Walking Between Disney's Contemporary and Magic Kingdom

Whether it’s for dinner or you’re spending an entire week at Disney’s Contemporary, you might want to walk to and from the resort to the Magic Kingdom. When it’s 10:00 p.m., and you’re leaving the park in a mass of crowds, I can assure you that you’ll soon be smiling when you hit that quiet walkway and find yourself back at the room within less than 15 minutes. Had you stayed at that other resort, you’d probably still be waiting at the bus stop. If I could sum up the resort in one word, it would be convenient. There’s nothing like it.

Now you might be thinking, why would you want to walk when you can take the monorail? After all, the monorail is one of the biggest perks of staying at Disney’s Contemporary. Two of them run through it all day! But did you know that you have to make three additional stops between the Contemporary and Magic Kingdom? It’s much quicker to walk to the park than take the monorail. However, the Contemporary is the first stop after leaving Magic Kingdom. But remember those long lines? If you run into a line, you are likely much better off walking.

When you leave the Contemporary (or Bay Lake Tower), the walking path begins just beyond the bus stop. So you’ll walk out the resort’s front door, take an immediate right, and see the bus stop. Keep walking beyond the bus stop, and you’ll see a sign that reads “Walkway to Magic Kingdom.” It’s that simple. Here are a few photos from our walk.

exit Disney's Contemporary at the main lobby — The main entrance and exit to Disney’s Contemporary Resort.

the short distance between the lobby and the bus stop at Disney's Contemporary — This is where you are when you walk outside the Contemporary.

The bus stop is only a few feet from the lobby's exit/entrance. — The bus stop is a few feet beyond the entrance.

a sign that shows the transportation options provided at Disney's Contemporary with a directional to the Magic Kingdom walkway — A blue sign near the bus stop directs guests to the walkway to Magic Kingdom.

looking back from the Contemporary walkway to Magic Kingdom in the opposite direction — Looking back from the bus stop to the hotel’s entrance.

the path from Magic Kingdom to Disney's Contemporary begins to curve — The walkway begins to curve past the bus stop.

a blue sign that says Walkway to Magic Kingdom — You’ll soon see a sign that reads “Magic Kingdom Walkway.”

Disney's Contemporary Resort as seen from the Magic Kingdom walkway — Upon return, you’ll take in this view of the Contemporary.

the pathway from Bay Lake Tower that adjoins the Magic Kingdom walkway — Guests staying at Bay Lake Tower can join the path, as shown.

Along the walking path, you’ll cross a dedicated crosswalk in the parking lot and one intersection between the resort and Magic Kingdom. You will want to wait for the “walk” signal at the light. It is a fairly busy road with buses coming and going. After the intersection, you’ll continue through a small security clearance area. You will not have to go through security again when you reach Magic Kingdom.

a crosswalk along the path from Contemporary to Magic Kingdom — Crosswalk across the Contemporary Resort’s Parking Lot

a road where you'll have to wait for a signal to cross on the pathway from Magic Kingdom to the Contemporary — You’ll cross World Drive between the Contemporary and Magic Kingdom.

guests walking through a security area between the Contemporary and Magic Kingdom — On the way to Magic Kingdom, you’ll walk through a security area.

the Contemporary walkway directional from Magic Kingdom — Signage indicate the Contemporary Walkway on the return trip.

the monorail above the Contemporary walkway to Magic Kingdom — The monorail path is directly over the walkway between the Contemporary and Magic Kingdom.

Here is where you end up when you reach Magic Kingdom. Since you’ve already been through security, you can use your ticket to enter the turnstiles!

the ticket turnstiles is where you end up when you arrive at Magic Kingdom from the Contemporary walkway

I used my transportation tracker to map the exact walk on this visit. It was 0.42 miles and took me 11 minutes at an average pace. An 11-minute walk to Magic Kingdom? I don’t know about you, but I’ll take that any day.

map that shows the distance and directional between Disney's Contemporary and Magic Kingdom Park — Map of the Walk Between Disney’s Contemporary and Magic Kingdom

We’ve stayed at Disney’s Contemporary many times. It’s not for everyone, and we get that. If you want to know more about the resort, all our articles are listed in our Resorts Gal Guide to Disney’s Contemporary. Also, I wanted to mention that we stay here intentionally. For example, we’ve planned stays when we were visiting Magic Kingdom for the 4th of July so we could quickly walk back to the resort after the fireworks. One year, we even watched the fireworks from the resort, which was pretty special. We also stayed at the Contemporary while attending Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. We went to two parties in one week, and I remember feeling relieved to return to the room so quickly. So, staying here is worth your consideration if you’re looking to spend a reasonable amount of time at Magic Kingdom or plan to attend a special event at the park.

We hope you found this information helpful! We have several transportation tips posts that get into the specifics of traveling around Walt Disney World. Here are a few others:

You might also like our Contemporary Resort Transportation Options Guide. It details how to get to and from the resort to other popular destinations. Or try our Resorts Gal Routes series, which shares some of our favorite routes to popular Walt Disney World destinations.

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In the Comments

Did you find this tip for walking from the Contemporary to the Magic Kingdom helpful? Were you aware it was such a short distance? Leave us a comment with your thoughts or experiences.