I Walked From Magic Kingdom to the TTC. Here’s How It Went.
Believe it or not, one of the biggest gripes some Guests have with Magic Kingdom is the process of getting to Magic Kingdom. Sure, it’s easy as long as you’re staying within walking distance (I’m looking at you, Contemporary Resort), or utilize Disney Transportation (i.e. a bus), but let’s be real here: not everyone does that. Some folks are local and come to spend the day, some are terrified of flying so they drive down to Florida, some people don’t want to deal with the “hassle” of Disney Transportation… whatever the reason is, some Guests just prefer to drive to Magic Kingdom.
Now if you’ve ever driven to Magic Kingdom, you know firsthand that parking there is no quick and easy feat. Once you park your car in the massive lot, you then need to walk or take the tram to the main gates of the TTC. Once at the TTC, you then need to wait for a ferry or monorail to take you over to the main gates of Magic Kingdom. It’s a much longer process than just being dropped off by the bus, hence the aforementioned griping.
With all that being said, my husband and I decided to drive to Disney World on our last trip. We drove to some parks and took the Skyliner to others. Magic Kingdom was one of those parks that we drove to. Now, I’ve driven to Magic Kingdom tons of times in my life, so I knew what I was getting myself into. It was all fine and dandy first thing in the morning, when the line for the monorail was extremely short and our four-year-old daughter was in a really good mood. But coming back at night, now that’s a different story. Let me set the scene for you.
It’s 8:00pm. Magic Kingdom is closing. Our previously well-mannered and energetic child is now a cranky, tired mess (who am I kidding, we all were), and the line to get on the monorail is INSANE. It happens. It’s Disney. Lines are expected. But it was late, we were exhausted (and probably a little delusional at this point), and our daughter was losing it. So I thought, “hey, they just finished the path from Magic Kingdom to the Grand Floridian – we should be able to walk back to the car!”
Spoiler alert: yes, you can walk from Magic Kingdom back to the parking lot, and vice versa. But, whether or not you should is a completely different story. We’ll let you decide based on our experience. Here’s how to go about it, from a first-timer’s point of view.


(Credit: Kent Phillips)
How To Walk From Magic Kingdom to the Transportation and Ticket Center
This is the route you should take to get from Magic Kingdom to the TTC (Magic Kingdom parking lot). If you’re looking for directions from the Transportation and Ticket Center to Magic Kingdom, simply follow these instructions in reverse. Disclaimer: we did this in April 2021. Signage gets a little iffy (non-existent) in some spots, so be sure to ask for help if you can’t find your way.
Step One
Exit Magic Kingdom and walk towards the Ferryboat landing. Head towards the Resort Launches sign and look for the sign that says “Grand Floridian Walkway”. Pro tip: when we were there in April, the sign for the Grand Floridian Walkway was hidden due to construction. Ask a Cast Member for guidance if needed.


Walkway from Magic Kingdom to the Grand Floridian
Step Two
Continue to follow the pathway towards the Grand Floridian. The walk is very peaceful and scenic. You will follow the shoreline of Seven Seas Lagoon and the monorail overhead, which is pretty cool for kids to see!


View of Cinderella Castle on the walkway from Magic Kingdom to the Grand Floridian
Step Three
As you come up to the hotel, you will cross a footbridge and end up on the Grand Floridian Resort grounds. This is where it started to get a little tricky for us. We didn’t notice any signs directing us to the Polynesian Resort from here; perhaps it’s because we were so exhausted, or maybe it was too dark to see them.


Footbridge leading to the Grand Floridian
Step Four
Continue through to the center of the resort (signs for the pool and lobby will be helpful). Your goal is to keep Seven Seas Lagoon on your left. You ultimately want to get to the Wedding Pavilion, so follow signs for that. Again, hug the shoreline as much as possible, that will help you in the long run. There is no real path once you get into the Grand Floridian, so if you get lost, just ask a Cast Member to direct you towards the Polynesian Resort.


Map courtesy of Disney; edited to show walking path
Step Five
Once you reach the Wedding Pavilion, finding the path to the Polynesian can be a little tricky (again, we didn’t notice any signs when we were there, but we easily could have missed them in our delirious state). Follow the path between the Wedding Pavilion and the circular driveway/Francks Studio; it will look like you’re heading down into the Wedding Pavilion itself.


The path to the Polynesian continues to the right of the Wedding Pavilion
Step Six
This is the beginning of the Polynesian pathway. Continue down the walkway until you reach the Polynesian Resort.


Map courtesy of Disney; edited to show walking path
Step Seven
Once you reach the Polynesian Resort grounds, you have two different paths you can take. The first is to continue along the shoreline of Seven Seas Lagoon and head towards the Bora Bora Bungalows. The second is to head towards the Great Ceremonial House. The map above is just an example, but you can either wrap around Fiji and go towards the Marina/Boat Launch, or head straight through between Fiji and Aotearoa/Tonga. The Polynesian was much easier to navigate than Grand Floridian, in my opinion.
Once you reach the other side of the resort, look for signs directing you to the Transportation and Ticket Center or the Monorail to Magic Kingdom and EPCOT. These were more abundant, so it should be smooth sailing from here on out. When you arrive at the TTC, you can head on back to your car as usual.
How Long Should It Take?
If you walk continuously without stopping or getting lost, it should take you the following amount of time, based on an average walking speed:
- Magic Kingdom to Grand Floridian: 15-20 minutes
- Grand Floridian to Polynesian: 10-15 minutes
- Polynesian to TTC: 10-15 minutes
The total walking time will average around 35-50 minutes, more or less for some Guests.


Seven Seas Lagoon
So How Long Did It Really Take?
I’m not going to sugarcoat it, we had some issues. Not only did we stop at each Resort to see if we could catch the monorail (spoiler: we couldn’t), we also got lost a few times and had to backtrack. From the time we left the front of Magic Kingdom until we reached our car (which was parked in the Preferred section), it took us almost 2 hours, much longer than it would have taken us to wait for the monorail. But that was just our experience; not everyone will take that long!
Would I Do It Again?
In one word, yes, although my husband would emphatically disagree (bless him and his trust in me, especially when it comes to Disney; we never should have walked that night). But I would do it under different circumstances.
- First thing in the morning or after a half day in the park; not after a full, exhausting day
- Wearing comfortable shoes; not sandals (rookie mistake, I know) and,
- While taking my previous experience into consideration when trying to navigate through the resorts


(Credit: Disney)
I think maybe next time I’ll just stay at the Contemporary, Grand Floridian, or Polynesian Resort. That would save the hassle altogether, wouldn’t it?
So what about you? Have you tried walking from Magic Kingdom to the Transportation and Ticket Center? Would you? Let me know!
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