AoA to Contemporary and walk to MK from there.

Which would be the quickest option (considering wait times and lines)? Everywhere I look the calculations seem rather complex. With option 1 there is the wait for the bus and the long trip time. Option 2 I have to get to the TTC and monorail. Option 3 I have to factor the time of the walk. In the end I am just very confused. I am open to other suggestions as well. Thanks!

2

We stayed at AoA in 5/14 and always used the buses unless we were going to another resort and then would take a cab. I would just take the bus. Taking a cab to TTC or to CR and walking would not be necessary at 10:30am.

3

Good to hear! I am reading and I saw so many horror stories about waiting for buses and then the trip taking so long. I don’t want to spend one hour just to get to the park.

4

Bus. Definitely bus. Will drop you off right at entrance to MK (instead of a cab, which would drop you off at TTC or CR), and you don’t need to worry about a car seat. It’s a decent drive (maybe 15-20 minutes?) regardless of whether you’re in a car or bus.

5

Room to park entrance, from the time you leave, room, get to bus stop (7 minutes), wait for bus (10 minutes), board bus (5 minute), ride to MK (20 minutes), walk to bag check (7 minutes), go through bag check (7 minutes), go through tapstiles (5 minutes) is probably the better part of an hour.

6

I see what you mean, it seems it will be a long commute no matter what we do! I have a few questions:

  1. You estimate a wait of 10 minutes. I read people saying that they often waited upwards of 20 minutes for the MK bus from AoA. What was your experience? I have a Peter Pan fast pass ending at 11:35. It will be our first time at MK, so we will need some time to get through the park while taking it all in. I could have us leaving earlier, but I doubt I can get us out much earlier, maybe 10:15?

  2. How variable is the waiting time for the bus in comparison to getting cabs in front of the hotel?

  3. Is the bus ride slow, stop and go? The three of us suffer from motion sickness and long slow bus rides can be tough.

Thanks for the help!

7

it really varies on waiting for the bus. we would walk out of the hotel and a bus would be there sometimes and other times we waited 30 min (only happened once for the AK bus). the point is, is that you can’t accurately predict within a 10 min range of when it will come. I would leave by 10:15 and if you get there early, take pics and ride the carousel or small world which are right PP or just use your fpp before the end time. with it being your first time, I don’t think it would be good to feel like you are rushing.

8

Thanks, I’m convinced. We will get buses to MK. I will find a way to leave early (though to be honest I am a bit concerned that this may be trouble because of my daughter’s sleep schedule). Now I need to figure out if we should use cabs of buses to the other parks. How long should I budget for HS, EP and AK if we get a cab? I imagine that most cabs around AoA should have carseats, right? How long do they usually take to install them?

9

AoA is fairly close to HS, AK and EP. Those should only be about 10 minute bus rides.

Public transport, including taxis, do not require car seats in Florida. That goes for buses, limos, etc…

If you feel that you should have your daughter in a car seat, I think you may want to just consider renting a car. This would mean having the flexibility to get to and from the parks when you want without waiting for a bus or taxi. And, your little one will be secure. The only small snag is having to do the whole TTC thing at MK.

10

Thanks for the reply! My concern is not so much the trip to AK, EP and HS, but rather the wait for the buses. What has been your experience about the waits?

By the way, I have been researching the carseat laws in Florida, and I was under the impression that carseats are mandatory for taxis. I think it is fairly recent.

11

We have stayed at AoA twice in the past (Oct both times) and have never had a problem getting a bus to MK. It always seemed like there were twice as many buses to MK than to the other parks, and especially in the mornings there would often be those huge double buses to MK. And as far as the other parks go, we never had problems with them either. I did have a minor panic one morning that we wouldn’t get to AK in time for our pre-RD ADR, but it turned out just fine.

12

Great! What about buses to the other parks? How long did you have to wait? Did you have problems with any of them? I want to know if there is a park for which it makes sense to get a cab instead of waiting for the bus.

13

I do not recall ever waiting more than 10 minutes for a bus, except the one time I mentioned for that pre-RD ADR at AK. Also, there were never any stops along the route to pick up from other resorts, so it’s a direct route. But of course, I’m sure there are variations in the waiting time depending on the resort crowd levels and the time of day. We like to get to the parks in time for rope drop whenever possible. Although we did have a few times where we slept in and went late morning, and I can’t remember there being a longer wait on those days, either. And we’ve done strollers, too, without any problems. (Just make sure to have it folded and ready to board the bus when the time comes.) Overall, I have been very pleased with the bus service at AoA.

14

Great then! Maybe we will get to use the buses after all.

Just so everyone knows: my concern is not so much arriving on the parks in as little time as possible. Rather, my concern is being able to wake my daughter up as late as possible. She is fine staying awake late, but I’m afraid that waking her up too early will not turn out well. I am already planning on arriving at the parks late morning. However, what time do I wake her up? So, if a method of travel takes 30 minutes for sure, and another takes 10 minutes, but can have a random wait of up to 40 minutes, I am willing to take the 30 minutes sure one, because it allows me to wake her up later, since there is no need to program buffer time. I have some important FastPasses ending 30 minutes after the time we intend to arrive at the parks (and changing those is either not possible or affects the plan too much), and so I want to make sure that we arrive at the park by a certain time, all the while waking her up as late as possible. I’m willing to pay some cab money if that is what it takes.

From what I gather so far, the best option for MK is bus. It is not only the fastest method, but it also seems to be frequent enough that we are sure to find a bus with a likely wait of no more than 10 minutes.

Now, for the other parks, I gather that HS and EP are frequent too. Now I need to determine if the wait is too random, or if I am likely to get a bus within 10 minutes. Otherwise it seems that a cab may be a better option, because even though it may take slightly longer, it is less random, so no need to program buffer time.

For AK it seems that you had a bad experience, and I read about other people having problems too, so maybe we should get a cab to go there after all.

By the way, I would like to thank you and everyone else helping me out here! Before having a baby I was always at parks at rope drop, and did not care if I had to leave 2 hours in advance to make sure. Now I have to consider sleeping schedules carefully. On top of it I seem to have the opposite problem of most people: my daughter has problems waking up too early, but has no problem staying late. I don’t have to worry about coming back to the hotel for naps, leaving the park early, etc., but I do have to worry about getting to the park as late as possible and still get to do the things we want to do.