Q: Bus transporation for DVC resorts.

[StitchSpawn]

I know SSR doesn't share buses, but does that also mean each park at DTD is only given one bus? Because a round trip from SSR to MK is almost an hour, which would be much longer than the standard "20min" wait. I would think that's ridiculous!

 

[aubriee]

I know SSR doesn't share buses, but does that also mean each park at DTD is only given one bus? Because a round trip from SSR to MK is almost an hour, which would be much longer than the standard "20min" wait. I would think that's ridiculous!

There are no parks at DTD. As far as bus transportation there is no difference between the DVC resorts and any of the other resorts, so not sure what you are asking.

During slow times of the day (mid day) there may be only one bus running between your resort and a certain park, but in the mornings and evenings there are always alot of buses running. I know at POFQ this past May, we were waiting for a DS bus and within just a few minutes three Epcot buses and two Magic Kingdom buses came by. Two of the Epcot buses arrived at almost the same time and were parked right behind each other at the bus stop. People going to Epcot that morning could get on either bus. Coming out of the parks at night, frequently you will see two buses pull up at the same time for the same resort if those bus lines are full (especially at the value resorts).

 

[goofy4tink]

You can't get to a park from DTD...buses don't run that way. R/T from SSR to MK could conceivably take an hour....including wait times..I guess. But that certainly isn't the norm. More like 10 min wait for the bus (average), then 15 mins to MK (or so). May be more coming back depending on time of day.
But, that's the same for pretty much any resort. DVC resorts have the same bus service everyone else has.

 

[MICKEEP]

I know SSR doesn't share buses, but does that also mean each park at DTD is only given one bus? Because a round trip from SSR to MK is almost an hour, which would be much longer than the standard "20min" wait. I would think that's ridiculous!

I think I understand your question and like most people, due to the complexity of the WDW bus system, you have a misconception on how it works. It would take me pages and pages to explain how the buses are dispatched at different times of the day but the short answer, specific to your question is, NO.

Buses are not assigned a specific route which they continue to do all day long. A bus driver may not even do the same resort more than once in a work day.

Buses are assigned their next resort as they return to their origination point or Hub (Think Park). This keeps the buses moving at an even rate to all resorts and continuosly corrects any problems, such as traffic, mechanical issues, weather, accidents, etc., that may have occured on a previous buses trip to that resort.

Due to Disney's improvements to their system over the years and with the addition, 3 weeks ago, of 40 new buses, wait times are rarely more than 15 minutes. No system is perfect and their will be the rare exceptions to the rule. For example, just yesterday, due to heavy rains, the tunnel near the CO flooded and buses, along with all other traffic, were forced to reroute around the back of MK, causing very long delays.

Just some food for thought. WDW has 18 resorts which are serviced by over 330 buses. This means that there are over 18 buses serving each resort at any given moment.

OT - Here are a couple of tips to make your bus riding experience better.
- Never leave right after fireworks
- Never leave when it starts to rain
- Give yourself plenty of time (1 1/2 hours) when travel from resort to resort
- If you have a question about the buses, ask a bus driver. Don't ask a monorail or boat person and vis-a-versa
- And the biggest tip of all. Don't estimate how long you have been waiting for a bus. Look at your watch when you arrive at the bus stop. If you do that you will be surprised at how short your waits really are.

 

[Brian Noble]

- And the biggest tip of all. Don't estimate how long you have been waiting for a bus. Look at your watch when you arrive at the bus stop. If you do that you will be surprised at how short your waits really are.

And, when you infrequently do get a long wait, you will *know* exactly how long it took.

 

[goofy4tink]

And, when you infrequently do get a long wait, you will *know* exactly how long it took.

Nah...it's so much better to come back here and tell everyone it took over an hour for the bus to get there
I've been at the bus stop, waiting for a bus to MK from BW. Got there before anyone else. Well....a family comes along about 5 mins after I got there. They were cranky to begin with....mom was yelling at the kids, dad was just standing there, right next to the road commenting on how long it was taking for a bus to come. About 10 mins after they got there, a bus to AK came along. This guy sticks his head in that bus and says to the driver..'Do you have any idea how long until the MK bus comes??? We've been standing here about 40 mins!!' The driver said he would call and let them know.
Well...about a min later, the MK bus comes rolling in. This guy and his family get on..he comments to the driver, in a very nasty tone, 'About time buddy, we've been here almost an hour.' I quietly told the driver that no, they hadn't been there 'almost an hour' but closer to 15 mins and not to worry.

I've had the same thing happen over and over....guests 'think' it's much longer than it is. Times are almost always doubled. Drives me nuts.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I know SSR doesn't share buses, but does that also mean each park at DTD is only given one bus? Because a round trip from SSR to MK is almost an hour, which would be much longer than the standard "20min" wait. I would think that's ridiculous!

Ignoring both why anyone would want to go round-trip resort-to-park-to-resort (instead of getting off the bus at the park) and MICKEEP's excellent synopsis of how the WDW bus system works... the time it takes to get between two points isn't the same as the time spent waiting fir that transportation. Sure, they're related; but the OP is trying two compare the two as if they were the same thing. That's where her confusion is.

Mine is the parks/DTD thing . Wait! I get it! She meant "park at WDW"! And, again, MICKEEP covered that.

 

[Brian Noble]

it's so much better to come back here and tell everyone it took over an hour for the bus to get there

Funny you should mention an hour as your dividing line. Twice during my last stay at OKW, I arrived at the Millers Road bus stop in the afternoon to return to MK. At the time, the OKW bus stops had clocks (and they may still), so I knew exactly when I arrived. Both of those trips took >60 minutes before we pulled into the MK bus depot. One time I could have forgiven as a freak occurrence. The second time was the last time I ever took the bus to MK from OKW.