Need advice on driving to the Magic Kingdom

[ChuckC]

My daughter, son-law, and two grandsons are coming to the Magic Kingdom next Monday while I am there. After first thinking of having them come to the VWL where I will be staying, I decided that it would be more convenient if they would drive to the TTC, catch a ferry or the monorail to the MK, and I would meet them outside the gate with their tickets. Note my grandsons are of toddler age (3 and 1 1/2 years) and will be using a double stroller, either my daughter's or a rental.

We will tour part of the MK in the AM. Then we will take the boat back to the Lodge. Hopefully, the kids will take a nap in the bedroom (I have a one-bedroom suite) while the adults relax for an hour or two. We will finish touring the Kingdom in the afternoon. I would like to find some place to have supper. If I can get an ADR to the Liberty Tree for their character dinner, I will. If not, then I guess I need a fall-back plan.

Never having driven to WDW, much less the MK, I would like some advice that I could pass on to my daughter.

1) They will be driving from Spring Hill so I imagine they will use I-4. What is the best entrance to use to get to the TTC?

2) Is there a fee to get into the World, separate from the parking fee at the TTC?

3) Once the guys park, how long a walk is there to the ferry or the monorail?
Is there a shuttle from the parking lot to the boat or the monorail?

Thanks for any help. If you have any info that you think is important, please include it in your msg.

[Drince88]

1 - Don't know. I do recall fairly good highway signage (when I'd rent a car - before DME).

2 - No the only fee is for parking

3 - There is a tram that runs through the parking lot to transport people to the Monorail/Ferry area. The length of walk to the tram depends on where they end up in line of parked cars. There is also a walk from where the tram lets them off to the ferry or monorail, and I'd estimate that is probably similar to the walk from the bus stops to the bag check area.

[Mark Goldhaber]

1) They will be driving from Spring Hill so I imagine they will use I-4. What is the best entrance to use to get to the TTC?

• From I-4, take exit 62 toward Celebration/Disney World/Int'l Airport/SR-417 N
• Follow signs for Disney World and merge onto World Drive
• Take World Drive right to the TTC ticket booths

3 - There is a tram that runs through the parking lot to transport people to the Monorail/Ferry area. The length of walk to the tram depends on where they end up in line of parked cars. There is also a walk from where the tram lets them off to the ferry or monorail, and I'd estimate that is probably similar to the walk from the bus stops to the bag check area.

Check out this map. The trams run between those double-lanes on either side of the parking lot. They usually fill the west side lots first, then the east side. The east side lots closest to the tunnel under Seven Seas Drive (the wider white lane crossing the road) are for medical and AAA Diamond parking. The longest possible walk is from the far side of each parking section to the tramway, maybe 600 feet or so.

Once the tram gets to the TTC (the red "E" pin in the map), the walk is somewhat shorter to the monorail or ferry landing, maybe 250 feet to the monorail station, double that to the ferry.

I hope that the visual helps understand the distances

[jengold29]

If you can't get an ADR at the Liberty Tree Tavern, you could try Chef Mickey's in the Contemporary Resort.

It's a buffet with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, etc. and it's a quick monorail ride from the MK to the Contemporary.

[hmsharpe]

The parking/walking experience isn't bad, especially if you bring your own stroller-we brought our double stroller and I will do that again next year, even though our kids are now 4 and 3. The rentals are hard plastic and expensive now, I don't think my kids could snooze in those very well, but in their own you can tip their seat back, our son did that often last year. Plus if you bring your own you have it for the parking lot etc.

[runner110]

As someone who relied exclusively on Disney buses until our last trip a few weeks ago, I was a bit disgusted with the way they get folks back to their vehicles at the TTC. The trams were fine, but the crush of people to board the ferry was downright dangerous for little folks, particularly after Wishes. As with so many things Disney, a huge mass of humanity tries to cram through a few small openings, even though everyone will eventually get on regardless of how hard you push. Keeping a family together and keeping the little ones from being trampled was quite a challenge. Parking was fine everywhere else, but we really, really missed having bus service to the MK.

[danyoung]

Whenever I close out the MK, I do the short walk over to the Contemporary, and get on the monorail from there. It's much safer and quicker than lining up with the hordes!