Need some honest feedback about buses in the AllStar resorts......

[dkrauss]

Good morning Dis'ers,

Our family is planning a trip for Jersey week in 2017. There is a discussion about potentially staying at the All Star Music resort. I'm most curious about how others feel about the bus service to and from the All Star resorts. I've read horror stories but I trust the folks here to give me some honest feedback.

Doug

 

[Pkltm]

We have stayed there 6 times, even during jersey week, when it is busy each all stars tends to get a dedicated bus. We usually stay at sports, and enjoyed that being the first stop when they were shared.

You will hear Horror stories about all the resorts, we waited 45 minutes for a MK bus at POR, and 50 for a DS bus at BC

 

[Mal6586]

We stayed at All Star Music in December, and I never found the wait at the resort for a bus to be bad at all. There was almost always a bus going where we needed arriving within 10-15 minutes. On the other hand, the wait at the bus stations at the park was much lengthier, almost never shorter than 30 minutes, but we found this to be true for any other resorts we went to (usually for meals) from the parks as well, so I don't think it was an All Star specific increase in wait.

 

[KCEMOM]

just stayed at ASSp for the first time the week of Thanksgiving. Had no trouble with busses at all, less than 10 minute waits to go to the parks. As others have said, a couple of times leaving the parks at closing we had some long lines for busses but I don't think we ever waited more than 20 minutes. Busses during the day seemed to be frequent. We have also stayed at POP, GF, and YC. I did not find the busses to be any better or worse at any of the resorts.

 

[dancin Disney style]

I've stayed many times at the All Stars and the whole bus sharing discussion is just plain stupid. OCCASSIONALLY, there are shared buses but MOST of the time each resort has a dedicated bus. The moderate and Epcot resorts have multiple stops and no one goes on and on about that. No one goes on about having to wait for a second or third bus at POP either. Stay at the resort that you want to stay at. The bus will be no better and no worse between resorts.

As far as long bus lines when leaving the parks, that happens with any of the resorts.

 

[Lvsdisney]

We've stayed at ASMu, AKL,and CBR and I thought the bus service at ASMu was better than the other two resorts. I personally like the lines they make you form and I never felt like we waited long for a bus coming or going. Maybe 5 minutes when we were waiting for an MK bus. I think you'll be fine!

 

[Tiffany_m15]

You will have no problem at the All-Stars. We stayed there more than half a dozen times last year. We also stayed at the Poly once and the only time we ran into issues with the buses at any time was at the resorts on the monorail loop when the monorail was down because the deluxe resorts don't have designated bus stop spots. They all pull up one after another and you wait until they load for the next one. In many ways the All-Stars have a better bus setup. I will mention that one time we had a ppo reservation in Animal Kingdom and after sitting and staring at the board and watching the first bus time get gradually pushed back until 15 minutes before our reservation time we decided to grab a taxi. Everyone says the buses start running 30 minutes to an hour before the parks open but I have found it is very difficult to predict the first bus no matter how many people you ask. Hope you have fun!

 

[pens4821]

We shared coming from parks in the afternoons a couple times, but it didn't impact anything. Still weren't many people on the buses at those times. We never waited more than 10 minutes for a bus.

Sharing to DS was a tight bus ride, but no long wait. Wait for the shared ride back one evening was the only bad experience we had that week (minus one long wait for a MK bus). And it was horrible. We waited about 45 minutes and the line was ridiculous. They brought three buses at the same time and we just got on the second one. I'm not exaggerating when I say they probably needed three more to get everyone to the all stars. The line was backed through all the line, plus as far back into the walkway for all the bus stops we could see.

It surely wasn't the norm, and not trying to scare you away because the rest of the bus service was FANTASTIC.

 

[siestakeys04]

When is Jersey week?

 

[Pembo]

We were there Easter weekend last year, buses were great!

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

I Have never had a problem at any value resort with buses, but we tend to come and go more at off times (by design) to avoid crowds. Only once at an All Star did we share buses on a return trip, and frankly it was no worse than the moderate resorts such as POR that have multiple bus stops.

We prefer the values and POFQ that have one central bus stop and I like the organized queue that the values have. The resorts with multiple bus stops do not suit us, we like to get on and get off at our destination! One day at POFQ we boarded an early bus for morning EMH at Animal Kingdom, only to have the bus then swing over to POR and make the rounds of the each bus stop to pick up people. By the time it stopped at every bus stop, loaded people, strollers, scooters, etc. and then finally got to AK, we arrived much later than we had planned on.

 

[WEDWDW]

I'm most curious about how others feel about the bus service to and from the All Star resorts.

Here is some info you may find helpful.

I kept a "log" during one of my trips to All-Star Sports.

(Times are actual "Travel Times"-they don't include "waiting for the bus times").

It takes the Buses about 2 minutes to travel from Sports to Music and about 2 minutes
from Music to Movies

I also did some Park Hopping:

Monorail from TTC to Epcot----9 minutes.

Monorail from Epcot to TTC----7 minutes.
Express Monorail----4 minutes

Friendship between Epcot and DHS----20-30 minutes(We actually did make it in 20 minutes one day!)

Saturday April 18-
Sports to Epcot----8:23AM to 8:33AM----10 minutes----Direct
Epcot to Sports----4:46PM to 4:58PM----12 minutes----Share

Sunday April 19----Sports to DAK(EMH)----7:44AM to 7:52AM----8 minutes----Direct
DAK to Sports----12:51PM to 12:57PM----6 minutes----Share
Sports to DHS----5:37PM to 5:57PM----20 minutes----Share
MK to Music----10:31PM to 10:52PM----21 minutes----Direct
(Hopped on a waiting Music Bus and then walked back to Sports.)

Monday April 20----Sports to MK----6:49AM to 7:04AM----15 minutes----Direct
(BOG Breakfast!)
Epcot to Sports----12:31PM to 12:42PM----11 minutes----Share
Sports to Epcot----2:44PM to 3:04PM----20 minutes----Share
Epcot to Sports----7:00PM to 7:12PM----12 minutes----Share

Tuesday April 21----Sports to DHS----7:58AM to 8:10AM----12 minutes----Direct
DHS to Sports----11:01AM to 11:15AM----14 minutes----Direct
Sports to DTD----2:23PM to 2:50PM----27 minutes----Share
DHS to Sports----9:57PM to 10:09PM----12 minutes----Share

Wednesday April 22----Sports to DAK----7:33AM to 7:44AM(EMH)----11 minutes----Direct
DAK to Sports----12:29PM to 12:37PM----8 minutes----Share
Sports to DHS----1:30PM to 1:49PM----19 minutes----Share
MK to Music----9:25PM to 9:40PM----15 minutes----Direct

Thursday April 23----Sports to Epcot----11:10AM to 11:19AM----9 minutes----Share
DTD to Sports----5:18PM to 5:37PM-----19 minutes----Share

Friday April 24----Sports to Epcot----8:06AM to 8:17AM-----11 minutes----Direct
Epcot to Sports----10:27AM to 10:43AM----16 minutes----Share
Sports to Epcot----12:23PM to 12:43PM----20 minutes----Share
Epcot to Sports----9:14PM to 9:30PM----16 minutes----Direct

Saturday April 25----Sports to DHS(EMH)----7:20AM to 7:30AM-----10 minutes----Direct
Epcot to Sports-----4:16PM to 4:30PM----14 minutes----Share

Sunday April 26----Sports to MK----9:15AM to 9:30AM----15 minutes----Direct
Epcot to Sports----12:20PM to 12:32PM-----12 minutes-----Share

Time to board THE LIBRARY BUS!!!!BOOOOOOOO!!!!

 

[dkrauss]

WEDWDW...........this is awesome information! Thanks!

Doug

 

[disnut8]

The thing about the All Star Buses is you can share the vehicle. If that happens, Sports will be picked up first, then Music, then Movies. We were once staying at Sports and boarded, then picked up at Music and most people at Movies couldn't get on the bus. So, the choice of Music will work in case of shared buses. When we stayed at Music, we would simply walk over to Sports just in case.

However, there are times when you don't share the vehicle so the drive is easy and care free.

Just remember that you can take any of the All Star buses and just walk to your building.

Not a big fan of All Stars because of the buses but it's not a deal breaker for me.

 

[ErinsMommy]

we've waited what felt like a very long time at HS for a CR bus, while we watched bus after bus line up for the All Stars, but the line at All Stars was also substantially longer than our bus line.

 

[Darcy03231]

Overall, I've found the bus service at the All Star resorts to be pretty good. Occasionally we've waited a long time for a bus (over 30 min) both at the resort and at a park, but those were the exceptions rather than the rule.

 

[sharadoc]

I've stayed many times at the All Stars and the whole bus sharing discussion is just plain stupid. OCCASSIONALLY, there are shared buses but MOST of the time each resort has a dedicated bus. The moderate and Epcot resorts have multiple stops and no one goes on and on about that. No one goes on about having to wait for a second or third bus at POP either. Stay at the resort that you want to stay at. The bus will be no better and no worse between resorts.

As far as long bus lines when leaving the parks, that happens with any of the resorts.

This is the exact correct answer. I have been on a bus for far longer from POFQ, then to POR vs the "occasional" sharing at the All-Stars. The argument has been used as a Pop vs. All-Stars as a reason to stay at Pop. Then it just blows up from there.

 

[holden]

When is Jersey week?

It's usually the same week as Election Day in November (1st Tuesday in Nov). Jersey school have off a few days that week for a teacher conference. Many family chose to visit WDW that week because their kids only miss a day or two of school.

 

[HopperFan]

Stayed at all, but in Sports many times in the last few years. Never a problem. Sometimes we shared, sometimes we didn't. Once quite aggravated when a non-share bus decided to "be nice" and drive a woman from Sports to Movies and cost us considerable time since we were already by McD and he turned around.

There are permanent signs at AK stop - all three resorts are together and we always shared returning to resort. Not a problem now but if when new land opens I expect it to be. I believe it is also shared returning at least from Disney Springs (although we also shared going), Hollywood Studios and Epcot.

That said you can have issues at any resort at any time and for most part I wouldn't book based on just buses.

 

[buzznina]

I've stayed many times at the All Stars and the whole bus sharing discussion is just plain stupid. OCCASSIONALLY, there are shared buses but MOST of the time each resort has a dedicated bus. The moderate and Epcot resorts have multiple stops and no one goes on and on about that. No one goes on about having to wait for a second or third bus at POP either. Stay at the resort that you want to stay at. The bus will be no better and no worse between resorts.

As far as long bus lines when leaving the parks, that happens with any of the resorts.

Let me add that posters go on and on about the resorts with multiple stops as well, it also gets old. So many posters make such a big deal about 5 minutes it's ridiculous. Buses can be hit or miss at any resort, value to deluxe. Also; if leaving a park right after the fireworks, of course you are going to wait longer then normal, you got thousands of people leaving all at once and this includes boats and the monorail. You will be surprised how much of a difference it makes by just hanging out in the park for 45 minutes longer in regards to the transportation lines. Also, when you are just standing in a line it seems a lot longer then it really is. When looking at a resort to stay, transportation does not factor into our decision.