Disney on-site bus routes

[_19disnA]

Can't find anything here or on the Disney site that shows the bus route from say, Polynesian to Animal Kingdom or Disney Springs. Do they typically stop at each resort or do some resorts have direct bus routes? Since you apparently don't have to reserve the bus ahead of time, is it correct to assume they run fixed routes and stop at their assigned resorts regardless of whether or not someone is waiting?

 

[seashoreCM]

Most resorts have direct bus routes but a few closely spaced resorts such as Polynesian and Grand Floridian share buses at least during less busy times. Shared buses circle through all of the resorts on their route unless they should fill up prior to completing the pickups. Then the bus goes to the park or Disney Springs.

Other resort groups that share buses from time to time are the All Stars and the Port Orleans'

Also some resorts have multiple stops within, for example Caribbean Beach has (or had) eight stops. During busy times different bus trips may start at a different stop when going through the sequence of stops so one particular stop is not always last in line and passed by (passed up) by full buses.

One bus route out of a resort or resort group does not take guests to a choice of two theme parks.

For almost all resorts you get on the bus or boat or monorail and it takes you to your destination. A notable exception is that a transfer (monorail to monorail) is needed to get from a resort near Magic Kingdom to go to Epcot. When gondola service starts this fall, Pop Century ad Art of Animation guests will have to make a transfer (using the gondolas replacing the buses) to get to Hollywood Studios and Epcot.

We can say that all resort to resort trips require a transfer (at a park or at Disney Springs). In a small number of cases one of the two legs can be done on foot (no pun intended). For example bus from Caribbean Beach to Magic Kingdom and walk to complete the trip to Contemporary (monorail also available for this leg). When a bus route is shared between resorts it is possble to make a direct resort to resort trip between those resorts except this is sporadic because the order of resorts can vary unexpectedly.

 

[joelkfla]

Yes, Disney Transport runs fixed routes about every 20 minutes, and more often at peak times. There are buses from every resort to every park and to DS, unless there is an alternate mode of transportation. From Poly & the other resorts on the monorail, there are no buses to MK or Epcot, because the monorail is available.

There are also buses or monorail between all parks. There are buses from the parks to DS after 4 pm, but there are no buses from DS to the parks.

All buses stop at all resorts on the route (unless they fill up in the a.m.) Buses from the largest resorts don't make extra stops. Smaller resorts (including the monorail resorts) may share buses with 1 or 2 other resorts.

 

[SteveH]

Here is a great interactive map of WDW
https://magicguides.com/disney-world-transportation-map/

 

[goofy4tink]

Here is a great interactive map of WDW
https://magicguides.com/disney-world-transportation-map/

You know, I know the transportation system like the back of my hand, but this map always looks like nicely colored spaghetti to me!!!

I realize that transportation can seem hard to figure out to the new guests. But, keep in mind that it's really quite easy after you get there and see it in action. Everything is well marked. As already pointed out, the buses run about every 20 mins or so. Yes, your resort to park bus will probably make at least one stop once you board the bus.

 

[Lewisc]

Here is a great interactive map of WDW
https://magicguides.com/disney-world-transportation-map/

GREAT?? It still includes the $19 Express Bus service between theme parks. I think it's very confusing.
I think the OP wants to know what other resorts are on his bus. I know POLY and GF are frequently on the same. I know part of the day Contemporary was on the same bus, not sure if that's still true.

AFAIK Pop is the only resort which never shares a bus with another resort and only has one stop in the resort. Every other resort either shares a bus, at least occasionally or has internal stops in the resort.

 

[_19disnA]

Actually wanted to know both of those things. If you click on a specific resort on that map, the color coding is interactive and very helpful.

 

[chaoskids]

I looked at the map link posted above. It appears the map still has the water park buses going through Disney Springs. I thought they were going directly from resorts now.

 

[holden]

Even though buses are supposed to come very 20 minutes or so, our experience seems to be either the bus comes shortly after we arrive at the bus stop or 45 minutes or so later. It's completely unpredictable. When they run in your favor, the transportation is great. When they don't, it can be very frustrating.

Allow 1.5hrs from the time you leave your room til the time you arrive at your destination (inside MK, for example)...just to be safe. Especially if you are staying at a resort that has multiple bus stops or shares a bus with another resort.

 

[Moliphino]

AFAIK Pop is the only resort which never shares a bus with another resort and only has one stop in the resort. Every other resort either shares a bus, at least occasionally or has internal stops in the resort.

AOA, too.

 

[Lewisc]

AOA, too.

My bad.

In just a few minutes we discovered this "great guide" has the Express buses wrong, water parks buses wrong and it shows MK railroad as operational. I have no idea if the RR is currently running but I have no confidence the guide is being updated with closings due to Tron.

I agree with our moderator, the guide is confusing

 

[SteveH]

You know, I know the transportation system like the back of my hand, but this map always looks like nicely colored spaghetti to me!!!

Agreed, however if you click on a resort resort/park/etc. most of the colored spaghetti disappears and shows you just the routes from that location.

 

[AngiTN]

The guide linked is out of date, as long as you view it knowing the info isn't not current, fine.

As for sharing, it's not possible to find something to tell you what every shared route is because they are inconsistent. There are times when the shared routes share and times when they don't. You won't know, till you board the bus, which scenario you are going to face.

I will mention that I don't think (or can't at the moment think of) a single Deluxe resort (not counting the Villa only resorts as I do not know their routes at all) that doesn't share a bus with another Dexlue resort (or more than 1) at some time or another. I am not able to recall any bus from a Deluxe to a park that is 100% dedicated every time, every day. Not saying positively none exist only that I'm not thinking of it if there is one.
So consider any bus you board to/from a Deluxe, has the potential to be shared.
Mod seem to share less frequently. No idea about Value, we don't frequent them enough

And to answer the other question, they stop at all stops, no matter if someone is waiting or not. Unless the bus is full and no more passengers can board. Then they will pass the stops.

Other than that, knowing the routes is not much of an importance. Just know that the bus in your resort will get you to the park indicated on the banner. How it gets you there, the route it takes, of little importance to you the rider.

 

[_19disnA]

Well the map is useful for our planning even if not 100% current. One thing we are looking at is transit time differences for various destinations when using bus vs. taxi, so it is useful to know how much longer the ride might be when taking a bus. Knowing the route is relevant information.

 

[saturn5]

Even though buses say they run about every 20, it all depends when you decide to go to the park, or to your resort. Usually, Disney Transport will lower the number of buses moving around between the hours of 1:00pm and 5:00 pm. The PM crew usually starts anywhere between 3:00pm and 6:00pm, so wait times can be extended. You'll pick up the trend if you go past the bus depots, and see bus's parked along the fence/walls at the parks, or parked in the parking lots. Before I left, they were starting to get more creative with hiding buses when they were shut down, so it did not look like they weren't running all of them.

Now with the water parks having direct access to the resorts, I am not sure how spread out they will be between those open hours, but rumor has it that DS assigned buses are running that operation. So I would probably expect a little slower wait times for DS, but people there now can chime in with their experiences.

As long as you utilize the MDE app and check those times, you can possibly lessen the amount of wasted time waiting for a bus. It helped us a lot when we were staying at Coronado Springs in December.

 

[seashoreCM]

Every transit system reduces service and the number of its vehicles moving about during off peak times.

I am not sure how water park bus service operates today and there have been recent changes. In the past one of the park bus routes (usually the Animal Kingdom route) has stopped at Blizzard Beach and the Disney Springs route has served Typhoon Lagoon.

One problem of the combined DS-TL routing, which I had seen in the past, is a sudden rainstorm causing TL guests to flee the park and the resulting traffic jam down the single lane exit fouling up the DS bus service

Various experiments, some having fizzled on the drawing board, have been dreamed up at WDW to reduce off peak bus trips. One idea (which fizzled) was a push button similar to that used to get the walk light at an intersection and used to summon a bus. Disney could fiendishly shoot to get a bus there in 19 minutes (simulating 20 minute service and also giving an opportunity for other guests to get to the bus stop so the bus doesn't run with just you aboard). Today, a Magic Band sensor system could count the number of guests calling for a bus compared with a button that one person could push repeatedly. Today, some mid morning service back to resorts is coordinated (not in a foolproof manner) by a roving CM observing the park bus platforms and calling for buses.

 

[Lewisc]

The guide linked is out of date, as long as you view it knowing the info isn't not current, fine.

As for sharing, it's not possible to find something to tell you what every shared route is because they are inconsistent. There are times when the shared routes share and times when they don't. You won't know, till you board the bus, which scenario you are going to face.

I will mention that I don't think (or can't at the moment think of) a single Deluxe resort (not counting the Villa only resorts as I do not know their routes at all) that doesn't share a bus with another Dexlue resort (or more than 1) at some time or another. I am not able to recall any bus from a Deluxe to a park that is 100% dedicated every time, every day. Not saying positively none exist only that I'm not thinking of

AKL only shares bus service with Kidani Village. I don't know how often SSR or OKW share bus service, but there are multiple stops in each resort.

Well the map is useful for our planning even if not 100% current. One thing we are looking at is transit time differences for various destinations when using bus vs. taxi, so it is useful to know how much longer the ride might be when taking a bus. Knowing the route is relevant information.

Except the biggest variable isn't bus route, it's waiting time. The bus routes vary from what is shown in the guide. Off peak, I've been on buses which go to all the EPCOT resorts. I've been on buses which include Contemporary, POLY and GF. I've been on buses which made all the stops in both OKW and SSR.
You're concerned with transportation. A taxi will always be faster. Taxi to BLT if you're going to the MK. Contemporary has the best transportation to the MK (walk) POLY and GF next best, monorail and boat. The EPCOT resorts (BC,YC,BCV,BWI,BWV,Swan and Dolphin) have the best transportation to EPCOT and DHS (boat or walk).

POP has the best bus service. Non-stop bus service. AoA is also good. AKL isn't bad. All other resorts have multiple (maybe many multiple) stops in your resort and/or many resorts.

 

[Miffy]

I've stayed at SSR several times, always use the buses, and have never had a bus that stopped at another resort. However, as the PP mentioned, there are several internal stops at SSR. I don't know how the OKW buses operate, but I'm going to guess that they also don't share with another resort.

 

[goofy4tink]

I think we can look at this another way. The only buses that don’t make a stop once it leaves your stop are those for Pop, AoA, and sometimes the All Stars.
Even if your resort bus doesn’t share a route, it will probably make multiple stops within your resort. POR, CSR, CBR, SSR, OKW all have multiple stops within the resort. If you’re at the first stop, it can take an addtl 15 mins to actually get out of the resort and on the road to the parks!

 

[saturn5]

AKL only shares bus service with Kidani Village. I don't know how often SSR or OKW share bus service, but there are multiple stops in each resort.



Except the biggest variable isn't bus route, it's waiting time. The bus routes vary from what is shown in the guide. Off peak, I've been on buses which go to all the EPCOT resorts. I've been on buses which include Contemporary, POLY and GF. I've been on buses which made all the stops in both OKW and SSR.
You're concerned with transportation. A taxi will always be faster. Taxi to BLT if you're going to the MK. Contemporary has the best transportation to the MK (walk) POLY and GF next best, monorail and boat. The EPCOT resorts (BC,YC,BCV,BWI,BWV,Swan and Dolphin) have the best transportation to EPCOT and DHS (boat or walk).

POP has the best bus service. Non-stop bus service. AoA is also good. AKL isn't bad. All other resorts have multiple (maybe many multiple) stops in your resort and/or many resorts.

As parks close, things tend to change. There comes a time when there will be a dispatcher standing in the load zones calling dispatches, which is the result of why some resorts may have multiple buses back to back, as managers tend to not want super long lines. Once the big rush is over and guests are slowly trickling out, that is when your modified routes come into play. This happens because they can utilize buses at other parks if needed (MK mainly, they always need buses)sometimes DS but rarely, and a lot of drivers need to go get a clean bus and go home (that trip can take 45min - 1 hr). So one may see buses going to all MK resorts (includes FW), along with all EPCOT resorts, All the Stars with AKL or Coronado sometimes added in, POP and AOA sometimes with CBR thrown in, and even OKW and SSR (since park is closed and it is drop off only, they can skip stops if no one is getting off at that stop). If the park is open the only resorts that my get combined are All Stars Sports, Music and Movies. The MK resort ones are always combined.

As always, things can change at any moment because accidents can happen!