How's the transportation at WL since the changes?

[Simba's Mom]

Heard there were some recent changes to the transportation at WL? Anyone experience these? What exactly did they change? And how is it now? Any comments would be appreciated. We go in June, and I'm wondering how the transportation will be.

 

[ztbz]

Wilderness Lodge now shares the Bus Routes for Disney/Mgm, Epcot, AK and Downtown Disney with the Fort Wilderness Campground. Also Bus Service for Downtown Disney now starts up in the Morning at 9 am to Downtown Disney.

Also at the same time there is No More Bus Service From/To Downtown Disney from the TTC Bus Stop.

 

[corvair]

Hi,,,, Did it seem like you waited a long time for the busses??? I read on these boards that the transportation was really bad. Waited 45 minutes to get to Epcot. Can you make a comment. We will have a car, just wondering maybe we should use it instead of the bus?? How is the boat to MK. Did you find you had a long wait for it???? thanks Corvair

 

[drusba]

Bump. Curious to hear from someone who has actually been in the last week or so and has experienced it.

 

[corvair]

bump,,bump

 

[Chance's Mom]

Bumpity, Bump, Bump, Can you tell we're all planning trips to the WL?

 

[lucki4]

Subscribing and waiting for a reply

 

[Master Gracey]

Wow! Lots of interest in the WL transportation.

The bus service at WL is pretty good. They no longer share with the Poly and GF, but as ztbz said they do share with Fort Wilderness. This means that you will probably make a stop at FW while either going to or coming from a park. The routes look like this:

To Studios
WL to FW to Studios to WL

To AK
WL to AK to FW to WL

To Epcot
before 11:00 a.m. - WL to FW to Epcot to WL
after 11:00 a.m. - WL to Epcot to FW to WL
or take the TTC bus and transfer there to the monorail

To TTC
WL to TTC to FW Settlement Depot to WL

To MK
boat
or bus to TTC and transfer to monorail

To DD
The buses alternate, making their first stop at FW or at WL and making their second stop at the other one before returning to DD.

When I was there last week buses were coming through regularly. I didn't see anyone wait more than 15 minutes for a bus. Once aboard, they get you there quickly, especially those going direct. But even the FW stop doesn't slow you down much. FW to Epcot takes 15 minutes. With a stop at FW it was 20 minutes.

 

[corvair]

Did they have a bus that went to Typhoon Lagoon? I think I read somewhere that they only had a bus to there after 4:00. Thanks for the info,, it sounds like transportation was pretty good. How was the boat to MK? We will be using that alot???? thanks,,,Corvair

 

[Master Gracey]

The DD buses stop at Typhoon Lagoon during the hours it is open. They normally start running at 9:00, but if TL is open early the buses will also run earlier.

The Green Pennant boats to MK are great, but they can be crowded on the first runs of the day. They start running at 8:30 and stop at FW before picking up at WL. Therefore, they can be nearly full with FW guests before they arrive at WL.

 

[corvair]

Thanks for the great info. I thought busses only went to TL after 4:00. Thanks, looking forward to being at WL. I have never been there and have heard great things about the resort, except for the transportation, but you have cleared that up. thanks,,, have a great day.... Corvair

 

[skeezixspud]

The line at the dock this past week in the morning was usually nearly 100 people deep, and the boat does not hold anywhere near that many. The green pennant boats only come every 20 minutes, so in the am you can end up waiting over an hour before you can board.

The blue pennant boats to the Contemp. seem to come much more frequently, and are usually not crowded. We just took this one in the morning, and walked to MK from the CR; it was much quicker. (Be careful not to take the blue pennant when it is heading -TO- FW; that takes way too long.)

Last Sunday was very quiet for a Spectro night at the MK; we left 40 minutes after closing and were told we were on the last resort monorail. The boats to the Poly and GF were already stopped, and there were almost no lines at the bus stops, either. However, the line for the green pennant boat stretched through every turn on the dock, and halfway back the walkway to shore.

 

[ztbz]

The Downtown Disney/Typhoon Lagoon starts running now at 9am unless Typhoon Lagoon opens earlier then its an half-hour
before Typhoon Lagoon opens on All Routes including the Fort Wilderness/Lodge Route and the Cont,Poly,G-F routes.

The TTC route to Downtown Disney and Typhoon Lagoon has been emulated all together, so you have to take the bus from a hotel in order to get to Downtown Disney/Typhoon Lagoon.

 

[mkymouse4ever]

We stayed at the WL right after it opened and this was the transportation! We were only with fort wilderness, I can't believe they went back to this. This is exactly why we never stayed there again. It was terrible.

 

[ztbz]

Why was it terrible?

Also this is not the same system as when WL open,

You still have Buses to:
Epcot.
Disney/Mgm.
TTC/Fort Wilderness Settlement
Downtown Disney now starting at 9am.
Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Boat to MK.

The only thing this does for Guests at WL that some folks might
not like, and that is theres no more Bus service to the Campgrounds Stops other than the Settlement.

 

[mkymouse4ever]

Yes, it was terrible, and we did have buses to epcot etc.... You were taking boone, crockett, buses and riding around fort wilderness at the end of the night, with filled buses, while it made another stop every 15 feet. So if there is now no frequent campground stops it would be better than when it opened. Maybe its just me, but I really don't want to be roaming around with a lot of other people all of us tired, hot, exhausted, I wouldn't mind (and expect) a couple of stops, but for the price of wl, It should of been the 1st &/or last stop, since a large number of people get on/off at wl.

 

[ztbz]

Well, You don't ride around the Campground anymore, since they made the last changes back a month ago. (See my last Post for the Routes Listed for WL)

 

[mkymouse4ever]

I did read your last post, I thought I was answering your question?

 

[ztbz]

One thing I want to point out is that the Magic On Demand System is running in the morning untill 11 am. Between 10:30 am to 11:30am and there could be Delays in the amount of Wait times as the System switches back to the old system at 11 am.

Now you may ask why, Well its like this:

When Magic on Demand is running for the Wilderness Lodge and also the Magic Kingdom area hotels, they come under the Magic Kindom Bus Dept. but at a certain time (11am), the bus system switches to the other Theme Park Bus Departments.

So for instance, The Epcot Bus Dept takes over at 11 am for Epcot
Route, The Animal Kingdom Bus Dept takes over at 11 am for AK Route and the Studios does the same for the Studio route.

Downtown Disney runs a different Magic on Demand system
they switch buses around from one resort to another during the
Morning hours till Noon. One thing I will add about this is when you are on a Downtown Bus and let say you forgot something at the Hotel and want to Return back, you more then Likely would have to Exit at Downtown Disney and wait/Rebroad another bus.

This is the Magic on Demand System, and the Bus drivers themselves do not have any control over which route he or she will be assigned to do once the bus gets back to Downtown Disney or any Themepark for that matter. Its up to how each Manager wants to send each bus as it come through his/her area.

For Night Time events well the Biggest problem is the Traffic that the Buses get caught up into, and if you are going Downtown Disney I can tell you that more than likely it will be faster to take a car or a Taxi to get to Downtown Disney at Night. Day time is better Before 5 pm, or after 12 mid-night.

I myself like the old system the Best not as many problems with it as the Magic on Demand system has, use to have more buses on a per route basics, Back when we had the Color Flags was the Best as you could tell someone which color flag bus to take, or how to get from point A to B, perhaps changes will come in the Future but untill them we do the best we can and do it Safely.

 

[Simba's Mom]

ztbz, I find it interesting that you liked the color flag buses. Our first trip to WDW was in 1987, staying at the (then) Trailer Homes in FW. DH fondly remembers directions as "Take the brown flag bus to..." Somehow it was one of those neat little things you remember, like the bus driver announcing "Jack Rabbit Run" or "Bobcat Bend".