Walt Disney World Transportation - Boats
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The Ferryboats
The ferryboats run from the Magic Kingdom parking lot to the Magic Kingdom.
There are 3 ferryboats which are called "Richard Irvine" (originally "Magic Kingdom 1"), "Admiral Joe Fowler" (originally "Magic Kingdom 2"), and "General Joe Potter" (originally "Kingdom Queen")
The lines do back up from time to time, but they hold 600 passengers and during opening and closing times, all 3 boats are running, which translates into moving about 1800 people every 20 minutes. The time to pick the monorail over the ferryboat would be from about noon-3pm (approximately). That is when there is only one boat running and the wait can be up to 20 min for the boat to return if it has just left. Strollers and wheelchairs roll right onto the boat. It is recommended that regular wheelchairs with low foot pads go down in reverse and up in forward, but slowly.
It usually runs ½ hour before MK opens and will pick-up from Magic Kingdom until 45 minutes after park closes.
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The Resort Launches
There are three launches that run from Magic Kingdom to the different Resorts. The different colour routes relate to the colour of the flag on the bow of the boat.
The 3 different routes are –
- Gold - services the Grand Floridian and Polynesian. The route goes in a counter clockwise direction. Starting from MK, the route goes MK, GF, POLY and returns to MK. This route runs with park hours and starts 1/2 hour before the park opens and until about an hour after it closes. (1/2 before surprise mornings as well). The wait to get a boat is usually no more than 10 min. An entire cycle is about 20 min. This service operates ½ hour before MK opens until 45 minutes after park closes.
- Blue - this is the route that runs on Bay Lake. The route services Contemporary, Wilderness Lodge and Ft Wilderness. Usually two boats on this route unless there are boat problems and one goes clockwise and the other goes counter clockwise. A complete cycle takes about 20 min, but with the boats going both directions, unless they both just pulled away from your dock, you won't have more than a 10 min wait. The Blue service operates between 7:30pm to 10pm.
- Green - This is a combined route for the Wilderness Lodge and Ft Wilderness to and from MK. There are 3 motor cruisers (capacity 120) on this route. . This operates ½ hour before MK opens; pick-up from MK until 45 minutes after park closes.
When leaving the Magic Kingdom from the turnstiles, when you look at the water, you have the GOLD dock (GF/Poly) on the far right (at the foot of the monorail station). The GREEN dock is the middle one (has a two-tiered canopy and sticks out into the water and is often mistook to be the ferryboat dock to the parking lot) The ferryboat dock is the one at the far left towards the Disney buses to the resorts. There is no BLUE dock at MK as that route does not leave Bay Lake.
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Friendship Launches
The Friendship launches are available to take guests to Epcot and Disney's Hollywood Studios. Boats leave the dock every 20 minutes and travel to Disney's Yacht & Beach Club, the Boardwalk and the Swan and Dolphin to pick up guests. The service operates from 8:30am to 1 hour after park closing.
There are also Friendship boats on World Showcase Lagoon in Epcot. There are two separate boats, with one running between Canada and Morocco and the other one between Mexico and Germany.
The Port Orleans Riverside and French Quarter Boat to Downtown Disney
This provides transportation to Downtown Disney from Port Orleans Riverside and Port Orleans French Quarter. The maximum capacity on all these ferries is 34 passengers.
A ferry runs between Disney’s Old Key West Resort, Downtown Disney Marketplace and Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa. This service operates between 12pm to 9:40pm.
