Bus Transportation from All Star Resorts

[Empress]

I have read that the All Star Resorts all share the same bus line and can create crowded rides and long waits. Is there a way to avoid this?

Is there a bus to, say, a fancier resort where you can get off there and then get on that bus line to the park?

I'm looking for tips to make the bus transportation smooth because I have a 4yo who is cranky at the best of times.

 

[goofy4tink]

Nope. The 'fancier' resorts have bus service that is actually worse than the value resort bus service.
The buses at the AllStars is not bad at all. Sometimes they all share a bus, sometimes they don't.
If you get to the buses at less popular times (not an hour or less before park opening, or within 30 mins, either way, of park closing) you shouldn't have an issue.

The buses do not run between resorts, for the most part. The only time that would happen is, say, at the AllStars where the bus would go to Sports first, then head to Music and then maybe go on to Movies. Or, the bus for Boardwalk would go on to the Swan and Dolphin. But they don't head to a different catagory of resort.

 

[Empress]

OK. Good to know -- This is my first time going with my own family - I went as a kid - now I'm taking my kid - and it's the first time staying on property.

Thanks for the tips about the times, that's really helpful!

 

[dancin Disney style]

Do not believe all the horror stories about the All Star buses. Very rarely will you share a bus with other resorts. At the peak times of day they each have dedicated buses. You might share a bus if you are traveling at odd times of the day. You most likely will share a bus going to the waterparks and some times DTD. Really, it is just fine....keep in mind that the mod resorts all have 3-4 stops at the resort before heading off to the destination.

I have stayed at all the value resorts and have never had a single bus issue that was worthy of complaint. I will say though that the worst bus ride we ever had at WDW was from AK to the BC. That bus stopped at ALL the Epcot resorts. Never in a million years will I understand why you have the absolute worst bus route when you are paying top dollar for your room.

 

[Big Kid in Alabama]

The All Star Resorts do share the same bus. We stayed at All Star Movies in 2009. What an awful experience and one we will never do again. We had to wait forever for buses. If you are staying at Movies, expect stops at Sports and Music before it gets to you or gets you home at night. Movies is also older than the rest and I slept in my own sweat each night. I begged for them to fix our air conditioner each day, but nothing was done. If you want to stay in a value resort, go with POP Century. It has its own bus transportation to and from the parks. And the air works a little better. We are staying there again in 2 weeks.

 

[maxiesmom]

The All Star Resorts do share the same bus. We stayed at All Star Movies in 2009. What an awful experience and one we will never do again. We had to wait forever for buses. If you are staying at Movies, expect stops at Sports and Music before it gets to you or gets you home at night. Movies is also older than the rest and I slept in my own sweat each night. I begged for them to fix our air conditioner each day, but nothing was done. If you want to stay in a value resort, go with POP Century. It has its own bus transportation to and from the parks. And the air works a little better. We are staying there again in 2 weeks.

I'm sorry, but your post is just not accurate. At least, my experiences have not been the same at all! I have stayed at the All Star Resorts 4 times now, and we always have our own bus way more often we share. And how is sharing a big deal anyway, when the resorts are connected by their parking lots? It takes 5 minutes tops. I'm pretty impatiant, but even I am not so impatient that 5 minutes this way or that will make a big impact on my day.

Also, the Movies is being refurbed as we speak.

I have to agree with Dancin, my worst experience with the busses came at a the Beach Club too. The bus service at the All Stars is way more efficient than that of the Boardwalk area resorts.

 

[IhrkeFamily]

We have stayed at All Star Movies many times and love it! Has it been perfect every time, no, but then no place ever is. And All Star Movies is the newest of the All Stars not the oldest. Sorry, can't remember when it was built.

The busiest time for All Star buses is at the end of the day right after parades or Fantasmic or Illuminations. At this time they do have a dedicated bus to each resort, but also the biggest crowd. Sometimes it takes 2-3 buses before we've gotten on which was up to a half hour wait. Options are to take your time and stroll through the stores after the events or leave before these start or during. All depends on how your child is doing. You know him best so do what you think will make things easiest for you and your child which may mean skipping an event one night.

I always tell my kids that we'll go again so if they miss something this time we'll just do next time!

 

[dancin Disney style]

A little something to note about POP...

POP has nearly 3000 rooms with only 1 bus stop. You will almost certainly need to wait for a second or third bus if you are trying to travel at a busy time of day such as park opening.

The All Stars each have less than 2000 rooms and each has it's own bus stop.


As a PP noted there are very long bus lines if you are trying to leave the park at closing time or after fireworks, for example. However, EVERY resort is going to have a very long line at those times that will require waiting for another bus.

 

[ToddyLu]

DH and I have stayed at Pop and ASMo several times. Seems the buses were only shared in the late afternoon that I remember. It was nothing major. You have to remember if you drive to MK from any resort. You have to stop at the toll, then park, then take the tram to the TTC, then take the boat or monorail into the park. I would gladly wait 10-15 minutes for a bus to pick me up and take me straight to the front gate. But that is me.

If you take a car, you take the same route (generally) as a bus, same speed limits, same lights, etc. We think riding the buses are an adventure. They ususally play music and sometimes the bus drivers will entertain you. Have we had to wait on a second or third bus, yes. But is is Disney and it is free.

 

[norrodh]

I am a bus driver at Disney and the only ones who share are from DTD (Downtown Disney) and AK. But also when these places are closing they will send more buses and double up the buses. MK, Epcot and ST will break up the All start resorts when the park closes. As for Pop Century - I hate to tell you but those lines are usually the longest! They will try to double up the buses at closing to make it go faster but there is no way for them to break it up like the All stars so you are better off going with the Allstars. Also, if there are lines at the resort to go to the parks, the dispatchers will send extra buses out to the resorts to get those lines down especially at All stars. Believe me, Disney doesnt like the lines, they do what they can but you also have to understand especially during the day, the routes are computerized meaning they dispatch them in the order they come up on the computer. They bypass the computer at night when the parks are closing and dispatch according to the crowd. Hope this helps!

 

[kaffinito]

Do not believe all the horror stories about the All Star buses. Very rarely will you share a bus with other resorts. At the peak times of day they each have dedicated buses. You might share a bus if you are traveling at odd times of the day. You most likely will share a bus going to the waterparks and some times DTD. Really, it is just fine....keep in mind that the mod resorts all have 3-4 stops at the resort before heading off to the destination.

I have stayed at all the value resorts and have never had a single bus issue that was worthy of complaint. I will say though that the worst bus ride we ever had at WDW was from AK to the BC. That bus stopped at ALL the Epcot resorts. Never in a million years will I understand why you have the absolute worst bus route when you are paying top dollar for your room.

Couldn't agree more. The worse bus situations I was ever in were at BWI (stops at all the EPCOT resorts) and at GF. It was horrible!

I stayed at AsSpo in April and have to say that I was impressed with the bus service. If there are only a few people getting on, and it's not a peak travel time, then the bus does stop at the other All Stars. But I didn't "share" a bus during peak times. We each had our own lines and stops at the parks.

I'd rather stay at All Stars again if I knew I was going to use the buses a lot, then stay at one of the Deluxe resorts. The multiple stops at the Deluxe resorts are much more spread out, so you have a longer travel time to get to each resort. It's a lot shorter travel time between the All Stars. We are staying at GF again in August, but only for three days, and the only park day we have is at MK. I won't chance those buses again!

The All Star Resorts do share the same bus. We stayed at All Star Movies in 2009. What an awful experience and one we will never do again. We had to wait forever for buses. If you are staying at Movies, expect stops at Sports and Music before it gets to you or gets you home at night. Movies is also older than the rest and I slept in my own sweat each night. I begged for them to fix our air conditioner each day, but nothing was done. If you want to stay in a value resort, go with POP Century. It has its own bus transportation to and from the parks. And the air works a little better. We are staying there again in 2 weeks.

Sorry, but have to violently disagree. With everything.

I'm sorry you had such a terrible stay at AsMo though, and I'm glad you found a resort you like!

 

[goofy4tink]

A little something to note about POP...

POP has nearly 3000 rooms with only 1 bus stop. You will almost certainly need to wait for a second or third bus if you are trying to travel at a busy time of day such as park opening.

The All Stars each have less than 2000 rooms and each has it's own bus stop.


As a PP noted there are very long bus lines if you are trying to leave the park at closing time or after fireworks, for example. However, EVERY resort is going to have a very long line at those times that will require waiting for another bus.

The best bus service I have had, to date, was at POP. I've stayed at BW, S/D, BC, WL, Poly, CR, POR, ASMusic (most multiple times)....best service was, without a doubt, Pop!! Yes, there are more people using that bus system. But Disney sends buses there more often. Let me share an interesting experience....
I was at Pop with my dh and dd. We got to the MK bus stop and waited for about 10 mins....as the bus pulled up, I realized I had forgotten something I really needed back in the room. I told dh and dd to hop on and I would take a later bus and meet them at MK. I ran back to our room, in the Rubicks cube bldg, far side by the lake/parking lot, got what I needed and back to the bus stop...walkking briskly. Well, as I got to the bus stop, a bus to MK was just coming in. It took about 8 mins for that second bus to get there!! DH and dd were just entering the park as I got there.

The Epcot resorts do tend to have less than stellar bus service. But, when you get to walk to two parks, you tend to forgive them that. I plan accordingly and leave a bit extra time when traveling to AK and MK from these resorts.

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

The whole All Star Resorts "sharing a bus" issue is rather funny to me, especially when I read posts where people who have never stayed at the All Stars advise other people not to stay there because they "share" buses. The All Star Resorts are actually one large resort and they are right next to eachother, not miles away from eachother. You can walk from one AS resort to the other. Some sections of each AS resort are closer to the bus stop of the other AS resort, so truly sharing a bus (when it happens) is not an issue. You will probably spend more time waiting in line to board a bus at another larger resort or spend more time making multiple bus stops within one large resort than it takes to pick/up drop off at each of the three AS resorts in the event that they do share a bus.

 

[ronniewms]

We only shared a bus once, that was when we went to Downtown Disney. The only issue I had was it took forever to get to DD. We went a way I had never been and it seemed like 30 minutes from Sports.

The bus service was very good. Sports buses were always running and we never waited over 10 minutes on a bus.

No worries. We were there from July 1 thru July 7.

 

[goofy4tink]

The whole All Star Resorts "sharing a bus" issue is rather funny to me, especially when I read posts where people who have never stayed at the All Stars advise other people not to stay there because they "share" buses. The All Star Resorts are actually one large resort and they are right next to eachother, not miles away from eachother. You can walk from one AS resort to the other. Some sections of each AS resort are closer to the bus stop of the other AS resort, so truly sharing a bus (when it happens) is not an issue. You will probably spend more time waiting in line to board a bus at another larger resort or spend more time making multiple bus stops within one large resort than it takes to pick/up drop off at each of the three AS resorts in the event that they do share a bus.

Have to agree. I always laugh when people say how wonderful the moderates are and what great bus service there is since they don't share with other resorts. BUT...they make up to 5 stops within the resort before leaving for a park.

 

[maxiesmom]

Have to agree. I always laugh when people say how wonderful the moderates are and what great bus service there is since they don't share with other resorts. BUT...they make up to 5 stops within the resort before leaving for a park.

The key phrase here is "up to 5 stops". As with the All Stars, there is no way of being sure ahead of time what you will have happen. My last 2 stays at POFQ we always has our own bus. It was wonderful to hop on, and head straight for a park. Now a few years back that is not what happened. During that stay at POFQ we almost always went to POR and picked up there too.

Moral of the story is don't pick a resort thinking you will automatically get great bus service. There is just no way to know ahead of time.