Bus transportation is terrible!

[Sherlee]

Been here since Friday and have never ever seen it this bad! average of 30 minutes from resort. In line at Epcot now and do not foresee getting on one for two to three more busses

 

[Capang]

That stinks! We had similar problems this summer when we stayed at WL.

 

[kandb]

I would imagine when the parks close, it's the busiest time to get a bus back to the resort.

 

[WebmasterJackie]

I would imagine when the parks close, it's the busiest time to get a bus back to the resort.

It sure is! Plus, the Food & Wine Festival is insanely popular and everyone stays until closing time.

I'd hop in a taxi if we didn't drive our own car.

 

[crostorfer]

We had terrible bus service, everywhere, all last week. We gave up three of four days and just took cabs. In retrospect, I knew better than to try to rely on the buses and should have just trusted my instincts and taken the cab to begin with.

We had a very informative conversation with a courtesy van driver from the Animal Kingdom on Saturday morning. Apparently, the guests aren't the only ones who are frustrated with the decline in the bus service. The employees are just as disgruntled. Apparently new management took over about a year ago and changed the way things are done. The bus drivers aren't allowed to go out of their way to provide extra service any longer, and if they do, they are reprimanded.

 

[jsutherin1]

I guess it's all in the timing. We stayed at WL two weeks ago and the longest we waited for a bus anywhere was 30 minutes which was at Disney Springs and to be expected there. Every other time it was less than 10 minutes. Sorry you had a rough time with it OP

 

[disnut8]

Been here since Friday and have never ever seen it this bad! average of 30 minutes from resort. In line at Epcot now and do not foresee getting on one for two to three more busses

Could we get more information? Time of day or night would be a big help.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

OP posted at 9:55 pm last night (Monday) and said they were currently in the bus line, so definitely affected by Epcot closing.

 

[GeneralTso]

This is a very common complaint and why we avoid the busses. NO thank you.

I particularly loathe leaving Magic Kingdom after the fireworks. It's insanity and claustrophic. Once we discovered watching from California Grill at The Contemporary, problem solved!

 

[Keli]

We were there last week as well and has terrible experiences with the buses. Usually at least 30-40 minute wait, very long lines for buses, both leaving resorts and also leaving parks. Different days, different times of day, all busy. Very different from other visits. We did stay at the carribbean beach this time and it's such a huge resort, so many guests at their bus stops, maybe that affected our trip badly.

 

[kimieko]

We were there 9/29-10/6 and were extremely happy with the busses. We never waited more than 9 minutes for a bus anywhere. The majority of the time the bus was there when leaving a park or was there within 2-3 minutes. The 9 minute wait was at the resort (POFQ) and heading to MK.

 

[aretha30]

We were there early August and didn't experience long waits either with the exception of Disney Springs. Even when we left MK at the end of the night we would let the majority of people go before us. We hit the stores or rides again and then go to the buses, this helped avoid most of the crowds. At the other parks we drove our car the majority of the time, we did take the buses more then in the past few years though and they were better then they have been.

 

[gem21]

Agreed... bus system was so much worse than any of the previous times. Consistently waited 20+ minutes for one bus... once waited over 30 minutes for an Epcot bus while no less than 6 MK buses passed (most were completely empty!). Stayed at POR and buses would pass by our stop full because we had been waiting 20+ min already so filled up at other stops. Lots of similar issues throughout our stay, very inefficient and inexcusable on Disney's part. Doubt we will return without renting a car after this experience.

 

[amylevan]

Been here since Friday and have never ever seen it this bad! average of 30 minutes from resort. In line at Epcot now and do not foresee getting on one for two to three more busses

My bad. Poor reading skills this morning. Nevermind.

 

[littleblackegg]

We used to exclusively use the buses and the monorail to get around but the past two years or so have seemed so loud, chaotic and not enough buses. Also, the construction all over the place has contributed to congestion which is certainly expected. The normal courtesies you used to see of people offering their seats to older guests or parents holding heavy sleeping children or pregnant ladies or people with leg casts and the like just don't seem to be observed any more. People get all hot under the collar over being bumped with back packs or strollers when these things are inevitable on a crowded bus. People used to just have fun and be nice. Now it's like some sort of reality TV show on those buses. Yuck. We drive our car. My husband can go back to holding doors for ladies and letting people get in front of us and being polite. He hates an uncivilized environment.

 

[GPC0321]

This is making me consider driving to the parks once we're there. We'd planned on parking the car and not getting in it again until it was time to go home, but I'm not interested in long waits and insane crowds on buses. We're at Coronado, which I've heard has good bus service, but it's going to be a very high crowd time and we're going to be leaving at park closing (or at least after fireworks) three nights of our five nights.
Hmmm. Something to think about.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Complaining about the buses at closing is like living in a large house...hard to get around it.

 

[littleblackegg]

This is making me consider driving to the parks once we're there. We'd planned on parking the car and not getting in it again until it was time to go home, but I'm not interested in long waits and insane crowds on buses. We're at Coronado, which I've heard has good bus service, but it's going to be a very high crowd time and we're going to be leaving at park closing (or at least after fireworks) three nights of our five nights.
Hmmm. Something to think about.

It's nice. We leave a big cooler full of ice and chilled beverages. Put a few washcloths in there to use on our necks and faces. Cool off and drive to our next location listening to some music or NPR. Very refreshing. The key is to know your route in advance. My husband starts chatting and misses turns and gets lost! We plan out our routes in advance to maximize fun time! If I didn't have a car with me I'd take a cab. Life is short!

 

[GPC0321]

It's nice. We leave a big cooler full of ice and chilled beverages. Put a few washcloths in there to use on our necks and faces. Cool off and drive to our next location listening to some music or NPR. Very refreshing. The key is to know your route in advance. My husband starts chatting and misses turns and gets lost! We plan out our routes in advance to maximize fun time! If I didn't have a car with me I'd take a cab. Life is short!

Cool. We're not hopping, so we'd just be going between resort and one park. I do think we'll have some days split up by rests/swimming at the resort and then back to the same park (Epcot for sure and maybe MK).
We'll see. I just swore off the monorail on another thread and said I'd stick with buses! Now I'm wary of buses! Next I'll read about a boat sinking and I'll have to scrap the boat ride across the World Showcase lagoon! LOL! (Hopefully not!)
We'll just have to play it by ear. At least we have the option of driving ourselves in a pinch.

 

[loves to dive]

I was there week before last and my longest wait was around 2:30 at ASSp waiting on a bus for Epcot, I'm guessing it was around a 20 min. wait. Bus back to ASSp from HS same night (it was a Monday) around 9 pm didn't wait but about 5 min for bus. Other than that, I took the bus to MK from YC one morning around 8:30 and only waited around 5 min, took bus from YC to AK one morning around 8:30 and actually arrived at bus stop about a minute before the bus, bus from AK to Epcot same day around 11:30 and got to stop same time as bus, bus from Epcot to CS (just looking over resort) at 2:00 bus got there about 10 min. after I got in line. Bus from CS to Epcot around 3 same day, waited about 10 min, caught the bus at the last stop there so didn't have to ride around the resort and though it was crowded there was no one standing. Since I was staying at YC those were the only times I took the buses, on the mornings from YC the people at BC, which is the 2nd stop did have to stand and the bus was pretty packed.