When it comes to transportation options, not all Walt Disney World hotels are created equal. While some are connected by multiple arms of the Disney transportation apparatus — buses, boats, monorails, Skyliner gondolas — others are only serviced by buses, and on the far ends of the property at that.
All-Star Sports Bus Stop
These limited transportation hotels aren’t bad by any means — in fact, to some guests, the isolation is a feature as opposed to a bug — however, if you’re planning on visiting all of Disney World’s theme parks, Disney Springs, other hotels, etc., you may want to consider an alternate hotel.
Animal Kingdom Lodge
Animal Kingdom Lodge is ONLY connected to the rest of Walt Disney World via the bus system. No monorail, no Skyliner, no boats. That creates an issue for guests, as the hotel’s out-of-the-way location makes traveling practically anywhere on property take much longer than nearly any hotel, especially if they’re traveling to another Walt Disney World hotel to have a meal, etc., as it requires transferring at one of the parks or Disney Springs. Of course, guests can use rideshare vehicles like Uber, Lyft, or Disney’s Minnie Van service. However, that also means budgeting aside more rideshare funds than they would need to while staying at another on-property resort.
Animal Kingdom Lodge
While there’s no other Disney hotel that offers anything close to the live animal encounters that Animal Kingdom Lodge does, the Wilderness Lodge does offer a celebration of nature on a massive scale. Transportation-wise, the Wilderness Lodge offers watercraft service to the Magic Kingdom in addition to bus service.
Wilderness Lodge Lobby
The All-Star Resorts
The All-Star Resorts — All-Star Movies, All-Star Music, and All-Star Sports — all offer only bus service, which can take a long time, especially when around rope drop or park closing.
All Star Sports Resort
Fellow Value-Tier hotels Pop Century and Art of Animation offer similar layouts and amenities to the All-Star resorts for a slightly higher price point. Their major transportation draw is access to the Walt Disney World Skyliner, which travels from a shared Pop/AOA station to several Disney World hotels, as well as EPCOT and Hollywood Studios.
Disney Skyliner at Art of Animation and Pop Century Resorts
Saratoga Springs and Old Key West
Both of these Deluxe resorts technically offer guests access to two transportation methods: buses and the Sassagoula River cruise boats. However, only the former offers access to Disney World’s theme parks, which is an issue considering both of these resorts are all the way at the end of Disney property.
Lead the way, Captain!
A better option for those thinking in terms of transportation may be the Riviera Resort. The hotel is also a highly themed Deluxe Tier resort, but is more centrally located on property and has access to both buses and its own Skyliner station.
Skyliner
Coronado Springs
Finally, there’s the Moderate Tier Coronado Springs Resort, which — stop us if you’ve heard this one before — only offers access to bus service. While this isn’t as much of an issue as it is at some other hotels, given Coronado Springs more central location, it’s still a bit of a knock against the hotel, given that similar hotels on property offer more options.
Coronado Springs
Case in-point, the Caribbean Beach Resort offers similar Moderate Tier amenities — plus the Fuentes del Morro Pool and Sebastian’s Bistro restaurant — as well as Skyliner access.
Skyliner at Caribbean Beach Resort
Next time you’re deciding which Walt Disney World hotel to stay at, be sure to keep their transportation options in mind, especially if you plan on traversing Disney property. Stay tuned to DFB for more hotel tips.
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Some may dislike AK Lodge and Old Key West because they are less crowded large isolated resorts but that is the reason we love them. We get enough people crowding at home. We want our resort to be more of an experience and less people.
We bought into DVC almost 20yrs ago with AK being the place offered. We have stayed there exactly once for 3 days. Never again! Jiko is wonderful but it takes FOREVER to get ANYWHERE ELSE! Simply not worth it.