Disney Bus times/waiting - Resorts

[HallDisney2019]

Good Morning Disney folks!

My family has a trip planned to visit WDW mid December, checking out Christmas-Eve.

When checked-in you can review bus times & waits via MDE App. However, is there anyway to monitor when not checked-in or on-site? Based on the capacity likely to increase around X-MAS and the social-distancing (limited capacity) on buses, we are wondering if it is worth to rent a passenger van rather than use the buses.

We do get free parking at the hotel and free parking at the parks, however we would be paying for the rental car, plus car seats. I also know UBER does not have the option of car seats

Any feedback on the bus times? Recently visited, have you experienced long wait times due to the limited capacity on the buses?

Thank you in advance

 

[nw6675]

No, you can't monitor the bus times. We are here now and have had limited to no waits. However, your dates will be a much, much busier time.

 

[HappyDisneyWife]

In the past, you are right- bus times would be viewable. However, since reopening you cannot. I just came back from a split-stay & it wasn’t even an option tab on MDE anymore. Plus, the bus boards (at the actual bus stops) were not operating normally either... they just said “take the bus” or something of that nature. So, it was all a complete shot in the dark!!

 

[HappyDisneyWife]

Forgot to mention my wait times! So, if you were up early for the first bus- they were pretty spot on arriving one hour before opening (all except AK- which was ~20 min later at both BCV & RIV). No problem getting a bus at all.

I did wait more than 20 minutes a few times midday for both MK & AK. The most amazing aspect (& one I hadn’t considered) was on the way back to the resorts at the end of the day. They literally had buses lined up at MK ready to take people to whichever resort needed it. So, as one (filled) bus pulled away for RIV, they immediately pulled another one in. I think they know they can’t have masses waiting on the buses after park closing due to social distancing issues. It worked out great for us

My biggest “complaint” would be the excessive wait we had on DME at the airport. Ouch. It was painful. We had to watch our bus drive away... then wait forever for another bus... then wait for it to be filled... then, even though we were the first ones on, we had to stop at 5 other resorts before finally being the last ones off!!! Thankfully our driver was kind & we weren’t in a rush. My sister, however, had a completely different experience (we were both going to the same resort -BCV). She was put in a Mears van with just one other small group within minutes of arriving at DME checkin. It’s all luck of the draw!

 

[Lumpy1106]

Forgot to mention my wait times! So, if you were up early for the first bus- they were pretty spot on arriving one hour before opening (all except AK- which was ~20 min later at both BCV & RIV). No problem getting a bus at all.

I did wait more than 20 minutes a few times midday for both MK & AK. The most amazing aspect (& one I hadn’t considered) was on the way back to the resorts at the end of the day. They literally had buses lined up at MK ready to take people to whichever resort needed it. So, as one (filled) bus pulled away for RIV, they immediately pulled another one in. I think they know they can’t have masses waiting on the buses after park closing due to social distancing issues. It worked out great for us

My biggest “complaint” would be the excessive wait we had on DME at the airport. Ouch. It was painful. We had to watch our bus drive away... then wait forever for another bus... then wait for it to be filled... then, even though we were the first ones on, we had to stop at 5 other resorts before finally being the last ones off!!! Thankfully our driver was kind & we weren’t in a rush. ☺ My sister, however, had a completely different experience (we were both going to the same resort -BCV). She was put in a Mears van with just one other small group within minutes of arriving at DME checkin. It’s all luck of the draw!

Just going to put an asterisk on your post. RIV had WAY more buses than the other resorts when we went in Aug. and I don't think that's a coincidence. We even too the monorail to MK from BLT to catch a bus to RIV to take the Skyliner to Epcot because the Epcot buses were taking forever @ BLT. Maybe saved us time, definitely saved us aggravation.

 

[HappyDisneyWife]

Just going to put an asterisk on your post. RIV had WAY more buses than the other resorts when we went in Aug. and I don't think that's a coincidence. We even too the monorail to MK from BLT to catch a bus to RIV to take the Skyliner to Epcot because the Epcot buses were taking forever @ BLT. Maybe saved us time, definitely saved us aggravation.

I did wonder that, but my sister was at BCV & we had uncannily similar times (read- we always left/arrived on the bus within minutes of each other to/fro both MK & AK!). It was crazy- even our morning of waiting 20 minutes to rope drop AK- we both finally got buses within seconds of each other (we were obviously texting frequently during all of this ).

ETA: if you ever need to go to a different resort from BLT, it’s much quicker to walk over to the bus stop than to take the monorail... of course if one is trying to get to EP, taking the bus to BCV & walking to the IG entrance is quickest... but the monorail & Skyliner are much more fun!