Port Orleans Riverside - bus headaches?

Stacymarie1216

Mouseketeer
Joined
Apr 2, 2015
I just read something that said Port Orleans Riverside is known for bus chaos and long lines.

We are planning on taking the bus from POR in the early am to get to our MK 8:05 breakfast reservations but heading back to our room around 12:30 or 1 and then taking our car back after dinner. Does anyone have experience with heading back at that time to POR? Is it more just nighttime after the fireworks that it would be an issue?

Thanks!
 
I have stayed at Riverside a few times and we never had any issues with the buses. I love that the South Depot has the screen that tells you how long another bus should show up for each park. We may have just had good luck. Coming back in the mid afternoons is something we do daily and most times we've been the only ones on the bus. At night around closing of course it gets crowded but I am used to that everywhere.
 


We stayed at POR December 2012 and had no problems GETTING anywhere. We DID have long lines getting back. It even became a joke with us. When we would approach the bus stop leaving a park (before we'd even see the chart) we'd look for the massive line and laughingly say "that's ours!" and it would be, every time. One time leaving MK it even took us 4 bus runs (waiting in line) before we were able to board. We were only able to sit maybe 4 or 5 times the whole week. It was not chaotic and it didn't ruin our time though; it's just now we know.

ETA: We had no little ones so we stayed until the parks closed; so it was very busy. It's just a very large resort.
 
No really bus problem. It is a bigger resorts with multiple bus stops, so the bus do get more crowded at busy time compares to French Quarters or other resorts with a single stop. Even after Wishes, the wait is never more than 2 buses.
 


Thanks everyone! I figured it would be pretty dead around 12 or 1, but just thought I would ask since I read that on a big Disney blog.
Any troubles getting TO the parks in the morning? We're hoping to leave around 7:15ish.
 
No, no problems getting to the parks, and if you don't leave the park when EVERYONE else is (like we did, lol) there's no problem getting back. We did have one glitch (and it was just a glitch) where all the other park buses came twice, and AK 3 times when the MK bus hadn't come once, but that was more like a glitch, not the norm. Also, we were closer to the Lobby, and I think that was the last stop, at least it was while we were there.
 
Not chaotic, nor long lines. The only problem with POR buses is that there are 4 stops at the resort, plus sometimes they share the POFQ bus stop. So if you get on the first bus stop, there is a chance that you will make 3 to 4 more stops before heading to the park, which can add about 20 minutes depending on how many scooters need to load.

It's something we don't like about POR, versus our first couple of stays at POP. POP has one stop, so it's on the bus and right to the park. Same coming back. On the bus and off at the resorts only stop. Overall, it's about the only drawback we have with POR. The other features of the resort are fantastic.

Dan
 
Stayed at POR for a week last year and only had one bus issue on an EMH MK morning. It was a significant issue but it was not the norm. Otherwise we had no complaints. We loved the resort.
 
There are many discussions about good and bad bus service at various resorts. I think it's important to keep in mind that it isn't as if each resort has its own fleet of buses and can control when they come and go. All buses are dispatched from a central point, so the resort itself has no ability to order when or how often buses come. It's all up to the dispatch system. So it isn't really fair to say that any resort has consistently good or bad bus service, since that isn't a resort function. Sometimes buses will be plentiful and lines will be short, and sometimes not, and everyone's experience will vary based on the luck of the draw at the time.
 
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We have had 8am reservations several times when staying at POR. We've never had a problem leaving at 7:15ish to get there on time. We've also taken mid day breaks and not had problems.
 
We're hoping to leave around 7:15ish.

Leave earlier. Or at least be AT the bus stop at 7:15, not leaving your room.

We have had a problem at POR in the morning, but we always have problems with buses.

I'd just drive. Yep, to MK. When you get there that early you generally get to park close enough so you can just walk to TTC and not deal with the tram. At least that is our experience. (and if you go back around 3ish then all the earlybirds have cleared out, the parking CMs are gone, and you can get up front again)
 
we had the same experience as Mambo Junkie--no problems getting anywhere from POR, but sometimes long waits (and long lines) getting back.

We're staying at ASSp this trip, but for our pre-RD breakfast at the MK we're aiming to be at the park by 7:30ish. I'd definitely aim to be there as early as your group can.
 
We have stayed at PO-Riverside twice now in the last five years, and experienced no real big bus issues. That doesn't mean we didn't stand quite a few times, but buses seemed to arrive in a timely manner. We had worse bus issues staying at POFQ. Yes it is a smaller resort, but only has one bus stop so that is where everyone was heading in the morning. Some mornings we had to wait for a second or third bus and this was in September.
 
We got back about 3 weeks ago from our POR stay. We had a RR and almost exclusively used the east depot. 90% of the time, it was the last pick-up, so once we got on the bus, we went straight to our destination. We did arrive at the stop in plenty of time in case there was a wait, and we did have some 15 minutes-ish waits. But no real bus issues. We were very happy.
 
We have stayed at POR a few times and have also never encountered bus issues. We never missed an early ADR or anything like that. The lines can be really long after park closing, but they usually call in for extra buses, so it's not really THAT bad when the park closes.

We usually made it a point to not wait at the South Depot for buses to the parks or DTD. The South Depot is usually the last stop that is picked up and is also right by the main building. Even if we had breakfast at the Mill, we would usually go back to our room after, get whatever we needed for the parks that day, then would head to whatever stop was closest to our room, which are usually very empty. I'll take the little extra walking over the pushing and shoving to get on the bus in the morning any day.
 

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