How to go Disney World park hopping...the right way!
By Brian Miller
There are quite a few ways to jump from park to park at Disney World in Orlando. You can drive, rail, bus, boat, gondola, and yes, even walk from park to park but what is the best way to make your way through Lake Buena Vista?
Pre-Covid it was much easier to take an adventure through Disney World. You could literally hit one park, leave and go to another. Now, for many guests, you have to wait until after 2:00 pm to jump to another park and that can be logistical nightmare or at the very least a planning pain.
Knowing ahead of time is the most important part of park-hopping and if you do it right, you can make the most out of any day regardless of weather, heat, and tired children.
Obviously the biggest question is how to park hop. You could go from Animal Kingdom to any three of the other parks or EPCOT to any three and so on. So here is your simplified rules for park hopping whether your are a first timer or a seasoned veteran looking for an edge.
Park Proximity plays a big role in your Disney World park-hopping plans.
Knowing which parks are closest to each other takes a big part of the stress away and knowing what transportation will get you from point A to point B is the 2nd half of the battle. Don't worry, we will show you the best way to hop shortly but first, here is how the parks are connected.
- Bus - The bus system connects every park to each other. You can board a bus at any park and if you get on the right one, you can be taken to any other park in about 20 minutes from load to unload at the absolute most.
- Monorail - The Monorail connects Magic Kingdom to EPCOT and gives you a wonderful view from above as it whisks you from one park to another...you can even get a sneak peek at the EPCOT construction.
- Gondola - Connects EPCOT to Hollywood Studios - my personal transportation fave.
- Boat - Connects EPCOT to Hollywood Studios - A quick and relaxing river ride between parks that offers shade.
- Walking - The only two parks you can walk between are EPCOT and Hollywood Studios. It should take you about 15-20 minutes tops
- Driving - well, you can drive yourself to any park but you arleady knew that!