Port Orleans Riverside - bus headaches?

[Tomh]

We've had the same experience our two stays at POP and two at POR. Really only an issue after park close at MK, HS, and Epcot after Wishes, F!, and Illuminations.

Being an able bodied guy, I tend to end up standing every bus trip even if I initially had a seat. There are just too many kids, women, and those who need a seat more. I'm o.k. with it, as my mind is typically already thinking about swimming at the resort pool, with a drink nearby.

Dan

I couldn't comment on the lines at AK, because we always go from AK to the Poly for dinner at Ohana. I used to have no problem standing on the bus, now I get a seat. I have a ruptured disc in my back, which 99% of the time doesn't bother me a bit, but if I twist or turn the wrong way I'm in agony, sometimes for days, which isn't something I care to have happen at Disney. I, however, have no problem waiting a bit longer for the next bus to ensure that seat.

Waiting around for the kiss goodnight at MK, or taking a bit of extra time to explore Mouse Gear and enjoy the fountain show (it is better after dark) at EPCOT are both good ways to wait out the crowds at the bus stops!

 

[Tomh]

I was under the impression that the only way to get to the actual Magic Kingdom that early was via a resort bus...the monorail and ferry don't run that early - is that wrong?

Buses begin running at 6:30. IF a MK bus comes to the stop right away at 6:30, you could conceivably be at MK by say 7:15 or so. Don't count on a bus getting to your stop right at 6:30 though, it doesn't always happen, and 7:30 to 7:45 is a much more realistic time frame for arriving at MK on the first bus.

Not much use if you have a breakfast at Contemporary at 7:00, or even 7:15 - 7:30, as you would then have to walk over to the contemporary, however if you have an 8:05 at Crystal Palace, or Cinderellas Royal Table, you will be fine taking the bus. I would, however, try to be at the bus stop as close to 6:30 as possible, and certainly no later than 7:00 just to be sure.

 

[Jazzerfan]

We'll be at Riverside next week (8 Days until trip) for anniversary trip and can't wait. We have a carriage ride at 6pm and then dinner at the SwanDolphin - Shula's steakhouse. Best route from POR - I was thinking bus to Hollywood Studio then boat to SwanDolphin or easier with a cab direct? Does anyone know approx. cost?

 

[Stacymarie1216]

Buses begin running at 6:30. IF a MK bus comes to the stop right away at 6:30, you could conceivably be at MK by say 7:15 or so. Don't count on a bus getting to your stop right at 6:30 though, it doesn't always happen, and 7:30 to 7:45 is a much more realistic time frame for arriving at MK on the first bus.

Not much use if you have a breakfast at Contemporary at 7:00, or even 7:15 - 7:30, as you would then have to walk over to the contemporary, however if you have an 8:05 at Crystal Palace, or Cinderellas Royal Table, you will be fine taking the bus. I would, however, try to be at the bus stop as close to 6:30 as possible, and certainly no later than 7:00 just to be sure.

We're driving to Disney so we'll have our car. We'll be driving to the other parks, but for our 3 days at MK we have 2 8:05 reservations and plan to be there around 7 on the day we'll be at rope drop - I just thought that the resort bus was our only way to get there that early.

 

[DisneyFive]

I couldn't comment on the lines at AK, because we always go from AK to the Poly for dinner at Ohana. I used to have no problem standing on the bus, now I get a seat. I have a ruptured disc in my back, which 99% of the time doesn't bother me a bit, but if I twist or turn the wrong way I'm in agony, sometimes for days, which isn't something I care to have happen at Disney. I, however, have no problem waiting a bit longer for the next bus to ensure that seat.

Waiting around for the kiss goodnight at MK, or taking a bit of extra time to explore Mouse Gear and enjoy the fountain show (it is better after dark) at EPCOT are both good ways to wait out the crowds at the bus stops!

AK lines are not a problem since there is no big conclusion to the park closing like the other three.

I totally get the "hidden" injuries. Our MIL was along on our first two visits, and even though she looks fine, her knees couldn't hold up to WDW walking and needed a scooter. She may have received a number of weird looks, but so be it.

I like the idea of hanging around EP after Illuminations. Haven't done that yet. We HAVE hung around MK for the kiss goodnight while having an Ice Cream from the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor. LOVE THAT experience.

Dan

 

[sdkuhn77]

We stayed 2 years ago at POR and we didn't have problems getting on the bus to go places, it was getting back from parks. We learned super fast that French Quarter bus stops are across or next to the POR bus stops and FQ lines were dead or very light and POR were 2-3 bus loads deep. We just hopped on the FQ bus and then walked back or got on the ferry to head back to POR. We stayed until the park closed at Epcot and it would have taken 3-4 buses by the time we would have loaded for POR and the French Quarter bus was half full sitting waiting for people to load. We loaded and were home in minutes.

 

[maxiesmom]

We'll be at Riverside next week (8 Days until trip) for anniversary trip and can't wait. We have a carriage ride at 6pm and then dinner at the SwanDolphin - Shula's steakhouse. Best route from POR - I was thinking bus to Hollywood Studio then boat to SwanDolphin or easier with a cab direct? Does anyone know approx. cost?

A cab is always quicker. And I haven't had to spend more than $25 to get anywhere on Disney property using a cab. To me, the hour of travel times a cab saves is well worth the cost.

 

[cluno]

Just back from POR, and we didn't really have many issues with the busses. We did have to wait in the rain at HS for a bus home after Fantasmic, but that's more of an issue with the teeny bus shelters at HS than with the bussing system itself. We often waited for a second bus at night when we stayed at Coronado Springs, and I fully expected that we might have to wait for a second, bus when leaving the parks.

For the busses going to the parks, the West Depot (closest to us) was the first stop every single time, and the South was the last every single time. I'm pretty sure we left some people behind at the South Depot one morning. On the way back from the parks, the South was the first drop off point.

 

[Tomh]

We're driving to Disney so we'll have our car. We'll be driving to the other parks, but for our 3 days at MK we have 2 8:05 reservations and plan to be there around 7 on the day we'll be at rope drop - I just thought that the resort bus was our only way to get there that early.

For the 8:05, the bus would work fine. For your rope drop day, I am assuming a 9:00 opening, or is that an 8:00 emh morning? If 9:00, why get there so early? I frequently arrive at MK around 8:30 or so for a 9:00 opening, and manage to get to everything I want to get to.

 

[Sue M]

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.

I've had this glitch happen at least once during every stay no matter the resort. Our usual length of stay range between 7 to 14 days

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.

I also prefer the depots behind the mansion too. So much quieter then the main depot.

 

[HairyChest]

Im one of those that was thinking no big deal i dont mind the bus stopping multiple places etc especially since we were on an adult only trip but wow it was a nuisance. We didnt come for an afternoon break just because of the amount of time it would take for the bus to make the rounds.

 

[IndyRnRfan]

It's only a few people that have had bus issues. We were there in the middle of the summer and never had any issues. Even coming back, we must have been the minority as we kept saying we will always stay here now since the lines are never long to get back to the resort.

 

[Disfan1968]

The UGLY ( and yes, it gets UGLY ) if you are leaving a park at anywhere near park closing time you can generally pick out the Port Orleans Riverside stop just by looking for the only bus stop where the line is out of the queue and running all over the place. The lines for a bus at park closing for POR at EVERY park are ridiculous. If you want to sit . .. expect that when you get to the front of the line, you will step aside and allow others to pack the bus, and you will wait for the next one. Expect the line to fill probably 3 to 5 buses before you get on one. No exaggeration, we have at times waited a full hour for a bus when leaving the park.

So, provided you are not on the far side of POR, would it make sense to just hop in the POFQ queue instead of the POR queue at closing time?

 

[dansdad]

So, provided you are not on the far side of POR, would it make sense to just hop in the POFQ queue instead of the POR queue at closing time?

That's an option that we have done in the past and it worked out well. However, now we prefer to grab a seat and a snack and people watch for about 30 minutes or so. Then by the time we get to the bus depots they are pretty much empty.

 

[Disfan1968]

We stayed 2 years ago at POR and we didn't have problems getting on the bus to go places, it was getting back from parks. We learned super fast that French Quarter bus stops are across or next to the POR bus stops and FQ lines were dead or very light and POR were 2-3 bus loads deep. We just hopped on the FQ bus and then walked back or got on the ferry to head back to POR. We stayed until the park closed at Epcot and it would have taken 3-4 buses by the time we would have loaded for POR and the French Quarter bus was half full sitting waiting for people to load. We loaded and were home in minutes.

Aha... now I see this post. Exactly what I was thinking.

 

[Tomh]

You CAN do that. I have done that. Sometimes the driver of the POFQ bus will take you to POR South and drop you off there. If it isn't TERRIBLY late (I think before 11:30) you can hop on a boat at the POFQ dock and take the boat back up to Riverside. If you have had a LONG day at MK (like an EMH evening) and you get back to POFQ after the boats have stopped, that walk can be a monster. DD and I did it one year after doing open to close at MK on an EMH evening. She was more than a little unhappy about my miscalculation causing us to miss the last boat hahahaha. If you don't mind walking, it's only perhaps a 10 to 15 minute walk (15 if you are a slow walker) from POFQ to POR.

 

[dchronister]

Don't plan on getting anywhere in a hurry. We have stayed at POR several times and the last time was so bad that I am staying else where next trip. I love the resort and would stay there everytime but the bus situation was the worse it has ever been. It was nov so I'm guessing that since it was a slow time that they picked up FQ every time. It took forever to get anywhere, back to the room was the same but it was always late so not a big deal, but it kept me from running back to the room for anything, to rest or if I forgot something, I bought another or just forgot about it. It didn't seem to be that bad the trip before last, but this one was frustrating.

 

[spritna]

We did a por 2 week trip this past oct. And bus stops were very very very bad! We were missing fp+ late for 2 breakfast adr's. And we got to the stops way early. Worst time we have ever had for the busses. By the end of the trip we were getting to the bus stop 2.5-3 hours before we needed to be there. No way in heck would i wait till 7:15 for a 8 adr.

 

[Mambo Junkie]

We did have one time where our bus didn't get dispatched for a very long time. In fact, one if the ither resorts had 3 buses come (one time there was no one waiting) and ours still hadn't come. I still feel it was a glitch but the bottom line is either drive or leave earlier. There's no guarantee regardless of where you stay and expect something to possibly happen. That way you'll be pleasantly surprised when it doesn't. We have also stated at Caribbean Beach, Beach Club Villas, and Old Key West with no issues like I encountered at POR.