Coronado Buses - FYI!

[Epcot242]

Just returned from a 5 day stay at the Coronado Springs. Trip was great overall--crowds high but manageable and food was excellent all around--but the buses at the CS were, overall, horrible. Buses seemed very delayed getting to the stops and there wasn't a ton of consistency in terms of the order of the bus stops. Sometimes it would have already gone to the Stop 1 and end at Stop 4, other times it started with Stop 2 with Stop 1 being the last. We generally waited about 25 minutes per bus. (I realize they're quoted to be every 20 minutes or so, but it's frustrating to see the bus arrival time get pushed back constantly.)

Same for buses from parks to the resort. We often saw two buses show for other resorts in the time it took to get one to the Coronado stop. Other guests we talked to were experiencing the same thing.

CS definitely handles a high volume of guests and with construction there are bound to be bus stop adjustments and all that, but in general, we ended up getting to where we needed to be late more often than not.

So if you're staying soon, just be aware that buses might be a little slow or backed up and add in a little buffer time in case.

(The resort itself was great! Room was beautiful, clean, and updated. Staff were friendly and check-in was a breeze.)

 

[AngiTN]

Just returned from a 5 day stay at the Coronado Springs. Trip was great overall--crowds high but manageable and food was excellent all around--but the buses at the CS were, overall, horrible. Buses seemed very delayed getting to the stops and there wasn't a ton of consistency in terms of the order of the bus stops. Sometimes it would have already gone to the Stop 1 and end at Stop 4, other times it started with Stop 2 with Stop 1 being the last. We generally waited about 25 minutes per bus. (I realize they're quoted to be every 20 minutes or so, but it's frustrating to see the bus arrival time get pushed back constantly.)

Same for buses from parks to the resort. We often saw two buses show for other resorts in the time it took to get one to the Coronado stop. Other guests we talked to were experiencing the same thing.

CS definitely handles a high volume of guests and with construction there are bound to be bus stop adjustments and all that, but in general, we ended up getting to where we needed to be late more often than not.

So if you're staying soon, just be aware that buses might be a little slow or backed up and add in a little buffer time in case.

(The resort itself was great! Room was beautiful, clean, and updated. Staff were friendly and check-in was a breeze.)

You know the funniest thing, you can replace the resort name in the bold with every single resort on property for your exact dates, for someone.
Search long enough either a message board or facebook, there's a report where someone says just that, that I saw 2 buses for every other resort before a bus came for MY resort.
It never fails that the bus you want is the one that doesn't show up but the bus for the other resorts do.

I'm glad you enjoyed the rest of the trip.

 

[xoSonya]

I'll be at Coronado in a few weeks. I'm driving my own car, thank goodness. It's nice to hear that you enjoyed the actual resort. I'm probably going to bite the bullet and Minnie Van it to and from Magic Kingdom. My husband is not too happy that in Minnie Van costs alone, we will be out $100 (I have two days scheduled). I told him that we could Uber it to Contemporary and walk, but I don't know.

 

[maxiesmom]

At CSR most buses do start at stop #2. I *think* it is Disney Springs that starts at stop #1. That is how the buses typically loop the resort.

Oh, and if you need to be somewhere at a specific time, Disney recommends you allow 90 minutes using their transportation. From every resort.

 

[mcall12]

At CSR most buses do start at stop #2. I *think* it is Disney Springs that starts at stop #1. That is how the buses typically loop the resort.

Oh, and if you need to be somewhere at a specific time, Disney recommends you allow 90 minutes using their transportation. From every resort.

Yes this is true about the buses and as of the last time I stayed there it was alluded to on the sign at each bus stop but I wonder if those have been updated.

 

[tjmw2727]

Back from a few days at CSR the first week of April and we had great luck with the buses! I think its all about timing; and as a pp said all resorts have their good/bad days. We stayed at CSR, OKW and POFQ and had the quickest service at CSR.

Lately I have started using my timer on my iPhone when I am forced to wait for something to see how long my waits actually are. Honestly I am usually very surprised how much shorter they are than I thought. I do it with the buses at resorts, DME if we use it and check in (if online doesn't work). At home I sometimes do it at the dr office and the deli just to remind myself to be patient -

 

[poodledogs55]

I also just returned(4/12-4/15) and thought CSR had the best buses of any resort I’ve stayed at. I never waited more than 10 minutes. Buses were never crowded and they always stopped at stop 2, 3, 4 (my stop for Cabanas 8A), and then 1. Never did they stray from that pattern. I was honestly very impressed with the resort overall!

 

[kbmartin]

I visited CSR for the first time in December and loved their bus system. We were in Ranchos and frequently rode the buses just to El Centro. Please don't take this the wrong way, but did you research ahead of time? The bus system was one of the first things I found out when I was looking into CSR. Now that you know how it works, I bet it would go much better next time. Like others said, the only bus that starts at Stop 1 is Disney Springs, and it works backwards. All of the others go to 2, 3, 4, and then 1. Knowing this, you can take a bus almost anywhere within CSR.

 

[jaiminee krikit]

CSR was the only WDW resort I can say I had amazing bus service! We never waited more than 10 minutes to go to the parks, and even less than that leaving the parks. I couldn't believe how good the buses were, and rarely full! I'm sorry OP that you had a bad experience, but unfortunately it can happen anywhere.

 

[Sue M]

We were at Pop early Dec, and also had very poor bus service. At any resort I expect the odd bad day, but this was all 10 days. 30 min wait was common. Also from the parks. This was more than just bad luck. In all the years of going to WDW, staying at all different levels, if you asked me before this last trip I would have, and did say 90% of the time the WDW busses run well.
I don’t know what’s happening at wdw, between busses and housekeeping there seems to be a problem, and a general decline in service.

 

[Epcot242]

I'll be at Coronado in a few weeks. I'm driving my own car, thank goodness. It's nice to hear that you enjoyed the actual resort. I'm probably going to bite the bullet and Minnie Van it to and from Magic Kingdom. My husband is not too happy that in Minnie Van costs alone, we will be out $100 (I have two days scheduled). I told him that we could Uber it to Contemporary and walk, but I don't know.

We Ubered to get to different resorts but not for parks. Much cheaper than the Minnie Lyft ride, but that added benefit of those rides taking you to the park entrance is nice. I think in order to Uber to a resort and then walk or whatever to a park you need a reservation at that resort. This past time they didn't bother to check it out, us telling them was enough. But we have had them check in the past. Just FYI! Have fun!!

 

[Epcot242]

Glad to hear others had good experiences! I know it's just the luck of the draw sometimes. We go frequently enough that this time in particular was odd so I thought I'd pass it on just in case. Regardless of the fact that Disney says you should allow 90 minutes, it's unrealistic to be up and going that early every morning just in case the buses aren't running efficiently that day.

Again, could have just been a weird weekend for us. Hoping it's better on our trip in July. Have fun everybody.

 

[AngiTN]

We Ubered to get to different resorts but not for parks. Much cheaper than the Minnie Lyft ride, but that added benefit of those rides taking you to the park entrance is nice. I think in order to Uber to a resort and then walk or whatever to a park you need a reservation at that resort. This past time they didn't bother to check it out, us telling them was enough. But we have had them check in the past. Just FYI! Have fun!!

No, they no longer ask for a reservation. We Uber/Lyft to resorts all the time. They have stopped asking about reservations, even when we have them. Even on busy days like NYE they didn't ask. As soon as the driver tells the guard "drop off" he says, go ahead. This was at CR and BWI on NYE.

 

[fab1976]

We just returned from a week at CSR last night. No real issues with the buses. One day we went to stop 1 and were told it would be 25-30 minutes for a bus to Hollywood Studios, that was odd since it is supposed to be 20 minutes! Wound up about 15 minutes. The stops were a bit messed up for a few days, they had the front of the hotel closed for something so we had to go out the convention center for bus stop 1, luggage services and the Magical Express was picking up there for those days. It was all changed back to normal when we left yesterday around 5. Disney Springs also changes their bus order for some reason yesterday, did stop 2 first and it is supposed to stop at 1 first. Threw off people waiting at stop 1 who were wanting to take the bus over to stop 3. The driver said he would take them there though.

Just wanted to share our experience! It wasn’t horrible, definitely not as bad as I have heard it can be!

 

[buzznina]

Just based on our families experience. Transportation is hit or miss at any resort. We drive to WDW and have been lucky enough to have taken 30+ trips, so that is a LOT of bus trips We have driven to the parks as well as used WDW transportation and all I can say is that we much prefer to use WDW transportation then to drive to the parks and we now only use our car to drive to other resorts. We have never had a trip where we had to wait 20+ minutes for every ride, yes there may be a few times during our whole stay, but not everyone. We also have had trips where it felt like the buses were there just for us and rarely waited 5 minutes.
I read that the resorts bus wait times will be part of the MDE app, so this is a GREAT thing

 

[cfn10]

1. Coronado Springs-so what time would you say buses begin in the AM? I have seen 45 mins before open to 6 AM answers. Would like to be at MK before rope drop with cushion so not worried whole ride. People say it takes "forever" to get to MK-about how long?
2. Also, has anyone noticed if the MK ticket window is open before 9 AM, before 8 AM? We need to change vouchers to tickets. Has anyone ever done this at the resort-is that possible?
3. Finally, from my previous trips I remember the TTC monorail not running early so it basically delayed anyone driving to TTC getting to MK park-would not arrive at MK until about 8:45 for first run. Seemed purposeful as Poly monorail would be running continuously. This would impact us driving to TTC from CS-anyone doing this?
4. Thank you. Never stayed at CS so trying to work-out our approach and WDW has changed a lot since our last trip.
5. PS Seen a lot of uber recommendations-our party is too large and needs car seats so that is not an option.

 

[dansdad]

1. Coronado Springs-so what time would you say buses begin in the AM? I have seen 45 mins before open to 6 AM answers. Would like to be at MK before rope drop with cushion so not worried whole ride. People say it takes "forever" to get to MK-about how long?
2. Also, has anyone noticed if the MK ticket window is open before 9 AM, before 8 AM? We need to change vouchers to tickets. Has anyone ever done this at the resort-is that possible?
3. Finally, from my previous trips I remember the TTC monorail not running early so it basically delayed anyone driving to TTC getting to MK park-would not arrive at MK until about 8:45 for first run. Seemed purposeful as Poly monorail would be running continuously. This would impact us driving to TTC from CS-anyone doing this?
4. Thank you. Never stayed at CS so trying to work-out our approach and WDW has changed a lot since our last trip.
5. PS Seen a lot of uber recommendations-our party is too large and needs car seats so that is not an option.

1. Buses start rolling at 6:30AM every day. Unless a park opens at 7AM, then they start at 6AM.
2. In our experience, Ticket windows are open prior to rope drop.
3. We've never driven to MK because of the extra step of parking at the TTC and getting to the front gate.
5. The only time we use UBER or a Taxi is going to another resort for an early morning ADR. Other than that, the buses have done a great job getting us where we need to go in a timely manner.

 

[georgina]

We've driven to MK many times. It's not that big of a deal, if the monorail isn't running the ferry should be. I'll be driving there later this week as I will be offsite.