One of the nice things about Disney World is the complementary transportation provided. It is listed for resort guests but anyone is welcome to use them. Today we are looking at the water transportation with several different types of boats. The water transportation is available between resorts and theme parks on Crescent and Bay lake. All the boats run every 15 to 30 minutes depending on the destination and the hours very with the time of year.
The smallest boats are the water taxis, these run between Magic Kingdom and the neighboring resorts including:
- Grand Floridian resort and spa
- Contemporary resort
- Polynesian resort
- Wilderness Lodge resort and campground
There are 2 size of these water taxis, the smaller is pictured above. Strollers must be folded before bringing on board, on occasion if you have a larger boat that is not crowded the crew will let you just roll it on. If you have a EVC you will need to wait for the larger boat, guest in wheelchairs can board if they can transfer to a seat. These usually run 30 minutes before the park opens and continue for up to one and half hours after the park closes.
There is also a ferry boat that goes between the Magic Kingdom and the Ticket and Transportation center. If you choose to take this there is seating on the upper and lower level. If you want to be the first off the boat make sure you make your way to the opposite side you entered on. Strollers can remain open and are easily wheeled on and off the main level. This ferry runs from about 30 minutes before Magic Kingdom opens and runs until an 1 1/2 after closing. These ferryboats can hold up to 600 people.
There are smaller ferry boats that run between Disney Springs (Downtown Disney) and several Disney resorts, these include:
- Old Key West resort
- Port Orleans French Quarter
- Port Orleans Riverside
- Saratoga Springs resort and spa
For these boats you must fold strollers before boarding. They also do not allow alcohol or luggage on board so plan accordingly. These boats run from 10:30am until 11:30pm some routes stay open until 1am during busier times of the year.
The other type of boat are the friendship boats. This boat runs between Epcot and Hollywood studios with stops at the resorts between the 2. These include:
- Boardwalk Inn and villas
- Beach Club resort
- Yacht Club resort
- WDW Swan
- WDW Dolphin
This route does take a little longer because the boat makes stops at each of the resorts before arriving at the theme parks. The order of the stops begins at Epcot and follows the list above and ends at Hollywood Studios before turning around to do the same route in reverse.
Inside Epcot you will find a pair of friendship boats that take you from showcase plaza across World Showcase lagoon from Canada to Morocco or Germany to Mexico depending the time of year and how busy the park is. The boats do stop running at 7:15 to make way for barges that hold fireworks for Illuminations.
The boats are a nice relaxing way to get around Disney but they sometimes take longer than alternative transportation so allow plenty of time if you are going to a reservation. The boats may not run during certain weather conditions. If your resort offers the boat service to the theme park they will not have buses to that park.