how bad is the bus service at old key west?

[kathleena]

I have found the bus service to be horrible at times and great at times.

But what I have really been disappointed with is getting a bus at park close and how crowded the waiting area is vs how few buses there are. Had to wait 1/2 hour after park close at the waiting area for another bus to get there. That's just too long - they should anticipate need better.

 

[NancyDVC]

I have been a member at OKW since early 1992. The bus service has gotten much better over the years. Does anyone remember sharing the bus route with the Treehouses?
We rarely have waited more than 10 minutes for a bus to the parks in the morning. Mid day bus waiting times can be longer just like at home. Remember there are more buses on the routes during 'rush hour' (park opening and closing) than mid day when there are fewer riders.
I can recall having a bus to ourselves returning from the Studios mid to late afternoon on more than one occasion.
The buses are most crowded when the parks are opening and closing. Especially after the evening fireworks at MK, Illuminations at Epcot and Fantasmic at the studios. At that time there are large crowds of folks all leaving the parks at the same time.
In the past few years I have noticed that they bring up more buses at closing as needed. As a full bus pulls out they check the size of the line and bring buses up accordingly. I remember talking to one driver who was dropping us off at OKW from the studios and told us he was headed to park closing at AK which was of course closing earlier than the other parks.

My longest waits for buses have always been at park closing just after the fireworks, Illuminations or Fantasmic. During my stay at BWV last year we seemed to experience longer waits for buses than I have at OKW. When you are waiting to return from the parks especially at closing it does look funny when there are more buses for the AS, CBR, & CSR but these are huge resorts with lots more people waiting than for OKW.

The only time that we drove to a park was when we took the Backstage Safari at AK. We needed to be there at 8:15 and the buses only started at 8:00 (park opening was 9:00). So we took the car to be on the safe side.

I personally like to be able to relax on the bus rather than try to find my car and fight traffic to leave the park especially at closing.
The DD buses can be a longer wait but that again depends upon the time of day. With late afternoon and evening being the longest because that's when everyone goes to shop or visit PI.
I love the OKW drivers. They are the friendliest and nicest drivers. I have met one bus supervisor (on more than one trip) who drives an OKW route occasionally to keep in touch with the guests.
Yes when you are tired and the kids ar pooped and it is the end of a very long day even a 5 minute wait can seem like forever but I think that anyplace that can move as many people around by public transportation as well as WDW deserves a hand.

I also enjoy being able to meet people and talk as we are riding.
So if you are at OKW March 1-9 and this slightly nutty 'mature' lady strikes up a conversation with you it might be me!

 

[natcam1996]

We were at OKW in 08/03 which I guess I consider a fairly crowded time. I would say for the most part the bus service was great. A few waits where we "just missed" but for the most part short. Had the same long wait indicated above leaving AK in the middle of the day. Sometimes longer waits from the parks at night around closing time. But no worse, and maybe even a little better at that time, than the service for BC and BWV we experienced in 06/03. Since we ususally don't bring or use a car it's pretty much the WDW transportation for us. I guess I've tried to adjust my rythym to what that will be like. If we want to be somewhere early, get up and out early so missing a bus won't upset our schedule. If we don't have anything special planned, I try to enjoy this as a service provided and an opportunity to experience the people and surrroundings. When we're leaving the parks late, I try to adjust my atitude that it might be a longer wait so if I'm tired, I try not to focus on it, just what a great day we had. When I'm in WDW I try to not let the little things bug me. But I can really understand where folks with special needs or very young kids have a hard time with the waits. After being on the go or on your feet a lot of the day waiting is not what you want.

 

[Nanajo1]

Last T'giving we used the OKW busses exclusively.The only problem we had was that the OKW route had a bus with a broken lift and I use an ECV. I could not believew the number of times we ended up with the broken bus. Once from OKW to MK, Once from EP to OKW and from DTD to OKW. A second bus was quickly dispatched for me except at DTD when the wait was over 40 min. I questioned why the bus wasn't pulled until it was fixed but I didn't get an answer. I still like the bus system.

 

[TDC Nala]

First, if I'm going to PI to drink I am riding the bus, no driving!

Second, sometimes when I've gotten on the bus at OKW I've had to wait until the bus visited all the other bus stops in the resort (and I think there's about 5 of them) before going on to DTD. That took awhile. On the way back there usuallyaren't a lot of folks on the bus when PI closes, and the driver will ask which bus stop you want and go only to those stops they've got passengers for. I would bet they won't do this for any other route, though.

 

[wisbucky]

From our experience at OKW we have never found our wait to be more than 15 minutes tops. And that only occurred I believe once. I look at it this way we are on vacation and if I can't simply sit and relax while enjoying the surroundings then I am not truely on vacation. DH always likes to look at brochures so he takes one with him and reads it when there is a wait of some sort. I on the other hand just like to sit and relax. And believe me that relaxing time flies by fast....