Car quicker than bus?

[jecon]

We will have a car this trip and was thinking about taking it to HS and AK vs the bus at the contemporary. Just confirming - the car is quicker door to door? Thanks!

 

[KCSherri]

Yes. Most definitely.

I used to ride the buses all the time - until I discovered the joy of having your own transportation. I will never go back.

 

[Robo]

These threads are very common.

The end result, if they run long enough, is about a 50-50 split of cars vs. buses.

 

[jco_direwolf]

Speficially for the CR the best "bus" to AK and DHS is monorail to TTC grab the bus from there. There is almost always one waiting there and it goes right to the park. With out going on the grand circle.

 

[chalee94]

We will have a car this trip and was thinking about taking it to HS and AK vs the bus at the contemporary. Just confirming - the car is quicker door to door? Thanks!

depends on how long your walk is back to your car...how much traffic is in your way...and whether a bus is immediately pulling in to pick you up as you arrive at the bus stop.

 

[jecon]

Great advice! Thank you all!

 

[2102raven]

I agree with post #2. It bears repeating the fact that having a car can save a tremendous amount of time. Also, you could travel outside the WDW 'bubble' to buy groceries, visit different places, etc.

 

[POOHsie]

Speficially for the CR the best "bus" to AK and DHS is monorail to TTC grab the bus from there. There is almost always one waiting there and it goes right to the park. With out going on the grand circle.

The AK and DHS buses don't run from the TTC anymore. With the new addition of a third bus loop at MK, those buses moved to the MK bus depot, across the street from CR.

 

[momof1princess]

Oh, absolutely! We stay at POP, and bus service there, IMHO, is HORRIBLE. You wait 15-20 minutes for a bus, one pulls up finally that's going where you are, and here come 2-3 folks on scooters driving to the front of the line (you didn't see them because, while you were standing in line in the hot, Florida Sun, they were behind you, near the building in the shade.) with their families. By the time they're all loaded onto the bus, it's full, so you have to wait for the next one. After another 15-20 minutes, here comes another bus, and the process repeats. The last time we rode a POP bus, we literally waited over an hour, and finally got on the 4th bus. NEVER AGAIN. **Disclaimer** this was MY family's experience, YMMV. And I'm not knocking scooters-I rode one myself on DD's first trip to WDW, and I'm glad they're available for those with limited mobility.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

My husband always insists on a car. I always try to change his mind into Disney transportation but he doesn't budge. Once there and we're using the car instead of waiting in the long bus lines, I'm always thankful he didn't give in. The car is the way to go!

 

[Michael623]

Oh, absolutely! We stay at POP, and bus service there, IMHO, is HORRIBLE. You wait 15-20 minutes for a bus, one pulls up finally that's going where you are, and here come 2-3 folks on scooters driving to the front of the line (you didn't see them because, while you were standing in line in the hot, Florida Sun, they were behind you, near the building in the shade.) with their families. By the time they're all loaded onto the bus, it's full, so you have to wait for the next one. After another 15-20 minutes, here comes another bus, and the process repeats. The last time we rode a POP bus, we literally waited over an hour, and finally got on the 4th bus. NEVER AGAIN. **Disclaimer** this was MY family's experience, YMMV. And I'm not knocking scooters-I rode one myself on DD's first trip to WDW, and I'm glad they're available for those with limited mobility.

Stayed onsite without a car once and the above experience was the rule more than it was the exception. I wouldn't go to WDW without a car, I would actually stay home first. That's how pro-car/anti-bus I am.

This, however is an unending debate. Pro-bus people tend to use the same arguments:

They never wait more than 2 minutes for a bus (I don't buy it)

Buses are so much more relaxing (crammed in like sardines with the smell of BO wafting through the air)

I don't have to worry about getting lost (there are more direction signs at WDW than just about any place I've ever been)

I don't want to have to curb my drinking (I'll give them this one but it's nothing that would affect me)

Disney transportation is free (I can't argue with this one but you get what you pay for)


Bus people can't be convinced that a car is better and car people stay away from the buses. They're just different breeds.

 

[ajwolfe]

We don't go without a car. The few times we have used transportation it has definitely taking longer than we could have made it in our own car. I think you would have to hit everything just right for transportation to be quicker - bus there ready for you to load, etc.

 

[sorahl1]

I used to be solidly in the bus camp. our first trip, just me an my DW, we took buses everywhere from Dixie Landings( gives you an idea of how long ago...). It was just us and we had no issues..
in 2007 we took buses from Port Orleans Riverside (we got stuck in a rut). Busing was terrible from the first day with a 2 1/2 journey from PO/RS to AK to AKL.
Never the less we stuck with the buses in 2008 as we stayed in WL. it was ...ok.. great to MK, but it just ate up a lot of our day..
in 2010 we CONTINUED to stick with the buses while at WL. Our flexibility and ability to use our tickets to the best value during our 10 days... bad..

we gave up

2012 and this year... we have brought our car. We've saved thousands by not flying, we park using our AAA Diamond Parking pass. we do a lot more eating at resorts, more use of the water parks... love it..
we do NOT miss riding the bus...

 

[darkwing818]

Clearly we are in the minority, since we drive 11 to 12 hours to get to WDW, the last thing I want to do is drive to the parks. We find that getting bus in the morning is never an issue, now getting a mid afternoon bus if you want to go back to your resort can be a crap shoot. On the other hand trying to get out of EPCOT or the Magic Kingdom, after the Fireworks in our car has always Nightmare . And don't get me started about driving a car to DTD, even before the construction, hopefully when the Disney Springs is up & running it will be better. Until then we'll take the Resort bus.

 

[bumbershoot]

The end result, if they run long enough, is about a 50-50 split of cars vs. buses.

So true.

And it's all based on personal experiences, memories of those experiences, and emotions about those experiences.

It's also based on what you personally like. I would rather be in motion than waiting. So even if walking to the monorail or boat, waiting a bit for that transportation, walking from TTC to my car, getting out of the lot and driving takes more time or the same time than standing and waiting for a bus and then being on the bus and being driven...I'm taking the option where I'm in motion more. So now we drive, even to the MK. Because I feel more in control of my destiny that way.

I think very few people have ever purposely split their party; you walk at x miles per hour to the car and drive exactly the speed limit etc etc, and I'll walk the same speed and go to the bus line etc etc" to time it all. And even that would be just for that moment in time.

The one time we did split because my aunt wanted to do one thing (didn't want to walk "all the way" to the car) and my husband stayed with her, it was misery for the bus-takers from DHS. The rest of us got in the car, drove back to OKW, and waited something like 2 hours before aunt and DH were home. It was in late 2010 and they had just changed the bus system and they were waiting until the bus line filled more to dispatch an OKW bus. So my aunt, who uses a cane though she should use a wheelchair but she's stubborn (and her daughter's foot was run over by a scooter once and therefore all scooters are evil blah blah blah and she won't be a part of that), stood there in pain for over an hour, waiting. DH got ahold of a transportation number and called a few times, so they were aware of the small line there!

People who got in line behind them should have been on time for their ADR at Olivia's. They not only missed their ADR, but Olivia's was fully closed by the time they finally got to OKW. And they weren't even put on a bus for OKW! It was a SSR bus whose driver had seen them a few times, and took pity on them. So after going all the way through SSR they then went to OKW.

That happened in the first few days of our first trip to WDW, and it has set in our minds ever since.

We've had good and bad experiences with buses. We have ONLY had good experiences with cars. We'll take the "only good" option!

 

[jco_direwolf]

The AK and DHS buses don't run from the TTC anymore. With the new addition of a third bus loop at MK, those buses moved to the MK bus depot, across the street from CR.

Really? Well then walk across the street to the MK bus stop then.

One think I LOVE about the CR is it's the only resort that is "fully meshed" with every other location on property. If you assume the CR and MK Bus stop are the same, and that is easy to do after having stayed at PopC before the hike to the Bus stop there isn't any longer than the CR to MK Bus stop.

 

[Mary7116]

Oh, absolutely! We stay at POP, and bus service there, IMHO, is HORRIBLE. You wait 15-20 minutes for a bus, one pulls up finally that's going where you are, and here come 2-3 folks on scooters driving to the front of the line (you didn't see them because, while you were standing in line in the hot, Florida Sun, they were behind you, near the building in the shade.) with their families. By the time they're all loaded onto the bus, it's full, so you have to wait for the next one. After another 15-20 minutes, here comes another bus, and the process repeats. The last time we rode a POP bus, we literally waited over an hour, and finally got on the 4th bus. NEVER AGAIN. **Disclaimer** this was MY family's experience, YMMV. And I'm not knocking scooters-I rode one myself on DD's first trip to WDW, and I'm glad they're available for those with limited mobility.

This is so true! We would spend our time rushing to get in line for the bus then a person on a scooter with 10 from their party come along and the bus is full. Not fair. There should be more restrictions with how many members of your party can board the bus with a person on a scooter. Another problem I have with bus service is while as once again rush to get in line and find a seat others board later with younger kids or may be pregnant and expect us to give up our seats. We paid for our tickets and are tired too. When my kids were younger I would always refuse a person if they were kind enough to offer up their seat. My husb always chooses to stand on a crowded bus he feels guilty sitting. Why should we feel guilty on vacation ? That's why we always rent a car it's worth the money.

 

[DisneyLvr55]

Just pay attention to where you park. Because losing your car in a theme park parking lot is not fun. True story.


Twice....

 

[stky6]

"Just pay attention to where you park. Because losing your car in a theme park parking lot is not fun. True story"

Like we use to tell people on the tram at Kings Island, if you can't remember where you parked, wait till everyone leaves and your car will be the last in the lot!

 

[SillySallySews]

We drive to FL and always have our car at WDW. We used to drive ourselves to the parks. Last month for the first time we parked our car and relied exclusively on the bus/monorail/boats. It will be a long time before we drive anywhere on Disney property again. And this is coming from someone who stayed at BC which is apparently notorious for lower than average bus service. I have no idea if it took longer, but not having to trek eleventy million miles to the hot car was a welcome change!