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Walking at Walt Disney World

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Walking at Walt Disney World is a topic that I’m going to go the distance to discuss in this post!

See what I did there?

Seriously though, there is a lot to discus about walking at the Walt Disney World Resort. From walking around the theme parks (which can put easily put 9 to 10 miles daily on your feet) to walking around the Disney Resort Areas, and even walking between the resorts and the parks so let’s get right into it.

Fitness Preparation

You may be an avid runner, You may have just scored an excellent on your military fitness test, but that in no way assures you’re in prefect shape for the 10 to 14-hour days of being mostly on your feet on a Disney World vacation.

In the months prior to your vacation add in lots of walking (several, hour-long plus walks a week), strengthening your core, and keeping your back and legs loose with stretching or yoga. Long days of walking many miles (6 to 10 miles of walking per day) in the parks and lots of standing can wear on your lower half!

Military Disney Tips Our Return to Walt Disney World

Shoes

I’ve seen all kinds of footwear at Disney! Everything from flip-flops to huge wedge heels or stilettos. Just don’t!

Because of the amount of time you will be spending on your feet (6 to 9 miles a day) you want good, broken in, comfortable, supportive shoes. Get new shoes, a pair of running, walking, or cross-fit shoes about a month before your trip. You do not want to be breaking them in at WDW! The newer gel or memory foam models are especially good.

See these related posts:

Walking Around Disney World’s Theme Parks

Empty Hollywood Boulevard

As I mentioned, you can put a lot of miles on your feet while walking around Walt Disney World’s theme parks!

Here are some trivia statistics on theme park sizes and the volume of walking walkways:

Walt Disney World Parks Ranked by Size

  1. Disney’s Animal Kingdom – 540 Acres
  2. EPCOT – 300 Acres
  3. Disney’s Hollywood Studios – 135 Acres
  4. Magic Kingdom – 107 Acres

Note: lots of the Animal Kingdom’s size  (almost half) is wide open nature areas for the animals to roam in (the Kilimanjaro Safari and other areas) and is not walkable by guests.

Walt Disney World Parks Ranked by Miles of Walkways

  1. EPCOT – 4.85 Miles
  2. Disney’s Animal Kingdom – 2.88 Miles
  3. Magic Kingdom – 2.71 Miles
  4. Disney’s Hollywood Studios – 1.68 Miles

Walking Distances computed with Google Earth measurements.

Disney World’s Parks size compared: Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom (above the red line is not walkable)

Now let’s get into the individual theme parks.

Magic Kingdom

Disney Armed Forces Salute for Civilians

Disney Worlds smallest park by area comes in number 3 for the amount of walking paths. Even though it is smallest you can still rack the miles up here, especially if you keep crossing back and forth across the park to get to your Lightning Lane reservations for attractions.

It is possible to walk right up the middle of Main Street U.S.A. then circle through all of the other lands and wind up right back at Main Street.

See these related posts:

EPCOT

EPCOT's Main Entrance from the EPCOT Monorail Station

EPCOT is Disney World’s theme park at which you will do the most walking!

For example, it is roughly 0.85 miles from the front entrance of EPCOT to the rear of the park.

And it is 1.3 miles to walk around EPCOT’s World Showcase Lagoon just by itself. That’s almost a many miles of walkways as the Magic Kingdom has in total.

When trying to design EPCOT, Disney’s Imagineers had two separate competing concepts. They were unable to decide which concept to go with and eventually decided to go with both. So Epcot is actually the two different park concepts smushed next to each other into one park, that’s why it’s so darn large.

Fortunately EPCOT offers the Friendships, free water taxis from the front of the World Showcase to the rear. Taking these boats will knock 0.35 miles off of your trek to the rear of the park.

See these related posts:

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Disney's Hollywood Studios

Disney’s Hollywood Studios is the theme park with the worst layout. Some walking routes go out in all directions and dead end. This is gotten better since the addition of Star Wars Land and Toy Story Land which now meet in the rear of the park allowing you to circle back around. Previously there were dead ends in these directions causing you to crisscross the park continuously to get where you need to go.

At all of the other parks you enter through a main pathway and then can circle around through all the lands winding back up where you started.

See these related posts:

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Park Hopping Returns to Walt Disney World!

As we mentioned earlier Disney’s Animal Kingdom park is the largest of all of them. But not all of the area in the park is walkable a sizable portion of the park is taken up by the Kilimanjaro Safari.

This theme park is the second largest in terms of walking paths, so you’ll also put a lot of miles on your feet here.

The Animal Kingdom also has a typical Disney theme park layout. You’ll enter through The Oasis and then be able to circle around through all of the other lands winding up back at The Oasis.

See these related posts:

Walking to Walt Disney World’s Theme Parks from the Resorts

While Walt Disney World has a great transportation system that includes buses (with many bus stops), boats, a monorail system, and the new Disney Skyliner gondola system, it is possible to walk to the some of the theme parks from your Disney resort if you desire.

Magic Kingdom

It is possible to walk to the Magic Kingdom from all of the Disney monorail resorts around the Seven Seas Lagoon.

Distances:

  • Contemporary – Magic Kingdom – 0.48 miles
  • Magic Kingdom – Grand Floridian – 0.75 miles
  • Grand Floridian – Polynesian – 0.65 miles
  • Polynesian – Transportation and Ticket Center – 0.33 miles

Links to posts about these walks are just below.

Alternates to walking: Of course there are other ways to get to the Magic Kingdom, those being the Monorail and boat service.

The Paths

I’ve personally used all of these Magic Kingdom walking paths and have some great posts with lots of pictures and maps so you know just what to expect.

EPCOT

All of the EPCOT Deluxe Resorts are located within easy walking distance of EPCOT’s International Gateway entrance. Here are the walking distanced from the lobby to the International Gateway.

  • Beach Club – EPCOT – 0.27 miles
  • Yacht Club – EPCOT – 0.36 miles
  • BoardWalk – EPCOT – 0.40 miles
  • Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel – EPCOT – 0.67 miles
  • Walt Disney World Swan Hotel – EPCOT – 0.72 miles

Alternate to walking: Of course there are other ways to get to EPCOT, that being the boat service.

Hollywood Studios

All of the EPCOT Deluxe Resorts are located within easy walking distance of EPCOT’s International Gateway entrance. Here are the walking distanced from the lobby to the International Gateway.

  • Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel – EPCOT – 0.94 miles
  • BoardWalk – EPCOT – 0.96 miles
  • Walt Disney World Swan Hotel – EPCOT – 1.00 mile
  • Yacht Club – EPCOT – 1.06 miles
  • Beach Club – EPCOT – 1.15 miles

Alternate to walking: Of course there is another way to get to EPCOT, that being the boat service.

The Paths

I’ve personally used this Hollywood Studios walking path and have a great post with lots of pictures and a map so you know just what to expect.

Animal Kingdom

Unfortunately, there are no walking paths at all to Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The only way to get here via Disney mass transportation is by bus.

The Paths

I’ve personally used some of the above walking paths to the theme parks, and have some great posts with lots of pictures and maps so you know just what to expect. I’ll keep adding to the list!

Walking to and Around Other Disney Entertainment

Walt Disney World offers all kinds of entertainment options besides the theme parks!

Here are some of these options that either provide a lot of walking or that you can walk to:

  • Disney Springs
  • Disney Golf
  • Miniature Golf

Disney Springs

Walt Disney World's Disney Springs

While not a theme park, Disney Springs is as big as one and you can sure do a lot of walking there.

Disney Springs is laid out stretching along the southern shore of Lake Buena Vista, and it can be quite be a hike from one end to the other. Taking the shortest possible route from one end of Disney Springs to the other it is 0.70 miles, taking the longest route from one end to the other is about a 0.85 mile walk.

Disney Springs has all kinds of pathways with lots of nooks and crannies which all can add quite a bit of steps to your day.

See these related posts:

Disney’s Golf Courses

We all know that golf provides a great opportunity to walk! However Disney’s 18-hole golf courses (Disney’s Magnolia Golf Course, Disney’s Palm Golf Course, Disney’s Lake Buena Vista Golf Course) require you to use a rented golf cart. If you do want to walk, Disney’s Oak Trail Golf Curse, a 9-hole course requires walking (golf carts are not allowed) and has pull carts available to rent. They also offer a FootGolf Course at Oak Trail.

FootGolf – Walt Disney World Golf operated by Arnold Palmer Golf Management is proud to offer the game of FootGolf to guests at Disney’s Oak Trail Golf Course. The 9-hole FootGolf course is certified by the American FootGolf League (AFGL), the governing body for the sport of FootGolf in the United States. Anyone can play as it requires minimal prior experience other than your ability to kick a soccer ball. It is a great way to get some fresh air and exercise, enjoy time together with colleagues or loved ones, and have some fun and friendly competition at the same time!

Walk to Disney’s Golf Courses

It is possible to walk to Disney’s Palm Magnolia, and Oak Trail Golf Courses from the Shades of Green Resort. The Clubhouse for all 3 courses is just next door across the Course parking lot which is just to the side of Shades of Green. It is a short 735 foot walk from the lobby to the clubhouse.

Disney’s Lake Buena Vista Golf Course is next to and surrounds Disney’s Saratoga Springs & Spa and Old Key West Resorts! The clubhouse is actually part of Saratoga Springs’ Grandstand section.

Walking Distances from Saratoga Springs Locations:

  • The Grandstand – 0 to 0.18 miles (935 feet)
  • The Springs – 0.25 to 0.35 miles
  • The Resort Lobby at the Springs – 0.15 miles
  • The Paddock – 0.31 to 0.56 miles
  • The Carousel – 0.40 to 0.48 miles
  • Congress Park – 0.44 to 0.56 miles

Saratoga Springs does have an internal bus loop. The clubhouse is 0.11 miles from the Grandstand Bus Stop.

Walking to the Lake Buena Vista Golf Course Clubhouse is another story. The closest Old Key West room is 0.81 miles from the clubhouse, much of tha walking is on the golf cart path along fairways. The furthest room is roughly 1.75 miles to the clubhouse.

Ride to Disney’s Golf Courses

If you don’t feel like walking to Disney’s courses keep in mind that one of the great benefits of staying at a Walt Disney World Resort owned and operated hotel, is that complimentary taxi transportation is available to and from your hotel and each of the golf courses. That even includes the gratuity for the taxi driver! To use this great benefit, call (407) WDW-GOLF (938-4653) or go to the Guest Services desk at your hotel and inquire with a Cast Member for more information.

Links to More Disney Golf Information:

Disney’s Miniature Golf Courses

Walt Disney World has 2 Miniature Golf Courses, Winter Summerland Miniature Golf Course and Fantasia Gardens and Fairways Miniature Golf Course.

Winter Summerland is co-located with Blizzard Beach, one of Disney World’s 2 Water Parks. These fun locations are not a convenient walk (distance and lack of sidewalks) from anywhere.

However Fantasia Gardens is located right next to the Walt Disney Swan Reserve Hotel in the EPCOT Resort Area. It is possible to walk from all of the resorts in the area and both EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Distances to walk to Fantasia Mini Golf from each of these locations:

Here is my posts that cover the walks mentioned for mini golf:

Link to More Disney Mini Golf Information:

Walking Around Walt Disney World’s Resorts

Coronado Springs

Walt Disney World’s Resort Hotels vary in size. While some are small or compact, others are absolutely huge. In some cases it can be a very long haul from the lobby with all the common areas like restaurants and gift shops to your room.

Some of the bigger resorts have multiple bus stops which act as an internal bus route, so that you don’t have to walk the full length of the resort if you want to wait for the bus to come by.

In this section I’ll rank the Disney Resorts by the walking distance from the lobby to the furthest room, I’ll also mention whether that walk in inside, outside, or both, and note any special circumstances. This is to give you a feel for the size of the resorts.

Disney Resort Miles Lobby to Room Walk In or Outside Notes
Disney’s Riviera Resort 0.12 All Inside Single Building
Disney’s BoardWalk Inn 0.14 All Inside Single Building
Disney’s Wilderness Lodge 0.14 All Inside Single Building
Disney’s BoardWalk Villas 0.15 All Inside Single Building
Disney’s Beach Club Resort 0.16 All Inside Single Building
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge and Villas 0.17 All Inside Single Building, Bus between Kidani and Jambo House
Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort 0.17 Mostly Outside Multiple Buildings
Disney’s Yacht Club Resort 0.18 All Inside Single Building
Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa 0.20 Mostly Outside Multiple Buildings
Disney’s Beach Club Villas 0.20 Some Outside 2 Buildings
Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge 0.21 Mostly Outside Multiple Buildings
The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa 0.21 Mostly Outside Multiple Buildings
Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – French Quarter 0.22 All Outside Multiple Buildings
Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort 0.22* All Inside *Distance to Contemporary Resort where all Dining, shopping, and transportation are located. Bay Lake itself is a single small footprint building.
Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort 0.24 All Outside Multiple Buildings
Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort 0.25 All Outside Multiple Buildings, some rooms closer to All-Star Music’s lobby and transportation.
Disney’s Contemporary Resort 0.25 Some Outside 2 Buildings, Tower and South Garden Wing
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Kidani Village 0.25 All Inside Single Building, Bus between Kidani and Jambo House
Disney’s Polynesian Villas and Bungalows 0.25 Mostly Outside Multiple Buildings
Copper Creek Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge 0.33 Mostly Outside Multiple Buildings
Disney’s Pop Century Resort 0.34 All Outside Multiple Buildings
Disney’s Art of Animation Resort 0.34 All Outside Multiple Buildings
Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa 0.34 Mostly Outside Multiple Buildings, Internal Bus Route
Disney’s All-Star Music Resort 0.35 All Outside Multiple Buildings
Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside 0.35 All Outside Multiple Buildings, Internal Bus Route
Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort 0.44 Mostly Outside Multiple Buildings, Internal Bus Route
Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort 0.61 All Outside Multiple Buildings, Internal Bus Route
Disney’s Old Key West Resort 0.65 All Outside Multiple Buildings, Internal Bus Route
The Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort 1.40 All Outside Multiple Buildings, Internal Bus Route

Disney’s Contemporary Resort South Garden Wing

Walking Between Walt Disney World’s Resorts

Just as it is possible to walk to some of Disney World’s theme parks, you can also walk between some of Disney’s resorts during your Disney World trip. You might want to do this to try different restaurants, or check out the theming of a nearby resort.

These walks can be anything from a short walk to quite a hike. Also the temperature will play a roll in your decision to walk or not. It gets pretty darn hot in Central Florida for a big chunk of the year!

The Magic Kingdom Resorts

As I mentioned in the section above about walking to the Magic Kingdom it is possible to walk between all of the resorts along the Magic Kingdom Monorail Route.

However you cannot make a full circle around the Seven Seas Lagoon. There is no direct walking path between Disney’s Contemporary Resort and Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort. But you can walk all the way from the Contemporary to the Magic Kingdom, then Grand Floridian, and Finally the Polynesian.

EPCOT’s Deluxe Resorts

EPCOT’s Deluxe Resorts are located next to EPCOT’s International Gateway, the rear entrance to EPCOT. These resorts are all situated around Crescent Lake which is attached to EPCOT’s World Showcase Lagoon.

The path around Crescent Lake is eight tenths of a mile (0.80) long to circle the lake, with a 0.10 offshoot that goes to the Swan and Dolphin. Roughly a quarter mile (0.22 miles) is Disney’s BoardWalk, a recreation of the famous historical one at Atlantic City, that is located behind the BoardWalk Inn and features lots of dining spots, games of chance, and nighttime street performers. It’s fun to stroll along the BoardWalk in the evening and enjoy the fun!

Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness

There is a walkway that connects Fort Wilderness with the Wilderness Lodge.

The path is 1.04 miles long and it runs through the woods close to the roadway that connects the resort and campground.

Port Orleans French Quarter and Riverside

The Port Orleans Resort is actually two different, physically separated resorts with hyphenated names that are near to each other. They are Port Orleans Resort – Riverside and Port Orleans Resort – French Quarter.

Many years ago (prior to 2001) they were 2 separate resorts called the Dixie Landings Resort (now Port Orleans-Riverside) and the Port Orleans Resort (now Port Orleans-French Quarter).

It is about a half mile walk (0.48 miles) along the Sassagoula River, resort lobby to lobby

French Quarter is actually next to Old Key West on the other side, but there is no walking path. You’d have to exit the resort property and walk along the public divided roadway without sidewalks to get there.

Pop Century and Art of Animation

Bridge between Pop and AoA with Skyliner Station

Pop Century and Art of Animation sit on the two sides of Hourglass Lake. Originally planned to be one resort (Pop Century), the travel downturn after the 2009 housing crisis caused a pause in construction with only half of the resort near completion (the half that is Pop now). When things picked back up Pop Century opened and construction resumed on a reimagined second half featuring suites. This new Value Suite concept opened as Art of Animation.

As the two resorts were set to be one the walk across the bridge spanning the lake or around the ends of the lake is quite short.

The All-Star Resorts

Walt Disney World Room View Categories - Do They Matter at Value and Moderate Resorts?

All-Star

The All-Stars are all right next to each other with no separation. One practically flows right into the next.

From end to end the All-Stars are a straight line distance of only 0.71 miles from end to end. Movies is on the south end, Music in the middle, and Sports on the north end.

Movies and Music are the closest with Music’s main building just 0.05 miles or 257 feet from the closest Movies guest building. This northern group of Movies guest buildings (the Mighty Ducks section) is actually closer to Music’s lobby. When I’m staying in these buildings I use the bus stop at Music.

It’s a little further between Music and Sports due to a parking lot in between, it’s 0.13 miles or 674 feet between Music’s main building and the nearest Sports guest building.

The Caribbean Beach Resort and the Riviera

The new Riviera DVC Resort was built on land that previously held one of the sections of the Caribbean Beach Resort, so walking between the resorts is a snap!

The Caribbean Beach is divided into five sections that are arranged around a narrow long lake. This makes the resort quite big in the north-south direction, it’s almost three quarters of a mile from end to end. The Rivera is situated at the north end of the lake.

There are walking paths that run all around the lake. It’s a mile and a half to walk all the way around the lake/resort.

Both the Riviera and Caribbean Beach have a Disney Skyliner Station that you can walk to.

Saratoga Springs and Disney Springs

Saratoga Springs is located right next to Disney Springs on the shores of Lake Buena Vista. There is are walking paths that connect the two.

Depending on your destination at Disney Springs and your starting location at Saratoga Springs, you could walk clockwise (0.20 miles closest point to DS east entrance) or counter clockwise (0.57 miles SS lobby to DS west entrance)  around Lake Buena Vista

Old Key West to Saratoga Springs and Disney Springs

While these 2 resorts and Disney Springs are all located on the shores of Lake Buena Vista, there is no great way to walk to either of these destinations from OKW. That is because Old Key West and Saratoga Springs are surrounded with golf courses. The paths that you could utilize are the paths for golf carts that run alongside the fairways. Not only are the paths not direct, you might get beaned on the head with a golf ball!

Old Key West to Disney Springs – From the closest point at Old Key West to the nearest Disney Springs entrance is 0.43 miles as the crow flies, but to follow the paths around the golf course and waterways it’ll be 1.08 miles.

It’s 0.77 miles from the closest point at Old Key West to the Saratoga Springs lobby.

Both the above distances are from the furthest point on the southeast of Old Key West. The OKW lobby is 0.60 miles further northwest of this spot. And starting from the furthest point in Old Key West will add a whole mile to the distances above.

Old Key West offers boat service to Disney Springs and there is also boat service between Disney Springs and Saratoga Springs, and both Port Orleans Resorts.

Disney Springs Resort Area Hotels and Disney Springs

Disney Springs Resort Area Hotels behind Disney Springs

The Disney Springs Resort Area Hotels are a collection of third-party hotels located along each side of Hotel Plaza Boulevard, which is adjacent to the Disney Springs Entertainment Area.

There are 2 foot bridges (with stairs and elevators) over the heavily trafficked roads that connect this hotel area to the east end of Disney Springs.

The foot bridges are just outside of Disney Springs and Hotel Plaza Boulevard is 0.58 miles long, so depending on where your hotel is will determine your walking distance.

Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo House and Kidani Lodge

It is a short 0.40 mile walk between the Animal Kingdom Lodge’s Jambo House and the newer Kidani Lodge, that is from lobby to lobby.

The walk is all between the Resort buildings and the parking area.

Note there is a shuttle that goes back and forth continuously, so unless you want the exercise, the shuttle is probably the way to go.

Walking Between Walt Disney World’s Theme Parks

Disneys Hollywood Studios Entrance

It is possible to walk between EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

However the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom are isolated by distance from all the other parks.

To walk between EPCOT and DHS, you use the paths described above from the EPCOT Deluxe Resort Area which exit the area on opposite sides. So the distance is the combination of the walk to each park plus the distance to walk around Crescent Lake in the middle of the resort area.

You can either walk via the BoardWalk side for a total of 1.26 miles park entrance to park entrance or via the Yacht and Beach Club side for a distance of 1.32 miles.

Cool Down

Well, that’s it for our big review of walking at Walt Disney World!

Here are all of my walking posts in one list:

See All My Posts About Walking at Disney World:

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments in the comment section below!

This MDT Post By: Steve Bell

Steve is the Military Disney Tips Founder. He is a retired U.S. Military Member who's been touring the Disney Parks since 1971! He has been writing about Disney for the US Military Community here for 18 years. Steve's mission is to help military families with their Disney vacations in every way possible.
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Comments

  1. Shery Roberts says

    Thank you for your updates. Is there a Disney hotel on the Disney world property in Florida where it;s attached to the Disney park and you can walk into the park or ride a tram like the Grand Californian hotel in Disneyland. And if those hotels have military discounts like the Shades of green.

    Reply

  2. GERRY CREAGER says

    Steve,

    A couple of thoughts on walking at Disney World.
    Fitness prep: One word: RUCK! I always carry a backpack to hold “stuff”, changes of shirts, jackets, etc., while we’re out, and my wife’s usually on an ECV, with me keeping up. I’ve stepped up my PT to 4-5 days a week, and ALWAYS do 5/week, 5 miles minimum at least twice per week (usually daily) for the 30 days before we go.
    Footware: You’re spot-on. Something broken in, and comfortable. For me, that’s Vibram toe-shoes with a good sole, relatively new but still worn enough to make ’em comfortable.
    Last February, we had a 4 day Park Hopper, and a down-day in the middle (that was an 8 mile day). Overall, I logged over 67 miles in the 5 days we were there. On foot. Without injury.

    Gerry

    Reply

  3. Vincent Peyton says

    Article above in Magic Kingdom Resorts section states: “Shades of Green, an Armed Forces Recreation Center is also a short walk from the Polynesian!”

    Has the walk been reopened?

    Reply

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