Getting There is Part of the Fun

Tuesday at 03:03 PM

It can be rather daunting these days to plan a Disney vacation. Sometimes, it even feels like you need a PhD and an extra dose of Pixie Dust just to plan for and squeeze in all the rides and shows. Do you need a Park Hopper ticket? What about a Lightning Lane Multi Pass? Or the Disney Dining Plan? Is it better to stay at a Disney resort or save money by staying off property? Questions like this can leave you feeling overwhelmed. It takes a lot of prep work to plan a trip to Disney. And it doesn’t seem to slow down once you’re in the park, either! Guests end up tied to their phones just to make sure that they get to this ride on time, hop to another park on time for a dinner reservation, and manage to catch the nighttime show of their choice at a certain time. That's certainly not our idea of fun . . .

There’s SO much more to Disney World than waiting in line or arriving on time, and it can be too easy to miss something which actually creates a great memory! All pin traders know that pins make super souvenirs, little reminders of our favorite moments and places in the Happiest Place on Earth. That’s probably why there’s a pin design for just about anything you might see at the Park. I ran across PP#67137 the other day, and it made me think about all the fun you can have just experiencing the various modes of FREE Disney Transportation. You know what? Getting there is part of the fun!

Once you’ve navigated from your home and made it onto WDW property, the fun starts! Getting around can take you over the water, through the air, or just cruising along private roads. Disney offers free transport to all the parks and resorts, so let’s try to find a pin for each different method.

BUS
We’re going to start with the classic Bus. This is usually the first Transport vehicle that you notice when entering Disney property (if you're not staring at your phone). They're worth admiring, too, since they often feature some pretty cool art "skins" wrapping the bus. Even the unwrapped Mickey-themed buses are a sight for tired eyes! We only just experienced the joy of riding Disney buses this year and quite enjoyed waiting in line at the Bus Depot outside Magic Kingdom while trying to spot the different bus art.

Did you know that WDW has more than 420 buses in use? That they make about 12,000 trips each day? That they drive along nearly 100 different routes (all on Disney property, of course)? Surprisingly, there don’t seem to be many pins featuring these great chariots, and the majority seem to be Cast Exclusives. Here’s Hidden Mickey pin PP51442, one of our favorites! If you have a favorite bus pin, please post a reply to let me know!

SKYLINER
You don’t have to be on Disney property for too long before catching sight of the colorful, slow-moving Skyliner. It creates a picturesque view between EPCOT and Hollywood Studios, whether in your car above ground or below. It’s like a giant cable-car, and you’ll spot favorite characters decorating most of the cars. (And, believe it or not, while they look like you wouldn't be able to see out from within, those decals and wraps do not show in the view from inside the car. Kinda like a one-way mirror.) Whether viewed from inside or below, the Skyliner truly does make it feel like there’s magic in the air! It's one of only two WDW transportation methods we haven't experienced yet, so one of these days we'll catch a ride in the sky!

While they make a lot of toys and models for this special form of Disney transportation, there are only twenty-five Skyliner pins listed in the PP Database. If the completist in you is looking for a small collection, this might just fit the bill! Personally, I really like PP#99052 here, but the new mystery set with Mickey and Friends riding the Skyliner is pretty adorable as well!

MONORAIL
Naturally, no visit to or view of Disney World is complete without the iconic Monorail. It spans just under 15 miles, features six different stations, and transports approximately 50 million (that's 50,000,000) Guests per year. This engineering marvel would have made Walt proud!

This is one of our favorite rides in WDW! Whether you’re visiting the Magic Kingdom Resorts, leaving your car parked at TTC, heading out to EPCOT, or hoping to catch sight of Mary Blair's five-legged goat at the Contemporary, this is the way to go! And what a view! The monorail even swings over EPCOT to show off World Showcase and the Imagination Pavilion from above (definitely worth the time to see).

There’s no shortage of great pins featuring this transport, including the Cast Lanyard and Hidden Mickey pins from the mid 2000s which featured every color Monorail ever run on the line. What? You didn't know that each train has its own color? Oh, boy. It’s addictive it is, trying to spot the different colors on the monorails at WDW. Once you start, you can’t stop! As you know, I'm really crazy about older Disney pins, so let’s take a look at PP5549 (originally released in 2001).

PARKING LOT TRAM
If you aren’t using the Monorail or Skyliner to arrive at a park entrance, then it’s a pretty sure bet that you’ll be boarding one of the many Parking Lot Trams. These can be pretty fun, actually! (Personally, it’s one of my favorite Disney experiences. Unless it's 38 degrees, windy, and raining, like it was during our visit in January 2025. Bad enough waiting in line at other places, but the speed of the tram made it seem a lot colder and wetter.) Don’t be afraid to enjoy your time cruising from car to Park Entrance. Just sit back and let them do the driving!

These trams have been operating since WDW opened in 1971, so I don't understand why there aren’t more pins featuring them. Here’s one of our favorites, PP#70340, with Figment in the driver’s seat!

MAGIC KINGDOM FERRY
Now that we’ve travelled via land and air, it’s time to take to the sea . . . um, I mean Lagoon. Next up, the Magic Kingdom Ferry. Once you’ve parked at TTC and want to head over to the the park, you have the choice of Monorail or Ferry. The ferries are double-decker boats which sail across the Seven Seas Lagoon to drop passengers off at the front of the Magic Kingdom. There are three ferryboats, each named for a past executive and capable of transporting as many as 600 guests at one time. The trip takes about 12 minutes, but half of that is for departure and docking. One of the ferryboats was featured on PP#51439, part of a Hidden Mickey release in 2006. This is the other mode of free WDW Transportation that we haven’t experienced yet, so it's definitely on the to-do list for our next visit!

FRIENDSHIP BOATS
If you’re looking for a smaller ferry with a longer, more peaceful ride, then be sure to check out the Friendship Boats which travel between EPCOT and Hollywood Studios. They make three stops at the resorts between the parks (Boardwalk, Swan & Dolphin, Beach & Yacht Club). The full trip from park-to-park takes about twenty minutes and can be counted as a Disney experience not to be missed. One of these boats also runs between the Canada and Morocco Pavilions in World Showcase. Altogether, there are eight different boats in this fleet, and each one was commemorated in a Hidden Mickey set released in 2013 (PP#170450). Not easy pins to obtain in good condition; but they're well worth looking for, that’s for sure!

SASSAGOULA RIVER CRUISE & MK RESORT BOATS
There are a few more boat transport options around WDW, but -- sadly -- they don’t appear on any Disney pins which I can find. It’s too bad, because you don’t want to miss the Sassagoula Water Transport between Disney Springs and its four resorts. Going all the way out to Port Orleans Riverside is a great way to relax and end up in one of the most quiet, peaceful spots in WDW. We never miss this, whenever we make it to WDW! Just recently, the Sassagoula transports showed up on one of the collectible medallions found in fun machines around WDW. This one was at the Caribbean Beach Resort Skyliner station, so if you’re desperate (like Sis and I were) to have something in your collection with these great boats, then hop on the Skyliner and head over there!

There are also small boats to ferry guests from Contemporary to Wilderness Lodge, or between MK and Polynesian or Grand Floridian. Be sure to check the schedules for these, because they swap destinations in the afternoon. Disney definitely needs to get on the ball and commemorate these fantastically fun transports on pins!

Whew! Now that we’ve made it all around Walt Disney World on their free transportation, it’s time to sit down and sort some pins. But just look at how much fun you can have without worrying about paying for a ticket or watching the MDE app on your phone. Next time you’re planning a trip to the Most Magical Place on Earth, remember to save time for the things that don’t show up in a Lightning Lane . . . because getting there really is part of the fun.

~ Sarah