Transportation Options at Disney’s Beach Club (What You Need to Know)

This review covers our experience with the transportation options to and from Disney’s Beach Club Resort.

Often, I’ve found myself waiting for a bus at Disney’s Beach Club. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen other guests sitting there waiting too. Only, they are waiting for a bus that’s not coming.

One morning, I was at the bus stop bright and early. A large family who were in a hurry to get to breakfast at Akershus arrived. They began asking if anyone knew how to get to Akershus once they got to the park.

As much as I hate to get into people’s business, I believe it’s wrong not to do the right thing when you know better. So I intervened and explained that they first needed to exit the bus stop and walk back to the resort. Then I continued on with the rest of the directions.

The saying, “If you don’t know, you don’t know,” has become a common stance in my life.

I think we can all agree that there are many things that many of us don’t know. However, I know a lot about getting around Disney’s Beach Club from practice.

Therefore, I thought we would go over the basics for using the transportation options at Disney’s Beach Club. Hopefully, these tips will help you efficiently navigate your way around the area.

Transportation Options Available at Disney’s Beach Club

When staying at Disney’s Beach Club, you’ll want to know the best transportation modes to get to and from the resort. Here are a few of the routes we’ll look at below:

How to get from the Beach Club to Epcot
Traveling from the Beach Club to Hollywood Studios
The Best Way to get from Disney’s Beach Club to Magic Kingdom
How to get to Disney’s Animal Kingdom from the Beach Club
Getting to Disney Springs from the Beach Club

Additionally, I’ll share a few tips for traveling from the Beach Club to other popular destinations. Some of those destinations include the water parks, Disney’s Boardwalk, and resorts in the Magic Kingdom area.

Beach Club Transportation Options to Epcot

Location is one of the primary reasons guests stay at Disney’s Beach Club. It takes approximately five minutes to walk between the resort and Epcot.

Of course, that walk depends on how fast or slow you walk and which exit you use when leaving the resort. But most will come and go through the resort’s back entrance.

You’ll exit the Beach Club and walk out to the pathway along Crescent Lake. Then, you’ll take a left and walk straight to Epcot’s International Gateway, the back entrance to Epcot.

Typically, it’s easier to enter the park at the International Gateway than at the front entrance. However, it is crowded here at certain times, especially at rope drop first thing in the morning.

Guests who use this secondary entrance are visiting from the surrounding Epcot Resorts and Skyliner Resorts. Meanwhile, guests of the other Walt Disney World Resorts and off-property guests use the front entrance of Epcot.

Therefore, there is a significant difference in crowds between the two entrances. For reference, Epcot is the only park with multiple entrances.

If you prefer not to walk to Epcot, you can take Disney’s Friendship Boat service from the Yacht Club’s dock to Epcot. However, this route is significantly longer and requires an additional stop.

When you exit the Beach Club, you’ll take a right on the walkway and head to the lighthouse in the distance. I haven’t timed it exactly, but there isn’t much difference between walking to the boat dock versus walking to Epcot.

Once you reach the lighthouse, you’ll board the boat on the left-hand side of the dock. This boat then travels across the lake to Disney’s Boardwalk, where it will load and unload before moving on to Epcot.

Beach Club Transportation to Hollywood Studios

Not only can you walk to Epcot when you stay at Disney’s Beach Club, but you can also walk to Hollywood Studios. However, the walk is considerably longer to Hollywood Studios.

It takes approximately 17 minutes to walk from Disney’s Beach Club to Hollywood Studios at an average pace. When you leave Beach Club, you’ll take a right on the pathway along Crescent Lake.

Then you’ll head toward Disney’s Swan and Dolphin. At the bridge, you’ll stay on the path toward Hollywood Studios. We have a separate article detailing walking between the two parks if you want to learn more.

Walking is one of the nicest ways to decompress after leaving the parks. Or you can always stretch your legs in preparation for the day first thing in the morning.

However, given the long walk, most guests prefer to take the Friendship Boats to Hollywood Studios. Even I take them from time to time when it’s miserably hot.

So when you leave Beach Club, you’ll walk to the boat dock at the lighthouse. Those going to Hollywood Studios will board on the right-hand side of the dock.

After boarding, you’ll stop at Disney’s Swan and Dolphin before heading to Hollywood Studios. While the boat ride to Hollywood Studios is usually quicker than walking, waiting for the next boat to arrive can take time. Additionally, you’ll have to make that extra hotel stop on the way.

Transportation from Beach Club to Magic Kingdom

When heading to Magic Kingdom from Disney’s Beach Club, you’ll walk out of the resort’s front entrance. From there, you’ll stay to the left and enter this covered walkway, which leads to the bus stop at Disney’s Beach Club.

Signage is available that indicates where the buses travel. You might also note that the sign mentions you’ll need to take boats or use the walkways to Epcot and Hollywood Studios.

I took a bus from Disney’s Beach Club to Magic Kingdom on a recent visit. Per my notes, I boarded the bus at 3:46 p.m. and exited the bus at 4:01 p.m. at Magic Kingdom.

Per my notes, I arrived at the bus stop at 3:17 p.m. So, overall it took 46 minutes because I had waited nearly 30 minutes for a bus to Magic Kingdom.

Unfortunately, that’s what you call bus luck. Sometimes you might stay somewhere and happen upon a bus every time you go to leave.

Other times, you might feel like you’re waiting forever for a bus when you go to leave. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason with the consistency.

Disney’s Beach Club to Disney’s Animal Kingdom

You’ll also catch a bus from Disney’s Beach Club to the theme park when visiting Disney’s Animal Kingdom. It takes approximately 10 minutes to travel between the resort and the theme park.

Transportation from Beach Club to Disney Springs

Since Disney’s Beach Club is near Disney Springs, it usually doesn’t take long to travel between them. However, sometimes these buses stop at the other Epcot Resort along the way.

For instance, one afternoon, I boarded the bus to Disney Springs from the Beach Club at 5:19 p.m. Then we stopped at Disney’s Boardwalk Inn on the way to Disney Springs.

We arrived at Disney Springs at 5:36 p.m. Overall, it took 17 minutes to get from Disney’s Beach Club to Disney Springs.

Mention: During slower times, it is not uncommon for the Yacht Club, Beach Club, or Boardwalk Inn to share buses. While this doesn’t always happen, I’ve experienced these extra stops often over the years.

More Transportation Tips for Disney’s Beach Club

One of the things we’ve yet to discuss is how to get to Disney’s Water Parks from the Beach Club Resort. Most of the time, you’ll have to take a bus from the resort to another location, then transfer to another bus to get to the water park.

For Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon, you’ll take a bus to Disney Springs. From there, you’ll board a bus that travels across the street to the water park.

You’ll take a bus to Disney’s Animal Kingdom for Blizzard Beach. There you’ll board another bus that travels directly to Blizzard Beach.

In my opinion, it’s fairly easy to get to the water parks. However, by the end of the day, it feels like a hassle to return to the resort.

We almost always drive our car to the water park so we can come and go at our leisure. You might consider taking the bus on your way and ordering a Minnie Van or a car service on the way back.

I mention this because you’ll get off at the drop-off stop when you return to Disney Springs. Then you’ll have to walk out to the pick-up area and find the return bus to Beach Club.

I don’t know about you, but I carry more to the water parks than to the regular parks. So I hate to tote all my belongings, including wet swimsuits, back to the bus stop.

Make sure to bring a pair of dry clothes to change into after you leave. When you return to the resort, you do not want to be in damp clothes on a freezing cold bus full of people leaving Disney Springs.

Those staying at Disney’s Beach Club will likely visit Disney’s Boardwalk at least once during their vacation. You’ll have two options for getting over to the Boardwalk.

First, you can walk. It takes about 10 minutes at a leisurely pace. Or you can take the Friendship Boat (on the Epcot side) over and exit at the Boardwalk. This will only take a few minutes, plus however long you have to wait for the boat.

Additionally, most guests will want to visit one of the monorail resorts for dining or touring. There are several ways you can make this route work.

Personally, I would take a bus from Disney’s Beach Club to Magic Kingdom. From there, you will have to walk through security at Magic Kingdom. Then you can walk, boat, or monorail to the following resorts:

Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort (walk, boat, monorail)
Disney’s Polynesian Resort (boat, monorail, technically can walk via the Grand Floridian)
Disney’s Contemporary Resort (walk or monorail)
Disney’s Wilderness Lodge (boat)

However, for an alternative, you can walk or boat to Hollywood Studios from the Beach Club. After you get to Hollywood Studios, you can catch a bus to any of the Magic Kingdom Resorts.

Using the Skyliner When Staying at Disney’s Beach Club

Lastly, I wanted to share a few tips for using the Skyliner during your stay at Disney’s Beach Club. Skyliner stations are available at Epcot’s International Gateway and Hollywood Studios.

For example, if you want to take the Skyliner to Hollywood Studios, you can do so. However, it won’t be any quicker than the Friendship Boats. This is something you would do more for leisure than convenience.

The Skyliner travels in this direction:

Epcot’s International Gateway (Sits outside the park entrance.)
Disney’s Riviera Resort (You are not required to exit here.)
Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort (Everyone must exit here.)
Join a line to Pop Century/Art of Animation or Hollywood Studios

All guests must exit at Hollywood Studios. From there, you can turn around and travel back in the opposite direction if desired.

Final Thoughts on Transportation at Disney’s Beach Club

Hopefully, this article provided a few tips for using transportation on your Walt Disney World vacation. Understandably, Disney is a large place.

While it isn’t necessarily difficult to get around the property, it is often frustrating not to know the best way to do it. And when you stay somewhere as convenient as Disney’s Beach Club, you certainly want to know how to take advantage of the prime location.

For more information about the resort, we have a guide that lists all of our articles:

Disney’s Beach Club Resort

Additionally, you might enjoy these other articles:

View all of our Disney Hotel Transportation Guides.

In the comments:

What are your thoughts on the transportation options available at Disney’s Beach Club? Do you have a favorite way you like to get around this area? Do you have any questions this article didn’t answer about getting to and from the Beach Club?

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