Designated busses and resort questions

[monica9]

I know this should be in the transportation forum but I also have a question regarding my resort.
Which resorts have designated busses? We've stayed WL and had to pick up and drop off at the monorail resorts. We've stayed at BC and shared with YC and BWI.
We are staying at AKL which I'm assuming has designated busses but my friend just got back and said it took about 25 minutes to get to MK. That's a long time considering we are using base tickets and have a 13 month old and taking breaks 2 times for MK and 1 time for Epcot. Is it really that long?
We really want a deluxe but there's no availability at WL, I'm not big on bc considering the price, and the monorail resorts are too expenive. I'd think about poly if a standard comes up with room only discounts (if someone switches bc right now there aren't rooms available).
Which resorts have designated busses and will we be fine with the breaks from MK and ep?

 

[butiflfeet]

Moderate and Value resorts have dedicated buses but most of them also have multiple stops within those resorts. The Poly is my first choice for transportation to MK and Epcot because you can walk to/from the TTC for the Epcot monorail. In my experience, the best resort for bus service has been POFQ. Although it does share sometimes with Riverside which has multiple stops, it has a dedicated bus for high traffic times and only one stop. It's located relatively close to MK and Epcot too so the ride doesn't take that long.

 

[Pennstate6411]

There has been multiple discussions about this lately. On average people say 25 is a LONG time to MK from AKL- its usually 15-20 minutes and this is from people who stay here multiple times- Epcot and DHS are about 10 to 12 minutes form what people say. A bus ride from AKL to MK is maybe 5 to 10 minutes longer than the boat from WL or if you add up the time it takes to get your bus and all the stops from say WL it adds up to close to that. Its not that bad of a ride from AKL, its a dedicated line so you go to park to hotel, no waiting for loading and unloading at 4 or more stops. I think if the rides were THAT long from MK a lot more people would complain- nothing is instant at Disney - you have to wait for buses or boats or monorails. Its just as fast to get to DHS and EPCOT with the AKL buses. Its 5 to 10 minutes max longer from AKL to MK then WL with the boat mind you. I for one don't think those few extra minutes will make your break your day or vacation.

 

[Shanti]

I know this should be in the transportation forum but I also have a question regarding my resort.
Which resorts have designated busses? We've stayed WL and had to pick up and drop off at the monorail resorts. We've stayed at BC and shared with YC and BWI.
We are staying at AKL which I'm assuming has designated busses but my friend just got back and said it took about 25 minutes to get to MK. That's a long time considering we are using base tickets and have a 13 month old and taking breaks 2 times for MK and 1 time for Epcot. Is it really that long?
We really want a deluxe but there's no availability at WL, I'm not big on bc considering the price, and the monorail resorts are too expenive. I'd think about poly if a standard comes up with room only discounts (if someone switches bc right now there aren't rooms available).
Which resorts have designated busses and will we be fine with the breaks from MK and ep?

Pop Century and Art of Animation are the only resorts I know of that have their own exclusive bus transportation at all times, with only one bus stop at their respective resorts.

Animal Kingdom Lodge has its own exclusive buses, but the Jambo and Kidani sections each have their own stop. The stop at Jambo is the one right before the bus heads to the parks.

The All Stars share buses.

The Port Orleans French Quarter & Port Orleans Riverside resorts share buses.

All of the moderate resorts except Port Orleans French Quarter have significant internal bus routes prior to heading to the parks. (But since POFQ shares with POR, it still has to go through POR's internal stops.)

If you really want a deluxe, AKL is the way to go, in your situation.

 

[monica9]

There has been multiple discussions about this lately. On average people say 25 is a LONG time to MK from AKL- its usually 15-20 minutes and this is from people who stay here multiple times- Epcot and DHS are about 10 to 12 minutes form what people say. A bus ride from AKL to MK is maybe 5 to 10 minutes longer than the boat from WL or if you add up the time it takes to get your bus and all the stops from say WL it adds up to close to that. Its not that bad of a ride from AKL, its a dedicated line so you go to park to hotel, no waiting for loading and unloading at 4 or more stops. I think if the rides were THAT long from MK a lot more people would complain- nothing is instant at Disney - you have to wait for buses or boats or monorails. Its just as fast to get to DHS and EPCOT with the AKL buses. Its 5 to 10 minutes max longer from AKL to MK then WL with the boat mind you. I for one don't think those few extra minutes will make your break your day or vacation.

Agree. My sister stayed at GF and said the transportation was the worst. Getting from MK to gf on monorail took them a good 45 minutes at the end of the night.

 

[disneygolfer1985]

The BW does not share any stops with other resorts.

 

[Allison]

They all have designated buses but I am assuming you mean a dedicated bus as in no stops at other resorts?

 

[HopperFan]

Honestly the ONLY resort with short travel time to MK is Contemporary because you can walk.

We have WAITED 25 minutes for the launch to GF and Poly before even loading. The monorail can take that long or more start to finish, aggravating when you can see the resort you are going to. At peak it's even worse.

If you are taking 2 breaks you will be losing substantial time in your day no matter where you stay, best bet Contemporary.

 

[ncc1701]

Moderate and Value resorts have dedicated buses but most of them also have multiple stops within those resorts. The Poly is my first choice for transportation to MK and Epcot because you can walk to/from the TTC for the Epcot monorail. In my experience, the best resort for bus service has been POFQ. Although it does share sometimes with Riverside which has multiple stops, it has a dedicated bus for high traffic times and only one stop. It's located relatively close to MK and Epcot too so the ride doesn't take that long.

We stay at POFQ and have only shared a few times with POR going to MK the last few trips. Most of them were prepark buses ( we had 8:10 ADRS & grabbed the bus around 7:00am) . Another time we made 1 stop at POR before heading to MK. Going back even in the middle of the day we had a seperate bus from POR.

 

[stenmarks]

We stayed at POR for 9 days last year and never shared buses with POFQ.

 

[monica9]

The BW does not share any stops with other resorts.

We dropped and picked up at bwi while staying at bc. Don't remember which park it was for

 

[monica9]

Honestly the ONLY resort with short travel time to MK is Contemporary because you can walk.

We have WAITED 25 minutes for the launch to GF and Poly before even loading. The monorail can take that long or more start to finish, aggravating when you can see the resort you are going to. At peak it's even worse.

If you are taking 2 breaks you will be losing substantial time in your day no matter where you stay, best bet Contemporary.

Definitely don't want CR. It's too plain for us and part of our resort experience is the theme. I think we are going to stay with AKL and take our chance. I really would like to stay there and maybe the bus ride will be a break in itself from all the walking. Our dd9 loved the busses the last few times we went. She would run to the back to try to get "her seat". It was part of the experience for her

 

[Anthony1971]

Deluxe resorts without multiple stops within the resort (AKL, OKW and SSR) will have dedicated buses during peek times of the day only... The rest of the times it will have other stops. Examples I have seen: WL and GF, Poly and CR sometimes these will change and sometimes it may stop at 2 other resorts...

 

[heidijanesmith]

Just got back from a stay at BWV and generally we did not share with anyone, but one night headed to AK we stopped at the Swan/Dolphin 1st.

It was not a big deal, did not take long at all.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

AK never shares. No one to share with.

 

[maxiesmom]

The All Stars typically each have their own bus. They share on the odd occasion but they have their own most of the time.

I would say if you don't want the Contemporary, look at the Poly. It is a short monorail or boat ride away from the Magic Kingdom. The Animal Kingdom is the resort farthest away from the Magic Kingdom. Not a great choice if you plan on doing a lot of back and forth between it and the Magic Kingdom.

 

[DisBuckMan]

It's 8 miles from AKL to MK. That's it....8 miles.

The "cross-country" bus trips from AKL to MK are greatly exaggerated here.

 

[maxiesmom]

It's 8 miles from AKL to MK. That's it....8 miles.

The "cross-country" bus trips from AKL to MK are greatly exaggerated here.

Well 8 miles is farther than any other resort. I have stayed at CSR many times, which is closer than the Animal Kingdom Lodge. And it is the longest bus ride of the trip. And for a family that plans on spending a lot of time at the Magic Kingdom AND plan on going back and forth a lot, it may not be the best choice of resort.

 

[Pennstate6411]

Well 8 miles is farther than any other resort. I have stayed at CSR many times, which is closer than the Animal Kingdom Lodge. And it is the longest bus ride of the trip. And for a family that plans on spending a lot of time at the Magic Kingdom AND plan on going back and forth a lot, it may not be the best choice of resort.

Yes 8 miles is farther than others but it's all relative here- 15 minute trip compared to 10 minute trip- 5 minutes is not going to make or break the trip

 

[maxiesmom]

Yes 8 miles is farther than others but it's all relative here- 15 minute trip compared to 10 minute trip- 5 minutes is not going to make or break the trip

Maybe not for you. But if you are going back and forth a lot the 5 minutes can add up. And it is more like 20 minutes. And if someone doesn't even like having to go to an additional stop at the same resort, another 5 minutes heading to/from the park may make a difference.