There’s a reason it feels like you’re stepping into another world when you enter Magic Kingdom. That park, unlike Disney’s Hollywood Studios, EPCOT, or Disney’s Animal Kingdom, is kind of on its own little island. In fact, you can’t even park your car at Magic Kingdom — you have to take a boat or ride the monorail just to enter the park!
Magic Kingdom
Of course, this is all by design. Walt Disney wanted to transport people to a magical place free of parking lots and traffic lines. Don’t get us wrong — we love the concept, but it does create a few pesky problems. Watch out, people! Whatever you do, do NOT make this disastrous Magic Kingdom mistake on your next trip to Disney World.
This word of warning goes out to all you park hoppers out there. As you may have heard, Disney announced that all-day park hopping is BACK in Disney World, meaning you can go from park to park whenever you want! (After the parks reopened in 2020, Disney had a strict 2PM park hopping rule that prevented guests from visiting a second park until after 2PM.) All that new freedom is pretty exciting to think about — but we’ve got a warning for you to consider, too.
Tower of Terror
Say you plan to start your day at Magic Kingdom, hop to EPCOT in the evening, then pop over to the Jellyrolls bar at Disney’s BoardWalk Resort for a drink. Great plan! You can take the monorail directly to EPCOT from the Transportation and Ticket Center, then walk right out the gates of EPCOT and stroll over to Jellyrolls after the park closes. Easy peasy. But if you parked your car by Magic Kingdom, you’ve got to keep a close eye on the time.
Transportation and Ticket Center Trams
If you’re planning a late night out, be careful not to get stranded without your car! At a certain point, Disney World transportation closes for the night, and once those buses stop running, you might be out of luck. In fact, Disney states that its bus service generally operates from 45 minutes before a theme park’s opening time until one hour after a theme park’s closing time.
Disney Bus Transportation
So, say Magic Kingdom closes at 9PM, but you plan to be out until 11:30PM. You might not be able to take a bus back to Magic Kingdom to get to the Transportation and Ticket Center if Disney World transportation is finished for the night. In this case, you might be stuck paying for a rideshare service just to return to your car.
Jellyrolls
The same advice applies to the other Disney parks. If you park your car at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, for example, then park hop to Magic Kingdom via bus, don’t forget that Animal Kingdom often closes much earlier than the other three parks. That means those Animal Kingdom buses won’t be able to bring you back to your car late at night!
Animal Kingdom typically closes the earliest of the four parks
Of course, the easiest solution is to just drive your car from place to place, but even this advice isn’t 100% foolproof. For example, if you wanted to go from Disney’s Animal Kingdom over to Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort to watch the fireworks, you likely would NOT be able to drive your car from Animal Kingdom to the Grand Floridian. Some Disney World hotels have pretty strict parking rules, so unless you have a dining reservation, you may be turned away.
Grand Floridian Resort
Disney World transportation can be deceiving, so don’t assume you can rely on it 24/7. Make sure to plan ahead so you know exactly where you’re going and how you’re going to get there first thing in the morning. That means checking those park hours bright and early, people. Yes, we know it’s fun to be spontaneous and make your plans on the fly, but sometimes, a lack of planning can come back to haunt you if you’re not careful.
Plan ahead, people!
This advice comes from experience! We’ve been turned away from hotel parking lots, lost track of time, and been (accidentally) ignorant of park hours — all to our own detriment. Don’t be like us! In the meantime, we’re always on the lookout for the latest Disney news, so stay tuned for more.
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