Buses - how good really are they??

[mhmcduff]

I have heard mixed reviews on the buses- Looks like we are deciding to stay on property for our April trip and want to know the skinny on the buses- We are staying at ASMu- Can you get to other resorts from the resort ?? Do you have a million stops?? Do you have to stand alot??

 

[MnMomW3Boys]

You will hear the good the bad and the evil of the Disney Buses, we have alwyas had good experiances, but we are pretty laid back travelers. I don't get upset is we miss rope drop by a few minutes b/c of the buses and we don't do a lot of ADR's so we are not on a strict time schedule.
This link has been very helpful in my planning it gives you the best route to take from place to place and an estimate of how long it will take you get their. You are going to be there during a pretty busy time so you can count on the buses being full. Have a great trip.

http://www.ourlaughingplace.com/asp/twiz.aspx

 

[java]

We loathe the bus!

But we are a party of 6. *4 kids and it's hard to keep everyone together on the bus. So we drive. We took one bus last trip as the group split up. We were at DTD. We were going to the Boardwalk. It took over an hour. (it's a 5 minute drive) That's why we loathe the bus.

 

[Tbelle1976]

We have had good and not so good experiences with the buses. All in all, we spend so much time walking all day it's nice to just hop on a bus and let someone else do the driving. We don't have to walk through the parking lot and try to remember where we parked, or battling the traffic getting out at the end of the night.

One thing I noticed is that each driver is different. They hardly ever took the same route to get from our resort to a park, or back to the resort. They would take so many different routes, so sometimes it would take longer.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Or you could look at it as, "Sometimes it took less time than others"

To the OP: it depends what you expect. Disney transportation is fine. I commute to/through Boston every day; given the opportunity to have someone else to the driving, I'm in! I know what to expect and what not to expect.

Buses don't have 'a million' stops. If you are at an All Star resort, sometimes each resort has its own bus, sometimes the three resorts share buses - it depends on crowd levels.

If you stay at a Moderate resort, except the relatively small POFQ, or some of the DVC properties, your buses will make several stop inside the resort before proceeding to their respective destinations.

Deluxe resorts often share buses with one or more other Deluxe resorts - but in all cases, never 'a million' stops.

No, buses do not go from resort to resort - that would be a logistical nightmare. You can transfer at any open park, or at Downtown Disney if all the parks are closed.

The site linked above is "okay", but has not been updated in several years. The route provided may or may not be the best, or the most time-efficient, or it may no longer exist.

 

[kapoof]

i personally wouldn't rent a car. the buses take you to and fro the parks, but sometimes you do wait and they are packed, but still they do their job.

 

[pepe of ohio]

I've read so many people griping on Disney buses, others say it wastes alot of their Disney time and driving is alot quicker,,,yada...yada...yada. We've been to WDW 42 times and never rented nor used a car while on vacation. All of Disney's transportation has suited us to a tee, very efficient and free. We might have an extended wait or two but we're in no hurry to go anywhere. One of the reasons we keep going back is the transportation, being hauled around by a Disney conveyance is heavenly, no parking, traffic stress, guessing where the car is parked or breakdowns. I'm glad others like using rentals and their own cars, more room on the buses for us. It's fun to watch from a bus window the mass exit of autos trying to escape the parking lots on park closing, like a big ant fire drill and most not knowing how or which lane to get in to make it back to their resort. Best thing going at Disney is their transportation system.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Supporting pepe of ohio's post: I did have a rental car last time, except about the first 28 hours - and I still let Disney do all the driving. I used it only to go offsite (shopping) a couple of times, and to get back to the airport because Magical Express timing wouldn't have worked for me.

 

[idchafee]

Love the busses. The only thing I don't like about them is when we travel with my mom and aunt. They're both in wheelchairs (polio, neither one has taken a step since the 50's) and holy crap is getting them on the bus a nightmare. They get them up the ramp, then the poor driver has to spend 5-10 minutes strapping the chair down. The ironic part about that is that in my mom's case, she has no stomach muscles to speak of so if there *was* an accident, that chair is staying put but she has 0 chance of staying in the chair.

 

[Atchley]

I think it is great that you don't have to do any driving while at WDW. I will say that the buses that we encountered when we stayed at ASMo were the most crowded buses that I had ever been on. WL buses were crowded too, but they always stopped at the GF and picked up guests there too. The CBR buses were the least crowded of any. That is why we probably won't stay value anymore. The Bus transportation alone was worth the extra $400 we paid to stay at CBR. Just don't stress out about the bus system. Just be patient and everything should be fine.

 

[ilandrazdsw]

Our experiences with the busses over Christmas/NY were great! We stayed at ASSp. For the most part we didn't have to wait more than 5 minutes for a bus to leave from the resort...sometimes we stopped at ASMu or ASMo, other times the bus was either full or each resort had its own bus (noticed this with MK busses). If a bus was too crowded it seemed that the next bus was pulling in as the first was pulling out. The drivers did not overcrowd the busses. Typically adults did give/offer up their seats for elderly and children. Yes, we possibly had to leave earlier from the resort to make an ADR or park to hop, but it was worth saving the $$$ on car rental.

 

[kim929]

i have never had a really bad experience with buses. I stayed at all the all stars, pop and What used to be dixie landings. I know the buses are going to be crowded, especially at closing time even then, they send extra buses so the wait isn't to bad. if you leave right at closing the lines are long, but if you hang around main street for a little bit then head to the buses the lines are great cause everyone left all at the same time. If you don't want to stand for the ride back to the hotel, wait for the next bus. The only time I was annoyed with the buses, was at Pop this past Nov. we were going to magic kingdom one morning, and no less then 10 buses came for animal kingdom. We had to wait like 45 mins for the magic kingdom bus which in my experiences was unusual.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Kim, if that happens again, I'd get a fast walker from the line to volunteer to run over to the next (third? fourth?) AK bus driver and ask him/her to PLEASE radio in for a Magic Kingdom bus or three.

 

[redrosesix]

I'm starting to feel like people's opinions on the bus system is affected by their experiences using transit at home. If you normally take the bus in your city and are used to waiting a few minutes for your bus, standing when it's crowded, having it make multiple stops on its route, transferring to subway, el or another bus, you will think it is extremely good. WDW buses take you from your resort to the parks or DTD, or back again, with a minimal number of stops. At the All Stars for example, it would be a maximum of 2 extra stops, adding on average 2 to 5 minutes each to your total transportation time. No matter where you are going, you never have to make more than 1 transfer.

We rent a car and usually take the buses (depending on our plans for the day). I especially like taking the bus to MK, since you don't have to do the monorail -- ok to ride it a few times, but the whole parking, tram, monorail thing gets old very fast. I have never been on a bus that is so crowded I had to stand, but I usually have to stand on the monorail.

If, on the other hand, you don't use transit and drive everywhere at home, you may not like taking buses. Period.

 

[2BoysMom]

I was just at ASMu for a spontaneous 1 night trip this week. I do not normally use the buses, but decided to try. It was 7pm, MK closed at 8pm and I wanted to catch Wishes. Was the bus right there when I was done checking in? YUP. Got to MK lickety-split.

Then I took the monorail to Epcot for EMH, and at 11pm, the end of the evening, walked to the buses.. Was AsMu bus there? YUP. No line, we waited maybe 5-10min. more for other people, we all had seats, and then we were off to the resort, no other stops.

As someone mentioned to you, you are going at a busier time, so there will be more people, but I was BEYOND DELIGHTED with how fast and convenient the buses were for my little, mini-trip.

 

[2Monkeys]

The buses have always been fine for us. Yes, sometimes we have had to stand, but it beats the heck out of driving ourselves. I agree w/ a PP, if you hang out in the shops or grab an ice cream and wait a bit before heading to the buses, it will be much less crowded. We are pretty laid back travelers as well, so waiting for the buses has never bothered us at all, even with 2 little kids.

 

[djm99]

I personally like the bus. That's my only reason for staying on site - so I don't have to drive. If I’m driving I’m staying off-site in much nicer (more roomy) accommodations. Yes I've had to wait. The longest was maybe 25 minutes. But even if you drive you have to go to the front of the park and wait on the carts to take you to your car. It’s probably the same amount of waiting time. I've only stayed at Pop so they had their own bus - and the bus stop is always the furthest away. I enjoy the ride. I like talking to other visitors and just being able to look around and not try to find my way to the parks. I'm sorry I just wouldn't waste my money on a car rental, but that's just me. I also like the option of my party having the ability to go back to the hotel anytime they want. No one is under a time restraint either.

 

[Kay1]

I think the buses are just okay but my husband can't stand them and will drive to all the parks but MK. Sometimes you only wait a few minutes or walk right on the bus, other times you wait and wait. I don't think they're great for going from resort to resort, though it can be done. For visiting other resorts it's best to drive or take a taxi, IMO.

 

[ilandrazdsw]

When we were preparing the kids for the busses we told them it was another Disney ride. The busses had rules about sitting down or holding on, they had to listen to the CM (driver), the "ride' may jerk, go fast or slow, and we may have to wait in lines.

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

I was just at ASMu for a spontaneous 1 night trip this week. I do not normally use the buses, but decided to try. It was 7pm, MK closed at 8pm and I wanted to catch Wishes. Was the bus right there when I was done checking in? YUP. Got to MK lickety-split.

Then I took the monorail to Epcot for EMH, and at 11pm, the end of the evening, walked to the buses.. Was AsMu bus there? YUP. No line, we waited maybe 5-10min. more for other people, we all had seats, and then we were off to the resort, no other stops.

As someone mentioned to you, you are going at a busier time, so there will be more people, but I was BEYOND DELIGHTED with how fast and convenient the buses were for my little, mini-trip.

I'm glad to hear you had a good trip!!! I wish I could take a day trip to WDW...