Best Bus Service

[njprincess601]

We don't think we can afford the monorail hotels, and my mother is very concerned about being able to get to the parks quickly so my question is...

excluding GF, Poly and CR which hotel has the best/quickest buses?

 

[trappednabox]

we loved staying at the Boardwalk. My mom loved it b/c they buses seemed really fast, plus you could take the boats to DHS or Epcot, PLUS the walk ways to Epcot and DHS. It seemed so easy

 

[patpaxton]

This probably doesn't make sense because of the cost...but if you have one or two days where you really need to get there fast, take a cab. All the resorts have them waiting out front. Not cheap, but if getting there fast is your #1 priority, that's the way to go.

 

[streets of paris]

we've had good luck with CSR buses; anybody else?

 

[amandelba]

I don't have any complaints about the buses. All in all, I think that they are extremely convenient and efficient. On a recent short trip, we stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter, and found the buses to be better than most other resorts.

 

[njprincess601]

bump

 

[minnie61650]

Bus rides are quite short from the ALL Stars according to PassPorter.com

All Star Buses-CBR buses---POPbuses--PO buses--- Contemporary
MK 20 min---- 20 min-----25 min------10 min---20 min(mono)
Epcot 10 min-- 15 min-----20 min------10 min---15 min
MGM 10 min----12 min-----15 min------15 min---20min
AK 10 min------20min-------15 min----15 min---20 min
DTD 15 min----20 min------20 min-----15 min---35 min

It only takes 10 minutes to get to Epcot, MGM and AK from All Stars.
MK is listed as 20 min away. That's the same amount of time it takes on the monorail from the Contemporary.


*Please Note:
In my experience the bus rides are usually 3-6 minutes shorter than the listed times. Perhaps the authors posted the ride times during heavy traffic so the actual times would be less in most cases.


A WORD ABOUT BUS SHARING

To me Bus Sharing at the All Stars is really a non issue.

In the mornings during Park opening hours each All Star usually has a dedicated bus.
During mid day it is usually just our stop and maybe one more on the way to the parks. On the way back sometimes it is all 3 but often Sports and Movies share and Music has it's own bus back. Each of the All Stars usually has it's own dedicated bus back from the MK.
That is a big plus. It seems like the Music bus stop usually has the shortest of the three All Star bus lines.

I guess some people who stay at POP see all 3 All Star names on the return sign of our bus stop when they head to the POP bus stop and think All Stars also has 3 stops on the way to the park.
(Even when we stop at another AS resort to load up it has not taken more than 5 minutes and we are on our way!)

 

[Minnie&Nana]

In the 30 yrs we've stayed at most all Disney resorts, unfortunately the bus service from the deluxe resorts seems to be about the worst b/c most resorts share with other resorts. When we stay deluxe we try to stay near the park we'll likely be visiting most. Although we stayed at AKL just once, the buses were excellent. Wondering if perhaps not as good these days now that it will be sharing with the new Villas.

We had very good bus service at FQ, CBR and CSR. CSR bus stops at the parks are the cloest and shortest walk, which is nice and the resort buses are rarely standing room only.

If your mom wants a deluxe resort, then as a pp poster mentioned, the EPCOT resorts have 2 parks within walking or boat distance, then buses to MK and AK. Those buses often share with all the ECPOT resorts, so it can be a long wait - longest wait we've ever had was at BWI.

Happy Planning!!!

 

[WDW LifeLong Fan]

Overall, we have had good luck with the transportation system.

As an earlier poster mentioned, the BW/BC/YC resort area, provides easy access to Epcot and Hollywood Studios.

Among the best Bus Transporation we enjoyed is from AKL.

 

[madalex]

The Disney bus service (to and from any resort) is generally very good. Does that mean a bus will magically appear every time you show up at a bus stop? No. But the buses do run on a regular basis and while there may be occasional long waits, those are the exception rather than the rule. In the list of things one considers when selecting a resort (cost, theming, location, amenities, etc.), I would put the bus service pretty low on the list.

 

[ciera321]

We've stayed at many of the resorts and have found that CSR has the best bus service, in our opinion. CSR does not share with other resorts and we've never waited more than a few minutes for a bus. When we stayed at the Poly last summer, we waited many times for more than 20 minutes for buses throughout our 2 weeks there, as they shared at times with both CR and GF. You'll see problems at all the resorts at times, but CSR seems to be very consistant with timely bus service!!!

 

[LoraJ]

Bus service can be hit or miss at any resort. You may read many reviews that they never had to wait long for a bus and then when you get there you end up having to wait 30 minutes.

 

[HonnyDipp]

We had good luck at POR. Just make sure you remember your correct bus stop!

 

[TSTEWARTFAN]

I think the longest wait we have ever had was waiting at the BC for a bus to the Studios. It was pouring down rain, thundering and lightening, therefore the boats were not running. We didn't think the bus would ever come!!

Generally we have a car so quite often we drive ourselves, especially if we are in a hurry (although NOT to MK. We always take disney transportation then). It's not that we don't like the buses, it just gives us a few extra minutes in the morning, or it is less of a worry if we have to be somewhere for dinner. In that case, we have more time in the parks!!

 

[ntsammy5]

Personally I don't see much of a difference in bus service between different resorts and we've stayed at all of them except DVC and CSR. Of course the monorails and boats are a different story. We also always rent a car too and only use the buses about 25-30% of the time. Of all the resorts, though, I like SOG buses the best. JMO

 

[DizFanSLD]

We have always had great luck with buses at POP; the drawback is that the POP bus stops are farthest from the gate at all of the parks, which means a bit more walking at the end of the day.

 

[dpndka]

I've read that bus service to Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios is terrible from GF. If that's the case for the other two resorts also then the monorail would be convenient for Magic Kingdom and Epcot only. If Magic kingdom is the park you will be spending most of your time, then you can try Wilderness lodge which has direct transportation to MK by boat. Also the "garden wing" at the contemporary is fairly affordable if you can manage a AAA discount or something.