Bus service for moderates (POR, CBR, CS)

[bcpage]

I have been reading through alot of posts to find info on the bus service from the moderates (POR, CBR, and CS) and thought maybe asking it in one place would make it easier. The Unofficial Guide says that POR takes 12:00, 8:00, 12:30, 16:15 for MK, Epcot, MGM, AK respectively, whereas CBR and CS all have times less than 8:00 and many times are less than 5:00. What is everyone's experience with the bus service at these three moderates? I'd like to try POR, but the times seem awful long.

Sorry for any confusion---the times listed above are the time it takes to get to each park from the resorts (according the the Unofficial Guide to WDW).

 

[abacobaby]

Wow, I didn't know that there was a bus "schedule" at the hotels at DW? We stayed at POR last year and I have never heard of that. I have always heard that the buses run every 20 minutes. We just always went to the bus stop and either a bus was already there or another one came along very quickly. Honestly, I don't think we ever waited more than 10-15min. Anyway, I hope someone posts a more definite answer for you, but honestly, this is the first time I have heard of scheduled bus pickup times for DW hotels.

 

[rgf207]

Wow, I didn't know that there was a bus "schedule" at the hotels at DW? We stayed at POR last year and I have never heard of that. I have always heard that the buses run every 20 minutes. We just always went to the bus stop and either a bus was already there or another one came along very quickly. Honestly, I don't think we ever waited more than 10-15min. Anyway, I hope someone posts a more definite answer for you, but honestly, this is the first time I have heard of scheduled bus pickup times for DW hotels.

I think the op is referring to the times it takes to get to each of the parks not the times the bus leaves. For instance it takes 12 minutes to get to MK from POR.

 

[hobogary]

Sounds like those times are the time it takes to travel to those parks, POR sounds a little long, but it is kind of away from things more where the other two are in the middle of things.AK would be the longest so that makes sense.If you travel when everyone else is (park opening and closing) buses come fast, in the middle of the day, you might wait the 20 mins (but have the bus to yourself, one big pvt limo.) Once you get on the bus, the times you had are how long it takes to drive to the parks.

 

[DisneyJen0504]

We have found that our of the moderates, CSR has the best bus transportation with more frequent buses and less waiting, as well as fairly short traveling time. When we visited friends at POFQ, it took forever just to get a bus and since it is further away from the parks as it is closer to DtD, it took longer to get everywhere.

 

[abacobaby]

Sorry about that! English is my second language and sometimes I get a little confused Anyway, back to your orignal question - I never timed any of our rides from POR, but they honestly never seemed that long to me. Only one of them (can't remember which one it is) that stops at the waterpark took longer.

 

[Buzz2001]

CSR has great bus service with time of under 5 mins to all except MK and DtD. CSR also does not share buses with other resorts. The conventioneers also make the bus less crowded.

 

[Buzz2001]

Hmm the bus service wasn't too bad. I usually waited a maximum of 10 minutes for a bus, often less. They did tend to be quite busy though and I had to stand a few times, although not as often as I expected. Only once did I have a nightmare wait at the resort - 35 minutes for the MGM bus and then I gave up as the rain started.

The times to get to the parks were pretty good I thought. It actually seemed to take longest to get to DD which seemed odd. I think it was because those buses go in a reverse pattern, where they usually start at East Depot, then right round the resort, and then to POFQ. This is opposite to the other buses. They also went via one of the water parks (either BB of TL I can't recall which) and that always slowed things down a lot.

The longest wait for buses was always at DD West Side, a few times I was there 25 minutes and then we were crammed in like sardines. I'd have got the boat back but I was at the wrong end of the strip and couldn't be bothered walking to the boat dock lol.

I would recommend the DD boat though when possible. Takes about 20 minutes and is very quiet and relaxing. Your boat captain will often give interesting little Disney trivia bits too.

Here is the original thread

 

[Hugpug]

Those times are not bad at all. At POR there are 4 stops verse other resorts. I believe ther are 4 or 5 stops at CBR due to size of the resort.

 

[CleveRocks]

CSR has great bus service with time of under 5 mins to all except MK and DtD. CSR also does not share buses with other resorts.

Are you implying that CBR and POR share buses with other resorts. If so, you'd be incorrect.

-- Eric

 

[Buzz2001]

Are you implying that CBR and POR share buses with other resorts. If so, you'd be incorrect.

-- Eric

CBR does not share buses but POR does. Read about it above.

I think it was because those buses go in a reverse pattern, where they usually start at East Depot, then right round the resort, and then to POFQ.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

A few things to keep in mind:

1 - Walt Disney World encompasses 47 square miles. That's roughly the same size as San Francisco, or twice the size of Manhattan.

2 - It takes 8 minues from CSR to MK, and 11 minutes from POR to MK. If 11 minutes is really considered "awfully long" and if 3 minutes is really going to make that much of a difference, then one might want to reconsider their vacation destination.

3 - Anything the unofficial guide says about transportation is bound to be loaded with inaccuracies.

 

[CleveRocks]

CBR does not share buses but POR does. Read about it above.

I think it was because those buses go in a reverse pattern, where they usually start at East Depot, then right round the resort, and then to POFQ.

Oops! I stand corrected. I guess I was thinking that POR and POFQ were all one resort, not separate resorts. Thanks for setting me straight!

-- Eric

 

[goofy4tink]

I will say that POR is one of the more centrally located resorts. I don't think it took us overly long to get anywhere on-site. I think maybe the longest ride was to AK. Yes, at times bus service is 'shared' with POR-FQ. But I have to say that when I stayed there last month, we stopped in FQ one time only. And that was a mid-day stop. At the busier times of day, POR has it's own service.

If you think the service is whacky at POR, you should try the buses at BW or BC.....thank heavens they don't share as much with S/D as they used to. It used to be...Swan, Dolphin, YC, BC, then BW. Now it's just two or three stops.

 

[lentesta]

3 - Anything the unofficial guide says about transportation is bound to be loaded with inaccuracies.

Tyler, I don't think you and the Guide are talking about the same thing.

The Unofficial Guide's number is the average time it takes a guest from the moment they show up at the resort bus stop, until they get off the bus at their destination. I think you're quoting something like the actual drive time once the bus' wheels start moving. Those are two completely different numbers, and probably explains why you think our number is high.

For the 2006 Guide, we rode 326 bus routes within WDW, covering just under 1,700 miles, from March through May of this year. I think that's a representative sample of the transportation system, and provides a reasonable degree of accuracy in the numbers. If you have suggestions on how to improve that, feel free to drop me a line: len@touringplans.com.

Sincerely,

Len

 

[hifidigital]

We were at POFQ last year and those numbers seem a little on the high side.

In the big scheme of things a 5 or 10 minute difference for a bus trip you might make once or twice a day should not dissuade you from staying at a resort you want to stay at.

We love POFQ last year and are trying out POR this year, with no worries about the bus transportation. The nice bonus for this moderate resort is the boat that takes you to DTD...very nice.

 

[scoutsmom99]

I have stayed at both POR and CBR and I have never had any serious bus issues at either. People like to think that because CBR has to make 7 stops around the resort it adds a lot of time on to your trip THAT IS SO NOT TRUE!

If 11 minutes is really considered "awfully long" and if 3 minutes is really going to make that much of a difference, then one might want to reconsider their vacation destination.

Tyler I totally agree with that statement.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Tyler, I don't think you and the Guide are talking about the same thing.

The Unofficial Guide's number is the average time it takes a guest from the moment they show up at the resort bus stop, until they get off the bus at their destination. I think you're quoting something like the actual drive time once the bus' wheels start moving. Those are two completely different numbers, and probably explains why you think our number is high.

Regardless, the average wait time will be about the same, making the differences the same... thus it really doesn't matter.

For the 2006 Guide, we rode 326 bus routes within WDW, covering just under 1,700 miles, from March through May of this year. I think that's a representative sample of the transportation system, and provides a reasonable degree of accuracy in the numbers. If you have suggestions on how to improve that, feel free to drop me a line: len@touringplans.com

I have no doubt that you made every effort to ensure your guide to be as accurate as possible. But Disney Transport is a highly dynamic operation, and changes so frequently. Routes get reassigned on a daily, hourly, and even a route-by-route basis. I'm certainly not singling out any specific guide. I've even seen some whopper errors in Birnbaum's guide.

However, perhaps I should have rephrased that. Anything in a guide should be taken with a grain of salt, and is of course subject to change at any given moment without notice. This way, CMs don't need to worry about unhappy guests coming up to them all upset because ZYX guide told them there was a bus between TTC and WL. (And yes, it does happen quite frequently.)

 

[lentesta]

Regardless, the average wait time will be about the same, making the differences the same... thus it really doesn't matter.

I still don't think we're talking about the same thing. I'm saying that if I send ten guests to the CSR bus stop at random points throughout the day, their feet will hit the Magic Kingdom bus stop about 29 minutes later, on average (the 29 minutes is from the '06 Guide). That 29 minutes includes the following:

• Waiting for the next bus to arrive
• Time to load the bus (not including wheelchair guests)
• Driving time to the park, including any traffic lights, stop signs, etc.
• Time to unload the bus

I don't think your 8-minute estimate includes all four of those items. In particular, I think you're assuming the bus is already sitting at the CSR bus stop when guests walk up. If that's not correct, I'd like to know how your 8-minute estimate breaks down into those categories.

I'm more than willing to send some of the local transportation team to CSR next week to re-check our numbers, too. I can post the results, and we can have a lively discussion all about the bus service between those two points.

Len

 

[tikkipoo]

Can't wait to see this!

Maybe I'm just crazy , but I don't think that 30 minutes is bad at all to get to the parks from start to finish.