Important Disney Transportation Lesson Learned

[Lassie Lynne]

I think i may be in the minority here, I use the Taxis. I have found them convenient and fast. A bunch of them are minivans and that works great with all the kid gear we have to carry. Getting on and off the bus with kids and gear is no fun at all. Plus i don't like to drive.

I agree. We tend to go on buses in the am (we always hit the park well before rope drop) when there is not a big line, but tend to use taxis to skip the lines when parks close. The cost of a rental car can get me some taxi rides from front of park (except MK) to my hotel quickly when I want and I don't have to worry about parking and driving!!

Also, for those who don't mind values, the buses at Pop, along with the location, really make bus transportation very easy!

 

[canopynut66]

We recently vacationed at Disney (7/29-8/9) and stayed at the WL. We had been to Disney 8 times in the past 6 years and the only Disney transportation we ever used was the monorail and boat service. We had never used the bus system as we also wanted to be able to control when we got to the parks. This trip we made a conscience decision to use the bus system.....never again. I admit, the system is easy to use and the destinations are clearly marked. I also admit that if we had extra time to sit back and wait to get to parks and back to our resort I would do it if only to save $25 in gas for the week. The problem, quite frankly, is there is no way to guarantee what time you will arrive at the park. We took the bus the first 2 parks we went to (Animal Kingdom and Epcot) and both times the bus took forever and had to stop at other resorts thus making us 10-40 minutes late for rope drop (respectively). Both times we were at the bus stop 30 minutes before park opening. Understandably if I were to show up 50-60 minutes before rope drop I'd have a good chance of getting there on time but please........

Who wants to wake up and get out of your room an hour before the park opens (7-8 am) and to immediately begin to "wait" for things. Plus you have to stress about getting on the bus without people cutting in line as there is no "official" line but people just line up as the bus comes. I had to walk my wife and kids up and budge in front of 4-5 families who had just shown up at the bus stop and took the liberty to run to the front. I had some polite choice words as I passed them by (in case they questioned what I was doing). Both times we either stopped at GF or Fort Wilderness which soaked up more time.

The bottom line is the bus system is a good idea. It serves its purpose and can help alleviate possible stress of having to rent a car and driving yourself around as well as saving gas money etc. I'm sure (and I've read) there are many great stories from others. I write this not to sway anyone from their position but to those (who like me) were debating whether to use the system. If you don't care what time you get to the park and what time you get back to your resort then the bus system is a no brainer, do it. However, if you want to make rope drop or have a schedule to uphold do yourself a huge favor and drive yourself. You don't have to pay for parking with your resort parking permit and you can control almost down to the minute when you get to the park gate. Or simply wake your tired family up 2 hours before rope drop to make sure you get to the bus stop 50-60 minutes before park opening and hope that everyone is not irrated and annoyed by 11 am.

We being sister brother in law and myself liked deluxe rooms and moderates actually our favorite (POR) and we do not want to deal with the traffic on vacation but the bus service from those deluxe and moderates is just a nightmare someone told us try POP and we thought but that is a value and they said just give it a try. so we did and love it bus system is best bus system of all resorts. you get on and to your destination and no stops in between... we get two rooms and upgrade free dining to MYWD and were all happy....food court good but we usually eat at all the other places around WDW. this our 5th trip to POP Century and our 59th trip over all of 12 days or more.....yeah were addicted

 

[seashoreCM]

Little known fact: Only about 70 people can get from a given resort to a given park at a given time under normal bus scheduling. Everyone else has to ride on different buses that arrive somewhat before or somewhat after.

There are more buses up and about in the morning but you are not terribly unlucky if just two from your resort arrive at the magic moment 15 minutes before rope drop and the rest are more than plus or minus ten minutes.

 

[Josh Hendy]

I wonder if one of the problems is that the resorts were not designed with the buses in mind. One of the big time-eaters seems to be where a bus takes a long time to travel all around a resort so that people don't have to walk too far to their building. The road systems in and around resorts seems to be designed with the convenience of delivery trucks and personal cars in mind, but not for bus efficiency.

Perhaps a couple of bus-only lanes added to resorts would help. E.g. a special road which zips past one side of the resort and gets people to within easy walking distance of their room, but which doesn't loop all the way around the entire resort complex visiting every single building. Another improvement would be to have "early bird" buses which don't loop all around a resort, but only stop at the front entrance of the resort to pick up the relatively small number number of keeners who want to get to rope drop.

The location of the resorts also should have been chosen with the efficiency of the bus system in mind. In a way, the huge amount of land owned by Disney is a curse, because it leads management to space resorts out at the absolutely maximum possible distance between them. Is it really necessary to put a value resort 5 miles away from most of the other resorts and many of the attractions, when the "look" and sightlines of the hotels could have easily been designed with them only 1/4 mile apart? Think of all those miles of bare, empty forests and fields that you cross when traveling around WDW by bus. As attractive as they are, that empty space causes Disney to waste a lot of fuel, a lot of bus-driving labor and a lot of guests' time.

Universal in a way is lucky to have a much smaller amount of land, because the internal transportation (walking, boats) is a lot cheaper and more satisfying to the guests. I know that the walk from the parking garage to the parks can be annoying, but is it really any farther than taking the ferry to parking at MK, or walking all the way from World Showcase to one's car at Epcot?

 

[goofy4tink]

I love renting a car at MCO and embarking on (as my kids used to say) Ms. Toad's Wild Ride.

My daily commutes involve a car, a plane, a train, a shuttle, a bus and, on occasion, a boat. When in cities where parking or its cost can be an issue, I prefer public transportation, otherwise the convenience and comfort of a rental car can't be beat.

When we visit WDW we're all over the place. Park to park, resort to resort, outlet malls, Harry Potter World, Tropicana Field (if the Red Sox are in town), Kennedy Space Center. You get the idea. I like being able to use the trunk of the rental car to hold extra sandals and clothing, bottles of water, sunscreen, towels and suits for unscheduled stops at the water park, etc. All those 'just in case' items you want handy yet you don't really have space for in your park bag.

I've seen your trunk before.....truly has just about anything anyone may possibly need. Very nice way to travel around..thank you very much!!!

I wonder if one of the problems is that the resorts were not designed with the buses in mind. One of the big time-eaters seems to be where a bus takes a long time to travel all around a resort so that people don't have to walk too far to their building. The road systems in and around resorts seems to be designed with the convenience of delivery trucks and personal cars in mind, but not for bus efficiency.

Perhaps a couple of bus-only lanes added to resorts would help. E.g. a special road which zips past one side of the resort and gets people to within easy walking distance of their room, but which doesn't loop all the way around the entire resort complex visiting every single building. Another improvement would be to have "early bird" buses which don't loop all around a resort, but only stop at the front entrance of the resort to pick up the relatively small number number of keeners who want to get to rope drop.

The location of the resorts also should have been chosen with the efficiency of the bus system in mind. In a way, the huge amount of land owned by Disney is a curse, because it leads management to space resorts out at the absolutely maximum possible distance between them. Is it really necessary to put a value resort 5 miles away from most of the other resorts and many of the attractions, when the "look" and sightlines of the hotels could have easily been designed with them only 1/4 mile apart? Think of all those miles of bare, empty forests and fields that you cross when traveling around WDW by bus. As attractive as they are, that empty space causes Disney to waste a lot of fuel, a lot of bus-driving labor and a lot of guests' time.

Universal in a way is lucky to have a much smaller amount of land, because the internal transportation (walking, boats) is a lot cheaper and more satisfying to the guests. I know that the walk from the parking garage to the parks can be annoying, but is it really any farther than taking the ferry to parking at MK, or walking all the way from World Showcase to one's car at Epcot?

Sure, that works if the prime object is to get the most people from point A to point B the fastest. But, that isn't the prime object at WDW. The resort theming is one of the most desirable things there....you just can not compare WDW with US/IoA that way. US/IoA will not be building anything new, that's for sure. As it is, they have to shut down earlier in the evening due to proximity to other, non-park areas....neighbors don't want that noise at midnight!!
Sure there's more open space in WDW. And that's just fine. The vast majority of people aren't going to mind the time it takes to get from point A to point B. In order to make things more efficient, you would have hotels chock-a-block next to each other...very similar to US/IoA..and that isn't all that desirable. Disney moves around such a huge number of people every day it boggles the mind.

Choosing where to build resorts so as to minimize bus rides isn't exactly what Disney has in mind..it's more an overall thing for them. Theming is all important. Are buses the most efficient way to move people? Right now, yes. Does it take too long? I don't think so. I don't think that an average of about 15 mins to get from a resort to a park is bad at all.

 

[duffy]

I'm likely to talk to strangers when I ride a Disney bus. I've met DIS-ers while on the bus. I like giving little treats to kids, talking strategies, asking what park people are going to tomorrow, etc. Can't do that in a car-well, not all of it!

Also, it's nice to rely on the buses if your party has to split up. I was there in Nov. 2009 with my sister and her kids. My daughter and I were in the "get to the bus stop early and be at rope drop" group, and my sister and her kids were in the "sleep in till 10, eat a full breakfast and don't show up at the park until noon" group. I didn't have to worry about going to pick them up, etc. They just took the bus and met us each day.

 

[maxiesmom]

Glad the driving works for you. We are bus people, can't think of a time it has taken us an hour and a hald to get to a park. Been going since 1975, and part of the fun for us is not driving.

For me too! I would much rather chill out at the bus stop, half awake, then have to hop in the car and drive around a bunch of strange roads, trying to find my way. It gives me the shudders just thinking about it!

 

[wdwmom0f3]

Most experienced Disney bus users always advise to be at the bus stop 1 hour prior to when you want to arrive at the park (obviously with some tweaks depending on where you are and where you are going). On our Christmas trip, my family was at the bus stop in the dark, at 6 AM for a 7 AM EMH. That's just what you have to do.

We don't take the bus that often because we usually drive to Florida, but one hour is the amount of time you need. Disney dining now tells people 1-1.5 hours I think for using Disney transport.

It is free.

That's all true! That's also why we drive now. I can leave our resort (POR) and be parked and everything in less than 15-20 minutes. Getting there was not our problem though. The main reason we started driving was because we like to close the parks, and trying to get back to your resort when a billion other people are too is insane! So, we drive and while everyone else is still standing in line waiting for a bus, we are back at our resort getting a snack in the food court!

 

[tink_n_pooh]

We have always been bus people and haven't had any terrible experiences. I like not having to worry about driving myself around, parking, getting out of a crowded park at closing or any of that. I drive a lot at home, I don't really want to do it on vacation. If we want to have a few drinks we can and we don't have to worry about how we are getting back to the resort.

Last trip DH & I drove to WDW and we will again this trip. We used our car twice, once because we just felt like it (DHS) and once because we didn't feel like waiting for the bus (we waited maybe 3 minutes before we said, do you want to drive?) to go to AK.

I really doubt I would ever drive to MK, transportation from the parking lot to the park is long, might as well take the bus and get dropped off at the gate.

We are going down in 6 weeks, I'm not sure if we will bus or drive once we get there, probably a combo of both.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

Being at any of the resorts at closing time can make you feel like a herd of cattle. I don't mind walking but standing around really makes me tired, especially after a long day.

I would just rather walk to the car and zip right back to the resort. More often than not it takes us less than 10 minutes to drive anywhere in WDW. Never have to fight for parking and there's never a traffic jam. I take that back. We once got stuck in a traffic jam when there was an accident in the single lane leading to the Wilderness lodge and campgrounds. Thankfully, we were sitting in our rental car with our Earl of Sandwich lunches we'd picked up after leaving Typhoon Lagoon. So we put the car in park and had an air conditioned picnic until the road was clear.

That's all true! That's also why we drive now. I can leave our resort (POR) and be parked and everything in less than 15-20 minutes. Getting there was not our problem though. The main reason we started driving was because we like to close the parks, and trying to get back to your resort when a billion other people are too is insane! So, we drive and while everyone else is still standing in line waiting for a bus, we are back at our resort getting a snack in the food court!

 

[Pembo]

We've done it all....no car, bus only: car, but mostly buses: car only

There is something about the fresh bus exhaust in the morning that makes me think of WDW.

That said, I don't mind buses only IF I only want to go to the parks. But the times we've tried to use only the buses to get to/from the waterparks or DTD have involved really long waits. Especially from DTD to the resort, that always seems to involve a really long wait time.

I like having the freedom to go where I want, when I want.

I also love the boat from POR to DTD or the boat from FW to MK. I guess I just love the boats!

All that said, we stayed at Universal this past spring and I LOVED walking from hotel room to the park in only 10 mins!!!! We commented that the walk was shorter than from the bus stops to the front of Epcot.

 

[jessica29]

I arrive at the bus stop 45 min before the time I plan to arrive and always am ontime or a bit early. With that said, maybe a car would shave off 10min? I have drove before from bonnett creek and found it to be more of a pain. By the time you park etc, walk up that is the time difference.

However, I think it depends on the resort. I have used ft wilderness and port orleans and it was fine with an occasional bump in road here or there. If you are sharing buses that is when it is a problems I think.

I would also note during the half princess marathon the buses had to do some crazy route etc. to get to the MK. I was glad I was not driving too many detours for me! I also like to resort hop/park hop on the monorail difficult to leave the car so the hop is not so convineient.

If I get in a bind leaving the resorts I will grab a taxi if realllly need be but that is like what 20.00 compared to the wait of getting the rental paying for that and gas for the week. That is how I see it. Some resorts I would get a car like the all stars.

 

[joelkfla]

I would also note during the half princess marathon the buses had to do some crazy route etc. to get to the MK. I was glad I was not driving too many detours for me! I also like to resort hop/park hop on the monorail difficult to leave the car so the hop is not so convineient.

This is true -- any foot or bike race more than a 5K causes road closures, which can make a mess of traffic, and double travel times using Disney Transport.

 

[CherylA]

We've found driving to be much easier and faster than the buses, too. Now, if I were the one who had to try to find my way around instead of DH, it might be a different story . I can't stand driving in places I don't know well.

Ditto, we always rent a car but hubby knows his way around pretty well. If I went without him we'd have to make due with the busses. The only thing worse than waiting for a bus for a half hour is driving around lost in the dark, tired and cranky for an hour!

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

The worst bus rides I encountered were the ones from BWI. Because they stopped at other Epcot resorts it seemed to take forever to get anywhere.

DTD is also another bus annoyance but I now avoid that one by taking a taxi to and from. I also take a taxi if I am going from resort to resort.

Other than that, I enjoy the bus rides. It probably helps that I don't care if I make rope drop or not so if I miss them, no biggie to me.

 

[MrsMud]

To each their own, but we actually like the busses, it kind of adds to the Magic for us. Granted, we have never gone during peak season. We have only stayed at Pop Century, and have never had to wait on line at the hotel more than 10 minutes for a bus. We've never had the bus stop at any other hotel, and only once (when we went to Blizzard Beach) did we have to wait while the bus let people off at another park (AK). Our very first trip to WDW we stayed offsite and rented a car. While it was nice to be able to jump in the car and go, we had to pay attention to the directions, wait in line to get into the park, park our car, walk to the tram stop and catch a tram to the front gate. In the case of MK, we had to do this at the TTC, then stand in line again for the monorail...you get the picture. At the end of the day we had to do it all in reverse AND remember where we parked the car! To us, the busses are much more relaxing, and as I said, they add to the magic.

May I respectfully suggest, instead of loooking at your watch and worrying about what time you will get to the park, look around you at the other people on the bus, and enjoy them. In our many trips to WDW using the bus system, we have shared the bus with: young children with their eyes sparkling in anticipation, beautiful little princesses practicing what to say when they meet Cinderella, whole extended familes from the midwest who have NEVER been to WDW before and likely will never be again, young couples with the glow of newlyweds, I could go on and on. We have marveled at the many different accents and languages we hear on the bus, and felt glad that WDW does such a great job of accomodating the disabled so that they, too, can enjoy what we are enjoying.

We have rarely made it to rope drop, but we always had a plan and knew how to use our fastpasses, and we always got everything done that we planned and more. If we needed to make rope drop (or catch an early breakfast, which we did once), we just made sure to allow for extra time, and then enjoyed the bus ride. But as I said, to each their own...

 

[keishashadow]

OP For some reason the WL seems to get many complaints re bus service. We own there & have never had a problem, although we're used to sharing a bus but never peak am times. However, I don't think it's unrealistic to allow (up to) a good 1/2 hour to 1st catch the bus (more if you're looking @ am EMH & do have to wait for next bust), then another 1/2 for actual transport times. Have you ever read the 'fine print' when making ADRs where they caution as to transport time, same thing. They'll get you there, but don't be in a hurry. If you're really a type A (like me) then spring for the car.

The busses drives me bonkers. At the values the busses are decent but everywhere else forgettaboutit. Still I prefer to drive even at values.

Once you drive you realize how fast it is to get around. I use a AAA parking pass so I don't worry about the trams. Driving is soooooo much faster.

At park closing I have never had to wait a long time to get out of a parking lot. I am back at my resort while some folks are still in the busline. Even if I did have to wait in traffic (which I don't) I'd rather wait seated in my car where my daughter can pass out than standing in a bus line. The waits for the ferry or the resort monorail don't come close to those bus waits at MK closing.

It also peeves me that the deluxes have such miserable bus service esp. when one of the perks of staying deluxe is supposed to be better transportation options.

I can't say i ever noticed better transportation options included in the deluxe or vacation property amentities.

i'm not fond of BWVs 'my other resort' pokey bus service MGM & Epcot are so close, it's all about the tradeoffs.

I love renting a car at MCO and embarking on (as my kids used to say) Ms. Toad's Wild Ride.
.

We've done it all....no car, bus only: car, but mostly buses: car only

There is something about the fresh bus exhaust in the morning that makes me think of WDW.

All that said, we stayed at Universal this past spring and I LOVED walking from hotel room to the park in only 10 mins!!!! We commented that the walk was shorter than from the bus stops to the front of Epcot.

cannot beat staying onsite @ U

disney-fied variation of Apocalyse Now's I love the smell of napalm in the morning line?

 

[hsmamato2]

you know..I've done both,and the last trip we took we stayed at Beach Club,combined walking,boats,and buses to get where we needed to go- I loved it! the most relaxing trip ever! Rental cars + rush rush rush and stress,to me! to each his own.....

 

[summerw]

I think this is a great thread discussing the busses. I've been looking for something like this to help me figure out our resort/transportation plan. With a toddler in a stroller and a mom in an ecv, I'm thinking rental car all the way. At least we'll have handicapped parking and maybe take a bus to MK.

 

[disneymarie]

If I can get a reasonable rental car I will, but we take it to the park ideally for the last person leaving. THe others will take the bus back, then when the lines are tremendous at closing the last family member brings the car back. Especially as we had a dental emergency a previous trip. I could have gotten away with no rental this March, but the less then $200 for premium car was worth it for peace of mind. If it was just a girls trip with dd. I would save the money and ride the bus to save for our pockets.
Even when we drive to Disney we found it easier to leave at night near closing with a car.
One trip we left the car sit unless we were off site, but ran into HUGE delay getting back to the hotel after a long day and night.