Taking the Skyliner Between Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot

If you have a Walt Disney World vacation planned, you might hope to incorporate a ride or two on the Disney Skyliner. Those with plans to park hop can take advantage of the transportation offering by taking the Skyliner between Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot. It’s one of three ways to park hop between the neighboring parks.

Below, we’ll go over the specifics of taking this route, including the average time it takes. It’s an excellent way to travel, and since you must sit on the Skyliner, you can rest while you commute. Of course, you don’t have to be park-hopping to take this route. You can take it for leisure or to any of the resorts on or near the Skyliner. You’ll just want to have a plan on how to get elsewhere when you’re finished, which shouldn’t be too hard if you understand the basics of transportation at Disney World.

We’ll start at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and travel to Epcot. I’ve made this route many times. If you’re at Epcot, you’ll follow the same route, only vice versa. The Skyliner station at Disney’s Hollywood Studios sits outside the park’s entrance. It’s between the main gate and the bus stop. You cannot miss it.

This Skyliner travels to one location and one location only: Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort. It’s a short hop from Hollywood Studios to Caribbean Beach on the Skyliner. When the Skyliner drops at Caribbean Beach, everyone must exit. From there, you can transfer to Disney’s Riviera and Epcot or Art of Animation and Pop Century.

The Skyliner’s hours are posted at the entrance. If you’ll use the Skyliner frequently during your stay, you might want to take a picture of the hours, which change based on the park’s hours of operation.

As you approach the loading area, the line splits. Both lanes are open.

Once you board the gondola, you’ll immediately head straight up as you travel to Disney’s Caribbean Beach. This route is exceptionally short. You’ll return to the next station in approximately five to six minutes.

At Disney’s Caribbean Beach, you’ll exit the gondola and walk to the right side of the station (it will be on your left when you exit). You’ll see a queue for guests traveling to Epcot and Disney’s Riviera. You’ll board this gondola as it travels from Caribbean Beach to the Riviera.

Here’s a photo of the Skyliner as it crosses over Jamaica and Aruba, between Caribbean Beach and the Riviera. This portion of the route is super short, but it’s so pretty to look down and see the vibrant island colors.

The Skyliner drops back down at Disney’s Riviera Resort. However, you can hang tight here. You would only want to exit if you were visiting the Riviera. Guests visiting Epcot remain onboard. (A cast member will give you this same spiel when the doors open at the Riviera.) After the doors close, the Skyliner’s path turns at the station. The doors open again, and other guests might board your gondola if there’s room.

Below, we have a photo taken from the Skyliner. At this point, we’re between Disney’s Riviera Resort and Epcot. To the right, we see guests traveling along Lake Buena Vista Drive.

Looking to the opposite side, you’ll get a glimpse into Epcot. At one point, there’s a clear shot of Epcot’s Italy Pavilion with Spaceship Earth in the distance.

Soon, you’ll go through a turn station as the Skyliner’s path changes direction toward Epcot. This station is in the air near Disney’s Boardwalk. You will not drop down again. After you pass the Boardwalk, you’ll be able to see down into Epcot’s France Pavilion as the Skyliner makes its final descent to the International Gateway.

You have arrived. So, how long does the Skyliner between Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios take? Well, it varies. We track a lot of travel times, and this is one of the most inconsistent routes I’ve recorded. The reason is that the Skyliner tends to pause along the route. So, my average time for this route is 25 minutes.

Note, that it is fairly common for the Skyliner to stop or slow down. We’ve never felt stuck on it or anything like that. But I like to mention this because some people are apprehensive about riding it in the first place. I’ve been on many a Skyliner ride where other guests were a bundle of nerves because the Skyliner stopped for a few minutes.

Here are the directions if you’re leaving Epcot to park hop to Hollywood Studios using the Skyliner:

• Exit Epcot at the International Gateway*
• Board the Skyliner (Only Goes One-Way)
• When the Skyliner drops down at Disney’s Riviera, stay on board.
• When you reach Disney’s Caribbean Beach, everyone must exit.
• Board the Skyliner (a few steps away) to Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
• Exit at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

*Epcot is the only park with two entrances/exits. Epcot’s International Gateway sits between the France Pavilion and the United Kingdom Pavilion. It leads to the Epcot Resorts Area, the Skyliner, the FriendShips, and the walking path to Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

As we wrap things up, I would be remiss if I failed to mention one thing. Many guests enjoy riding the Disney Skyliner for leisure. It’s available to anyone. But there’s one time that I think is a little more special than others: at sunset. The photos below were taken on a clear evening as I was traveling from Caribbean Beach to Hollywood Studios. You can see the Tower of Terror’s silhouette in the sunset.

I hope you found this virtual route helpful in planning your vacation, or at the very least, enjoyed the photos. We’ll have a refresher on a few more routes and a comparison. Make sure to check back and see which one of these routes is the fastest.

• Walking Between Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot
• Taking the Friendship Boats Between Hollywood Studios and Epcot
• The Three Ways to Park Hop Between Epcot and Hollywood Studios

For more on the gondolas, we have a Disney Skyliner Guide. You might also enjoy our Resorts Gal Routes series, which shares some of our favorite routes to popular Walt Disney World destinations.

In the Comments

Have you taken the Skyliner while park-hopping? Please leave us any questions or comments below. We appreciate your feedback and enjoy hearing from you.