It’s time once again to take a look at inexpensive
options in or around Walt Disney World to augment your vacation
experience. Things that you might do on
your own or with your traveling companions that are FREE or close to being
free. Today we'll take a look at finding adventure and enjoyment in the Disney Transportation
network.
As the Walt Disney World Resort is a vast tract of land –
nearly 43 square miles of fun – getting around is not quite as easy as simply
walking to your favorite destinations. And
since the Resort is a vacation destination for many visitors from around the
country, as well as around the world, personal cars often are not involved in a
Walt Disney World vacation. Many
visitors to the resort choose to or have to fly just to get there. So the Resort offers an array of FREE
transportation options. Buses, boats and
Monorails are the opportunities provided for getting around within the Resort.
All of these options are available to any guest, even if just a day guest
visiting a theme park, but looking to move between locations (say for moving
between theme park and non-theme park based dinner or dinner show).
But the transportation network does not simply need to be
viewed as transportation. On many visits
that I have made to “the world”, I like to sit back and use the available modes
as part of the fun. Hop on a bus and
just go along for the ride.
People-watching can be an interesting way to pass the time. On solo trips that I have made, when I have
no set agenda, I love to play “bus roulette”, and just hop on the first
available bus, and go until a destination appeals to me. It’s true there is a sense of “need” to plan
elements of your vacation, but that same vacation just becomes a chore when you
are slave to a set, pre-planned to the nth detail schedule.
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Ride a Bus! Buses make up the largest portion of the Walt
Disney World transportation network. The
Disney fleet is vast, with buses transporting guests between every resort and
the theme parks, water parks and the Downtown Disney area. Routes are often combined as very few buses offer
a single-purpose route (the Animal Kingdom Lodge to the Magic Kingdom is a
single-purpose route), since many buses are shared between resorts and their
primary destination (i.e. a bus might leave Old Key West, and make a stop at
Blizzard Beach before going on to Animal Kingdom Theme Park; while others might
leave the Wilderness Lodge, and make stops at the Polynesian, and Grand
Floridian before proceeding along to Downtown Disney and Typhoon Lagoon). While the buses go just about everywhere,
they do NOT go between Downtown Disney and the theme parks. If a guest wants to go to a theme park from
Downtown Disney (or from a theme park to Downtown Disney), they need to get on
the bus that will take them to a resort… typically the closest resort to the
theme park in question, and transfer to either another bus or another form of
transportation that will get them to the theme park. (i.e. a guest going to the Magic Kingdom
could ride a bus to the Wilderness Lodge and them ride a boat to the park; or a
guest going to Animal Kingdom Theme Park could ride a bus to the Animal Kingdom
Lodge and then transfer to an Animal Kingdom Theme Park bus).
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Ride the Monorail! What
was once thought to be the “transportation system of the future” still is a
very cool way to ride in style. Sure
during the early morning hours and the end of day times the Monorail will be
very, very full with excited or tired guests – but throughout the day, it is
just a fun way to explore. From the
Transportation & Ticket Center you can take the “Epcot” Monorail, and enjoy
a few miles of high in the sky fun on the way to Epcot, with an inside the park
overview of both Future World and World Showcase. Or take the "Resort" Monorail which circles
the Seven Seas Lagoon making stops at the Polynesian, Grand Floridian and
Contemporary resorts. You can get off
and on at each of these resorts and explore if you choose, as well as at the
Magic Kingdom, where if you aren’t entering the Magic Kingdom, you could
explore the lagoon walk. It’s an easy way to orient yourself and get a look at
the resorts and an overview of the Magic Kingdom.
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Enjoy a Boat Ride! There are a number of boating opportunities
throughout the Walt Disney World Resort, which can be enjoyable any time of
day, but particularly beautiful at night.
They can be a bit romantic as well.
From the Magic Kingdom area, there are boats that connect
the Polynesian, Grand Floridian, Contemporary, Wilderness Lodge and Ft
Wilderness resorts with the Magic Kingdom.
Any of these are available to you, and you could easily cruise the Seven
Seas Lagoon and adjoining Bay Lake. The
boats operate continuously throughout the day from shortly before the Magic
Kingdom opens until shortly after it closes.
From the Epcot area resorts, the Friendship Boats cruise
Crescent Lake and the adjoining canals making stops at Epcot, the Boardwalk,
Yacht & Beach Club, Swan & Dolphin and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The loop is continuous throughout the day from
shortly before the theme parks open until shortly after the theme parks
close. Get on and off as you please,
exploring the resorts along the way.
From the Downtown Disney area, boats cruise Lake Buena
Vista visiting Old Key West, Port Orleans and Saratoga Springs resorts. Each is a separate line, but all provide
beautiful vistas and the opportunity to visit and explore the resorts. There’s also a West Side to Marketplace boat
that operates strictly within Lake Buena Vista taking guests from one end of
Downtown Disney to the other. These
boats operate continuously throughout the day, typically from about 10 am until
11pm at night.
While it’s true the Walt Disney World Resort is vast, and
getting between destinations can and does take time, getting around doesn’t
have to be considered a chore. It can be
a fun part of the adventure!! The best part about the above options is that they are all FREE, and if you are a resort guest visiting theme parks - will help you skip the theme park parking charges!
Roy O. Disney,
Walt's older brother and lifelong business partner, and co-founder of Walt
Disney Productions, passes away at the age of 78 from a cerebral hemorrhage. Roy served as the company's Chief Executive Officer
(1929–1971) and President (1945–1971). While Walt was the creative man, Roy was
the one who made sure the company was financially stable - and it was Roy who
made sure that Walt’s last dream came to fruition. Roy made sure that the company pressed
forward with Disney World, but even taking it a step further and renaming the
project Walt Disney World so
that the world would always remember whose dream it truly was. With both Disney
brothers gone, the board of directors for the first time will have to turn
outside the Disney family for leadership. 
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The Empress Lilly riverboat, with its elegant cargo of fine restaurants and lively lounges is a gleaming centerpiece among all of the shops, boutiques and other restaurants in Downtown Disney (formerly known as the Walt Disney World Village). While it is no longer known as the Empress Lilly, the riverboat still houses fine dining opportunities as Fulton's Crab House. At one time there was a charming character dining experience onboard the ship. .jpg)
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As a DVC timeshare property, the villas are owned by members
through DVC’s points-based system. DVC
maintains about 3-4% ownership of the total point allocation for each of their
timeshare resorts, therefore rooms are available for rent year-round to
non-members. 
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As a DVC timeshare property, the villas are owned by members
through DVC’s points-based system. DVC
maintains about 3-4% ownership of the total point allocation for each of their
timeshare resorts, therefore rooms are available for rent year-round to
non-members. 
Disney's Art of Animation Resort®, an all-new resort located at Walt Disney World® Resort, premiered on May 31, 2012 with the first of four phases opening on that date. It is located on the site once planned for the expansion of Disney’s POP Century Resort®, but plans for that continued construction were abandoned following the attacks of September 11, 2001. It is the first new value-level resort built since Disney’s POP Century Resort first opened in 2003.
The resort is comprised of 4 sections, representing Disney’s classic animated films “The Little Mermaid”, “The Lion King”, and Disney*PIXAR films, “Finding Nemo” and “Cars”. Each section is decorated and themed with its’ own oversized icons – such as the various car characters from the Cars films, super-sized coral from Finding Nemo, gigantic clam shells, pride rocks and many more. In a change from the other value-level resorts, the Art of Animation is designed with rooms having interior doors and sealed hallways rather than exterior doors. Emergency staircases are done in the same exterior fashion as the other value-level resorts (and are themed with coverings such as giant pride rocks, coral, or super-sized dock pilings).
The resort includes a themed pool, “The Big Blue”, a quick-service food court: Landscape of Flavors; and lounges, poolside snack bar, The Drop Off Pool Bar and in-room pizza delivery service. 
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