Coronado Springs Buses

[Toonses]

We'll be staying in Gran Destino this November and I've found that getting info on people's experiences with the buses at CSR is a bit haphazard. Since CSR is all bus, and transportation is a major thing to consider at Disney, I thought I'd ask the question and hopefully get consolidated answers.

What has been your general experience on time it takes going to the parks? to Disney Springs? and did you find a big difference at different times of day?

Thanks!

 

[holden]

I haven't stayed at CSR, but the same general rules apply to all resorts. Disney suggests allowing 1.5hrs for transportation. The problem with the buses is that if you happen to catch one shortly after you arrive at the bus stop, they are great! If you have to wait 30 minutes for a bus, they aren't.

Buses will be crowded starting an hour/1.5hr prior to the parks opening, however, Disney usually runs lots of buses then too. We've had situations where a constant stream of buses were coming, and situations where we just miss a bus to a park and then another one doesn't show up for 30 minutes or more. Buses are also packed when parks close. You might luck out and have several come to take you back to your resort, or you might be stranded at the bus stop for a while.

As far as Disney Springs is concerned, I've had more difficulty with the buses to/from DS than the parks.

There really is no way to predict the efficiency of the buses. Some people love them. I try to avoid them at all costs. Unless I'm on my phone ordering a Lyft and a bus happens to pull up going to my destination, I don't use them. I think they take too much time.

 

[SharonZ]

I found that the quality of bus service is not resort-specific. A value resort is no better/worse than the transportation at a deluxe - it's pretty much hit or miss everywhere. However, I've found that the bus service that I had at Coronado to be very good.

 

[SarahC97]

I've stayed at CSR twice and been very happy with the bus service there. It's actually a pretty centrally-located resort, so I don't recall the transportation times being crazy to get anywhere. The only complaint is that the bus stop at Disney Springs is a looooonnnggg walk, but I have yet to take a bus to and from DS that wasn't a pain in some way.

 

[Devil13]

Was at the tower in August. Busses were hit or miss, like they can be anywhere. When heading out, it wasn't too bad. The return trips were more of a problem. The tower is the last stop and getting back takes what seemed like forever at the end of a long day so we essentially gave up in favor of taking relatively cheap Lyfts.

Small price to pay for everything the tower offers. LOVED it.

 

[Terryj529]

We have stayed at CSR 5 times now, the last 2 times, June 2018 and July 2019, in the Ranchos section. The only time we had to wait more than 10 minutes for a bus was leaving Magic Kingdom at midnight. The line was so long that I thought it would be an hour before we got on a bus. It only took about 30 minutes to get back to CSR, the buses kept coming an we got the 3rd one. I don't know if we got lucky these last couple of trips or service has gotten better. Then again, we try never to get in a hurry and always leave plenty of time to get some where because if you get in a hurry, something usuualy will go wrong.

 

[nkereina]

Disney suggests allowing 1.5hrs for transportation.

General rule of thumb is to allow an hour to get from a resort to a park on a bus. 90 minutes when you need to transfer to get to another resort. This is the "rule" we've always followed, and we almost always arrive earlier than anticipated.

OP, we have stayed at CSR many times and the buses have been fine. They can really be hit or miss at any resort on any given day, so reviews on this should be taken with a grain of salt. The bus stop closest to the tower will be the last pick up on the way to the parks which makes for a shorter ride there, but it is the last drop off on the way back. When going to Disney Springs, its the first pick up and first drop off, I believe.

 

[Toonses]

Thank you everyone for these replies, they're all very helpful! While it's been quite a few years (I think 2010 was the last time I was there), I grew up in FL and did used to go to Disney a lot. I do get the variability of the bus system, though that 1.5 hr time frame was seeming a bit excessive if you were on a direct line, vs having to transfer (e.g. getting to another resort). Plus it did seem like CS was pretty central and therefore was hoping it was at least a little better on the bus.

Our first day we'll be there in the PM and we're planning to head over to DS to putz around. I figure we'll def get a sense of that bus line, but we're not morning ppl, and we're not planning to rope drop anything. Well, my dad is, but he's on his own for that. lol

Mostly I just want to be certain I don't miss FP reservations since I have a 10:00 am flight of passage and slinky on two different days. I also have brunch at Homecomin' on one of the days, so it sounds like that's the one we'll need to be more careful with given the pickup order.

As a side question - can anyone speak to the best way to get between CS and GF? I was thinking it was prob best to bus it to MK and then monorail it over? Or would the boat be better? Or some other route entirely? We have a reservation for afternoon tea for the ladies before we go to MK for After Hours (very excited for that ).

 

[nkereina]

can anyone speak to the best way to get between CS and GF?

I would bus to MK and monorail to GF. For something quicker, Minnie Van and Uber/Lyft are always paid options as well.

 

[holden]

Minnie Van/Uber/Lyft are the quickest options. If you bus to MK, I'd take the boat to GF. GF is the first stop leaving MK. The monorail stops at TTC and Poly before getting to GF.