Greyhound Bus

[doubletrouble_vb]

Has anyone ever tried taking the bus to disney? From Atlanta if I buy the tickets 7 days in advance on the internet they are $41 one way. According to AAA it would cost me $36 to drive one way. Since I would be the only driver the overnight bus is starting to look mighty tempting right now. It leaves at 11:30PM and arrives around 81/2 hours later. That's 90 minutes longer than it would take me driving by myself and then there is the transit to Disney but it does have the advantage of a) being overnight so I'm sleeping, b) me not driving and c) having just about a full day at Disney without being whipped from the drive.

Opinions? Comments? To fly at this point would be about $335 to $366.

 

[beccasmom]

Have never done this, but some questions/concerns:

Where does the bus leave you off? You will need transport to WDW - Mears or a car - so that cost would need to be taken into consideration. Mears would be relatively inexpensive.

Don't underestimate how tired you will be. I know driving is extremely tiring, but traveling itself takes its toll. When traveling by plane, the travel is no less tiring but the time enroute is considerably shortened. Bus travel is very tiring. Be flexible and don't bet that you will be rested for a day at the parks. If you are, that's great, but keep some flexibility in your plans if you are not up to it.

You may not be able to sleep as much as you plan. Some folks sit up talking long into the night, babies cry (just like a plane or train) so bring some eyeshades and earplugs if sleep is your primary focus while traveling.

 

[Aisling]

We put my mom on a Greyhound bus from NYC the day before we flew down to Orlando. (She will not get on an airplane.) It took 24 hours, and the bus arrived exactly as scheduled. I had arranged in advance with a towncar service to pick her up from the Greyhound station.
She said the ride was fine, no complaints considering it's a long bus trip with no luxuries.

I think you should really consider taking the bus. Like you said, you won't have to drive, just sleep and dream about getting to WDW. If you can't sleep because of noise or whatever, at least it's not for 24 hours, like my mom's trip!

If you don't mind paying for the transportation from the bus station to WDW, I'd say let someone else do the driving!

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

That's what I was thinking. By the way I once took the train from NYC to Tampa. That's a bit more comfortable than the bus because the seats are wider and you can walk around if you want. The downside was...on the way down there college baseball teams in the adjacent car (rowdy).

I've used the bus in the past to go other places not well served by other transit. I'm hoping to find out two things from this post...someone who may have used this excact bus route to get to Orlando...not necessarily from Atlanta...perhaps from a more northerly point AND...anyone who can help me with transiting from the station to Disney. I'm thinking I can actually use the public bus because I'm staying at SSR and I know non-Disney busses stop not far from DTD.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

By taking LYNX, the public transit bus, you'd have to take the Link 25 to Downtown Orlando, and transfer to the Link 50 to the Transportation Center at Disney. Once you get to Disney, then you'd have to take the monorail to the MK, and then the bus to SSR. Total transit time would be in the vicinity of 2-3 hours, and a cost of $1.50 exact change.

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

I've been trying to figure out how people get the bus at Downtown Disney. It seems to appear that people do not ride the bus to that location. I figure I'll give Lynx a direct call because I can't figure out for the life of me what the purpose of the Lynx Superstop at DTD is for...

Looking at Mousesavers apparently there are lockers in the TTC so I could store my luggage and just go into the park...when I'm ready to check in go back to TTC get the luggage then go back across the lagoon to da SSR bus.

It is amazing how...airport centric transportation actually is! AMTRAK has an arrangement with coach but I'll arrive long before the train does....and I'm not paying $50 for a cab ride.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

That is the 3D route... Downtown/Disney Direct. It's a commuter route. It runs once in the early morning inbound only, and then once in the late afternoon outbound only.

What happens is this. About 5 buses go all over Orlando picking up, and then meet up at the Superstop (the West Side bus stop). At that point, the buses then spider out to all over Disney property.

It's primarily used by Housekeepers.

The route numbers are 300-305 or something like that. Information can be found on www.GoLynx.com

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

Thanks for the information. Looks like I won't be trying the bus THIS trip after all. I messed up and waited one day too long. That drove the price up above what I'd truly be willing to pay.

Greyhound's website sure could use some work. Mon - Thu travel is $41. Fri - Sun travel is $49. Both of these fares are with 7 days advance purchase.

Standard Fare is $70.50 Mon - Thu and Fri - Sun $75.50. So my new total is past that significant $120 mark (after taxes) where bus fare starts to look like airfare. I'm probably going to see what I can come up with via priceline and if I can't find anything then go ahead and drive myself. For $40 I can do something nifty like leave Tuesday night, find an inexpensive hotel and stop and finish the drive the next day. I still may try the bus in December or January if I manage to get DVC reservations early in the month.