Parking issues in Ft Wilderness

[ritchie56]

I'm planning our August trip and wondered if anyone could give me a tip about parking on a Saturday night.

We have reservations for the Hoop de Do Revue at 5 and I'm wondering if I should park at Ft Wilderness or at the TTC. I figure we will be going over to the Magic Kingdom after the Revue and I absolutey hate that horrible crush of people trying to get on the Monorail after the fireworks. I thought perhaps we should leave the car at FT Wilderness and take the boat over to MK, then afterwards, take the boat and then the Ft Wilderness internal transportation back to the car. Is it easier to get a boat after the fireworks than the monorail? Is the internal Campground transportation very slow? I don't mind waiting if it isn't the mob of people like the monorail can be.

Or would I be better off leaving the car at the TTC to begin with, taking the boat over to the campground and back and just biting the bullet and waiting with the crowd for the monorail after the fireworks?

Any other suggestions? (Yes, we have to drive since we are staying off site in a vacation home. We are AP holders so the cost of parking at one or the other is not an issue. )

Thanks!

 

[CTXRover]

Honestly, I don't know what would be better, but I can tell you about the FW path.

Internal Transportation within Fort Wilderness is very efficient now. They have three different bus "lines": The Orange Line, The Purple Line and The Yellow Line. All three buses will take you from the bus stop at the Marina to the Outpost stop by the parking lot....at any given time...there is usually at least one of these buses at the stops (be careful though....I think the Yellow and Orange line take a shorter route between the two). The problem with the Fort Wilderness route is the boat. Just recently we left the park right after closing/fireworks. It took us 50 minutes from the moment we got in line at the boat dock at MK till we actually got back to FW. The boat stops at the Wilderness Lodge along the way...so the total time on the boat from the MK to FW can last up to 20 minutes. Plus you would then have to walk up to the bus stop (about 5 minutes) and catch a bus. I would imagine it could take up to an hour or more to get back to your car at FW...probably just as long using the TTC path. However, there is no huge mob of people usually at the WL/FW boat dock...it gets busy at park closing...but nowhere near the mobs at the Ferry and monorail.

If you park at the TTC first, from here you can catch a Wilderness Lodge/FW bus that will take you directly to the Settlement Bus stop near the marina....where the Hoop-Dee-Doo is. You could then catch a boat from FW to the MK after the Hoop-Dee Doo.

Pehaps someone could tell us how long/what its like to get back to the Parking lot using the monorail or Ferry after the park lets out. I haven't ever actually parked in the MK parking lot...we usually take Disney transportation to get here...its usually the most convenient way.

If you are staying at a WDW resort...here is my suggestion....take your resort's transportation to MK. Take the boat from the MK back to FW...during the day the docks won't be that busy so you will easily get on the next available boat. Do the Hoop-dee-doo, take the boat from FW back to MK. Spend the night there and then just grab the bus back to your WDW resort.

 

[ritchie56]

Thank you. I think we will try the boats. I don't mind a long boat ride, that will be another attraction for us since it's new and different. I'm thinking the time involved will probably be about the same, but perhaps it will be less hectic.

 

[LadyDarling]

For what it's worth, count me in with CTX's suggestion! We always leave about an hour to get there either way though. The boat is far more relaxing and scenic (and feels like a "ride" rather than a drive).

~J.Darling