Buses At PO-R?

[Disney Princess Jenn]

Most reviews I have read from Port Orleans Riverside have been very negative regarding the buses. I certainly don't expect a bus all to myself, but I would like to avoid riding in a stranger's lap! Give it to me straight--how bad are the buses, really?

 

[Soccerpooh]

Let me start by saying I really don't like taking the bus when at WDW- i would much prefer to drive to each park. (The exception being Magic Kingdom- that is a pain to drive to!) We stayed 6 nights last week at POR, and my DH and kids really wanted to use the busses, so we did several days. Overall, the only time the busses were crowded with many people standing was when we were returning to the resort late at night, around park closing. We waited an average of 10 minutes for any bus. My one complaint is that it just seemed like there was no rhyme or reason to the bus "schedule". While waiting for a MK bus one evening, we saw 5 Epcot busses, 3 DHS busses, and 2 AK/Blizzard Beach busses come and go.
So that is my "slightly jaded" review of the buses. Not my cup of tea, but it was not torture either!

 

[ttigger81]

We stayed there in mid-June. We never waited very long for a bus to arrive in the mornings...we left at all different times throughout our trip too. Some mornings we would have a really early ADR or we would be there right after rope drop...we never noticed a difference in the time of morning we left. The buses were never overly crowded in the mornings. We were suppose to be the third stop out of four, but sometimes the bus was empty and then we would go to two more stops and then head to the park...never quite figured that part out! However, I did find that when leaving a park (for some reason it didn't matter what time of day) there was a line for POR! It was about 50% of the time we were standing and other times sitting...but I would say the buses were always crowded leaving the parks. After reading many reports about how awful the bus service can be I was pleasantly surprised how wonderful it actually was. Hope that helped...enjoy your trip

 

[POOHsie]

We always stay at POR and POFQ, each year, year after year, including our upcoming trip in Sept. We will be doing a split stay (POR, POFQ). There is no bus problem. You may wait ten minutes. Rarer times, fifteen minutes. Leaving the parks at close, the buses are crowded. This is true for every resort. If you wait and, say, get an ice cream before trying to get on a bus going to your resort at park close, the crowd will be much less.

 

[justplaingoofy]

Most reviews I have read from Port Orleans Riverside have been very negative regarding the buses. I certainly don't expect a bus all to myself, but I would like to avoid riding in a stranger's lap! Give it to me straight--how bad are the buses, really?

I've stayed there a few times and never had any issues with the busses.

 

[Disney Princess Jenn]

I'm so glad to hear that it's no worse than anywhere else. Thank you all for your replies!

 

[KSDisneyDad]

I had a coworker stay there recently and she complained a lot about the buses at POR. She went the last week of May/first week of June. She said the longest wait was over 30 minutes at MK after fireworks and that her family rarely had an actual seat on the bus.

However, I doubt if they're any better or worse than most other resorts. If all you do is go to the major parks, you should be fine. If you try to go from resort-to-resort or to the waterparks, the bus service is probably as pathetic as it is at other resorts.

The good thing about POR is the boat service to DTD. I have found bus service to/from DTD horrible. We rented a car on our last stay at POR, but we did take the boat to DTD. It was a nice alternative.

 

[dutchdisneyfamily]

We were there mid-June and the wait was fine. I don't think we had to wait more than 15 minutes for a bus, and that was the longest. I really can't complain at all about the bus service.

 

[a1tinkfans]

Most reviews I have read from Port Orleans Riverside have been very negative regarding the buses. I certainly don't expect a bus all to myself, but I would like to avoid riding in a stranger's lap! Give it to me straight--how bad are the buses, really?

we returned from a split stay and I must say the buses were good. (and the monorail while at Poly broke down twice, ) I think some peoples expectations are unrealistic...there are thousands visiting, the buses are making "loops" and come by about every 20 minutes....I mean for included transportation, I think thats fine.
We do notice that buses for POR seem to be busier, but it is a large resort And, one night we actually took return bus to POFQ instead, walking back to POR along the lighted trail. it was ten minutes or less and no biggie for us...now if it was kids and strollers or elderly, not too good. But honestly, we had no real issues. I think good advice we always use is...we generally avoid parks with the extra Magical Hours in the morning..the bus stops are generally mobbed....we either get to stop early am or later after the mad rush.(just like choosing dining times ) .. we leave after all the mobs generally leave at night OR before them....its really doable with some planning. The resort by the way is so lovely it more than makes up for any minor glitch....and always remember...it is Disney after all....If I were to be waiting anywhere, I'd rather be waiting at DIsney