Is bus transportation better at the deluxes?

[Nicole721]

It depends.

If you're staying at the GF, Poly, CR, or Wilderness lodge, and you're going to MK (or Epcot), the transportation is quick and easy because it's either monorail or boat and the bus problems are obselete.

 

[Chellymouse]

Values are the absolute worst with bus service. The stops are always the furthest away from the gates and the waits in the am and at park closing are horrible. Last time we stayed in a value it took us an hour and 45 minutes from the gate to our resort. The moderates are better, but aren't great. I have noticed over the past several years that the bus service in general has declined significantly. When we first started out at WDW, the bus service was much better than what it is today. It seems there are fewer busses running and forget it if 2 parks are closing at the same time. I would hope that WDW would see the increase in people staying onsite and would begin to alleviate the bus problems, but they only seem to be getting worse.

 

[Smile4Me]

OP- we stayed at the Port Orleans French Quarter last August and found the bus service to be quite nice. One of the reasons we picked FQ was because it is so compact, there is only one bus stop. Sometimes we'd stop at POR and sometimes we didn't. Yes the lines to get back to the resort were quite lengthy-but that is because you have two resorts lined up to board one bus and its the end of the night and you'll have that no matter where you stay! However we were always the first stop on the way to the parks and always the first stop back. It was nice. I would definately stay there again...

I'm beginning to worry about the transportation situation for WL when we go back in August. I don't mind sharing buses, it just seems that its going to take quite awhile to get to all the other parks other than MK. Anyone care to share their WL transportation experiences??

Thanks!
Betsy

 

[storzo]

I took a bus from the Poly to AK after breakfast at O'Hanas and it was a horrible experience. Had to wait at least 30 minutes for the bus then we stopped at GF then Blizzard Beach. The bus was so crowded, everyone was complaining. Some even specifically said that they couldn't believe that was the type of service given to deluxe guests. We were thinking about switching to the Poly and I was glad we didn't after that bus ride. I would never be able to deal with that for a week, I have no patience.

I'll take my CBR bus service any day.

 

[Piglets Mommy]

I'm beginning to worry about the transportation situation for WL when we go back in August. I don't mind sharing buses, it just seems that its going to take quite awhile to get to all the other parks other than MK. Anyone care to share their WL transportation experiences??

Thanks!
Betsy

We were there in early Dec. and really didn't have any problems at all. We actually felt that we had better luck than at the Poly, but I really think it's always hit or miss. We just missed the bus to AK one day, and another was there in less thn 20 min.

 

[Mouseaholic!!!]

It is just a sign of the times at Disney - cost cutting.

About 15 years ago, as a travel agent, I spent a week at Disney playing....and working. I would sit at a Park bus stop and watch what happened when the park closed at the end of the day so I could tell my guests exactly what to expect from the service at WDW.

The one thing I remember, staying at (then) Dixie Landings, was there were never fewer than 2 or 3 busses being loaded at one time. NO ONE waited in line....there was always a bus there and the line was always moving.

Fast forward to one night in December 2007 when we waited for 20 minutes for a bus to the Boardwalk. No guest should wait that long and I say again, it certainly is not the way someone paying $325 p/night for a standard room would expect to be treated.

This is why we shy away from the bus system at WDW now.

Payroll is the single most controllable expense in business and Disney has become very experienced in contolling that expense.

 

[Alphabetsoup]

We stayed WL in July 2006 (high season) and never waited more than 20 minutes for a bus...whether first thing in the morning or last thing at night. Also, while we were there the bus only once stopped at another resort (Fort Wilderness) and that was to pickup for going to DTD and Typhoon Lagoon.

The longest we ever waited for a bus was to go to Typhoon Lagoon, but that bus stops at FW, DTD and then on the TL...and the wait was 23 minutes (I was counting).

But...that is my experienced...your milege may vary.

 

[PlainJane]

Up until our trip in 2007 - The Yacht Club, Beach Club, Boardwalk, Swan and Dolphin SHARED BUSSES !

They still did when I was there in January (2008).

Out of the two resorts you mentioned I think the Poly has the best transportation. However, if you are planning on spending most of your time at DHS over the MK, I would choose the Beach Club. If your going to keep things pretty evenly split though, then I would go with the Poly. The Poly does share buses, but I've never had it be with more than one resort at a time, and the busses from my experience have never been crowded. The Beach Club on the other hand shares with four other resorts, and I have never not had to go to all of them, unless you happen to be picked up last or something, but then you're just going to be dropped off last when you get back to the resort. They were always crowded; it wouldn't make sense if it wasn't, a bus is being shared with 5 resorts.

Both are nice resorts, but as far as transportation goes the Poly wins hands down.

 

[Buzz2001]

Bus transportation is not necessarily better at the deluxes. CSR has great transportation that is not shared with any other resort. Also, CSR's location makes for short, quick trips to the parks.

As for deluxes, when I stayed at CR and FW, we shared buses with other deluxes. CR shared with GF and the Poly and FW shared with WL.

 

[goofy4tink]

As soon as a resort has other transportation options, such as monorail, boat, feet, you will find that the bus transportation suffers a bit. The worst bus service I have gotten has been at the deluxes. Now, worst is a relative term..it's not that it was awful, but wait times were longer than wait times at POP. The moderates have to make multiple stops within the resort, the deluxes 'usually' share a route with other deluxes.
As for the loading/drop off spots at the parks, they can change. Yes, sometimes the values are further away than the deluxes, but it's just not that big a deal. What's another 60' when you've already walked 5 miles?!
I love the bus transportation at POP..it's very efficient.

 

[eliza61]

I'm beginning to worry about the transportation situation for WL when we go back in August. I don't mind sharing buses, it just seems that its going to take quite awhile to get to all the other parks other than MK. Anyone care to share their WL transportation experiences??

Thanks!
Betsy

Betsy,
Never had a problem at WL. Never had to wait more than 20 minutes for any bus. Going back we did have to stop at Ft. Wilderness. I'm probably not a good person to ask because 20-25 mins is not a long wait IMO and I still don't get the problem with sharing a bus? Absolutely love the boat to MK.

 

[G's mommy]

Bus transportation is not necessarily better at the deluxes. CSR has great transportation that is not shared with any other resort. Also, CSR's location makes for short, quick trips to the parks.

As for deluxes, when I stayed at CR and FW, we shared buses with other deluxes. CR shared with GF and the Poly and FW shared with WL.

In our experience, CSR has been the best by far! No sharing, very little waiting, uncrowded even at prime times, and the resort is in a great location which makes the trip to any of the parks pretty quick. We stayed at POR last July and I was worried about the bus service. We actually had no issues, it was busy but we never waited long for a bus. The only negative about POR and POFQ is the actual location of these resorts. They are in the Downtown Disney area, which can turn into a long ride to MK and AK.

 

[Tink415]

IMHO bus transportation is not better at the deluxe resorts, its slightly less efficient than at the moderates and values. To me, bus service at the moderates and values is mostly excellent with a few problems once in awhile. Any route with multiple stops is going to seem longer At park opening and closing all transportation is going to be packed go later or earlier. WDW is a big place with lots of walking and waiting for everything...I don't think there's anyway around that! I try to just enjoy being on vacation doing something different from my everday life Oh yeah, and bring cash for cabs and rent a car when I can

 

[CarolA]

I'm starting to plan for our Sept 2009 trip (yes, I like to plan ahead). This will be our third trip, and I'm trying to decide where we should stay this time.

This past September, we stayed at POR. I loved everything about it--except the busses. In particular, I didn't like having to fight the mob at the main depot every morning to get in a bus. I've heard the other depots are not so crowded, but, having 3 small kids we wanted to stay close to the dining area--so I had requested building 16. Another thing I didn't like about the busses was having to drive all around the resort before finally taking off for the park.

The year before, we stayed at POP. I thought the bus system here worked quite well, and had no complaints. In fact, I would maybe get two rooms here again rather than stay at POR based solely on the busses.

For our next trip, I'm considering staying at POLY or Beach Club. The only way I'm willing to spend that much extra money though is if the busses (or monorail) are faster and not as crowded as at the mods and values. Otherwise, I figure we might as well stay at POP or POR and spend the extra money on something else.

Thoughts? Are the busses/monorail at the deluxes faster and less crowded? Or is it pretty much the same everywhere?

]

It's actually the same or sometimes worse!

1. While there is ONLY one stop at the deluxes, the buses stop at SEVERAL hotels. (MK hotels, Epcot hotels etc) The exception to this is AKL and maybe WL. And I found AKL buses to be amoung the best on property.

2. The monorial.........I don't get it. At peak times it's PACKED and for some reason parents who would make thier child SIT in a seat on the bus don't think that the monorail requires ANY behavior. I can't tell you how often I have seen kids CLIMBING over the seats, heard them SCREAMING at the top of thier lungs etc. Plus unless you ONLY go to the MK it's not really that much more efficient.

(The "inadequte" transport is another knock on "Disney Deluxe")

 

[paula70]

To the OP...If you really liked POR but didn't like the buses you should consider POFQ. They are always picked up/dropped off first and depending on crowds sometimes we only stopped at 1 or 2 stops at POR. At park closing POFQ sometimes has their own bus. If you stay at POFQ you can still enjoy all the amenities you like so much at POR. Also, with small kids you may just really like the size of FQ better anyways! We never had a single problem with the buses the whole time we were there!

Good luck w/ your decision!

 

[Buzz2001]

Or CSR which does share buses at all.

 

[Harambe]

You'll notice that some of the deluxe resorts bus stops are the closest when you're walking from the park to your bus stop, but that perk isn't worth the "sharing busses" thing.

From AK to BWI - SEVEN stops. Yes - SEVEN stops! Now, as others have said, going to Epcot and HS from BWI was wonderful, but ridiculous with all the stops to AK and MK.

From Blizzard Beach to GF - Five stops! Again, you can't beat the monorail to MK or Epcot, but the busses were questionable.

Best bus service we've had so far - AKL, and I guess it's because they don't share busses.

ASSp - because it was the first stop to get on and off for the All Star Bus. And many times, we didn't stop at the other All Stars.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Okay here goes...we've stayed at the Swan a number of times, GF once, off property a few times, AKL, most of the mods and now ASMu and Pop.

Pop and ASMu had some of the best busing except that getting out of Epoct a the end of the night took forever at Pop. The other downside of Pop was that the buses were ALWAYS full. They are likely to always be that way. I did strongly prefer the queue system at the values to the mob scene at POR (also our least favorite resort). I didn't mind that our AMSu bus made ONE stop on either side of us. In apinch, you can get off the bus at any stop, and the walk between the resorts ins't very far. WE did't realize this right away due to landscaping, but some room locations, it may actually be faster to get off at a different resort. I think it also makes sense to pay for a top location, at $10 a day a close location saves quite a bit of time.

In general, at the deluxes, you have an alternative to the buses - except AKL. At any Epcot Deluxe you can walk or take the bus to MGM and Epcot. So that's the plus. At a monrail resort you have the obvious - and at Poly you are right next door tothe monorail for Epcot - not a bad way to get there, plus the boats (not fast, but fun). WL has probably the weakest transportation of the deluxes, but I've not stayed there yet.

At AKL, we had very good busing and the buses weren't super crowded.

I think you alsl have to look at the layout of WDW. If you aren't going to go to MK, then a monorail resort would be silly. DTD is a long drive from MOST of the resorts. No dedicated bus cna solve that.

At any resort, if you travel at a slow time - you'll encounter less frequent buses. If you travel at a VERY popular time, you'll get dedicated buses, but they will be packed, and though they will pick up frequently, the queue will be long.

Bus stop locations at the parks change. Except that Pop, CBR, and CSR will usually be further out, followed by the All-Stars, POR, POFQ. USUALLY the deluxes will be closer, but not in any particular order, and sometimes the mods will be just as close.


Another place that was pretty close was actually the Marriott WC. The only trouble there was that the parking was nowhere near the room. Still, it was ashort ride to MGM and Epcot, not bad to AK. It was a little ways to MK, but come to think of it, I think we took the resort shuttle on our MK night, which dropped us off near the park.

If you are STIRCTLY looking for quick busing, then I'd pick a value - OR - take into consideration the short walking distance of the Epcot deluxes.

The other thing, if you are looking for quick busing is to go early before the park opens, and leave shortly before the mobs arrive in the evening (like while the parade or fireowkrs are going). The buses will be coming frequently already, but won't have hit max crowds.

 

[OKW Lover]

We've never found the bus service to be any different at the deluxe, DVC or moderate resorts - they are equally poor.

 

[LizinSTL]

I've stayed at values through deluxe/dvc resorts, and our experience has been that the values were the absolute worst, and old key west resort was the best.

We like the Beach Club cause we can walk to Epcot and take a boat to MGM - more reliable than the busses. But it seems that deluxes that offer more than just bus service have bus service that's hit or miss.

Oh that's so good to hear! I was having major OKW panic about the bus service because the unofficial guide said that between noon-6pm there's limited bus service. I couldn't tell if that meant only between those hours there was bus service that was limited or that the bus service that is normally provided is more limited during those hours.