How To Get From Hollywood Studios To Epcot
While many people spend their lives traveling for work, or to explore new places, there are also those who travel for pure entertainment. They enjoy exploring different destinations and cities, and being able to say that they’ve been to this or that place is an important part of their journey.
For example, someone may live in Los Angeles and have never visited Disneyland. Or perhaps you’re living in Orlando and have never spent time at Disney World. Both are incredible experiences that offer something unique for everyone!
There are several ways to make it easy to navigate your way through The Happiest Place On Earth, including this article! Read on for our top tips to take you from zero to park-ready quickly (and comfortably).
Get familiar with Walt Disney World
If you don’t know where things are yet, start by taking some time to get familiarized. There are lots of online resources as well as printed guides available anywhere you go within the theme parks.
Take the monorail
One of the best ways to get around at Disney is by taking the FastPass+ Monorail service or the Train Station Touring Routes. Both offer very close proximity to some of the most popular attractions, and they are both cost-effective in terms of money spent per ride.
The Monorail offers several different routes that take you between either just Walt Disney World Resort or also through Universal Orlando. There’s even one route with an extra special surprise!
You can choose to hop off at any station for some down time or grab lunch before heading back into the theme parks, or you can keep going all the way to the end if you want to save some time. The length of rides it takes to reach your destination depends on how fast people board and leave the vehicle so please be aware of this when choosing where to stop.
This article will talk about some great alternatives to using the Monorail but first let us discuss why it is such a incredible option.
Take a taxi
If you’re traveling from one Disney destination to another, taking a cab is your best bet. Taxis are expensive- there’s an extra fee for each city that they enter- but they run frequently, so it doesn’t cost too much.
There are many companies that offer VIP taxiforces where you can get additional perks like refreshments or fast track entry into the parks, which makes sense since these are major tourist destinations!
Some sites list all of the reputable vendors in the area, making it easy to pick who you want to use. Just make sure you do some research and check out reviews before paying more money!
General taxis will take any route needed to get you to your final destination, so factor in time when planning how to get to Epcot. Some may be faster than others, however, so do not worry about being late if this is what matters most to you.
Take a walking tour
Taking a Disney World walking tour is one of the best ways to see the park! There are two main types of tours, thematic or destination oriented. The former includes trips to Jungle Cruise, Spaceship Earth, Living with Technology, and Soarin’ (among others) and can be pretty fun if you love all of these experiences.
The latter typically begin in the Magic Kingdom where guests will take a boat ride through New York City, visit the Statue of Liberty, and then make their way to Walt Disney World. Here, they will spend time at either Animal Kingdoms, Future Worlds, Wonders of Life, Imagination Wands, or Toy Story Lands before ending up at Epcot.
Both are great options but do not feel obligated to buy the ticket package if you do not want it. Many people enjoy just buying the individual tickets instead because it gives you more flexibility in how to use your time at the parks.
Use an app like Lyft or Uber
While Disney does offer free transportation at their parks, it is not readily accessible for most people. The good news is that there are ways to get around without paying extra!
Uber and Lyft have you covered in this area. Both apps allow you to connect with other users to take your destination either as a rider or driver. As a rider, you can choose where you want to go while someone else covers the rest of the trip, giving you money for gas and the ride! You can also do the opposite, being a driver and getting paid per mile traveled and/or person picked up!
Not only will these apps give you some extra spending money, but they are very reliable! People have already vetted both companies’ services, so you know what you’ll be getting. For more tips, check out our article: how to earn fast cash by driving for uber and lyft.
Plan your route ahead of time
The best way to get in and out of Disney is by using the bus system or the monorail, but you will need to know where these transportation routes go before heading into the parks!
If you are traveling during spring break or summer vacation, it may be difficult to coordinate trips that include both buses and the monorail because they do not run constantly throughout the day like the trains do. During those times, the bus system can feel very crowded while the monorail often has long lines as well.
Winter vacations are much better for travel since there are fewer tourists and less crowd stress. However, this means there may not be many ways to reach the other modes of transport unless you are willing to walk or take taxis.
Planning early so people have time to reroute seems our top tip here! If possible, try to schedule at least one night away from tourism around two weeks prior to arrival to ensure you have enough time to connect with the right transportation. This also gives you more time to explore areas outside of the park. For example, if you planned to spend the morning at Animal Kingdom and then head over to Magic Kingdom via boat, you would miss out on some cool attractions at AK!
Another option is to visit just after opening or closing time when crowds are lower.
Use the Disney transportation map
A lot of people underestimate or forget about how easy it is to get from one park to another within The Walt Disney World Resort! There are so many ways to do this, and most require no money at all!
The best way to explore The Magic Kingdom, for example, is by taking the monorail. It costs the same amount as a regular ride-ticket, but you don’t have to pay extra to bring your kids or dogs. You can also use Disney resort hotel cards to hop on the monorail free if you are staying there.
Alternatively, the “Magic Your Way” tickets give you access to either the Water Park Touring Package (WDW water parks) or Transportation and Ticket Service Center (TTC) passes which let you switch between buses and boats to connect different parts of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter or Epcot. These pass options are very cost effective since they are already paid for.
Use Google Maps
While Disney does not publicly offer an online tool to find your best route, or even all of the parks you can visit within a budget, that does not mean there is no way to do it!
There are many free apps and websites that contain information about how to travel around Orlando with cost estimates. By using these sites, you can determine which attractions are close together and which are far apart so you don’t have to spend too much time in transportation.
By looking at past trip notes and pictures, you can get some tips for how to efficiently tour the park area. These notes include things like where they stayed, what rides they visited, and more.
Use public transportation
Since Disney does not offer bus or ferry service to its resorts, getting into the theme parks is mostly dependent on how well you use public transport. Fortunately for us, there are many options!
Many of the best hotels have free shuttle services that take you anywhere in the surrounding area. If this doesn’t exist at your hotel, ask if they have any kind of transit pass that allows you access to the rest of the city.
Some may even let you purchase one from their room store. The bus routes all match up with each other so it isn’t confusing figuring out where to go. All major rail stations are within easy reach of most of the theme parks so staying somewhere close to one will give you lots of options.
If you don’t want to spend money on a taxi ride or buying a park ticket, then find an accessible attraction such as Test Track at California Adventure or Spaceship Earth at Universal Orlando and get some extra value out of your trip.