Best resort transportation

[JessicaMarie]

Hi, I am planning a trip for this May or June. I am curious if there are any suggestions on best tranportation at resorts?

We have stayed at:

Pop century, no problems except at night when busy which was understandable. Seemed like busses got us quickly in the mornings and we didnt have multiple stops before parks.

Polynesian, same as pop century except nights seemed quicker.

This last trip, we stayed at the caribean beach resort, waiting a few times almost an hour for a bus to take us to the parks and I really wasnt happy about having to stop at multiple locations at the resort.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I was thinking maybe some where close to epcot would be best being it seems to be more in the "middle" of all the parks? Thanks!!

 

[ice cube]

We found that staying at one of the Epcot area resorts are the way to go.You can either walk to Epcot or DHS from the resorts or take the boat. Then when going to one of the other parks or DTD its just a short ride..

 

[bean bunny]

Totally agree with ice cube! We have found the YC/BC perfect for us. We used to stay at All Star Sports or CS because we thought we weren't in the room that much and didn't carry about the amenities. One stay at YC and we were hooked. We don't care as much about the millions of plusses to being there - the main selling point for us is ACCESS! We can walk to two parks and technically could get to three without riding a bus (walk to Epcot and monorail to MK.) I think any of the Epcot area resorts are a great option!

 

[Amy&Dan]

My opinion after staying in each "area" of WDW is that it all evens out. The Epcot resorts are great for Epcot, good for DHS (longer walk or longer still boatride) and shared busses to all other areas. Monorails are great for families with young kids, esp in strollers which can be wheeled onto the monorail with no folding up! But to me, each resort has an area/park it really excels at getting to due to distance or transportation mode (including walking from some resorts to some areas) but other areas that it is further from.

What I didn't like about the Epcot resorts was that they didn't offer a bus to DHS. The walking was far for my then 8 year old on hot summer days to DHS (or rather back to the resort from DHS after a long day at the park) but to Epcot it was wonderful! I just wish they'd have a bus to DHS. And I have to say the sharred busses to AK in particular (our favorite park) were a total nightmare, between all the resort stops and then the Blizzard Beach stop, it somestimes took near an hour to get to AK. But we loved that area and during Food and Wine, that would be our top pick!

My favorite thing is a resort that busses to all areas without sharing with another resort. I think I am in the minority on that one. But I am well past the stroller thing and for me, the busses are not a bother. I just don't like sharing with another resort, even though most resorts that don't share have multiple stops inside them.

I think any resort can be wonderful or not so much so, its sort of a luck thing. We had great luck at CBR but swore we'd never stay at Boardwalk without a car again.

Transportation is just too hard to predict and sometimes its just a matter of having the bus karma work in your favor. Or not! I read reports on here from people that had transportation nightmares, only to see somebody else post "oh I was there that same time and we had great bussing".

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

My opinion after staying in each "area" of WDW is that it all evens out...

Agreed

 

[DAZY3BYZ]

My opinion after staying in each "area" of WDW is that it all evens out. The Epcot resorts are great for Epcot, good for DHS (longer walk or longer still boatride) and shared busses to all other areas. Monorails are great for families with young kids, esp in strollers which can be wheeled onto the monorail with no folding up! But to me, each resort has an area/park it really excels at getting to due to distance or transportation mode (including walking from some resorts to some areas) but other areas that it is further from.

What I didn't like about the Epcot resorts was that they didn't offer a bus to DHS. The walking was far for my then 8 year old on hot summer days to DHS (or rather back to the resort from DHS after a long day at the park) but to Epcot it was wonderful! I just wish they'd have a bus to DHS. And I have to say the sharred busses to AK in particular (our favorite park) were a total nightmare, between all the resort stops and then the Blizzard Beach stop, it somestimes took near an hour to get to AK. But we loved that area and during Food and Wine, that would be our top pick!

My favorite thing is a resort that busses to all areas without sharing with another resort. I think I am in the minority on that one. But I am well past the stroller thing and for me, the busses are not a bother. I just don't like sharing with another resort, even though most resorts that don't share have multiple stops inside them.

I think any resort can be wonderful or not so much so, its sort of a luck thing. We had great luck at CBR but swore we'd never stay at Boardwalk without a car again.

Transportation is just too hard to predict and sometimes its just a matter of having the bus karma work in your favor. Or not! I read reports on here from people that had transportation nightmares, only to see somebody else post "oh I was there that same time and we had great bussing".

ITA!! We were disappointed with the transportation at the BC because of all the bus sharing and the long walk or longer boat ride to DHS. Our best transportation experiences overall were at the Poly. Having the monorail to take you to MK or Epcot was unbeatable. We also had no problems getting to the other parks. Really, AK was very good too because we didn't have to share...except with Kidani which was only a minor inconvenience. I agree that the bus sharing at resorts causes the most delays and filled buses!

 

[Missytara]

Have to also agree; that when looking at the entire place as a whole; the transportation at each resort will also even out.

Also, you are asking a question which could be very subjective.

What is great transportation to me might be utterly annoying to you. I stay at POR and think the bus transportation is outstanding and with the water taxi, it just enhances it.

I see people complain at the bus transportation at POR and think the water taxi is slow and boring - I think it is leisurely and relaxing.

 

[KatMark]

I agree with Amy&Dan as well. You can have good or bad transporatation at any resort -- be it by bus, boat or monorail (some of our worse experiences were waiting for a monorail at the Contemporary). I would never pick a resort based on transportation alone because of this.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

In the past when staying at the Contemporary we found it was great having the walkway to the Magic Kingdom, along with the Resort Monorail and the Epcot Monorail from the TTC. Now with the excpetion of two times when we had issues with the Resort Monorail breaking down on one trip, all the other times we never had problems with the Monorail and I don't include times when it stops on the tracks for 1 or 2 minutes when waiting for another one to leave the station we are going to. As for their buses we never had problems when taking them to Hollywood Studios or the Animal Kingdom, however when going to Downtown Disney we choose to drive ourselves because those buses seem to take forever. Although the Downtown Disney buses seem to be a problem with all the Deluxe Resorts.

When we have stayed at the Boardwalk Inn we had the walkways or boats to Epcot and Hollywood Studios, so those are great no matter what. Now last month the only park we took a bus to the Magic Kingdom and we only waited 5 minutes for the bus after just missing it and going back the bus was already at the station in the Magic Kingdom, so we didn't wait at all. So obviously we once again always drove to Downtown Disney and decided to drive to the Animal Kingdom.

 

[mjp12831]

Deluxes are often noted for the benefit of being close to the park, but in reality they're close to a park - you still have transportation considerations to the other 3 parks. This said, I could see the benefit of a monorail resort b/c it gets you to E and MK. I'm not sure I'd stay at WL or AKL because of transportation.

I really think that POFQ has great transportation - it's a relatively short bus ride to any of the parks AND there's only one bus depot, so no wasted time riding around the resort or going on a 10 minute walk to get to the depot.

 

[Brian J.]

Boardwalk area resorts in my opinion are the best for transportation. You cannot beat the ability to walk or take a short boat ride to both Epcot and the Studios from BC/YC/BW or Swan/Dolphin. Dealing with the buses to MK and AK from these resorts isn't bad and the ability to walk home after the night time shows at DS and Epcot is great.

Brian

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Deluxes are often noted for the benefit of being close to the park, but in reality they're close to a park - you still have transportation considerations to the other 3 parks. This said, I could see the benefit of a monorail resort b/c it gets you to E and MK. I'm not sure I'd stay at WL or AKL because of transportation.

Actually the Contemporary, Polynesian, Grand Floridian and Wilderness Lodge are the only Deluxe Resorts close to one park and that's the Magic Kingdom. Now even though they are not close to Epcot with the Monorail Resorts it's very easy getting there with the Resort Monorail to the TTC and the Epcot Monorail, so it's almost like they are close. Now the Wilderness Lodge is the only one among them that has a bus to Epcot, so they just have one more bus to the other parks compared to the Monorail Resorts.

The Boardwalk, Yacht Club, Beach Club, Swan & Dolphin are close to two parks being Epcot and Hollywood Studios. So for them you would only have bus transportation to the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom.

 

[DisneyChristmas]

Only not-good transporation we've ever encountered is going from Downtown Disney to a resort - any resort- by bus. Often a bus does a drop-off, and then the driver pulls ahead to a rest point and waits 20 minutes or so before going back into service.

Or maybe we ALWAYS choose the wrong time to leave DD.

 

[bfwood]

we stayed POR when we went 2 years ago and had no probs with transportation.....didn't get a chance to use the water tax though
Staying at Pop this time and hoping for short waits and efficient trips!

 

[Kimberle]

Welcome to the Dis!

I have stayed at resorts all over the property. I think Pop is currently the only resort with only 1 stop. All other have multiple stops and/or stop at multiple resorts. I'd guess that when the new Art of Animation opens, they will share the bus route with Pop.

If there is 1 park you plan on spending the most time in, stay in that area. For example, if you've little kids and plan on spending the most time in MK, stay at a MK area resort. (CR is the only one with a walking path.)

The Epcot area resorts are great for visiting Epcot and Studios. However, they (all 5 resorts) often share 1 bus. One night coming home from DTD, (I timed it), the ride was 7 minutes to the first resort stop, it took 20 minutes weaving around parking lots to make our BC stop and they still had to go on to the BWI. (I timed it, it's not an estimate.)

I'd really recommend staying at the resort that you are most attracted to. WDW is always tweeking their transportation. It's not really something you can control. If it is that important, think about renting a car.

 

[Lynne M]

Transportation options might weigh into my choice of resort, but I don't consider reports of transportation performance at all. Meaning...

I look at transportation options for each resort, and consider what my plans are for the trip. For instance, if I were going to be spending a lot of time at Epcot and DHS, I'd go with BWI, BC, YC, Swan or Dolphin, because of the boat service to those two parks, and the ability to walk to at least one of them.

If I were splitting my time between MK and Epcot, the Poly would be tempting, because of the monorail to MK, the boat to MK, and the ability to walk to the TTC to catch the Epcot monorail.

As for reports of transportation performance.....it's important to remember that each resort does not operate its own bus, boat or monorail service. There's one central Disney transportation system, the buses, boats and monorails are dispatched centrally. People tend to see things in terms of their resort ("I had awful waits for buses at WL on Tuesday"), but the problem has nothing to do with WL - it's coincidental. It could be AKL being affected by the mechanical breakdown, the sick driver, etc, the next day. Every resort has their bad-transportation-luck days.

 

[ClareH37]

As Epcot is my favourite park I love staying at the Epcot resorts, particularly BWI, I love walking into Epcot and also the walk to the studios (I don't really do the boats unless I'm tired). Next trip I'm planning on a split stay, half at the BWI and half a MK resort, possibly the CR.

The best transport I've experienced was at Coronado Springs, they bus only does that resort's loop, no other resort, and we found the bus hardly ever crowded.

 

[aubriee]

The best transport I've experienced was at Coronado Springs, they bus only does that resort's loop, no other resort, and we found the bus hardly ever crowded.

I agree! I go to WDW several times a year and have stayed at all three levels of resorts. Consistently no matter what time of the year, CSR has always had the best transportation. Maybe because it's a convention resort and conventioneers are in meetings all day, leaving the buses to us, but I've never had to stand on a CSR bus in the mornings, even when I get on at the last stop. They also seem to come more frequently.

We've gotten the worst bus transportation at AKL (twice), BW, and YC. We've also had several pretty bad waits at CBR with alot of full buses.

 

[Sue M]

IMO Poly has the best transportation, with boat or monorail to MK, and walking path to TTC for Epcot monorail.
We had under 5 min waits for bus to AK or DHS.