Bus Service, Really!

[mm6mm6]

I'm not quite a WDW expert but we have stayed at the CBR for seven days in June '02 and at the CSR in August '03.

We've gone to all of the parks, DD and both waterparks. So that's 14 days spread between two moderate resorts.

We have NEVER had to wait for a bus for more than 10 minutes.

The only mistake we made was at the CSR on EE day for Epcot. Out stop was the last one at the CSR. When the bus come buy, it was full. We didn't wait long, but it was still full and passed us by.

We learned from that and when we wanted to go to MK on EE day (and we had CRT then too!), we simply walked the 3 minutes over to the 1st bus stop to guarantee a seat.

I've read here about people being disappointed with the bus service occasionally. And I've read about some resorts having good or bad service.

I find this almost impossible to believe. My experience has been wonderful. I spoke with two bus drivers and I asked them lots of questions (seriously, considering it as a retirement job!). It seems to me like Disney really knows what they're doing. They know which bus lines have to be beefed up with more routes when certain resorts are full. They know which parks require more service on certain days.

So do you really think there's a problem at any particular resort over a long haul (not just once but, like, seven days in a row)???

 

[stonecreekboys]

It seems to me that the Deluxe resorts - PR, CR & GF do not have good bus service. We stayed at the Poly in May. I have to say, we were a bit perturbed on a couple of occasions with the inconvenience of busses. First of all, all three resorts share busses. Not only this, but CR gets dropped of first. GF is last. If I were paying big bucks to stay at GF, I would not be a happy person. The monorail resorts are great if you are using the monorail, but don't expect first rate service when it comes to busses. The wait time for a bus is terrible.

However, the best bus service we have had has been with the All Stars. They have so many busses running constantlly. Also, PO bus service was great!

 

[ceecee]

We have never had problems before, until this month. We waited for 35 minutes for MK, 25 minutes the next day for Epcot, and 15-20 2 more times. This was all getting. to the parks not getting back. We stayed at ASMo. We are seriously considering staying at a deluxe next time and spending 3 times more just for the convenience. It was very hard making our CRT, we ran all the way.

 

[georgina]

I have heard that in general, most theme park bus service is good, but getting from one resort to another can be time-consuming. We usually drive everywhere, except when staying at Ft Wilderness we take the boat to MK. I like the freedom of being able to hop in the car and be at another park in 10 minutes.

 

[dylansdad]

Just back from Poly: Transportation everywhere was great, buses, monorail, and taxis. No problems with TL,BB,DD, or boardwalk

 

[Karebear]

I have stayed at CSR several times and the bus service has always been excellent--better than the other moderates in my opinion (have also stayed at Port Orleans Riverside and French Quarter). We stayed at the Poly last Nov. The monorail was fantastic but we were very disappointed with the bus service. We were there for 7 nights and many times we waited 25 minutes or more for buses to AKL, DTD and MGM studios. Maybe we just hit a bad week..........

 

[txSleepingBeauty]

Although I enjoyed my recent trip to WDW, I have to disagree with you Stonecrrek about bus service at the Allstars. We just stayed at ASMu and routinely had to wait for more than ten minutes for buses, while the lines grew and grew. One night at Epcot at about 7:30, we waited for over 30 minutes for a bus back to the hotel, while everyother (empty) stop near us all had at least one bus come in the same amount of time, some more than one bus. When a bus finally did show up, after the line had more than 100 hundred people in it, we had to leave half the people behind. But, all of the bus drivers we had were excellent, very friendly! It just seemed that for all the promoting of the FP disney did, they didn't anticipate the increased crowds at the allstars...however, my bus expieriences at other resorts were great!

 

[Sydnoahmom]

We have always stayed a the All Stars, either Movies or Sports, and have never had any complaints about the bus service. We have never had to stand and never watched a full bus pass us by. At night when leaving the parks, however, we have noticed that you have to walk the farthest to get to the All Star waiting area. We'll be there in December at Sports and again Nov. 2004 at either Movies or Pop Century and will continue to use Disney transportation as opposed to driving ourselves.

 

[jdads2]

We have never had a problem with bus service either. We also always go during value season when attendance is low. We never used a bus from the Poly. Since the TTC was a 5-10 minute walk, depending on how many lizards the kids could find, we always went there for transportation to any location other than MK.

The only wait we ever had was during our AKL trip. After seeing Spectromagic, the only time it was shown during the week, crowds were heavy on the way out. We cassually sauntered to the bus stop and waited for about 1/2 hour for a bus that wasn't full. That was the 3rd bus. We could have gotten on the second, 20 minute wait for that one, but we didn't want to stand.

 

[memymomonica]

We stayed at the Old Key West. Bus service was awesome. Only had a wait one night to get to Downtown Disney. The internal resort bus was a wait, but they son't come around as often. We did catch the bus from the Boardwalk and that seemed a little slow. We also had to catch the bus at the Poly. That took forever, and we didn't realize that they shared buses with other resorts. We were spoiled by OKW. They need to figure out a better way to get from resort to resort. Maybe we took the long way because it was our first trip, but it took some real planning at times.

From OKW to Poly for luau......bus from OKW to MK. Monorail from MK to Poly. Not too bad.

Epcot to Downtown Disney......Monorail to TTC. Monorail from TTC to MK. Monorail from MK to Poly. Bus from Poly to Downtown Disney. It took forever!!

Anyway, I think they need some more routes to get from resort to resort. Also, you can't get to Downtown Disney from a park, you have to go via a resort bus.

We were happy with our service, sometimes we just had to think a little harder about it.

 

[Buzz2001]

Out of all my trips to WDW, I have had only one time were I had to wait 25 mis for a bus. Leaving AK back to the resort. I don't know if I just missed it or if it broke down but that was the only time I can honestly say we really waited. I have experienced the full bus situation at DtD late at night but others came quickly so the wait wasn't long.

We have had drivers go out of there way. We used the child care at the GF one evening in Nov and forgot that alot of the system was not utilized during that time of year. We got to TTC only to find that the monorail service was closed. A CM at the TTC called a bus for us from the WL. THe bus diverted to the TTC and took us to GF. Then at the GF the only way back to our resort would have been to go all the way back to DtD and back to our resort. At least another 90 mins. The driver said she had time and took us directly to our resort before making her obligated trip.

Way to go Disney Transport!!

 

[epcotfan]

From my experience I think many of the people who have problems with waiting for Disney buses don't take public transportation in real life. For me it is normal to wait 20-30 minutes for a bus at home-especially in off times or heavy rush hour. I suppose if I drove everywhere it would seem frustrating relying on public transit.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Originally posted by memymomonica
Epcot to Downtown Disney......Monorail to TTC. Monorail from TTC to MK. Monorail from MK to Poly. Bus from Poly to Downtown Disney. It took forever!!

A better route would be to go from Epcot to OKW, and transfer there for DTD. Would save you QUITE a bit of time.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Originally posted by Buzz2001
We have had drivers go out of there way. We used the child care at the GF one evening in Nov and forgot that alot of the system was not utilized during that time of year. We got to TTC only to find that the monorail service was closed.

Just so you know, the Resort monorail is in operation from 7am-11pm (or two hours after the MK closes, whichever is later) year round.

 

[Disney753]

We will be at WDW starting on 11/2-11/15, what bus will we be able to catch you on. Will be staying at PC in March and want to get the scoop before.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Originally posted by Disney753
We will be at WDW starting on 11/2-11/15, what bus will we be able to catch you on. Will be staying at PC in March and want to get the scoop before.

I never know where I will be until I get there.

 

[disneyjunkie]

Originally posted by epcotfan
From my experience I think many of the people who have problems with waiting for Disney buses don't take public transportation in real life. For me it is normal to wait 20-30 minutes for a bus at home-especially in off times or heavy rush hour. I suppose if I drove everywhere it would seem frustrating relying on public transit.

I agree.

When I was there in 2001, I was very pleased with the bus service. I never expect a bus to come as soon as I walk up to the stop. I know if I leave the park at closing or after a parade, there will be large crowds. There may be times that I'll have to stand on a bus.

 

[erikthewise]

I'm sure that no resort has problems all day, all the time!
But if you're looking for problems, your best bet is probably to stay at an Epcot resort. There have been numerous posts making complaints about bus service at these resorts.

 

[KathyFP]

we have stayed at AKL and POR and had wonderful service. No complaints.

 

[Poohbear123]

Love your new signs!