Disney transportation from POP

[aimeew5477]

How are the bus systems from POP lately? What is the average travel times from POP to the 4 main parks from your experience? I am trying to decide if renting a car is worth it with two little ones (1 and almost 3 years old)- this way we could avoid waiting and possibly bothering others on the bus. What do you think???

 

[goofy4tink]

Bothering others on the bus??? I doubt it. There are tons of kids on the buses, of all ages.
The buses at POP are very good. I stay there frequently and have never had an issue with the bus waits or travel times.
If you think it's going to be an issue, then by all means rent a car. But, I've always been fine with the buses. The longest ride on the bus might be 20mins, but most are much less than that.

 

[aimeew5477]

Thanks! That was helpful! I was told to leave an hour and 30 minutes prior to reservations so that freaked me out a bit. 5-20 minutes wouldn't be a bad ride though! I just had nightmares about the littlest one screaming and crying the whole bus ride because she was tired.

 

[dznyacct]

Just back last Saturday from my b-day trip to WDW . We stayed at Pop and had GREAT bus service, never waiting more than 10 minutes for a bus. The busses at park closing were plentiful, although sometimes I felt like I was "surfing" while standing when the bus was full !!

 

[Mrs Grumpy]

We are also just back from 10 nights at POP. The busses were great. They were packed but always a bus when we needed it. We only sat one time though on the way back to resort every night.

 

[zulemara]

always allow 1 hour for Disney transportation. If it takes 10 minutes one time, it might be 50 the next, so don't rely on the lower time frames you might experience.

 

[goofy4tink]

Thanks! That was helpful! I was told to leave an hour and 30 minutes prior to reservations so that freaked me out a bit. 5-20 minutes wouldn't be a bad ride though! I just had nightmares about the littlest one screaming and crying the whole bus ride because she was tired.

Here's the scoop on that 'allow an hour or so' thought.....
If you get to the bus stop, just as the MK bus is pulling away, it could be another 20 mins before the next MK bus arrives, then add 20 mins to that for the ride, then maybe 15 mins from the park bus stop to the ADR you need to get to...if at the park. It has never taken me an hour to get from my resort to a park at any time...not once. Usually it isn't going to take the full 20 mins for another bus to get there...if it's peak travel time, another bus should be coming along shortly.
If you are going from resort to resort, then sure, allow an hour or so. But, that's because you have to allow bus wait time at your resort, then the ride to the nearest park to the resort you want to head to, then a possible wait for transportation to that resort...so, yes, that can be an hour or so. But resort to park usually isn't all that long.
I haven't seen too many little ones upset on the ride to the parks. Now...the ride home, after a long, tiring day in the parks?? Sure, plenty of crying little ones then.

 

[lurkernj]

We were just at Pop mid sept for 7 days. The buses were awesome! We never waited more than 5 minutes. There did seem to be small issues everytime we were going to MK. Everytime we went to the bus stop, it was three rows deep, but two buses always pulled up at the same time, so we never waited, I'm guessing the people at the front of the line waited a little, but for us it always worked out well (except the day of the bomb scare, but that couldn't be helped), same for departing MK at the end of the night, sometimes 4 buses would come at the same time.

 

[aimeew5477]

I'm glad to hear that most of you had excellent bus experiences from POP! It sounds like there aren't always seats available. What did people do with little ones when this happened? I just can't imagine holding my 1 year old on a moving bus or expecting my 2 year old to stand and not be really scared. Thanks for all of the posts!

 

[goofy4tink]

I'm glad to hear that most of you had excellent bus experiences from POP! It sounds like there aren't always seats available. What did people do with little ones when this happened? I just can't imagine holding my 1 year old on a moving bus or expecting my 2 year old to stand and not be really scared. Thanks for all of the posts!

Okay...I'm going there.....you may wait for the next bus in order to get seats. Or, you can board the bus and hope that someone gives up a seat for the two kids. If only one person gives up their seat, you could take the seat, hold the 1 y/o on your lap and put the 2 y/o in between your legs, standing.
Not ideal. I have found that most people take pity on a mom with young kids.

Now.....I do NOT want this to turn into a bashing thread regarding giving up of seats on the bus....period!

 

[kristenrice]

I'm glad to read the positive comments about the buses at Pop Century.

I think we will cancel our car for next week. We can use the $175 elsewhere.