CR bus question

[Joyfulsnuff]

We would really like to try the Contemporary on our next trip but I am hearing alot of bad things about the transportation, especially the bus transportation. We thought that having the monorail available to us would be a huge plus, do you think it is? Would we be smarter to drive our car to MGM and AK than to take the buses. I keep hearing that they share their buses, is this the case? We are big POR fans but when we were there last September the bus transportation was really bad, especially at night trying to get back from a park. So we thought we might try a deluxe in hopes of better transportation and the Contemporary seems the least expensive. I am wondering what your transportation was like from this resort?

 

[Scoootch]

CR shares their buses with the Poly and the GF. I have always found their bus service to be average -- about the same as the other disney resorts I've stayed at. No better but no worse. The edge though is that at the Contemporary you only need the buses to get to certain places where as at other resorts like Dixie landings / POR-R you only have buses to get everywhere -- with the exception of the boat to DTD. Having the monorail access, boat launch and walk-ways should be of some help. But unfortuneatly, they do share with the other resorts so sometimes the bus service is running on great timing and sometimes not. I guess it all depends on how crowded it is when you visit.

 

[Buzz2001]

We stayed at the Cont for the first time during Halloween week 2002. I thought this was going to be great, staying at a deluxe...must get better transportation, right? Wrong! Going to MK, if you hop on the monorail, it takes longer than walking. You leave the Cont in the opposite direction and stop at every resort plus TTC. Coming back is nice because your first to be dropped off. The buses are shared with other resorts. I was used to having buses run just to the resort we were staying at so I didn't think it was worth the extra money to stay there.

 

[pointandshoot]

The nice thing about the monorail at CR is that it is the first stop after MK and you can get a seat in the morning since most folks got off at the park. In the evening, we just walked back from MK since it was quicker than dealing with the crowd leaving. I found that a plus for the resort. Monorail hopping to Epcot was nice too.

Got me worried about POR bus service. I will be staying there one night before moving to WL. Driving to MK might be a better option.

 

[Joyfulsnuff]

pointandshoot-we have stayed at POR the last 4 years and not had trouble with bussing until this last September. No matter what park we were going to we would see numerous busses to all the other parks except ours, by the time a bus would come for our park there would be a lot of people waiting for that one bus. It was really weird and it became the big joke while we were there. I dont know if it was just bad luck or if a lot of other people have been experiencing the same problem with the busses but it did get annoying after a while. The resort itself is beautiful though!

 

[cinmell]

One of the things we like about the Contemporary is that you can walk to the MK in under 10 minutes and it's a nice walk. Walking avoids the loop around the monorail and it's great to be able to walk back to the Contemporary after parades and fireworks because you avoid the monorail crowds. It's also good to be able to take the monorail to Epcot, it beats the buses. I think the Contemporary is worth it for convenience. It is our favorite resort.

 

[CRCrazy]

We stayed at the CR twice this year - for a week in March and 3 days in December. We used Disney transport exclusively in March, but smartened up in December.

We loved the monorail access to MK!! You would always get a seat as it is the first stop after MK. You do need to do the full loop to get to MK, but my kids love the monorail so that is not a hardship. If you were in a rush, you could walk there much more quickly, 5-10 minutes from the North Garden Wing. Coming home after a long day at MK, it was so nice to hop on the resort monorail - back in our room less than five minutes after leaving the MK gates! Epcot is also easily accessible by monorail - just switch at the TTC!

We found that the buses for MGM and AK left at regular intervals during the day, and were no problem. Unfortunately the bus from MGM back to the CR at night after Fantasmic was incredibly crowded as it is a shared bus. We had to wait through 3 buses before we could get on. Our next trip we took the car, as parking at MGM is a piece of cake and the trams run constantly to the front gate. No waiting!

The only bus we absolutely would never do again was Downtown Disney!! It took us over an hour to get there, and almost as long to return. We had a long wait to even get a bus, and there were no seats, and I think we stopped at every park and resort before we got there! (Yes, I'm exaggerating, but not much!)

 

[Joyfulsnuff]

Thanks so much everyone for your input. I'm pretty sure (if codes are pretty good for Sept.) that we will give CR a try. My kids love the monorail so that is a plus, and the idea of being able to walk to MK. MK and Epcot are our favorite parks! It sounds like when we go to DTD we will be driving our own car though! Thanks

 

[pointandshoot]

Thanks Joyfulsnuff for the info! Out last stay was at CR and with a 4 year old DD we spent most of our time at MK an did not use the bus much. When we did, we found is satisfactory.

With all the different things written about POR, I wanted to visit the hotel for one day and see what it was like. I like you positive attitude. Nothing is perfect and sometimes you just got to laugh at things. POR, here we come.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

A common misconception about Transportation is that the more you pay for the room, the better the transportation is. This is not true. You're paying a premium price for a premium hotel room. Nothing more. In reality, the All-Stars typically have the best bus service, followed closely by Port Orleans. On a side note, Port Orleans busses have a 97-98% on time rate, based on current statistics... this means that 970-980 busses out of a possible 1,000 busses have arrived on time. (Based on 8am-11am MOD dispatches, for a one week period)

As for the Contemporary...

The Contemporary is located right across the street from the Magic Kingdom, and is a 7-10 minute walk to the front gate. The Monorails depart from the Contemporary every 5-10 minutes, and travel to the TTC, Polynesian, Grand Floridian, and then finally the Magic Kingdom. Depending on who's driving the trains, it can be anywhere from 12-20 minutes to the MK.

To get to Epcot, you must switch trains at the TTC. Epcot trains run approx every 10 minutes, and it's a 10 min ride from the TTC to Epcot.

Busses run approx every 15 minutes to the Disney-MGM Studios, Disney's Animal Kingdom, and Downtown Disney. DTD routes always will be Co-Po-GF. AK Busses will only go Co-Po. Studio busses will do Co-Po until 11am, at which time GF is added as well.

From what I have observed in the past few months, busses typically have been running just fine from the Contemporary. During the mornings, and peak night time hours (ie: park closing) it is to be expected that both busses and the Monorail will be crowded. The Monorail also gets crowded during dinner exit times. At night time, the Downtown busses get crowded as people leave the MK, and head over to the Contemporary to catch the DTD bus. Extra busses are added to the routes to compensate during these times.

 

[Joyfulsnuff]

Thanks for the great information Chip 'n Dale Express!

 

[Alice28]

Chip n Dale Express-

Great info thank you so much! My question is:

Our day of departure (a Saturday) we would like to go to DTD for shopping. Our flight leaves at 4:00 PM, so the towncar will probably pick us up between 1:30-2, so we would leave DTD around 12:30. What do you think the fastest scenario to get back to the CR would be & am I giving us enough time leaving DTD at 12:30 in order to be back at the CR by 1:00-1:15. (we would already have our luggage stashed at the bell station)

Take bus from DTD to CR
Take bus from DTD to TTC and get on monorail to CR
Pay the money for a cab.

thanks for your opinion...anyone else can share too!

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Originally posted by Alice28
Take bus from DTD to CR
Take bus from DTD to TTC and get on monorail to CR
Pay the money for a cab.

DTD only services Disney Resorts. No theme parks, and not the TTC. So, you'll want to go to stop #3, and board the Contemporary bus.

 

[AmyA]

joyfulsnuff,
If you already plan to have a car there, you can't go wrong w/ the CR. When DH and I went in September we walked/monorailed to and from the MK, monorailed to Epcot, and usually drove to AK, MGM, DTD, and other resorts. However, we did take the water launches to FW and WL, and did the boat ride from Epcot to MGM a few times.

When I went in January w/ some girlfriends, we used only WDW transportation. No problem w/ the busses to MGM, AK, and PI.
We did make sure to leave the parks/PI slightly before closing, though.