How often have Poly and GF had shared bus service?

[MicheyMouse]

I thought each had its own service in the past. They now have a shared service.

 

[Moonspinner]

I thought each had its own service in the past. They now have a shared service.

It was like that the last time we stayed at poly 2- 3 years ago. Obnoxious, frankly.

 

[sponica]

When we stayed at the Poly post Covid in 2022 it was shared. But we were also never up early enough for rope dropping AK or DHS.

 

[trishadono]

I thought each had its own service in the past. They now have a shared service.

Now? Over the years they have often had shared. Poly and GF , CR and WL.

To/from GF often only one getting on the bus midday. Only time it is busy is early morning and leaving the park but the deluxe just are no where near as busy as the mods n values.

However holiday weekends you get many locals using WDW transportation which makes things more hectic.

 

[Wood Nymph]

ETA: Poly and GF no longer have dedicated buses in the morning. The buses are shared for AK, HS and Disney Springs.

 

[sbbobe]

My family and I stayed at the GF from June 7-14 this year. At 9:00AM going to both AK and HS on different days we had to share a bus with the Poly. With the GF being the second pickup not everyone was able to get on the bus. We also noticed that attempting to board the monorail early in the morning was very problematic as the GF is the second stop.

 

[Isthisnormalatdisney]

GF gets shafted in the arrangement too since the bus comes to them second they have the second opportunity to get a good seat (and people who need the tie downs get the second opportunity to use those along with the fact that if the bus is full it could be difficult for the tie downs spot to be opened, BUT when the bus is coming back from the parks the GF have the same opportunity to get the seats so and they are also stuck on the bus longer since it goes the Poly first.

The GF bus stop is also kind of unorganized but they are fixing it

 

[Moonspinner]

My family and I stayed at the GF from June 7-14 this year. At 9:00AM going to both AK and HS on different days we had to share a bus with the Poly. With the GF being the second pickup not everyone was able to get on the bus. We also noticed that attempting to board the monorail early in the morning was very problematic as the GF is the second stop.

Disney used to be known for their operations management.

 

[kylenne]

Poly and GF have dedicated buses until 11am. Then buses are shared after that. It includes buses for AK, HS and Disney Springs.

That is not the case anymore unfortunately. On our May Poly trip and also this trip I just got back from last night Poly was sharing with GF even for rope drop. On Saturday I was the only one on the AK bus at 6:05am and we stopped at GF and waited 5 min at an empty bus stop before heading out.

 

[Wood Nymph]

That is not the case anymore unfortunately. On our May Poly trip and also this trip I just got back from last night Poly was sharing with GF even for rope drop. On Saturday I was the only one on the AK bus at 6:05am and we stopped at GF and waited 5 min at an empty bus stop before heading out.

That's too bad. GF already had the worst bus service of any resort already. But sharing all the buses would make it worse.

 

[Isthisnormalatdisney]

That's too bad. GF already had the worst bus service of any resort already. But sharing all the buses would make it worse.

Oh and the tower people are also using the buses now too

 

[Simba's Mom]

Thanks for letting me know! I've only stayed at VGF for a couple days, and wanted to return for another, longer stay. However, if they're sharing buses and knowing that GF is second, since I use a scooter, I might rethink.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

I think all the MK resorts share busses. WL/CR/FW and Poly/GF. It is irritating.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

Just another reason, for us, that we rarely stay at a deluxe anymore. The ONLY real draw for us now, is the extra night hours but even that is only on Monday and Wednesday for just MK and Epcot, so no real flexibility.

 

[kylenne]

Just another reason, for us, that we rarely stay at a deluxe anymore. The ONLY real draw for us now, is the extra night hours but even that is only on Monday and Wednesday for just MK and Epcot, so no real flexibility.

Park proximity and on site amenities trump everything else to me and that’s why I still stay deluxe specifically at monorail and Crescent Lake resorts. Doing massive loops around every moderate (yes, including POFQ which shares with POR) frankly takes more time than the quick stop at a shared resorts, and direct shots from the values are not worth the obscene walks to the end of the terminals at the end of a long morning or evening, or giving up TS dining and superior theming to me. If it’s that serious, like I’m running late for an ADR or something, I’ll just pay the ten bucks or so for a rideshare.

tbqh irritating as it was to sit at an empty bus stop for 5 minutes, it ultimately didn’t affect my rope drop; I was still on the first load of the day for FoP. Every resort has pros and cons, but this just does not move the needle for me enough to care. I wish it were otherwise, and I mentioned it in my survey. But all of the other benefits to staying there vastly outweigh a couple extra minutes commute to a park in the morning. A quick walk, monorail or boat ride back from MK and the ability to skip the fireworks madness in the park altogether and just watch from the resort (whether public spaces or from the room) and then go back to the room more than makes up for that to me, on top of the superior dining, hot tubs, etc. EEH is a very nice perk at every park but Epcot too. I wouldn’t necessarily choose a deluxe specifically for it but it’s a fantastic perk to have.

I realize everyone has to do this math on their own and the math doesn’t math for everyone, though.

 

[Isthisnormalatdisney]

Just another reason, for us, that we rarely stay at a deluxe anymore. The ONLY real draw for us now, is the extra night hours but even that is only on Monday and Wednesday for just MK and Epcot, so no real flexibility.

And if you have young kids that time is basically useless

 

[brockash]

My family and I stayed at the GF from June 7-14 this year. At 9:00AM going to both AK and HS on different days we had to share a bus with the Poly. With the GF being the second pickup not everyone was able to get on the bus. We also noticed that attempting to board the monorail early in the morning was very problematic as the GF is the second stop.

We stayed at GF for 10 days (6 park days) last June. We always rope drop and every time we shared a bus. Agree about it being potentially problematic...especially with/for scooters.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

Park proximity and on site amenities trump everything else to me and that’s why I still stay deluxe specifically at monorail and Crescent Lake resorts. Doing massive loops around every moderate (yes, including POFQ which shares with POR) frankly takes more time than the quick stop at a shared resorts, and direct shots from the values are not worth the obscene walks to the end of the terminals at the end of a long morning or evening, or giving up TS dining and superior theming to me. If it’s that serious, like I’m running late for an ADR or something, I’ll just pay the ten bucks or so for a rideshare.

tbqh irritating as it was to sit at an empty bus stop for 5 minutes, it ultimately didn’t affect my rope drop; I was still on the first load of the day for FoP. Every resort has pros and cons, but this just does not move the needle for me enough to care. I wish it were otherwise, and I mentioned it in my survey. But all of the other benefits to staying there vastly outweigh a couple extra minutes commute to a park in the morning. A quick walk, monorail or boat ride back from MK and the ability to skip the fireworks madness in the park altogether and just watch from the resort (whether public spaces or from the room) and then go back to the room more than makes up for that to me, on top of the superior dining, hot tubs, etc. EEH is a very nice perk at every park but Epcot too. I wouldn’t necessarily choose a deluxe specifically for it but it’s a fantastic perk to have.

I realize everyone has to do this math on their own and the math doesn’t math for everyone, though.

Agree to disagree. First POFQ rarely shares with POR and believe me I know since I have stayed 12 times between the 2. I will take the POR or CSR exaggerated "massive" loop over the bus loop at the Epcot resorts any time. That was by far the worst bus rides we had, going to BW/BC/YC jammed pack trying to make room for people getting off and then packing in as many as they can to go back to DS or a park at each stop. Even though GF is our favorite Deluxe the monorail to/from Epcot is the 2nd worse transportation, I actually wished they had a bus to Epcot. If saving 15-20 minutes is worth $300+ per night to you than great, but not to us. Walking distance to terminals, really? I am a Pooh 64 year old and that's not even on my list of anything I would even think about or have an issue with. I also disagree with your theme statement, the Mods are as good and some better. Dining, we have a car and have driven to a number of resort restaurants during our trips and do not need to being staying at a deluxe to do so. And the Mod level CSR actually has the largest hot tub of all resorts. That's my math so you can do your math your way. This is why it's soooo great that they offer so many different resorts at WDW. It's great that you are happy at a deluxe, my family can be just as happy at a deluxe, a Mod or Pop and saving enough $$$ to almost pay for a 2nd trip.
And since this is this will be my last rebuttal. LOL

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Always difficult to speak in absolutes when it comes to Disney transportation, you can encounter an exception to an experience someone had the day or hour before or unusual circumstances (both positive and negative) at any given moment on any given Disney day.

Generally speaking they always share on the return.

They usually share heading to the parks as well although it's not out of the question for some single resort service during morning rush periods. My personal experience with this has varied - I've been on a full Poly bus that opts to head to direct to the park and also a full Poly bus that makes a totally useless stop at GF. My sense is they do try to dispatch buses to offset the GF build-up, but inevitably someone will find themselves on the losing end there as nothing with bus routes/capacity happens at the snap of a finger.

Just a reminder for less experienced guests, the only bus service offered at either resort is DHS, DAK, and DS.

Personally, while you can occasionally find yourself on a full bus to or from either resort or unfavorable delays for whatever reason, the majority of my Poly/GF bus experiences on average have been pretty efficient and lightly utilized, frankly.

 

[Isthisnormalatdisney]

Agree to disagree. First POFQ rarely shares with POR and believe me I know since I have stayed 12 times between the 2. I will take the POR or CSR exaggerated "massive" loop over the bus loop at the Epcot resorts any time. That was by far the worst bus rides we had, going to BW/BC/YC jammed pack trying to make room for people getting off and then packing in as many as they can to go back to DS or a park at each stop. Even though GF is our favorite Deluxe the monorail to/from Epcot is the 2nd worse transportation, I actually wished they had a bus to Epcot. If saving 15-20 minutes is worth $300+ per night to you than great, but not to us. Walking distance to terminals, really? I am a Pooh 64 year old and that's not even on my list of anything I would even think about or have an issue with. I also disagree with your theme statement, the Mods are as good and some better. Dining, we have a car and have driven to a number of resort restaurants during our trips and do not need to being staying at a deluxe to do so. And the Mod level CSR actually has the largest hot tub of all resorts. That's my math so you can do your math your way. This is why it's soooo great that they offer so many different resorts at WDW. It's great that you are happy at a deluxe, my family can be just as happy at a deluxe, a Mod or Pop and saving enough $$$ to almost pay for a 2nd trip.
And since this is View attachment 981558 this will be my last rebuttal. LOL

I was going to respond to them too, but then they said a “quick walk” back from the park, maybe contemporary, but there ain’t nothing quick about getting back to grand Floridian or the poly. Granted at nighttime it would be a nice walk but not quick. Also, dinning is only better for table service. Riveria has a great quick service but many of the deluxe quick services aren’t as great.

I agree, I think the bus making a loop around a single resort is quicker than it navigating into a completely different resort.

I am team monorail over bus though, just cause it’s Disney and monorail is an attraction in and of itself