Poly Bus or TTC Bus? Bus or car?

[lkjasd]

We will be staying at Poly at the end of September and, for the first time ever, have decided not to get a car to try and save $250 or so. As this is our first time without a car and the first time at the Poly since 1991, I am a constantly changing my mind about getting the car.

A friend at work used the bus system (at a different resort) last August and said he never had any problems, I then read horror stories about waits, etc. on these borads and get nervous again. So, bus or car? (We will spend most time at MK/EP, with one trip to AK, two trips to MGM, and one trip to BB or Typhoon.)

My next questions is, is the bus service better from the Poly or the TTC? Should we walk to the TTC to catch a bus or just wait at the Poly? Which is faster, less crowded, more likely to run regularly, etc.?

Thanks in advance.

 

[baileygirlsmom]

We always stay at the Poly and never had any problems with their bus service. This year seemed even better. I would only walk to the TTC for the Epcot monorail, much faster than going around the whole loop. Enjoy!

 

[BionicEar]

The waits are really not as bad as some people tend to make them out to be on the boards.

Just be patient, relax, and expect some waits. What are you in a hurry for anyway, you're on vacation!!! We've never waited for very long for the resort buses to come around. When we wanted to go to Epcot, we just walked over to the TTC and took the monorail from there. When going to the MK, you can either ride the boat, or take a nice ride on the monorail.

You are better off not renting a car. Taxi's can be taken, and believe me when we took a taxi from the Boardwalk back to the Poly after dinner at Spoodles, the $15 was well worth it. We drove down to FL, and the only time we took our vehicle was when we drove to Ft. Wilderness for the Hoop-De-Doo Revue. And you can take a boat to Ft. Wilderness. Now that we look back on it, we should have taken the boat in the first place. Getting to Hoop De Doo can be a little confusing.

This is just my honest opinion, but some people tend to make mountains out of molehills on this board and bus waits are one of them.

 

[helenk]

I always use Disney transportation and have never experienced the horror stories you read about from time to time.
My husband and I stayed at the Poly last year and loved using the MK as a hub to get to other resorts for dinners or breakfasts it was very convenient to take the monorail to the MK hop off and walk over to the bus stops.
To get to the parks from the Poly you can take the monorail to the MK or the boat. To get to Epcot you can walk over to the TTC and get the monorail to Epcot or you can take the monorail over to the TTC, get off the resort monorail and then get onto the Epcot one, we found it faster to walk.
To get to AK or MGM or DTD the bus stop was right out front of the Poly, it was easier to get the bus for the other parks by using the Poly bus stop.

 

[Tam1067]

We stayed at the Poly from July 10-18 and never waited longer than about 10-15 minutes for a bus. There's no need to go over to the TTC at all. The Poly bus runs are fine. Sometimes, you'll also stop at the Contemporary, other times at the Grand Floridian, but we had no problem at all with Disney bus service. Don't worry about it.

 

[iloveeeyore]

The car is completely unnecessary at the Poly! You are paying top-dollar for that location. We never waited more than 15 minutes for a resort bus, and that was in the morning going to the Studios in what is considered value season. Enjoy the Disney Transportation!

ETA: Several years ago, we went with a large group to CBR. It was actually cheaper to rent a minivan for the week than to pay for the airport transfers for all of us, so we had a van, which we intended not to use. After only 2 days of trying to get around, we decided to start using the car. The buses were just awful. I believe there is a difference in the quality of transportation from resort to resort. At least there has been in my personal experience.

 

[lkjasd]

Thanks everyone for the guidance and for calming my nerves. It sounds pretty unanimous that the bus service is just fine and I won't need the car.

I can be calm now until.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

I asked a bell services guy about this on our first day at the Poly (we were there July 11-18--Tam we probably saw you somewhere). We went to AK on our first full day at open on an EMH day and I asked him if it would be quicker to go to the TTC, but he said no way, take the Poly bus.
BTW if you request rarotonga, facing the pool, you'll be about one minute from the bus stop--and GCH, and the CC rehab location.
Robin M.

 

[lkjasd]

I asked a bell services guy about this on our first day at the Poly (we were there July 11-18--Tam we probably saw you somewhere). We went to AK on our first full day at open on an EMH day and I asked him if it would be quicker to go to the TTC, but he said no way, take the Poly bus.
BTW if you request rarotonga, facing the pool, you'll be about one minute from the bus stop--and GCH, and the CC rehab location.
Robin M.

Good tips, thanks. I think we requested Samoa to be close to the pools, the GCH and not too far from the TTC. Is Rarotonga a better building?

Thanks.

 

[BionicEar]

My husband and I stayed at the Poly last year and loved using the MK as a hub to get to other resorts for dinners or breakfasts it was very convenient to take the monorail to the MK hop off and walk over to the bus stops.

*smacks forehead*

WHY didn't we think of this when we went to Spoodles for dinner??

We took the monorail to Epcot, walked through Epcot to the IG, and then to the Boardwalk where Spoodles is. All with three tired, hungry kids. Geeeez.

Lesson learned. Next time we'll do what you did!

 

[rrkman]

We stayed at Poly in May and the bus service was bad. Waits were long and a couple times the buses were completely full by the time they left the Poly. I hate to complain because Disney transportation has always been very good but, this time the bus service was poor...but being on the monorail was great. We also found it a little easier and quicker to use buses to the TTC at times...usually when we were headed back to the resort and the Poly bus just left or the line was extremely long. We stayed at Tahiti so it was about the same distance to TTC buses as the Poly bus stop.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

lk, I can't say if Rarotonga is a better building...we actually requested Samoa too, didn't get it. After one night there we liked it well enough to not worry about trying to switch. It is very recently rehabbed and convenient to everything, but I wouldn't want to be facing the monorail side--we faced the quiet pool and were very happy.
I don't think we waited more than 10 minutes for a bus, except for the first bus to TL on an EMH day--I had us out there too early!--I know one day we got an MGM bus the people waiting for DD looked impatient. But generally we didn't have any problems. We used the MK trick for transport back from Cape May--got a bus at the Beach Club to MK, walked to the contemp (we could easily have gotten the monorail at MK but the contemp. has awesome shops!) and then monorail to the Poly.
Robin M.

 

[ConcKahuna]

The waits are really not as bad as some people tend to make them out to be on the boards.

I was going to the HDD at FW one time and since I am local, I parked up front and waited for a settlement bus. All 3 of them had just left as we got there, so I sat down to wait. I was checking my watch repeatedly (even though I was an hour early, I'm horribly anal about being on time), and the wait for another settlement bus was about 20 minutes. When the bus got there, a family who arrived AFTER I did started shouting at the bus driver about having to wait 40 minutes for the bus, and how their dinner was ruined.

The point: when people rush themselves they make the wait seem longer than it really is.

 

[rkandmjsmommy]

This past January was our first trip without a car and WE LOVED IT. Kids got a big kick out of using the busses, boats and monorails. I feel you get to enjoy Disney more. When we go in October we will be renting a car to go to Universal and then it will sit.

Have fun and if you find you hate not having a car, call over to the Dolphin and rent one

 

[BionicEar]

I was going to the HDD at FW one time and since I am local, I parked up front and waited for a settlement bus. All 3 of them had just left as we got there, so I sat down to wait. I was checking my watch repeatedly (even though I was an hour early, I'm horribly anal about being on time), and the wait for another settlement bus was about 20 minutes. When the bus got there, a family who arrived AFTER I did started shouting at the bus driver about having to wait 40 minutes for the bus, and how their dinner was ruined.

The point: when people rush themselves they make the wait seem longer than it really is.

Amen to that!

 

[lkjasd]

Thanks again for all the good advice.

 

[kutchyone]

Glad I found this thread and all you Poly Transportation Experts. We have an 8:05 AM CRT ADR on day when MK opens at 9:00. Will the monorail be running early enough to get to MK by 7:30?

Also, at check in we are heading over to DTD is the best way to get there to walk over to the TTC and take the bus from there?

Last question, well at least I hope it is, that first day we will be attending the P & PP so we will take the bus from DTD back to the Poly and then take the monorail? Will the monorail run until the end of the party?

 

[jw50]

The monorail starts running at 7am so you will have no problem getting to the MK by 7:30. It also runs until after the parks close so again no problem getting back to the Poly.

I didn't take the DTD bus but a previous poster said it was better to just take the bus from the Poly bus stop.

 

[kutchyone]

Thank you. I was told that the monorail started running only an hour prior to the park opening so I thought it would start at 8:00, glad to hear that they start at 7:00.

 

[NJRRK]

This past January was our first trip without a car and WE LOVED IT. Kids got a big kick out of using the busses, boats and monorails. I feel you get to enjoy Disney more. When we go in October we will be renting a car to go to Universal and then it will sit.

Have fun and if you find you hate not having a car, call over to the Dolphin and rent one

Wouldn't it be cheaper to just rent a car for the day you go to Universal?

Of course I'm assuming you're staying on site and can take advantage of ME.