There are three main monorail resorts at Disney World: Disney’s Contemporary Resort, Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort and Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. All three sit around Seven Seas Lagoon and have their own stops on the Resort Monorail, giving you convenient transportation to Magic Kingdom and access to EPCOT with a transfer at the Transportation and Ticket Center.
I’ve stayed at all three over the years, sometimes solo and sometimes with family, and I wouldn’t rank them simply from best to worst. The better question is what you’re trying to make easier. Contemporary is my pick if Magic Kingdom is the priority, Polynesian makes a lot of sense when you’re splitting time between Magic Kingdom and EPCOT, and Grand Floridian has the easiest actual monorail ride to Magic Kingdom.
| Monorail Resort | Magic Kingdom | EPCOT | My Pick For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Disney’s Contemporary Resort | Walk or Resort Monorail | Monorail with TTC transfer | Best Magic Kingdom access |
| Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort | Resort Monorail or boat | Via the TTC and EPCOT Monorail | Best balance of parks and resort atmosphere |
| Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa | One monorail stop, walk or boat | Monorail with TTC transfer | Luxury and easy Magic Kingdom transportation |
If you mainly want to understand where every train goes rather than choose a hotel, I have a separate Disney World monorail map and route guide that breaks down the Resort, Express and EPCOT lines.
Which Disney Resorts Are on the Monorail?
The Resort Monorail serves Disney’s Contemporary Resort, Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort and Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, along with Magic Kingdom and the Transportation and Ticket Center.
This is important because the monorail doesn’t simply run back and forth between each hotel and the parks. It’s a loop, and your resort’s position on that loop changes how convenient a particular ride is.
The current Resort Monorail order is:
- Magic Kingdom
- Disney’s Contemporary Resort
- Transportation and Ticket Center
- Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
- Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
- Back to Magic Kingdom
Disney’s official monorail transportation page is worth checking before your trip because operating hours and temporary transportation changes can vary.
Contemporary Is the One I’d Choose for Magic Kingdom
The biggest advantage of Disney’s Contemporary Resort isn’t actually the monorail. It’s the walking path.
You can walk directly between the Contemporary and the Magic Kingdom entrance, which gives you something I value even more than convenient transportation: the ability to leave whenever you want.
There’s no waiting for a train to arrive, no wondering how crowded the platform will be after fireworks and no transportation connection. I usually prefer walking when I’m staying here, particularly first thing in the morning or when Magic Kingdom is closing.
There’s one quirk worth understanding. Because of the direction of the Resort Monorail loop, taking the monorail from Contemporary to Magic Kingdom sends you around the lagoon through the TTC, Polynesian and Grand Floridian before reaching the park. That’s another reason I prefer the walking path for Magic Kingdom.
EPCOT is different. The Contemporary is immediately before the TTC on the Resort Monorail loop, so you can ride to the TTC and transfer to the EPCOT Monorail.
If you’re comparing hotels specifically for Magic Kingdom, I’d also look at my guide to the hotels within walking distance of Magic Kingdom.
Polynesian Is My Favorite All-Around Monorail Resort
Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort is the one I’d choose when I care about the resort experience almost as much as transportation.
It has its own Resort Monorail station, boat transportation to Magic Kingdom and a location near the Transportation and Ticket Center. That last point can be especially useful on EPCOT days because the EPCOT Monorail originates at the TTC.
For Magic Kingdom, the Resort Monorail travels from Polynesian to Grand Floridian and then Magic Kingdom. That’s a much more sensible trip than taking the Resort Monorail from Contemporary around the entire loop.
But transportation isn’t really why Polynesian is my personal favorite of the three. The resort feels like somewhere I actually want to spend time between park days. Trader Sam’s, ‘Ohana, Captain Cook’s, the beach and the views across Seven Seas Lagoon give it more of a vacation atmosphere than the Contemporary.
The tradeoff is that the resort is spread out. Where your room is located can affect how convenient the monorail station, boat dock and TTC feel, so I pay more attention to the resort map here than I do at Grand Floridian.
Grand Floridian Has the Best Monorail Ride to Magic Kingdom
Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa is actually in an excellent position on the Resort Monorail loop if Magic Kingdom is your destination.
Grand Floridian is the final resort stop before Magic Kingdom, so you board at the resort and Magic Kingdom is the next stop. If your definition of the best monorail resort is simply “which hotel gives me the easiest monorail ride to Magic Kingdom?”, Grand Floridian wins.
You aren’t dependent on the monorail either. There is a pedestrian path between Grand Floridian and Magic Kingdom, and Disney describes the walk as less than one mile. Water transportation is another option.
I like having those alternatives after fireworks. If the monorail platform looks packed, I’m not forced to wait for it.
Grand Floridian is the most elegant of the three in my opinion, and it works particularly well when I want a slower trip where the resort itself is part of the experience. If you’re considering Club Level, I also have a separate guide to the Royal Palm Club at Grand Floridian.
Which Monorail Resort Is Best for EPCOT?
None of the three resort hotels has a direct monorail to EPCOT from its hotel station.
The EPCOT Monorail runs between EPCOT and the Transportation and Ticket Center, so resort guests ultimately need to use the TTC when traveling by monorail to EPCOT.
That’s one reason I wouldn’t automatically book a monorail resort just because you’re spending a lot of time at EPCOT. If EPCOT is the center of your trip, the Crescent Lake resorts can be even more convenient because several hotels are within walking distance of EPCOT.
The monorail resorts make the most sense to me when Magic Kingdom is a major part of the trip and EPCOT access is an additional benefit.
What Disney Hotel Does the Monorail Go Through?
Disney’s Contemporary Resort is the Disney hotel that the monorail physically travels through. The station is inside the iconic A-frame main tower, so trains enter the building itself before stopping at the resort platform.
Polynesian and Grand Floridian also have Resort Monorail stations, but the trains don’t travel through their hotel buildings in the same way.
Can Anyone Ride the Disney World Monorail?
Yes. You don’t have to stay at a monorail resort to use Disney’s monorail transportation. Disney makes its monorails, buses, boats and Skyliner available to guests without charging a separate transportation fare.
That means you can also use the Resort Monorail for a dining reservation or to visit one of these resorts. Just remember that resort access, pedestrian routes and transportation operations can occasionally change, so I check the My Disney Experience app before relying on a specific route.
How I’d Pick Between the Three
I wouldn’t pay Deluxe Resort prices simply because the word “monorail” appears on the transportation list. I’d choose based on which advantage I’m actually going to use.
- Pick Contemporary if you want the easiest overall access to Magic Kingdom and expect to use the walking path.
- Pick Polynesian if you want a strong combination of Magic Kingdom transportation, TTC access and a resort where you’ll actually want to spend downtime.
- Pick Grand Floridian if you want the simplest Resort Monorail ride to Magic Kingdom, a walking alternative and the most upscale atmosphere of the three.
I’ve stayed at Disney resorts where the transportation looked convenient on paper but involved enough waiting and transferring that it didn’t feel convenient in practice. These three are different because they give you multiple ways to move around the Magic Kingdom resort area.
If transportation is the deciding factor for your entire stay, I’d compare these options with my best Disney hotels for Magic Kingdom access and my broader Disney World transportation guide before booking.
