Poor Bus Service at POR July 14-22

[SqueakyMouse]

Just a heads up. During our Spring Break stay at POFQ, we found the bus service at Port Orleans to be really bad. I had hoped that this was due to it being a very busy time of the year. Also, I had read a few more positive transportation reports on the boards over the past couple of months. I'm sorry to report that bus service was pretty bad during our 9 days at POR. It was the most common conversation at the resort pools. Everyone was trading horror stories of long waits and lines. We found that driving to resorts at all but mid-morning times was much faster and easier. Other guests during our stay reported the same. The end of our stay was the worst. At 9:15 Saturday morning, 3 full buses pulled into our stop -- the South Depot and first in the morning at POR. POFQ guests were filling up the buses and Disney transportation was not sending any buses directly to POR at that time. Returning fom the parks, POR was the only resort that always had a line. Usually, we had to wait no more than 10 or 15 minutes. But the buses were almost always standing room only. I saw NO lines at any other resort stop. While there were far more guests at POR at the end of our stay, this resort was still far from capacity. There were many empty rooms in our area of AB.

 

[Buzz2001]

Sorry about your experience.

That's the main reason I'm hesitant to try POFQ/POR. I'll take the bars on the armiore over shared transportation any day.

 

[2infinityandbeyond]

Interesting. We had no bus problems on 7/14 going to/from POR/MK.

 

[lilyv]

Interesting. We had no bus problems on 7/14 going to/from POR/MK.

That's great to know! So looking forward to our POR stay.

 

[Cathy baby RN]

I think with the busses at any resort....it's all in the timing. We just got back from our stay at POR AB. We were there July 9-18 and had no problems. We were the first stop at the AB side.(not sure what depot that is) and always got a seat. The thing I didn't like is that you could be waiting with your family and then the bus pulls up and those just walking up go right in front of you. I wish there were queues like at Pop Century.When we left MK at night they had separate busses for French Quarterr and Riverside. Ond day I took the Beach Club bus to Animal Kingdom. Now that was a pain. They share with Boardwalk...so we had to stop there...and then made a stop at Blizzard Beach before AK.
I hope your trip was great otherwise. It's been years since we stayed at POR and we had an excellent stay. We usuallly have 5 with us, so it is such a good option. The monorail resorts have outpriced our budget in the last few summers with no AP rate.

 

[SqueakyMouse]

I should have noted that the Saturday we had the worst service was on July 21st. The resort was much busier during the 2nd half of our stay -- but still far from full.

 

[ToInfinity]

I'm so sorry to hear about your bad experience with the bus system. We have generally had good luck but the few times that we did have to wait felt like an eternity. I'm hopeful that Disney as been made aware (you may want to send them a 'customer comment form' and that they will make changes to avoid this in the future.

 

[Lilolvr]

Just a heads up. During our Spring Break stay at POFQ, we found the bus service at Port Orleans to be really bad. I had hoped that this was due to it being a very busy time of the year. Also, I had read a few more positive transportation reports on the boards over the past couple of months. I'm sorry to report that bus service was pretty bad during our 9 days at POR. It was the most common conversation at the resort pools. Everyone was trading horror stories of long waits and lines. We found that driving to resorts at all but mid-morning times was much faster and easier. Other guests during our stay reported the same. The end of our stay was the worst. At 9:15 Saturday morning, 3 full buses pulled into our stop -- the South Depot and first in the morning at POR. POFQ guests were filling up the buses and Disney transportation was not sending any buses directly to POR at that time. Returning fom the parks, POR was the only resort that always had a line. Usually, we had to wait no more than 10 or 15 minutes. But the buses were almost always standing room only. I saw NO lines at any other resort stop. While there were far more guests at POR at the end of our stay, this resort was still far from capacity. There were many empty rooms in our area of AB.

I feel your pain squeaky. I've been in your boat at POR and POFQ. Shared transportation is terrible especially when you at POR and the POFQ crowd fills up the bus. I wrote a letter as I'm sure many have but it's been that way for some time.

 

[mbtileguy]

i was there from the 15th - 20th i agree the buses stink i have a real issue with the lack of queue you get to the stop first and everyone jumps in front of you. and i am so tired of hearing from disney butt kissers on this site saying thats a "busy time of the year" i know that ,you know that, everyone knows that ..... and i am sure disney knows that......we pay big money to the mouse every year, so knowing it is busy get more buses, hire more people and fix it because the $ 5000.00 i spend there every year is gonna stop one day if they dont fix the problem. and i have to say to the people who always chime in and say the buses are great and have never had a problem , let me know where the disney world you go to is located.

 

[lilyv]

Is it just easier to walk over to POFQ and pick up the bus from there?

 

[jess20k]

Sorry about your bad experience with the buses. We also had a bad time when we were at POR in 2006. And we were there during slow season! It was the same type of situation...Guests from POFQ filling up the buses and having to wait for another bus to come around. Also, LOTS of standing.

This past Feb. we stayed at POFQ and had NO problem at all...There were times that our bus was just about full and they still stopped at POR and not many more were able to get on. Most had to stand. But at least at POFQ you are picked up and dropped off first, which REALLY REALLY makes a difference.

Hopefully one day they will each get their own buses...It should be that way now.

 

[mbtileguy]

wrong answer .......... just what i want to do when i walked all day and its hotter than the sun out .i didnt pay $200.00 a night to walk down the road to get on my bus. when there is a bus stop out front. crazy me.

 

[SqueakyMouse]

Is it just easier to walk over to POFQ and pick up the bus from there?

Walking from AB to POFQ in the summer heat and humidity is definitely out. It's quite a hike. We did discuss driving over to POFQ but decided that if we were going to get in the car we might as well drive to the parks.

BTW, every time we drove to the parks, we waited in NO lines at the turnstiles, parked quickly, and were immediately approached by a tram. There was absolutely NONE of the pushing and shoving for seats on the trams that we have experienced in the past. There appeared to be more trams running more often than during previous trips.

 

[tinkerbellmagic]

Oh, sorry to hear the bus service is still bad at POR. We went in 2005 during slow time. We waited over an hour two days in a row for MK buses. We usually waited long for the buses to go anywhere and when they arrived, sometimes they were full. And a queue like the one at POP would sure cut down on the bus barging (people who just walk up pushing their way onto the buses when you have been waiting 30 mins). And yes, I noticed the longest line at MK at night was the POR line.

I remember after a long hot tired night at MK walking to the bus stop and fantacizing about bus queues that had benches lined up so you walk up and sit down. Ahhhhhh.

You know I always enjoyed the long walks at POR and never complain it is so spread out because it is such a beautiful resort, but I do not plan on going back there any time soon because of the bus situation. I did also let Disney know they need to do something about it. I hope they do, because I would like to go back some day.
tink

 

[maciemouse]

I totally agree with the bus service at POFQ. We went in May. It was not that busy of a time. I think we waited atleast 30 minutes every time we used a bus. I am thankful that they offer transportation but we have stayed at POP when it is completely full and never waited 30 minutes. I have to say that I am a Disney freak but I did not care for POFQ. Everyone has there own opinion. I guess that is why they have so many resorts to choose from. I just did not get the "Disney" feeling when we stayed there.

 

[iluvradcliffe]

Sorry about your experience. I'll be going with my family for the first time in September. I hope we don't have any horror stories when we return.