Moderate and Value with best reliable/fast bus service

[firstwdw]

What is the best moderate and best value resort in terms of fast and reliable bus service?

 

[Missytara]

What is your definition of fast and reliable? You are asking a question that can be perceived in many different ways.

Are you asking if you are expecting to be at the parks in a reasonable time? All of them do so.

Are you asking what resorts get me to the parks so I don't have to wait more than five minutes, you will get a different answer.

What are your expectations?

 

[Blonde]

We have only stayed at CSR and POR, but found the bus service at CSR to be MUCH better. We never had to wait long for a bus either going or coming back from the parks and the bus was always much less crowded at CSR. We were there the same time of year (Spring Break) for both trips.

 

[stashbin]

We have only stayed at CBR for moderate and found the bus situation to be a pain. We have stayed at the 2 of the All-Stars and Pop for values and by far the best bus service was with Pop. With the new AOA opening, I am not sure how it is now. I think they are sharing buses. If that is the case, maybe someone else who has been since the opening can fill you in.

 

[sixkristy6]

We have only stayed at CBR for moderate and found the bus situation to be a pain. We have stayed at the 2 of the All-Stars and Pop for values and by far the best bus service was with Pop. With the new AOA opening, I am not sure how it is now. I think they are sharing buses. If that is the case, maybe someone else who has been since the opening can fill you in.

From everything I have read on here and elsewhere, AoA has its own buses.

 

[Mariep26]

From everything I have read on here and elsewhere, AoA has its own buses.

That is my understanding as well. At the parks AoA has it's own stop. I guess that doesn't exclude the possibility that they may share at slow times.
I also agree that it is very subjective and can vary based on what is going on at the resort and/or parks. I have seen people post on here with very different experiences and they stayed at the same resort at the same time. Our last trip was at ASMo during a moderate to high time and we had no bus issues at all.

 

[mom2taylorandemily]

We have stayed at POFQ, POR and CBR; I can honestly say that there are issues at all 3, but I have found POR to be the worst, especially if you use the bus stops on the Mansion side. We frequently couldn't even get on the busses that came around, we waited almost an hour 1 morning for a bus to Epcot. POFQ, is better, but the crowds rush the bus as soon as it arrives, so that the people who have been waiting wind up not getting on the bus. Its really sad... We have consistently found the busses at CBR to be the least problematic. We have found that if there isn't a bus in 15 min, you can call on the phone at each of the bus stops. POR has NO phone at its stops.

 

[aubriee]

I go to WDW 4-6 times a year and normally stay at a moderate. I have stayed at all four more than once and have found that consistently CSR has the best bus service. I'm not a big fan of the Values, but have stayed at POP several times, AS Sports twice, and AS Music once. Pop seemed to have the better bus service.

 

[danceintherain]

The problem with this question is that the buses are dispatched by the same central system. Theoretically, the buses could be good or bad at any resort at any time. I'm sure some have a slight edge over the others, because maybe more buses are allotted to serve them on a regular basis, but they do have a system in place to make up for issues.
For example, everyone complains about the bus transportation at CBR, but I found it to be no worse than that at AKL.
Generally speaking, I would never choose a resort based on rumors of bus service, because with my luck a bus would blow up during my trip. Maybe one day I'll stay at one of the places that is rumored to have great bus service and my opinion will change.

If you want control over your transportation, you should drive yourself.

 

[dburg30]

Loved buses at CSR... had no issues at Pop... All star was ok.. but didnt really prefer that resort..

 

[dansdad]

This reply from CleveRocks pretty much sums it up perfectly.

The bus service is pretty much the same at all resorts; buses to each destination are supposed to run on average about every 20 minutes. So why do so many people insist it's bad one place and good at another? Human nature, or at least two aspects of human nature. One is a phenomenon you can call the "grass is always greener" effect (everyone else's experience seems better than our own), and the other is the mistaken assumption that what happens to us once is the way it usually is for most people at most times.

"The grass is always greener ...." For EVERY resort, you can find posts from people saying something like this: "We waited forever at closing time at Magic Kingdom for a bus to (our resort) while we watched 4 buses from (another resort) drive on by." Seriously, there's not a resort this hasn't been written about.

The second point is perhaps the more important point. Just because you have a not-so-great experience with buses at a resort doesn't mean the bus service stinks. It could mean they were having a rough day or two. But more likely it means that you were just unlucky with timing.

My example is my stay at Polynesian a couple years ago. We noticed by our second or third day that we never, and I mean NEVER, waited more than about 2 minutes for whatever bus we wanted, whether going from resort to park or park to resort. So we started to joke about it as we walked up to the Poly bus stop in the morning or to a park bus stop when leaving a park, but it always worked that way for that entire week.

So, should we conclude from that that Polynesian has the best bus service ever? Absolutely NOT. It just means our timing was very lucky. Imagine another family that did everything exactly like we did, only they always did it exactly 2 minutes later than we did. They would've had a dreadful bus experience, as they would've waited almost 20 minutes for every single bus for an entire week. Does their bad experience mean Poly has bad bus service? Of course not, just like my great experience doesn't mean it has the best bus service.

In the same way, my great bus service at Caribbean Beach Resort in 2005 and my so-so bus service at Port Orleans French Quarter in 2006 DOESN'T mean that CBR's bus service is better than POFQ's, it just means that my individual experiences on those exact days was better at CBR than at POFQ.

And that's why we read such mixed reviews of bus service at various resorts. Just because someone had a lot of wait time doesn't mean the bus service stinks.

I strongly advise you to pick a Moderate resort based on the theme, as well as the small ways they differ in amenities.

 

[maxiesmom]

If you are looking for fast and reliable transportation, you are better off renting a car or using taxis to get around. While the Disney buses are pretty reliable, I wouldn't call them fast. Disney aims to have a bus to your destination swing by every 20 minutes or so.

 

[seashoreCM]

Getting on the one or two buses that arrive at the park in the sweet spot for rope drop is always going to be hit or miss due to the large number of folks waiting at the platform.

So if you want to make rope drop you need to try for buses that leave the resort somewhat earlier.