Getting from Wilderness Lodge to Shades of Green

by Mark
(TN)

I will need to get from the Wilderness Lodge to Shades of Green on my first day. Are taxi's or other transportation available?

Thanks!

The Resort Launch area at the Magic Kingdom - Photo by Tom Bricker

Dad’s No Easy Road Answer

Mark,

Walt Disney World is a magical place but one thing that isn’t so magical (at times) is their transportation system. You can really only travel between the resorts and parks with ease (and sometimes even then multiple stops are a headache). Travelling between resorts is impossible without transferring at least once. And since Shades of Green is independently run, you can’t use Walt Disney World Transportation to get there.

Don’t get me wrong, the folks at Disney do a great job of moving hundreds of thousands of people around the property each and every day safely and efficiently – guests and cast members! But unfortunately this service won’t help you get to non-Disney owned and operated destinations, even if they’re on Disney Property.

Dad’s Disney Transportation Page

Shades of Green has an interesting history. It used to be called the Disney Inn in the 1980’s, and was a deluxe hotel run by Disney. The demand for these rooms wasn’t enough to fill the resort, and Disney ended up selling the property to the Military to run and use as a vacation spot for American military families. Today, the military runs Shades of Green, and it has it’s own bus service instead utilizing Disney Transportation.

Shades of Green is to the south west side of the Magic Kingdom, located between the Palm and Magnolia Golf Courses. Wilderness Lodge is located to the south east side of the Magic Kingdom, between the Contemporary Resort and Fort Wilderness. Getting from one to the other is a challenge with 2 solutions, depending on whether you’d like to sacrifice time or money.

The cheapest way to get from Wilderness Lodge to Shades of Green is to take the boat from Wilderness Lodge to the Magic Kingdom, then transfer to the boat or monorail that will take you to the Polynesian Resort. From there, you can take a $5 cab ride to Shades of Green, or you can walk (go west on Seven Seas Drive, turn north on Floridian Way, then turn west on Magnolia Palm Drive – this walk will take about 15 minutes but give yourself 90 minutes for the trip). Whew, that's just silly!

The easiest way to get to your destination is simply to take a cab from Wilderness Lodge to Shades of Green, which will cost about $15.

Dad's Bottom Line

Mark, it’s up to you how you complete your journey to Shades of Green, but if it were up to me, I’d take the cab.