POFQ and POR Transportation

[Mcert01]

My wife and I are planning a trip next October without the kids and are considering POR and POFQ. After doing a bit of research I am a bit concerned about transportation, particularly at POR, and have a couple of questions.

Is there a pattern to the bus routes? In other words, do pickups begin at a certain stop and end at another, and returns begin at a particular stop? How does this work exactly?

How crowded are the buses typically in the mornings, particularly in October?

How often do they run? I have read every 20 minutes.

Any other wisdom you can share?

Thanks for your help!

 

[Jillianv29]

We got back from POFQ a little over a week ago. Only had one issue with transportation. I loved the small size of the resort and only one bus stop. The boats really are hit or miss though cause they come from POR first and were almost always full. Waited 40 min once. For us it was worth the 8.00 to take a taxi. Never any issues with the boats coming back or taking it to POR. my sister stated at POR last week in Aug and said the buses were the one downfall for her

 

[Mcert01]

Thanks! That's encouraging. Did you use the buses first thing in the morning? We are rope drop people.

 

[jcieutat]

We have stayed at POFQ the last 4 years in a row and will be there in a little over a month. We have had a pretty good experience with the buses and not having to share with POR. It is a small resort which is what we like the most. The boats to DTD are a hit or miss for the reason the other poster described. We are rope drop people as well and the buses do arrive plenty early enough for you to get there around 30 minutes before the rope drop. Enjoy your vacation!

 

[Jillianv29]

We were rope drop people too. It was great and never shared. My one day we had the issue was Hollywood Studio. Wish we got a taxi that day.

 

[Mcert01]

Wow, that's interesting. I thought the two resorts shared buses. Very good news. Out of curiosity, what was your issue with HS?

 

[mamamary]

OP - just to give our experience we stayed at POFQ in June and we usually did share with POR. We are rope drop people too. I believe we shared at all parks except for the MK. Some mornings the bus was standing room only by the time it got to POR. Just wanted to give you the heads up because I had heard that they don't share too often. It really didn't matter to me other than adding a few more minutes to our commute but we always got seats at POFQ and usually POR guests had to stand.

 

[pixarmom]

We stayed at POFQ in April of this year, the week after Easter. We're rope drop people, too, and that meant that we were at the bus stop at 6am for a 7am EMH at MK (more than once!) As you can imagine, the bus was not crowded under those circumstances. In the mornings, the bus would head straight to the parks from POFQ, but I'm not sure what POR does in the morning.

My concern with transportation relates more to evenings in Epcot. We usually stay in an Epcot area resort (BC, BWI or YC) for at least part of our trip and have lots of dinner ADRs in Epcot. When staying at POFQ, we'd get out to the bus stop with plenty of time before dinner after our afternoon break. We were never late to an ADR, but the bus stopped at every single POR stop - there were quite a few and it took a very long time.

If we stayed in the parks all day (we used to do that when we visited less frequently, and before APs) I don't think the bus situation would be a problem at all. But if you're planning to take a break and go back to a park in the evening, it can take a while.

 

[jazz0007]

We have stayed at POR for 7 years in a row. We've had very few problems with the buses. I can remember just a few times waiting a little extra long for a bus TO the parks. We always use one of the back stops....not the main front one as that gets very crowded. The one problem that does stick in my head is getting a bus BACK to the resort after closing the MK. POR seems to be the worst for this!! HTH's

Edited to add.....we've done rope drop a number of times and have never had a problem at that time of day.

 

[Mcert01]

Wow, this is all good insight. We are thinking French Quarter at this point, so this sounds like it will work out.

I'm a little sad about MK. We typically stay at FW in our RV, and it is reallllllly nice leaving MK via the boat for a moonlight cruise on Bay Lake back to the campground. It's nice, but then again, not having a 20 hour drive down will make up for it!

Some people have mentioned cabs. I've never considered that before. Are they readily available if the need arises? Again, we are FW people so not as familiar with all the transportation options at the hotels.

Thanks!

 

[mb187143]

we've stayed at both, and prefer POFQ for transportation. The line to get a bus back to POR from the MK was so long on our trip (on multiple nights, about an hour before park closing) it went through the queues for load zone 4 and 5 and all the way up the middle of the covered area) we usually took the POFQ bus and walked back to our room. Which was a loooooooong walk on tired feet after a full day at the parks. Sharing buses is dependent on time of year/occupancy, so you could share buses to all 4 parks, or none, or somewhere in between, and it could change from morning to afternoon. If the buses share, they pick up at POFQ first, and then do the POR stops - at least that's how the shared buses worked for us.

The boat to DTD wasn't much of a factor either way, we waited about the same at both POR and POFQ, but we usually only head to DTD once per trip (if that), so it wasn't the bonus for us that some people find it to be. The bus ride home, for us, was actually faster because we lucked into having a waiting bus at the stop when we walked up. The boat ride is beautiful though.

 

[Mcert01]

we've stayed at both, and prefer POFQ for transportation.

That's what it is beginning to sound like to me. POFQ it is!

Thanks.

 

[nkereina]

Is there a pattern to the bus routes? In other words, do pickups begin at a certain stop and end at another, and returns begin at a particular stop? How does this work exactly? In my experience at POR - no pattern. We did notice that if you catch the bus at the South depot at the busiest time of the morning, that bus will fill up so it will not go to the other three depots. I am assuming they sent a different bus to the other three depots. We would also only share with POFQ at off times like in the afternoon.

How crowded are the buses typically in the mornings, particularly in October?
We were there in late September/early October and we always got to the bus stop about an hour before rope drop, and never had an issue making rope drop. If you don't mind standing, you will likely not have to wait for a bus. We never had to wait for the next one. FWIW, we always got the bus at the south depot in the morning which is by far the busiest depot in the morning, but I am assuming probably with the shortest waits in between buses.

How often do they run? I have read every 20 minutes. I'd say about every 20 minutes is accurate.

Any other wisdom you can share?

Thanks for your help!

See above for my answers. Not to be a Debbie Downer or make you think twice, but we did not care much for POFQ. Aesthetically, it is really nice and the smallness of the resort makes it quaint and easy to get around. However, because it is so small, it felt very crowded to us. The food court was packed the one morning we went there and we had to eat in the lounge due to lack of tables. With only one bus depot, we found that to be very crowded with a mass crowd gunning for the bus whenever one would pull up. The moderates don't really have a set line at the bus depots so it can get a little chaotic. During low crowd months like September/October, we enjoy the larger resorts like POR because it just feels more empty. The pools were practically empty and never had an issue in the food court. We also think that POR has one of the best food courts on property.

 

[portocall]

On our last trip, we stayed at POR and our busses case to the main stop empty in the morning and only once did we stop at POFQ to drop people off in the evening so it seemed we didn't do much bus sharing that week. If I had one complaint however it was the busses just due to the fact that I was experiencing a lot of leg pain and always had to stand. Now that that situation has been solved I'm sure I will be a lot more patient about it. I do agree with MK being the worst of the waits.

 

[goofyintoronto]

See above for my answers. Not to be a Debbie Downer or make you think twice, but we did not care much for POFQ. Aesthetically, it is really nice and the smallness of the resort makes it quaint and easy to get around. However, because it is so small, it felt very crowded to us. The food court was packed the one morning we went there and we had to eat in the lounge due to lack of tables. With only one bus depot, we found that to be very crowded with a mass crowd gunning for the bus whenever one would pull up. The moderates don't really have a set line at the bus depots so it can get a little chaotic. During low crowd months like September/October, we enjoy the larger resorts like POR because it just feels more empty. The pools were practically empty and never had an issue in the food court. We also think that POR has one of the best food courts on property.

good points. We didn't like POFQ either. We dont like the general theme and appearance, at all. We dont like how small it is. shocking eh? lol. we think POR grounds are far far far prettier. we love the food court much better and love that there are bike rentals onsite. we also like the pool better. longer slide! its true about pofq bus stop being too crowded. por bus stops dont seem as crowded because theres more than one. lol.

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[princessallegra]

See above for my answers. Not to be a Debbie Downer or make you think twice, but we did not care much for POFQ. Aesthetically, it is really nice and the smallness of the resort makes it quaint and easy to get around. However, because it is so small, it felt very crowded to us. The food court was packed the one morning we went there and we had to eat in the lounge due to lack of tables. With only one bus depot, we found that to be very crowded with a mass crowd gunning for the bus whenever one would pull up. The moderates don't really have a set line at the bus depots so it can get a little chaotic. During low crowd months like September/October, we enjoy the larger resorts like POR because it just feels more empty. The pools were practically empty and never had an issue in the food court. We also think that POR has one of the best food courts on property.

We don't like POFQ at all for the same reasons, except we don't like the theming either! POR is gorgeous, peaceful, and really feels like it's worth the money for a mod. I would rather stay at All Star music and save money then stay at POFQ. Jmho