Bus Rides from SSR

[Mom of Goofy & Ariel]

I am not a DVC owner but exchanged my timshare through Interval International for week of Feb. 15-22, 2008 (not sure how I got so lucky to get a vacation week) in a studio at Saratoga Springs Resort. I will be traveling with DH, DD (11) and DS (8). Does anybody know the approximate time it takes to get to the parks by bus from SSR? We will also have our car. Is it easier to get to the parks by resort bus or car? Any and all information will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[CarolAnnC]

During our SSR stays we found it was easier for us to use the car to get to the parks. Parking is outside the SSR units so very quick and easy to get in your vehicle.

Not to say that the buses are not good, just worked out to be more convenient for us to drive.

 

[Mischa]

On our last trip (Dec. 06) taking the bus from SSR to the parks didn't seem very long (maybe say 15 minutes or so - give or take). We stayed at Congress Park and we only waited a few minutes for the bus to arrive.

Now, the evenings were a bit different. When the parks closed and we were headed home to SSR...it was quite a wait! One night we actually waited an hour and a half for a bus from Epcot to SSR. (And yes I complained!!) But the other times the wait was anywhere from 15 minutes to 1/2 hour.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[nuts]

I am not a DVC owner but exchanged my timshare through Interval International for week of Feb. 15-22, 2008 (not sure how I got so lucky to get a vacation week) in a studio at Saratoga Springs Resort. I will be traveling with DH, DD (11) and DS (8). Does anybody know the approximate time it takes to get to the parks by bus from SSR? We will also have our car. Is it easier to get to the parks by resort bus or car? Any and all information will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Never waited more than 15 minutes for a bus. Actual travel time is about 10 minutes to EPCOT/MGM, 15 minutes to Magic Kingdom, and about 20 minutes to Animal Kingdom. (Times are accurate +/- 60 minutes).

 

[Chuck S]

While I haven't stayed at SSR, my home resort is the nearby OKW. Because Mom has a manual wheelchair, and we have a lift in the car, we usually drive to the parks, but ALWAYS take the bus to Magic Kingdom. Also, if we didn't have the wheelchair lift and handicap parking placard, I think we would use the buses most of the time.

 

[JimMIA]

We usually drive to the theme parks from OKW, which is right down the street from SSR. As others have said, it's easy and painless. We have taken the bus to MK, and the big advantage to bussing there is the bus takes you right to MK. If you drive, you park at TTC and then take a monorail or ferry from there.

Also, our normal pattern is to go to a park in the AM, return to the resort during the hotter part of the day for pool and/or nap, and then go somewhere for dinner and maybe some more attractions. Doing that, with two round trips a day instead of one, we prefer the car.

Keep in mind that, as an onsite guest, you will have free theme park parking (usually $10 per day, I think), so it won't cost you extra if you choose to drive.

 

[Princess Roo]

I think you will find the bus at SSR to be similar to other Disney resorts... Some people strongly prefer driving and some prefer bus.

For us, we always take the bus to Magic Kingdom (since parking is at the TTC and still requires monorail after parking, but the bus goes direct). For the other parks, if we are getting there at park opening, we drive since with a good parking spot we find it quicker than bus. Also, if staying for closing show at Epcot, we lean toward driving since you sometimes need to wait for multiple buses before there is room.

Enjoy your trip to SSR!!

 

[JimMIA]

Also, if staying for closing show at Epcot, we lean toward driving since you sometimes need to wait for multiple buses before there is room.

I think that's excellent advice for any park. If you're planning on closing the place...drive.

At MK, you'll face a huge crush of folks waiting for the monorail, but it goes pretty quickly. Then you may have to wait again for a tram if you parked so far that you want to tram. I'm not sure how long that takes at closing because we usually just walk to the car.

 

[BroganMc]

Offsite we always used our car. Onsite, we always used the bus. Why? Because with our APs we wanted the freedom to park hop and not have to journey back for our car. The one time we waited for a bus was at Magic Kingdom at closing. But that was due to the fact we had two scooters/powerchairs and there were three in line. The next bus arrived a few minutes later and pretty much everyone boarded. They had them lined up in the queue to be dispatched as soon as one resort bus departed.

Now perhaps I was just lucky or it was a less than busy time, but my longest wait for a SSR bus was 5 minutes. It took me longer to catch a ferry to the Boardwalk from MGM.

I'd really only use a car if I was traveling to a resort for a meal and was short on time. And then of course I'd have to move my car somewhere.

 

[rbl291]

Since 2005 we have not had a car while "coming home" to Disney. In 6 trips, I can only remember once when I was actually upset at the wait for a bus back from one of the parks to SSR. Even that one was explainable as the bus that should have been there in the next 15 minutes had an emergency and was unable to notify the dispatch that he couldn't get there. All in all, we plan our days by the est. time it takes to travel from resort to park to DTD or the monorail for what we want to to that day.

We usually do a park in the morning, go back to the resort for a break and head out to dinner or another park for the evening. The rides back late in the evening always seem much longer than they really are with all the "tired" people trying to do the same as us! Once you learn the bus routines and where you can and can't get to from each place, its really quite convenient!

 

[rsquare]

Our home resort is SSR and we've stayed there quite a bit. The bus system is pretty good overall, but there are gaps in the system. For instance, it always seems that when we have a dinner ADR at a park restaurant and try to leave from SSR, the busses are really slow in coming. We even get to the bus stop 1.5 hours early and almost every time, just barely make or miss our ADR time. You don't need that kind of stress on vacation.

The worst example was when we tried to go to V&As at GF. We waited for 45min. for a bus to MK and finally gave up and took the car. Unfortunately, after V&A and lots of wine, we then had to sit around in GF (worse places to hang out, I know) to sober up enough to drive back.

So, the bus system is great for getting to a park and hopping parks all day, but if you've got a place to be at a certain time (especially in the early evening hours) take your car.