Bus transportation--- AKL or POP?

[AR81]

We stayed at POP on our last visit and had no problems whatsoever with the buses. A time or two we waited around 20 minutes but for the most part it was great. Now I have read the reviews about various Disney resorts and the bus service and based on those reviews it sounds like POP has one of the best bus service. I guess because it is direct and doesn't share with any other resorts. I understand that the deluxes even share between 2 and 3 resorts. So I had a pretty positive experience. When the parks were closing there was always a bus or two waiting or us. Now we are considering AKL for our next trip. It seems like an amazing resort but again after reading reviews people say despite how wonderful it is they only stay there it they have a rental car. I guess because it is so far out?? If I was fine with POP which is further out than AKL (I am assuming)-- I should be fine with AKL-right? We actually had a great time at POP but it was only me and my 8 year old son so the size of the rooms and beds didn't bother us. The next trip we are all definitely going so it will be four of us. The POP rooms are just too small for all of us-- we would end up getting two rooms just to have an extra bathroom and my 17 year old stepson could have a room to himself. But the price of 2 rooms would be similar to 1 room at AKL or we could even rent points and stay in 2 standard studios... But I digress... my main question/concern despite all the rambling is about the transportation at AKL. We will be depending on Disney transportation so this is very important. I would appreciate any advice or experiences with AKL vs. POP. Thanks

 

[mickeynut1]

We stayed at POP on our last visit and had no problems whatsoever with the buses. A time or two we waited around 20 minutes but for the most part it was great. Now I have read the reviews about various Disney resorts and the bus service and based on those reviews it sounds like POP has one of the best bus service. I guess because it is direct and doesn't share with any other resorts. I understand that the deluxes even share between 2 and 3 resorts. So I had a pretty positive experience. When the parks were closing there was always a bus or two waiting or us. Now we are considering AKL for our next trip. It seems like an amazing resort but again after reading reviews people say despite how wonderful it is they only stay there it they have a rental car. I guess because it is so far out?? If I was fine with POP which is further out than AKL (I am assuming)-- I should be fine with AKL-right? We actually had a great time at POP but it was only me and my 8 year old son so the size of the rooms and beds didn't bother us. The next trip we are all definitely going so it will be four of us. The POP rooms are just too small for all of us-- we would end up getting two rooms just to have an extra bathroom and my 17 year old stepson could have a room to himself. But the price of 2 rooms would be similar to 1 room at AKL or we could even rent points and stay in 2 standard studios... But I digress... my main question/concern despite all the rambling is about the transportation at AKL. We will be depending on Disney transportation so this is very important. I would appreciate any advice or experiences with AKL vs. POP. Thanks

We've never stayed at POP or any other value, but we've had good experiences with the buses at AKL. The buses only go to AKL and Kidani, so there's no sharing with any other resort. Even though AKL is kind of out away from everything, we found that it didn't take more than about 5 extra minutes to get around compared to other resorts we've stayed at. We also didn't have a lot of waiting for a bus to/from the parks.

 

[joanjett1976]

Having stayed at both POP and AKL, bus transportation will be no issue at AKL, no worries.

POP buses run often, yes - but are always packed. As for AKL, we were often only a handful of families to ride in the morning and buses still ran every 15-20 minutes.

 

[DizDaD7]

In some cases AKV was even better....This was one thing we were concerned ( a lil ) when booking this on our recent trip this past April 5th - 13th...

Both were very good. that is AKV & POP...

The times from Jambo house to---> AK was maybe 5 minutes
to---> HS was maybe 10 minutes
to---> EP was maybe 12 minutes
to---> MK was maybe 21 minutes..

Never once did we have a full bus that we had to wait for an extra one, nor did we wait more than 10 minutes for our bus of choice......

Now mind you the bus from CBR and POR were definitely worse, and even another Deluxe BWV....That was horrible....Other than the quick walk to Epcot or to HS, the bus to AK, or MK from BWV... Yes it picked us up 1st at BWV then went to Swan, then Dolphin, then to Yacht club, then to beach club villas, then finally to the park......& you think that when we returned from the park that we would've been the 1st stop on the loop...Well.NOPE we were last again...EVERY time..

So all in all AKL was great , along with one of the best resorts of all WDW.

 

[Sue M]

We've had no problems with busses at AKL. And the bus stop is very nice, with large roof, fans and benches. No standing outside in the blazing sun, or rain.

 

[brertoad]

AKV is better, less crowded. POP has been so crowded that we hated riding the bus, we took it one time to the park and back, and then vow we'd never do that again. Drove for the rest of the time.

 

[Heather1979]

I've stayed at both, and the only reason I am not staying at AKL again was that BLT enticed this double-stroller-2-toddler toting mommy. I loved AKL and I did not think the buses were a bad thing. Sure, it would be ncie to be able to walk somewhere (like AK) but I didn't think it was that bad. And if our kids were older and I didn't need a stroller I probably wouldn't think twice about other places. AKL has this magical atmosphere- I could imagine myself taking a trip there just for the hotel. Its the nicest hotel I've ever stayed at.

 

[aVASTGrl]

Have never stayed at POP but the buses at AKL are great! We never had to wait more than 5-10 minutes, except maybe to DTD, but even then it wasn't that bad. They never seem too crowded, either.

 

[DISzy]

Another vote of confidence for the AKL buses. No complaints at all!!!