Disney Springs Transportation Guide (Buses, Ride Share, Boats, and Parking Info)

This transportation guide discusses everything you need to know about getting to and from Disney Springs. At some point during your Disney World vacation, you’ll likely want to visit the venue. Whether it’s to shop, explore, or grab a bite to eat, the venue is often one of those places you check off your list. Even better, you don’t have to pay admission to visit Disney Springs.

Below, we’ll discuss transportation options at Disney Springs, including buses, water taxis, and walking, where applicable. We’ll also review details on complimentary parking and rideshare. If you haven’t visited Disney Springs in the last decade, you might be surprised by how much the place has grown. It’s so large that you’ll want to know where you’re going before arriving, especially if you have a dining reservation or are visiting a specific destination within the venue.

How to Get to Disney Springs

Depending on your departure point, you’ll have several options for traveling to Disney Springs. Complimentary transportation options to Disney Springs from Disney World’s Resorts include:

• Disney Buses
• Water Taxis
• Walking Paths

When applicable, you might consider driving your car to the venue. For those who plan to shop, it’s nice to be able to store packages in your vehicle instead of carrying them all day.

Complimentary bus transportation is provided to Disney Springs from Disney’s Resort Hotels. However, some resorts near Disney Springs provide additional transportation to the venue. We’ll look at these options in more detail below. It’s important to note that ALL Disney-owned and operated hotels provide bus transportation to and from Disney Springs.

Disney Springs Bus Schedule

Buses begin running from the resort hotels approximately 30 minutes (usually anywhere from 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.) before Disney Springs opens. Bus service continues up to an hour after the venue closes. Disney does an excellent job of ensuring that their resort hotel guests get back to their hotel at the end of the evening.

Disney Springs Bus Transportation

Guests traveling to Disney Springs via Disney buses are dropped off at the Town Center bus loop. Town Center is conveniently located at the center of Disney Springs.

Buses do not run from the theme parks to Disney Springs. Additionally, buses do not run from Disney Springs to any theme parks.

Update: If you’re visiting Disney Springs and are not a guest of a Disney Resort Hotel, you cannot use the bus or boat service to travel to a resort. Here is the official announcement from Walt Disney World:

Starting June 28th, Walt Disney World transportation service from Disney Springs to Disney Resort Hotels is available for guests staying at a Disney Resort Hotel or visiting one with a valid dining or experience reservation.

Once you arrive at Disney Springs, you’ll have to walk through a security screening area. Disney added a security screening area to the resort hotel bus stop at Town Center a few years ago.

A Note to Guests Staying in the Disney Springs Resort Area

If you’re staying at Old Key West, Saratoga Springs, Port Orleans Riverside, or Port Orleans French Quarter, you might get to the bus stop (at your resort) and see that the wait times sign says “use watercraft” for Disney Springs. You can use the boat service. However, the bus still runs from the resort to Disney Springs. Unfortunately, the signage doesn’t always display the wait time. We visit these resorts often and have seen numerous guests get confused and leave to find the boat. While we enjoy taking the boats, we have found that the bus is often more efficient.

For example, if you’re staying in the Carrousel section of Saratoga Springs, you might prefer to take the bus to Disney Springs. This will be a much quicker (and shorter) option than walking or taking a boat to Disney Springs. Below is a photo of the bus stop at Disney Springs.

Rideshare to Disney Springs

Those traveling to Disney Springs via a car service (i.e., Lyft, Uber, Minnie Vans) are dropped off and picked up at the old Marketplace bus loop. This area is called Disney Springs East. An additional rideshare location is available on the West Side (Disney Springs West) near the Watermelon surface parking lot and Cirque de Soleil.

Disney Springs Parking

As mentioned above, free parking is available at Disney Springs. Several garages and lots surround the venue:

• Lime
• Orange
• Grapefruit

Disney Springs Lime Garage is at the Town Center and exits near The Polite Pig restaurant. Disney fans argue that Lime is the better of the two garages because of its central location. This garage is often the first to fill up on a busy day.

For those who like to keep things low-key, we much prefer to park in the Orange Garage. The Orange garage is located on the West Side of Disney Springs. This parking garage has an exit near the Coca-Cola Store. A few nearby restaurants include Jaleo, Wolfgang Puck, and Chicken Guy!

Grapefruit’s garage is across the street from the venue and offers a pedestrian bridge. Surface parking lots (Strawberry and Watermelon) are located toward the back of Disney Springs.

*Parking for guests with disabilities (permit required) is available in the garages and surface lots. Those who need to rent an ECV, wheelchair, or stroller can do so at Sundries, which is near the bus loop at Town Center. See Disney Springs Guest Services for more details.

Unfortunately, valet parking has been discontinued at Disney Springs.

Water Taxis to Disney Springs

Select resorts offer water taxi service to Disney Springs. Those resorts are as follows:

• Treehouse Villas at Saratoga Springs
• Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa
• Disney’s Old Key West Resort
• Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside Resort
• Disney’s Port Orleans French Quarter

*You must be a resort hotel guest to use the water taxis or have a valid dining or recreation experience reservation. This change was implemented in 2026.

All water taxis coming to and from the resorts drop off at the Marketplace boat dock. Unfortunately, the water taxi service that formerly served the West Side and Landing closed a few years ago. So, the Marketplace boat dock is the only working dock at Disney Springs.

Walking to Disney Springs

Guests visiting Disney Springs from Saratoga Springs can walk back and forth to the venue. The main walkway from Saratoga Springs to Disney Springs is near the Congress Park section of Saratoga Springs. It’s a beautiful walk along the water with views of Disney Springs. This walkway will get you to the Marketplace section of Disney Springs. When you reach the end of the walkway, you’ll cross the bridge where the boat dock sits. From there, you will go through a security checkpoint before entering the venue.

An additional walking path is available on the West Side of Disney Springs. This path cuts across the golf course and ends up at the Springs boat dock at Saratoga Springs. You can take another walking path from this end of Disney Springs to Old Key West. However, we would not usually recommend walking to Old Key West from Disney Springs. It’s a remote path that takes approximately 30 minutes at an average pace.

Additionally, guests of non-Disney hotels near Disney Springs can use one of the raised pedestrian bridges to access Disney Springs. These footbridges are on the opposite side of Disney Springs, close to Lake Buena Vista Drive.

Disney Springs Transportation Tips

Before we wrap things up, I wanted to share a few tips for using various transportation options to get to Disney Springs. Anyone visiting Disney Springs can use Disney transportation even if they are not staying on the property.

• There is no cost to visit Disney Springs
• Parking is free at Disney Springs.
• All Walt Disney World Resorts provide bus transportation to and from Disney Springs.
• You must be a Disney Resort Hotel guest to access Disney’s bus or boat service at Disney Springs. (Or have a valid dining or recreation experience reservation.)
• Guests staying at Saratoga Springs have the luxury of walking, taking a bus, or boating to Disney Springs.
• Guests staying at Port Orleans Riverside, French Quarter, Old Key West, and the Treehouse Villas can take a boat or bus to Disney Springs.
• Water taxis provide transportation to the Marketplace dock at Disney Springs.
• Buses do not run from Disney Springs to the theme parks or vice versa.

Here are a few ways you can use transportation to get to Disney Springs after leaving a theme park. Again, in these instances, you’ll need to be a hotel guest in order to return to your hotel when you leave Disney Springs.

From Magic Kingdom to Disney Springs:

• Walk to Disney’s Contemporary Resort and take a bus to Disney Springs.
• Take the resort monorail to the Contemporary, Polynesian, or Grand Floridian and take a bus to Disney Springs.
• Take a bus from the Magic Kingdom to any resort. Then, stay at that bus stop until the next bus to Disney Springs arrives. (Some resorts will be out of the way distance-wise.)
• Take the bus from the Magic Kingdom to Saratoga Springs Resort, exit at the “Congress Park” bus stop, and take the walkway to Disney Springs.

From Disney’s Animal Kingdom to Disney Springs:

• Take a bus to Animal Kingdom Lodge (the closest resort to Animal Kingdom). Then, board a bus to Disney Springs.
• Take the Saratoga Springs Resort bus from Animal Kingdom, exit at the “Congress Park” bus stop, and take the walkway to Disney Springs.
• Catch any bus from Animal Kingdom to a resort. Then, stay at that bus stop and take the next bus to Disney Springs. (Keep in mind some resorts will be out of the way.)

From Disney’s Hollywood Studios to Disney Springs:

• Walk or take a Disney Friendship Boat to the Boardwalk, Beach Club, or Yacht Club. Then, take a bus to Disney Springs.
• Take the Saratoga Springs Resort bus from Hollywood Studios, exit at the “Congress Park” bus stop, and take the walkway to Disney Springs.
• Catch any bus from Disney’s Hollywood Studios to a resort. Then, stay at that bus stop and take a bus to Disney Springs. (Use this tip with discretion. Some resorts will be out of the way.)
• Take the Disney Skyliner to any available resort. Then, head to that resort’s bus stop and take a bus to Disney Springs.

From Epcot to Disney Springs: 

• Walk or boat to Disney’s Boardwalk, Beach Club, or Yacht Club. Then, take a bus from the resort to Disney Springs. This can be done by exiting at Epcot’s International Gateway. The International Gateway exit is between the United Kingdom and France Pavilions.
• Use the Disney Skyliner at Epcot’s International Gateway to visit a Disney Resort. Head to the bus stop at that resort and take a bus to Disney Springs.
• Take the Saratoga Springs Resort bus from Epcot and get off at the “Congress Park” bus stop. Then, take the walkway to Disney Springs.
• Catch any bus from Epcot to a resort, stay at that bus stop, and take a bus to Disney Springs. (Some resorts will be further travel distances using this tip.)

When leaving a theme park, we almost always take a bus to Saratoga Springs and then walk to Disney Springs. Taking this route eliminates the possibility of waiting for an additional transfer bus.

Below is a picture of the Congress Park bus stop at Disney’s Saratoga Springs. This is where you’ll disembark if you elect to take this route. Saratoga Springs is a massive resort with several bus stops. When they finally call Congress Park over the speaker system, you might worry about finding your way to Disney Springs.

Fear not. The walkway is directly across from the bus stop. An arrow-shaped sign indicates that it leads to Disney Springs.

Within a few moments, you’ll see this view of Disney Springs.

Here are a few other considerations:

• If you’re visiting Disney Springs from off-site, you cannot use transportation options at Disney Springs to access resorts unless you’re staying there or have a dining reservation. This restriction was put in place in 2026.
• Disney’s Swan and Dolphin and Swan Reserve use private bus transportation. Guests of these resorts are dropped off at the West Side of Disney Springs.
• If you would like to ride the water taxis, you can take a bus from any theme park to Port Orleans Riverside, French Quarter, or Old Key West. Then, take a boat from those resorts to Disney Springs. (You must be a Disney Resort hotel guest to do this.)

All of these travel tips can work great when transportation runs smoothly. However, some of these scenarios might take longer than expected. My best advice is to be aware that terrible timing or unforeseen issues could lengthen travel times.

Final Thoughts

We hope this transportation guide for Disney Springs helped you figure out the best way to travel back and forth to the venue. When it comes to Disney, the journey to the destination is often fun, especially when visiting new places along the way.

If you must be at Disney Springs at a specific time, you want to allow at least an hour of travel time. Also, consider how far you’ll have to walk once you arrive. As far as dining reservations, you might enjoy our guide to the best restaurants at Disney Springs. It includes our favorite places to eat and what we’ve enjoyed at them. You might also like to browse our beginner’s guide to Disney Transportation for a complete overview of how to get around Walt Disney World.

In the Comments

Let us know your thoughts, comments, or experiences with transportation options at Disney Springs in the comments below.