Bus Wait Times at AKL

[mlggator22]

We are coming to AKL in July. Our trip involves some additional travel destinations which require a rental car. I am trying to decide if we want to keep the rental car while staying at AKL or turn it in early before our Disney portion of the trip.
It will definitely cost more to keep the car because of parking fees and additional days on the rental. But it is more convenient.

One of the things I want to think about in the equation are typical wait times for busses to and from AKL. Does anyone here have any recent information on bus availability or what the availability might be or typically is in July?

 

[CarolynFH]

As for all Disney resorts, AKL buses run roughly every 20 minutes, meaning sometimes you'll wait less time and sometimes you'll wait longer. The issue with AKL is that all transportation is by bus, no other options, and it seems as though AKL is farther from the other parks than the other resorts are (which isn't completely true but seems that way when you're always riding a bus to a park). If we have a car, we generally take it to the parks - except to MK, because the bus drops you off right outside the MK entrance whereas the parking lot is across the lagoon, and you have to take monorail or ferry to the MK entrance.

 

[PepperjackDragon]

we stayed there twice recently. Overall it is normally about the same or shorter than driving. If returning for a mid day nap that can be a huge problem as they occasionally take forever mid day. We also had one late evening for boo bash that took way longer than normal. If you plan to come back mid day every day it MIGHT be worth it but even then it would be cheaper to do one way Uber. If you are leaving during odd hours for a special event plan to be at the bus stop much earlier than you might think. For normal hours the bus works great. we never decided to drive and we always had our car with us.

 

[loves to dive]

The buses are the buses are the buses. Every single resort on property has good and bad service just depending on traffic, number of people waiting, if you got to the bus stop right when a bus got there or right when one just left etc. As pps have said, the only difference is at AKL you are going to have to take the buses to every park where as at some of the other deluxe resorts, you can walk. I always have a car with me as I drive down and I park my car at whatever resort I'm staying at and never get in it again until I leave. I rely totally on Disney transportation during my stay. I've stayed at just about all the resorts including camping at the campground and even stayed at Shades of Green before it was military only and always park hop and most of the time go back to the resort for a break during the day. I've found the buses can be a tad slow during the middle of the day (at all the resorts) since there doesn't seem to be that many people requiring them but have had the same service no matter where I've stayed.

 

[jjb1974]

The buses are the buses are the buses. Every single resort on property has good and bad service just depending on traffic, number of people waiting, if you got to the bus stop right when a bus got there or right when one just left etc. As pps have said, the only difference is at AKL you are going to have to take the buses to every park where as at some of the other deluxe resorts, you can walk. I always have a car with me as I drive down and I park my car at whatever resort I'm staying at and never get in it again until I leave. I rely totally on Disney transportation during my stay. I've stayed at just about all the resorts including camping at the campground and even stayed at Shades of Green before it was military only and always park hop and most of the time go back to the resort for a break during the day. I've found the buses can be a tad slow during the middle of the day (at all the resorts) since there doesn't seem to be that many people requiring them but have had the same service no matter where I've stayed.

Spot on. I have watched long lines form for resort return at every park and Disney Springs. Bus waits are the great equalizer: whether you are at GF or Pop, you’re going to hate how long you wait for a bus at some point.