Temporary Boat Service Suspension Announced for Disney’s Wilderness Lodge (April through Early May)

Walt Disney World has announced a temporary suspension of the boat transportation service offered at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge between mid-April and early May. Work on the dock is expected to continue through July. As you may recall, this is the second time the dock has closed for refurbishment this year. The first closure was back in January. During this time, guests will need to use alternate transportation options to travel between the resort and Magic Kingdom. Here is the official wording from the announcement:

From April 13 through late July 2026, the boat dock at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge will undergo routine maintenance. The dock will be closed and boat transportation temporarily suspended from April 13 to May 1.

Walt Disney World

a boat traveling toward the dock of the Wilderness Lodge

Disney’s Wilderness Lodge offers both boat and bus transportation to the Magic Kingdom during regular park hours. Additionally, the resort offers a boat service to the neighboring Contemporary and Fort Wilderness Resorts between 3:00 p.m. and 10:45 p.m. each evening.

Here are a few tips that you might use if you’re visiting during the temporary boat suspension:

Take the Wilderness Lodge’s bus service to and from the Magic Kingdom. This bus service is often shared with Fort Wilderness. It takes guests from the Magic Kingdom to the Wilderness Lodge, then to Fort Wilderness. See our Wilderness Lodge Bus Schedule Guide for more details.
Take a bus from the Wilderness Lodge directly to Fort Wilderness. (Signage at the bus stop indicates this route. It runs for the majority of the day and drops guests off at The Settlement at Fort Wilderness.)
To get to Disney’s Contemporary from the Wilderness Lodge, we usually hop on one of the following buses: Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, or Disney Springs. The two resorts share bus service, and the bus usually stops at the Contemporary on the way to these venues after leaving the Wilderness Lodge. Our best tip is always to ask the bus driver if they are stopping at the Contemporary. Update: This option is no longer offered because the Contemporary now shares a bus service with the Polynesian.

If you would like to learn more about water transportation, see our overview of the boat services at Disney World. For more on what’s going on at the resort hotels, see our list of Disney Hotel Refurbishments. You might also like our entire guide on how transportation works at the Wilderness Lodge. Or if you’re just getting started, our beginner’s guide to transportation at Disney World is an excellent resource.

In the Comments

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