POR Buses - Are they THAT Bad?

[wen8jr]

I've ready quite a bit about bad experiences in waiting for the POR buses...are they really that bad?

 

[jsantini]

I've stayed at POR-French Quarter and I thought the bussing was fine, but we got picked up before Riverside and I think that makes a big difference. We really liked the resort.

 

[disneyworldluvr349]

we stay at POR every year we go to Disney and I love their transportation. You are really near by any of the bus stops no matter where your room is. I have never had a problem with the buses.

 

[Indianadisneyfan]

I stayed at POR last year in Oct. and didn't have any problems with the buses. They came by about every 10 min. going to different parks. They were never crowded and were very fast getting to the parks.

 

[Joyous99]

We stayed there in Sept. this past year & we had an awful experience with the buses. The worst of the problems we encountered coming back from the parks at closing time, where the lines at the POFQ/POR bus stop were much, much longer than any other resorts's bus stop-it generally took, on the average, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours to get back to the resort each night. We also had other problems getting to the parks in the morning & a horrendous ride to DTD that we never reached our destination (Disney Quest), gave up & went back to the room. That was just our experience, which doesn't mean you will have a bad experience as well. Personally, though, if I ever stay here again (and that is a big IF), I would most definitely have a car on hand & drive to the parks!

 

[Indianadisneyfan]

If you stay there and want to go to DTD I would take the boat. It's a nice ride in the evening and it's not that long a ride over there.

 

[2minny]

Yes, when we were there last June, the POR line was at least an hour wait to get back to the hotel, other lines were 1/4 of our line, very strange and very frustrating. You're tired, want to get back, kids crying and there's an hour wait with lines wrapping outside teh roped area.

 

[Nagle]

We gave up trying to take a bus from Riverside. We were stuck way way out in the back of the resort and just about every bus that went by kept on going because it was already full. One of the things that made our stay there the first & last time.

 

[HugsForEeyore]

I thought the buses were very bad when I stayed there. My room was in the very back corner of mansion Parterre Place, so I used the main bus stop, which seemed the closest. It was the same thing EVERY morning - people waiting for MK buses were waiting all over with poorly formed lines (or just no lines). So when the MK bus came, it usually was almost full from POFQ, and people would cram onto standing-room only. It got sooo frustrating, trying to fight the lines just to get smushed like sardines on the bus! The other park buses didn't seem to have the problem, just the MK one. And even if the MK bus was filled with us at the main stop, it had to STILL go around the loop, pass the other bus stops, before leaving for MK. It was a slow process, for sure! I got so fed up that I drove to MK by the end of the week, which I hate doing (park, take the tram, then monorail), but still probably was faster.

I remember it would usually take an hour and 15 minutes from when I arrived at the POR bus stop, to when I got off at the MK one. Too long. Yes, I could have woke up sooner to beat the crowds, but still, it seemed the buses could have been run better to handle the crowds.

I won't stay at POR anytime soon, and the buses are one reason.

 

[Family Fun Mom]

Nah, it wasn't too bad. The All Star busses made POR's bus waits look like a piece of cake! Every park we went to had VERY long lines for the All Star resorts. I felt bad for them each night.

 

[Disfan3]

you need to be prepared...we waited for a bus for awhile to get to AK but that was about it...and that was peak time....in March.

We would get to the stop early, like 8:30 am then we would make sure we left before the big finale of all the fireworks shows and about 30 mins before AK closed and we were always the first on the busses at closing times.

I am so use to the monorail but the busses were fine...I would just say be prepared and be smart about stuff. Give yourself plenty of time. I had a car there but never drove. We like the Disney busses, even at POR.


I can say tho...the Poly busses were almost always better at our Poly stay. Never crowded but then again we went in slower times...

it seems to me that AK is a big bus problem because it was at the Poly too....DTD busses seem few and far between at times too


and


Why would you take a bus to DTD??? The boat ride was awesome!! Relaxing, great, fun and you get to see A LOT of the WDW property not seen on a bus!

We did not think it was horrible...but not as wonderful as that monorail..!! Or that lovely boat to the MK...

but then again I saved about 300 a night...so....

 

[darkcyber]

We've stayed at POR everytime we've been to WDW and we've had no problems with the buses. The bus stop for POR gets really crowded at park closing and you have to wait in line for a while, but you would probably have the problem with any of them at that time. EVERYONE is trying to leave at the same time.

 

[alissa -dawn]

We stayed at Riverside Jan1-8 this year and had no problem with the busses.
We were right by the North bus stop and every morning we never had to wait more than 5 minutes. There was only one morning we had to stand on our way to MGM. Going home at night was fine too. The one night at MK when we stayed for Wishes we just got an ice cream and waited for the crowds to thin. We waited maybe 10 minutes. We were pleasantly surprised.

 

[txaggiemomof3]

The bus transportation was the worst part of our stay there too. We were there last Sept/October. We used the bus stop by the main building and it was always crowded unless you went at off times such as later in the morning or early afternoon. Many of the buses would arrive at our stop already mostly full from POFQ so we ended up standing most of the time. The lines back to POR at night were equally as bad. We always knew which line was the POR line when we were coming home because it was always much longer than all of the others. Thankfully, we had a rental car and chose to start using it when we knew the lines would be a problem.

I'm surprised that Disney hasn't done more to help the situation there. Otherwise, we really liked POR.

 

[Linda T.]

We stayed at POR - Riverside in June, 1997, and the bus service was horrible. We used the main bus stop and had very long waits to get on the bus. There was no actual bus lines to the different parks and to me that was alot of the problem. The resort was beautiful, but we never went back due to the bus service.

Linda T.

 

[Tinkerbelle32]

We go every first week of Jan. and first week of June and we have never had to wait over 20 min. for a bus. We love Riverside, its' our second home!

 

[LoveDopey]

We were just there at the end of March and I have absolutely no complaints about the buses. Yes, they were crowded but the one EMH morning at MK we waited about 5 minutes. The first bus that came filled up quickly (everyone was pushing to get on), we were near the back of the line. Before everyone could get on 2 more buses pulled up. By waiting we ended up on the 3rd, uncrowded bus.

 

[mjkaferle5]

I had read all of the horror stories before our trip in June. So when we got to POR we were prepared for the worst.

Strange thing is, we never had a problem with the busses. I would stay at POR again in a heartbeat!

 

[Mickey23]

We didn't care for the shared buses at POR /POFQ either. For us the main issue was returning from the parks with our strollers and kids. The queue was always huge because that is shared too.

 

[casaazul]

We just got back from POR during a busy Spring Break. We stayed at the furthest Mansion, Parterre Place, and used the North Station. We were the 2nd stop in POR, and there were no people from POFQ on bus. We usually waited only 5 minutes or so for a bus. Our first ride tho from POR to Epcot took over 40 minutes. Kind of made us mad, but after that the buses from POR were good....

NOW... from the Parks, especially MK it was another story. The lines at MK for POR resort were always long, DS joked when I asked which one was ours, "just look for the long line and no bus!!!". It wasn't too bad, but next time we go, we are getting a car. We just are not bus people.

Have fun no matter what!!!