Calling all WL Lovers!

[my2lovedisney]

Tell me your experiences with bus transportation at the WL. Do the buses seem to take longer to get to any park than any other resort you've stayed in (besides the monorail resorts)? How about the boat?

I am hearing that sometimes WL shares buses? Some say that the buses are less full than the boat?

I want to hear your experiences..and if you've stayed anywhere else that wasn't in the MK resort area and the buses were faster than WL, give me that too!

 

[DizOz]

We have stayed their 3 times and never had any issues with buses. As far as I can remember the only shared bus was to DTD which was shared with GF but the bus came to WL first.

The boats IMO take a little longer to load and travel to MK. Buses to MK were very quick and not usually full. Must say the boats where more of an experience than the bus.

Great thing was if we wanted to go to another resort we went to MK rather than DTD to connect to those buses as it was a 5 minute trip to MK.

 

[amym2]

We stayed at WL last Sept. for the first time and all of the buses except the MK bus shared with other resorts (GF or Poly). The buses leaving before rope drop time were always packed full but we always got on. And we'd always drop off one or two families at GF or Poly for breakfast, pick up a few people, then head to the park.

My sister stayed at POP and most of the time if we left the resort at the same time, she would beat us to the parks.

We always took the boat to MK but I have heard that the bus is faster. For MNSSHP we thought it would be fun to take the boat from WL to CR then take the monorail and we regretted that decision, it took forever. Usually we got onto the boat on the first try, but once or twice we had to wait for the next boat because the first was full (one day one of the larger boats was out of service).

Honestly I wouldn't say we were thrilled with transportation at WL, it's quicker for us to drive from off-site at Windsor Hills, but we thoroughly enjoyed our stay and we'd do it again.

 

[mickeynut1]

We've stayed at the WL twice and had a great experience both times with both the bus and boat transportation . Other than the MK/monorail resorts, we've stayed at AKL, BC, & CBR and while AKL & CBR transportation was great (IMO), the bus transportation at the BC was horrible. It's been awhile since we've stayed there (2003), but the buses shared with the YC/BWI/Swan/Dolphin and the buses were always full when it got to the BC. We didn't let it ruin our vacation, but it did get a little tiring after a couple of days of always having to stand on a crowded bus . I would have to say that out of all of the resorts we've stayed at, CBR has been by far the best for transportation. One main reason, IMO, is that the resort is centrally located, so it doesn't take much more than about 10 minutes to get to any theme park, water park, or DTD. Plus, other than 4 or 5 internal bus stops, there is no bus sharing with any other resort :.

 

[tanyaandallie]

We had the same experience with the bus vs the boat. Bus was so super duper quick to MK. Literally 5 minutes. We always took the bus to MK in the am and took the boat for a little relaxation on the way home. I personally just have not found a huge difference in bus service at any of the resorts we have stayed at. At every single resort we have stayed at we have had mostly good service with a LONG wait a few times each trip. WL was no different.

 

[pepe of ohio]

Thru all our trips the bus transportation has been wonderful....we hardly shared with anyone, seems to depend on maybe the time of day or season you go, but we rarely shared, the longest wait on the average, seems to be the DTD bus.....all the other parks, it was there in a timely way, usually staed inside the 20 minute allottment....

Boat ran true to form, seems like they were always at the docks, really hard to say because when we head to the dock, we always get on the one that's there, so waiting for another was always rare during our stays....even returning from the MK, as walking to the WL boat dock, the boat is usually pulling in and we board....

Out of all our trips to WDW, and the many deluxe resorts we've stayed at, the WL transportation system has been the best....one of the reasons we keep returning to the resort over 10 times...

 

[lelei]

In our experience, the transportation at WL was much, much slower than POFQ. In september, we felt like we spent forever waiting for buses, and the buses, with the exception of MK, all shared with other resorts. It felt like it took forever for us to get anywhere and I could not understand it. I thought staying close to the MK at a deluxe would translate into shorter travel times.

Then, last month I stumbled across this:

http://blog.touringplans.com/2012/02/15/deciding-where-to-stay-at-walt-disney-world-number-crunching-part-2-spending-the-least-amount-of-time-in-transit/


It wasn't just my imagination, the WL lodge transport is slow for other people as well.

However, we did love staying at the lodge and it is a beautiful place!

 

[WLSILVERCREEKSPRINGS]

We've stayed at the WL multiple times since 2003 and the bus service is good, like any resort there are times when you arrive at the bus stop just after a bus has left and it seems like forever for the next one, but we have rarely waited for more than 20 minutes, typically it is less, we also use the boats and sometimes the boat to CR to monorail, we've been enough times to not get upset over waiting for transportation and if we're doing the boat to monorail we know it's not the fastest route but it's fun. Managing expectations can be as important as the reality of the experience. Even though DW typically provides expceptional service they aren't perfect! Some of the buses to go to GR or FW also.

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

This was a couple years ago now but we only had one issue going to one park where is seemed to take forever. The other trips were 20 minutes or less, mostly less.

 

[fla4fun]

I have stayed at nearly every Disney resort, and there have been good transportation days and bad transportation days. None of them were any better or worse than any other. DTD transportation always seems to take longer, no matter where you stay. I've had boats so full at the Epcot resorts that they wouldn't take on any more passengers when they stopped to let a few people off. I've had monorails delayed by weather, or by taking trains on and off the line, or once because a trim piece was ripped off one as it was going through CR (that was a long delay - but they did let everyone out). Sometimes it seems like one resort has the advantage over another one transportation-wise, but really, unless you are at a resort where you can walk to the park, you'll experience a wide variety of transportation situations.

As to WL specifically, I have never had a serious issue with any transportation there (other than very long waits for DTD buses). To be honest, I do use the bus to MK more than the boat, because it's faster and has AC, but the boat is nice if the weather is cooler. I like the boat that goes to CR and FW too. One time, I was waiting for an Epcot bus at WL, and a woman came up just as her bus was leaving. She waited for about five minutes (literally - I checked my watch) and started complaining to everyone who would listen that she had been waiting for more than 30 minutes for her bus, and that the bus situation was unbelievable. She waited another five, and left the bus stop - just before the bus she wanted showed up! I did get a nice laugh out of that one!

 

[nyrebecca]

We have stayed at WL quite a few times, and never had a problem with the transportation.

Someone previously stated about sharing a bus with GF and Poly...in all our trips we never shared with Poly and just one trip did we stop at the GF before going to AK.

We are pleased with it, and will be staying there again this fall.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

When we stayed at WL in Nov. 2009, the bus to Epcot stopped at Fort Wilderness after it picked up at WL. It took close to 40 minutes to get to Epcot.

Another time we visited, we went to WL for lunch and took the bus to DTD for some shopping afterwards and we went from WL to GF, back PAST WL to get to DTD. It took close to an hour.

After going to Epcot via FW, we quit using the WL buses, and only used the boat to/from MK. THAT was quick and we loved it. The buses, not so much.

 

[Kimberle]

We have stayed 2x at WL. We've also stayed at CR, AKL, and BC. All resorts have their bus pros & con's. They all share or have multiple stops except for Pop (which probably will start sharing with AoA). Honestly, the resort with the "worst" experiences for me was BC. (5 very large resorts sharing 1 bus mad them very crowded, plus the multiple stops made the ride long.)

WL shares with either the GF or FW depending on which park/route.