Post by jo on Feb 9, 2011 21:24:43 GMT
The Disney ferryboat connects the Magic Kingdom Park to the Transportation and Ticket Centre (adjacent to Magic Kingdom parking) and departs every 20 to 30 minutes; you can also take water taxi from Disney's Contemporary Resort, Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Disney's Polynesian Resort, Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground and Disney's Wilderness Lodge to the Magic Kingdom. In addition, you can take a water taxi from Disney's BoardWalk Resort, Disney's Yacht and Beach Club Resorts, Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin to Epcot and Disney's Hollywood Studios.
There are now 3 routes and the ferryboat that run on Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake. The different color routes relate to the color of the flag on the bow of the boat. The 3 different colors are -
Gold -- services the Grand Floridian and Polynesian. The route goes in a counter clockwise direction, so starting from MK, the route goes MK, GF, PO and returns to MK. This route runs with park hours and starts 1/2 hour before the park opens and until about an hour after it closes. (1/2 before surprise mornings as well). The wait to get a boat is usually no more than 10 min. An entire cycle is about 20 min.
Blue -- this is the route that runs on Bay Lake. The route services Contemporary, Wilderness Lodge and Ft Wilderness. Usually two boats on this route unless there are boat problems and one goes clockwise and the other goes counter clockwise. A complete cycle takes about 20 min, but with the boats going both directions, unless they both just pulled away from your dock, you won't have more than a 10 min wait.
Red/Green route -- This route was previously two separate routes (the red and the green) It now is a combined route for the Wilderness Lodge and Ft Wilderness to and from MK. There are 3 motor cruisers (capacity 120) on this route. (Previously, two went to FW and one went to WL.) The morning and early afternoon, the route is MK, FW, WL. After 3pm, it switches direction and goes MK, WL, FW. These also start about a 1/2 hour before parking opening.
The ferryboats run from the MK parking lot to MK. The lines do back up from time to time, but they hold 600 passengers and during opening and closing times, all 3 boats are running, which translates into moving about 1800 people every 20 minutes. The time to pick the monorail over the ferryboat would be from about noon-3pm (approximately). That is when there is only one boat running and the wait can be up to 20 min for the boat to return if it has just left. Strollers and wheelchairs roll right onto the boat. It is recommened that regular wheelchairs with low foot pads go down in reverse and up in forward, but slowly.
When leaving the Magic Kingdom from the turnstiles, when you look at the water, you have the GOLD dock (GF/Poly) on the far right (at the foot of the monorail station). The RED/GREEN dock is the middle one (has a two-tiered canopy and sticks out into the water and is often mistook to be the ferryboat dock to the parking lot) The ferryboat dock is the one at the far left towards the Disney buses to the resorts. There is no BLUE dock at MK as that route does not leave Bay Lake.
DISNEYTOPIA TOP TIP
Although the ferryboat is generally deemed slower at peak times when only the shuttle bus is your other option it can be quicker and is worth using.
There are now 3 routes and the ferryboat that run on Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake. The different color routes relate to the color of the flag on the bow of the boat. The 3 different colors are -
Gold -- services the Grand Floridian and Polynesian. The route goes in a counter clockwise direction, so starting from MK, the route goes MK, GF, PO and returns to MK. This route runs with park hours and starts 1/2 hour before the park opens and until about an hour after it closes. (1/2 before surprise mornings as well). The wait to get a boat is usually no more than 10 min. An entire cycle is about 20 min.
Blue -- this is the route that runs on Bay Lake. The route services Contemporary, Wilderness Lodge and Ft Wilderness. Usually two boats on this route unless there are boat problems and one goes clockwise and the other goes counter clockwise. A complete cycle takes about 20 min, but with the boats going both directions, unless they both just pulled away from your dock, you won't have more than a 10 min wait.
Red/Green route -- This route was previously two separate routes (the red and the green) It now is a combined route for the Wilderness Lodge and Ft Wilderness to and from MK. There are 3 motor cruisers (capacity 120) on this route. (Previously, two went to FW and one went to WL.) The morning and early afternoon, the route is MK, FW, WL. After 3pm, it switches direction and goes MK, WL, FW. These also start about a 1/2 hour before parking opening.
The ferryboats run from the MK parking lot to MK. The lines do back up from time to time, but they hold 600 passengers and during opening and closing times, all 3 boats are running, which translates into moving about 1800 people every 20 minutes. The time to pick the monorail over the ferryboat would be from about noon-3pm (approximately). That is when there is only one boat running and the wait can be up to 20 min for the boat to return if it has just left. Strollers and wheelchairs roll right onto the boat. It is recommened that regular wheelchairs with low foot pads go down in reverse and up in forward, but slowly.
When leaving the Magic Kingdom from the turnstiles, when you look at the water, you have the GOLD dock (GF/Poly) on the far right (at the foot of the monorail station). The RED/GREEN dock is the middle one (has a two-tiered canopy and sticks out into the water and is often mistook to be the ferryboat dock to the parking lot) The ferryboat dock is the one at the far left towards the Disney buses to the resorts. There is no BLUE dock at MK as that route does not leave Bay Lake.
DISNEYTOPIA TOP TIP
Although the ferryboat is generally deemed slower at peak times when only the shuttle bus is your other option it can be quicker and is worth using.