How's transportation at DTD Resorts?

[photobob]

I have some friends that I'm trying to help plan a big WDW trip. They want to stay onsite, but they have five people. They were looking at POR but are thinking about a DTD resort which will better accomodate five people. They have never stayed onsite before and asked me how the transportation compares to Disney Resorts. I can't answer, I don't know. Any help will be appreciated. Also any other positives or negatives to DTD resorts. Thanks for your help.

 

[seashoreCM]

Call the hotel and ask. The different hotels' transportation may differ. Ask about the need or desire to make reservations on a signup sheet. I haven't stayed there nor used them but the story I was told was that some of the hotels share a shuttle that runs at fixed intervals. There are few or no extra runs to cover if you are passed by because the scheduled shuttle is full.

Coming back at closing time can also be a problem. Also call and ask about schedules in advance. At best you have to wait for the same vehicle to come back. At worst if you can't squeeze on board the last run of the night you have to take Disney transportation to Downtown Disney Pleasure Island or Marketplace and walk the rest of the way back.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[ncgolfer]

I have stayed at the Courtyard (Now Holiday Inn) and was not very pleased with the transportation offered. It was sporadic, and didn't follow the published schedule. The courtyard just happened to be the 2nd stop or we would have had to stand every single trip as others at the latter hotels did. You are dropped off in the middle of all the parking lots and the other bus lines don't slow down to try to miss you very much. If you miss the last bus of the night you are basically left and have to fend for yourself. We resorted to walking to DTD, taking disney busses to a resort and then transferring to a park. It was a pain but we still beat the DTD busses to our destination. I would recommend a rental car or spend a little extra and stay on property.

Charlie

 

[msr709]

As opposed to the last poster, my experience with the DTD transportation was excellent. I was at Grosvenor Hotel during the middle week of December in 2002 with my 70yo Mom. Since I was with her we were at a very slow pace and we just kept the schedule and to our delight so did the busses. We were the next to last stop of the pick and drop off route and we never had to stand or missed a bus. It could have been because we were there just before the Xmas rush but whatever it was I found the buses to be on time and much more comfortable, they are "commuter" buses, the seats have cushions as opposed to hard plastic seats. Anyway, this was my experience, hope it helps.

 

[ajksmom]

hi! we stayed at the grosvenor in august 2001. we were a group of 11 and found the transportation fine. one morning as we were boarding i stopped to help the driver who was loading our stroller and some rude people pushed me out of the way to board the bus. wasn't enough room for us all to board, told the bus driver (with a smile) we'd take the next bus. as he was pulling away noticed he was on the radio talking to someone and within minutes there was a bus (small maybe 15-20 seats) pulling in. checked that we wanted to go to MK and boarded our party. told others waiting that this was a private shuttle. more than made up for the rude people. this was the only issue that we found. as a matter of fact when using actual disney trans. found the busses uncomfortable.as others have said there is always DTD busses and not too far of a walk. i would absolutely consider DTD hotels again.

 

[SnackyStacky]

I've stayed at the Courtyard (now Holiday Inn) twice, and the Hotel Royal Plaza. I've never had a problem with the DTD resort transportation.

 

[floridagirrl2]

My husband and I stayed at the Wyndham in DTD last month for 2 nights. The transportation was pretty good on the weekend and poor on the weekday. As someone else mentioned in this thread, the bus didn't follow the published schedule. On the Monday we were there, we waited 15 minutes past the published time to catch the bus, then the bus took and entire hour to get back to the hotel due to multiple stops and waits at each stop.

It's been so long since I've stayed onsite, that I can't compare this to onsite transportation, sorry.