Walt Disney World's Express Transportation
-Update-
As of August 16, 2017 you will no longer be able to purchase this service. Express Transportation will stop running as of August 23, 2017. Hopefully Disney will bring this service back with vehicles other than buses since it sounds like they were not utilized the way Disney had thought they would be. I believe that Disney did not market this amazing service properly and that many people had no idea that this service was even available. If you like to park hop, I suggest looking into the new Minnie Van service that just rolled out this past month.How much does this service cost?
When I heard about this being tested at the end of last year I was a little skeptical since it's an add-on to your Park Hopper ticket. This service is currently an additional $19 per person for a single-day (must be used the day of purchase) and $29 per person for a multi-day (7 consecutive days) and is only available for those who have already paid for the Park Hopper add-on or an Annual Passholder (AP). Currently APs can purchase a Summer Pass that is good through August 10, 2017 for $59 and must be purchased before July 31, 2017.Since we had a trip booked for this past April and it was going to be mostly park hopping (3 days and 4 parks), I decided to research into this new option to see if it truly was worth this extra cost. From everything that I had read, it was nothing but positive reviews. If you've ever park hopped at WDW, you know that it can be very time consuming. This was also going to be our first trip to not have a rental car in hopes to save some money and therefore relying on nothing but Disney transportation. It just seemed like it would be a nightmare to park hop since there's not always a direct way to get to and from parks via the regular Disney transportation.
Where & when can this add-on be purchased?
With all that in mind, we decided to go ahead with purchasing this add-on. Currently this option cannot be purchased in advanced so, when we arrived at our Disney Resort we went straight to the concierge to purchase the add-on. We went with the multi-day for the three of us because we would be using it for 2 of the 3 days. In total for the 3 of us it was $87 and was cheaper than if we had purchased a single-day for each of the 2 days we we're hopping (a savings of $27).Express Transportation can be purchased at:
- All the Disney Resorts concierge locations- All 4 park ticket windows & Guest Relations
- Disney Springs ticket window
- Walt Disney World Swan Hotel & Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel ticket desks
- Kiosks at each of the Express Transportation check-in locations
What comes with this service?
Express Transportation provides you with unlimited transportation between all 4 parks starting at 10am and ending at park closing. The buses run every 30 minutes and will travel directly to the designated park with no stops. The big selling factor for me was that you're re-entry to the park is not through the main entrance, rather you are dropped off inside the park!Current bus schedule per park:
Magic KingdomTo Animal Kingdom departs every hour and half hour (:00 and :30)
To Epcot departs every 10 after the hour and 20 'til the hour (:10 and :40)
To Hollywood Studios departs every 20 after the hour and 10 'til the hour (:20 and :50)
Epcot
To Hollywood Studios departs every hour and half hour (:00 and :30)
To Magic Kingdom departs every 10 after and 20 'til the hour (:10 and :40)
To Animal Kingdom departs every 20 after the hour and 10 'til the hour (:20 and :50)
Hollywood Studios
To Epcot departs every hour and half hour (:00 and :30)
To Animal Kingdom departs every 10 after and 20 'til the hour (:10 and :40)
To Magic Kingdom departs every 20 after the hour and 10 'til the hour (:20 and :50)
Animal Kingdom
To Magic Kingdom departs every hour and half hour (:00 and :30)
To Hollywood Studios departs every 10 after and 20 'til the hour (:10 and :40)
To Epcot departs every 20 after the hour and 10 'til the hour (:20 and :50)
How do you use this service?
Express Transportation Check-in Locations
Magic Kingdom - Near the exit of Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin.Epcot - East side of Spaceship Earth.
Hollywood Studios - In the courtyard in front of Rock 'n' Roller Coaster.
Animal Kingdom - Near the entrance to Dawa Bar.
To use this service, you'll want to head to the check-in locations listed above that coordinates with the park you're wanting to depart from. At the check-in location there will be a Cast Member (CM) who will inquire as to which park you're wanting to travel to. They will scan each member of your party's magic band/card to verify that the service has already been purchased. If you do not have this service, you can purchase through the CM at that time.
Once all checked-in, the CM will let you know how long it will be until boarding and will have you stand in the line that coordinates with the park you're heading to. Once the bus has arrived, a CM will escort you backstage to board. Since you are walking backstage, you not allowed to take pictures. You will however get to see a different side to the park that you wouldn't normally see any other time. When you arrive to your destination, there will be a CM waiting to greet and escort you into the park. No need to go through security or scan your magic band/card again!
During our trip, we used this service twice and on separate days: from Animal Kingdom to Epcot and from Epcot to Hollywood Studios. We seemed to have timed it just right because we never had to wait too long at either location for a bus. We were not told of a bus schedule while there and still nothing is listed on WDW's website, but I have seen the schedule listed above on several other websites. When thinking back on the times that we went to the check-in locations, they coordinate with the schedule listed above and is why I decided to list them. Very helpful if you don't want to have to wait for the next bus.
The buses that are used are the same buses used for regular Disney transportation. These two trips were the only time during our stay that we road a rather empty Disney bus which was nice. I think at most, it took 20 minutes to get to each destination.
Is it worth it?
I felt that it was and when we were asked at the parks if it was worth it, we told them most definitely. Since we were there for 3 days and trying to do as much as we could, we felt that the money spent on saving time getting from one park to another was worth it. The more and more I talk to people about WDW, the more I learn that not everyone plans their WDW vacation like we do. We are generally an open to close family with no breaks to our resort. Basically look at your plans and see if it financially works for you. If you plan on taking a break at your resort before heading to another park, than this wouldn't be worth it for you. If you're wanting do all 4 parks in 1 day, most definitely get it!Have you used this service? If so let me know what you thought about it. Do you think you'll be using this on your next WDW vacation? Let me know why.
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