AKV - Never again without a rental car

[sethschroeder]

I just wanted to throw this out there. During our September trip we had multiple instances of bus waits of over 40/50 mins. We even had issues with pre parking opening busses one day having a bus on the board being delayed 5 times and taking 45 mins.

To be clear these are wait times for the bus it does not then include the travel time.

The longest wait of the week was 1hr and 5 mins with the first person in line stating they were there 1hr and 15 mins. This was from Epcot 2 hours prior to closing.

For the 10 days at AKV we rode to/from places other than AK (which was always super fast) a total of 28 times. We saw these longer waits 6 but might have been 7 times.

All the buses to AK and any inter park busses were very timely.

As we recapped our trip this was by far the most negative aspect of the trip. The rooms were amazing, we got a view of a side Savanah in a standard view, and the pool was great and easy access from our room.

One of the frustration was the app for bus arrival times could not even be trusted with a extra morning magic bus for MK being delayed 5 times for over 35 mins. What made the matters worse is the there is no one to report the issue to and the CMs at the bus stops don't provide any information or even fake feedback like they are working on it.

 

[VandVsmama]

We experienced that at All Star Music in June of last year one day trying to get to MK. The bus wait time posted was 10 min. Then 5 min before, it shifted by 5 min. Then that process continued for probably 30-40 min. It was so maddening. Buses came and went for other parks. 2 buses for just Epcot alone! Realistically, what we should have done is get on one of the Epcot buses and then take the monorail to MK.

 

[dreynolds1982]

I hardly ever use the buses anymore. I've actually started taken Lyfts or Ubers to an from the parks (not the Minnie Vans, but regular Lyfts). Yeah, it's another expense, but you can always sign up with a new email address or something and get deals like $5 off each of your first 10 rides that make it relatively inexpensive, and it is BY FAR the fastest way to get to and from the parks (including driving yourself). The only park that makes it a bit tricky is MK because the Lyfts/Ubers drop off at the TTC, but you can get around this by just having them drop you off at Contemporary and then walking over. To me, the convenience of it all was well worth the expense.

 

[Anna Chassereau]

I hardly ever use the buses anymore. I've actually started taken Lyfts or Ubers to an from the parks (not the Minnie Vans, but regular Lyfts). Yeah, it's another expense, but you can always sign up with a new email address or something and get deals like $5 off each of your first 10 rides that make it relatively inexpensive, and it is BY FAR the fastest way to get to and from the parks (including driving yourself). The only park that makes it a bit tricky is MK because the Lyfts/Ubers drop off at the TTC, but you can get around this by just having them drop you off at Contemporary and then walking over. To me, the convenience of it all was well worth the expense.

This is exactly what my family and I do as well...we went last December and stayed at the Beach Club and then again this past August and stayed at AK Lodge and used a Lyft the entire time. Well worth the added expense to not have to deal with the buses.

 

[igrsod]

I've had bad luck with buses on many trips from various resorts, but I do remember one trip in particular at AKL where we had multiple bus wait times that were unacceptable.

 

[dreynolds1982]

This is exactly what my family and I do as well...we went last December and stayed at the Beach Club and then again this past August and stayed at AK Lodge and used a Lyft the entire time. Well worth the added expense to not have to deal with the buses.

Last time we were there, we exited Epcot via the Int'l Gateway right after Illuminations ended. During the walk out, we called a Lyft to the Boardwalk. Timed it so that we walked outside the lobby and he was just around the corner. Less than 5 minutes (and $6) later we were back at the hotel. Well worth it to not have to deal with crowds, buses, monorail, trams, traffic, etc.

 

[easyas123]

Last time we were there, we exited Epcot via the Int'l Gateway right after Illuminations ended. During the walk out, we called a Lyft to the Boardwalk. Timed it so that we walked outside the lobby and he was just around the corner. Less than 5 minutes (and $6) later we were back at the hotel. Well worth it to not have to deal with crowds, buses, monorail, trams, traffic, etc.

Exactly. We used Uber A LOT during our last two trips. The time savings far outweighed the additional cost.

 

[mattbaker]

Seriously Man! UBER is the only option left at places like these! It's like if you want to enjoy then spend more lol!

 

[nkereina]

The estimated next bus times are more superficial than they are useful. They update in real time based on GPS so if a bus gets delayed or happens to be early, it just adjusts accordingly. So its hard to rely on them to use them as a gauge of when to get to the bus stop. You could see the next bus is due to arrive in 10 minutes so you head to the bus stop, and by the time you get to the stop, the estimate has changed to 20 minutes. There's too many variables for Disney to say buses will arrive at 15 minute intervals or at :15 past the hour, for example.

That said, the wait times you encountered are not acceptable. I can understand once or twice, because any resort/park can have good or bad bus service on any given day, but to have it happen multiple times sounds like a staffing/cost issue.

 

[Minnesota!]

We have not had that experience at AKL/V, but twice at CSR, which is why it is on the "never again" list.

 

[clayfolks]

We’ve had very good luck with Kidani buses, but found the same bus disasters you had when staying at the Poly.

 

[Sue M]

It’s definitely not the norm. We always use the busses. I’m not paying for a rental plus what the resorts now charge for parking. If you’re going that route, Uber/Lyft would be cheaper than paying $25/nigh parking plus rental rate.

We have stayed at AKL twice and had good service. But our stay at Pop the busses were awful, for 10 days 30+ min bus wait was the norm. I don’t think the bus problems are resort specific. Like xyz Resort has awful bus service but the rest are great. I know for the trip at Pop other resorts we’re having problems too. There was talk about a shortage of bus drivers. It was resort wide.

My experience has been there’s always been a guy with a clipboard in the mornings at the bus stop. But if there isn’t, there’s a phone at the bus stop to alert someone about the problem.

 

[AngiTN]

Obviously, just reading here, as I've always said, no one resort is more prone to bus issues over another.
Timing and good luck makes ALL the difference. Neither of which is inside the guests control.
I guess I'm too lenient. I don't expect perfect bus service 100% of the time. Some, hopefully much less than 50%, or even 75%, of the time it's timely. A few random long waits are just part of using buses, anywhere. So OP says, 28 bus rides, 6 or 7 long waits, I guess that's not so bad. Within service parameters that I'd expect. Now, 16 or 17 excessive waits, I'd be making some reports on that.
Does it suck? Yes. Sometimes Uber is just the better way to go.
If I've approached the 30 min range, I call Uber.
If I know I'm in a tight corner to start with because we are running late, I call Uber.
If it's park opening time, I call Uber. I want to sleep as late as possible. Giving a 90 min window to take the bus, in case of worse case timing, or a 30 min window for Uber, it's an easy choice. One gives me an extra hour sleep.

 

[MarkinNM]

Our last trip we only had 1 long wait and that was for the Disney Springs bus, close to 30 mins going from the AKL and then going back to the AKL, other then that it was about and average of 10 mins or so, I agree with AngiTN the buses seem to be a timing and luck of the draw.....

 

[Shacka1]

I just stayed in Jambo Sept/Oct and had a great experience with the buses! The only time we had to wait long was after the fireworks at MK, probably a 40 min wait. But I think that's to be expected after the fireworks.

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

We have taken a bus maybe twice during our last 3 trips. Minnie van is the way to go. Yes it cost money, but the convenience is well worth every penny.

 

[Skywise]

Taking the bus from Hollywood Studios to the Polynesian at closing was a nightmare 2 trips in a row. It felt like we were the only bus stop in the area with a crowd and buses were showing up once every 30 minutes and taking about half the people at the stop. (ended up taking the contemporary bus back one night). Meanwhile you'd see lots of buses for Pop and All Stars

 

[Scubadaddy32]

This seems to be an ongoing theme for the Sept. buses. Long waits across the board for most of the resorts. We stayed at the Gran Destino Tower this Sept. and the buses were very inconsistent, so we just gave up on them and Ubered everywhere
We stayed at AKL in 2018 and the buses were just fine. Who knows what was going on this Sept.?
We UBER if we need to get somewhere quickly, so put us in that group as well.