Not A Fan Of Wdw Buses

[mickey0624]

Maybe it's just me, but i am certainly not a fan of the WDW bus system. The buses are slow, make what seems like countless stops, and are a major hassle at park closing times. we always stay at the Poly and one part of the trip I never look forward to is taking the buses to MGM, AK and the water parks. we have rented a car a few times and its sooooooooo much easier. With little kids now (3 and 2) it becomes even more difficult. I was there 3 weeks ago and we left DTD at 10, we didnt get back to the Poly until 11:20. If car seats weren't an issue I would definitely rent a car

 

[Michelle2]

That is what we will be doing in a month. Never took the busses, never will. Especially from the monorail resorts, which is all I have stayed at. I just figure to not waste any time finding out, and taking other people's word for it and save the hassle.

 

[BeckWhy]

They don't bother me. It's ok, though, all you guys can not ride on the buses and that way all us that do will never have to stand.

 

[utilidor]

Ahh - the buses. We don't like them because we always have 2 strollers with us, and it is a pain to fold them up, juggle a 2 and 5 year old, the backpacks, other junk under the stroller, etc. A few years ago we were at Caribbean Beach and I think that experience ruined me on the buses forever. So many stops.....

Sooo, the past 4-5 trips we've switched resorts mid trip. We stay at GF and use the monorail for MK (and usually 1 day over at Epcot. We like the monorail and don't mind switching at TTC).

Then we switch over to an Epcot resort - BW or BC so that we can walk to Epcot and take the boat to MGM.

We're not huge AK fans, so a couple of trips we've skipped it. But when we do go - that's the only time for the whole vacation we get on the bus!

It's really worked out well for us, and I can't see us changing this approach. Switching resorts is easy - just tell bell services to come to the room and pick up your bags and tell them where you're going. Then head out to the parks for the day, go to the new resort mid-day, check in and have your bags sent up, get settled, and head back out!

 

[JRawkSteady]

AKL's bus takes 15-20 minutes to get from AKL to MK. It has no other stops to any of its destinations. I love it.

 

[mrsltg]

We don't rely on the buses. They are fine for once in a while, but definitely not to be relied upon exclusively. I can't stand to wait, and that seems to be the case all of the time with the buses. We rent a car and drive everywhere we can. We get to the parks early and have never had to rely on a tram unless we wanted it. Not to mention leaving at night - never a wait for an overcrowded bus.

The general public just isn't my thing

 

[JRawkSteady]

Since I don't have a license (I live in NYC, nuff said), buses are the only option and I have never ever had a problem with them. However, I assume if you're staying at the All Stars or Pop you may.

Why it would take over an hour to get to Poly, I do not know.. This has never happened to me.

 

[rmoody44]

I agree, we used to use the buses. Our last trip, in December we rented a car for the first time and loved it. Disney makes parking SO easy. You don't have to search for a spot, they guide you right to the section and trams waiting right there to take you to the park. And no extra stops when we want to get somewhere.

 

[Belle's Mom Tink]

I personally don't mind the buses but that's also because I've never had to ride on them with kids and strollers. I can only imagine how rough that could be. I like the buses and the people you meet on the ride, but I admit that they can be a real pain especially at the end of the night.

 

[rigs32]

We only drove the one time we stayed off-site, but it seemed like the hike to the gates or waiting for the tram took as long as waiting for a bus. Especially if the TTC is involved. We also travel on a budget (no monorail resorts for us) and the extra cost of a car and gas doesn't seem worth the few extra minutes we'd save.

 

[mickeymousemom]

What's a PITA for me is:

loading everything in the van
driving to the park
taking everything out of the van, unfolding the stroller
walking to the tram, remembering where the heck we're parked
folding up the stroller
getting to the park and unfolding the stroller
in the case of MK, taking MORE transportation to get to the park
taking a tram(I HATE taking a TRAM!!!) to get to our van...


I love being able to take the bus right to the front, no trams involved, no driving when we are about to drop from exhaustion at the end of a day. I can relax a little more. It's much more tiring to me to get back to the van than to wait in line for a bus...and the wait is never long....
I let WDW chauffeur my hiney around all week long!

 

[Mouse-n-Mini]

If you're driving your own car into the parks but staying at a DW resort, do you have to pay the $9 parking fee still? We stayed at Sheraton Safari over Christmas and drove to the parks and it was 9 bucks each time! Just wandering if you have your resort sticker thing to put in the window if it's free parking?

 

[Disney Ella]

I couldn't afford a car after I graduated from college and relied on buses for a few years. Since then, buses have had no appeal for me. We did use the buses for our first trip, but it is so much nicer now than we rent cars. I really don't want to stand on a bus at the end of the day after spending hours walking around the parks. And I like not having to wait for a bus to arrive.

 

[clonetothebone]

We only use the WDW buses to go to MK. In the time you spend waiting for the bus at your resort you can almost always drive and already be in the parking lot. I do have to agree with a previous post though about how nice it is to be dropped off at the front entrance at the parks.

When we did ride the buses this last trip we had great drivers and everyone is so friendly but waiting after the fireworks to get back was no fun and nearly everytime we rode this last trip there was someone in a wheelchair or scooter that had to be loaded on which added 10 to 15 more minutes. Don't get me wrong--I understand that some people need these to get around and I certainly don't want them to miss out but when you are tired with a 6 and 8 year old that additional 10 minutes seems like forever.

The last time we went to MK to avoid the bus we drove to Epcot and took the monorail to the TTC and then onto the MK. It may have taken just as long as riding the bus---I didn't time it---but we were moving all the time so for the kids it wasn't as bad as just standing there. Plus, we got to ride upfront on the monorail twice!

If you stay onsite you don't pay for parking...just show your resort key/card at the parking entrance and they wave you on.

 

[snowy76]

If you're driving your own car into the parks but staying at a DW resort, do you have to pay the $9 parking fee still? We stayed at Sheraton Safari over Christmas and drove to the parks and it was 9 bucks each time! Just wandering if you have your resort sticker thing to put in the window if it's free parking?

If you're a WDW resort guest, parking is free at the parks!
You get a parking pass at check in and keep it in your windshield.

 

[mickey0624]

If you're driving your own car into the parks but staying at a DW resort, do you have to pay the $9 parking fee still? We stayed at Sheraton Safari over Christmas and drove to the parks and it was 9 bucks each time! Just wandering if you have your resort sticker thing to put in the window if it's free parking?

If you are staying at a WDW resort parking at the theme parks is free

 

[jmskinner]

What I like about staying on site and using the bus system is if one person in your party wants to leave, they can and you can stay and still enjoy the magic!