Walt Disney World was designed with a vast transportation infrastructure, and in the nearly 55 years since the resort opened, that system has only grown.
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These days, Disney World guests can traverse the property by land via the bus, by air via the Monorail and the SkyLiner, and by “sea” with a fleet of watercraft that sail to three of the resort’s four theme parks!
Watercraft have been part of Disney World’s transportation system since the beginning. During the initial planning stages of Walt Disney World, Imagineers were looking to make sure that the kind of “blight” that surrounded Disneyland wasn’t present around the Magic Kingdom. They decided to base the park’s parking lots far from its entrance, and built the Transportation and Ticket Center to bring guests from their cars to the park.
The Ferry
The TTC was connected to the Magic Kingdom and its resorts via the Monorail and a fleet of ferry boats that would travel to and from the park via the Seven Seas Lagoon. Boats currently travel around the Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake, connecting the Magic Kingdom with the nearby resorts as well as the TTC.
The ferry boat at Magic Kingdom
The main craft that traverse the waterways are Disney World’s ferryboats, which can transport up to 600 passengers to and from Magic Kingdom per trip. With that kind of capacity, I may rethink taking the monorail next time — that’s a LOT of people in one trip!
©Disney
According to Disney, they also “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.”
Behold!
In addition, the Friendship Boat watercraft fleet also connects EPCOT and Hollywood Studios with the Swan & Dolphin, Yacht & Beach Club, and Boardwalk resorts thanks to Crescent Lake…
Take the FriendShip Boat!
…and Disney Springs links guests with the Port Orleans Riverside, Port Orleans French Quarter, Old Key West, and Saratoga Springs resorts along the Sassagoula River.
Sassagoula Riverboats
Disney World’s current combined fleet of 36 watercraft is 10 more than New York’s world-famous Staten Island Ferry. Specifically, the Sassagoula River Cruise has 13 MORE vessels than the actual New Orleans RTA, which transports passengers to and from the real French Quarter, according to the French Quarter Journal.
Sassagoula River
Disney World’s fleet of watercraft serves a vital role in the resort’s transportation infrastructure, as its had since 1971. Stay tuned to DFB for more on the inner workings of Disney World.
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That’s interesting about the ferry boat capacity. Do we know what the monorail capacity is?
We love the boats. They are not packed in the way buses or the monorails are. You often find yourself standing on the TTC ferries, but most of the other boats require that guests are seated. Which is lovely. If a boat is an option, it’s often just as fast (or faster) than anything else. Which maybe I shouldn’t say lol – less room for us. But if a boat is an option for your transportation, it’s worth trying at least once.
I love a boat. I’ll always choose a boat over other forms of transportation.