Question about Disney Bus?

[tmcm611]

Sorry if this is a silly question. We are staying off-site and renting a car, but I'm wondering if off-site guests can utilize the Disney Buses. Do they scan magic bands/ticket to get on the buses?

 

[rwdavis2]

Anyone can ride the buses on property. They don't scan anything.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Sorry if this is a silly question. We are staying off-site and renting a car, but I'm wondering if off-site guests can utilize the Disney Buses. Do they scan magic bands/ticket to get on the buses?

You can ride on Disney buses, boats, and monorails without a resort ID or any particular sort of park ticket or a Magic Band. Disney long ago figured out that if people are riding on Disney Transportation, it almost always means they are going to spend money at a Disney park or resort.

That being said, there seem to be very few circumstances when it's advantageous for an off-site guest with a rental car to use Disney Transportation. The obvious one is that off-site guest parking in the Magic Kingdom parking lot need to use a monorail or ferry to get between the TTC and the MK. Beyond that I can't think of too many other cases.

If you plan to park hop, you only have to pay for parking at the first theme park parking lot. You can then drive to the next theme park and park there without paying a second time.

Some people think it might be a good idea to park at Downtown Disney (Disney Springs) and then take a bus to a theme park to avoid the parking fee. Honestly, it's not worth it. If you're driving anyway, you'll gain a lot of extra time in the park by driving all the way to your destination. Not only that, but there are no direct buses from Downtown Disney to the theme parks, and Downtown Disney parking is meant for guests shopping and dining there.

 

[tmcm611]

DTD buses do not go to the parks, only resorts right?

Would it be feasible for us to park at Downtown Disney, ride a bus to a monorail resort or the transportation center, then monorail to MK or Epcot?

 

[tmcm611]

I'm not at all concerned about cost of parking. I'm thinking about 3 kids and the time and energy spent trekking back and forth through the parking lots when they could rest on an air conditioned bus between parks. Also, we'll be there during high crowd times, so I'm thinking car lines might be long. Thanks for the advice!

 

[Alesia]

DTD buses do not go to the parks, only resorts right?

Correct.

Would it be feasible for us to park at Downtown Disney, ride a bus to a monorail resort or the transportation center, then monorail to MK or Epcot?

Not really. I mean, you technically could, but you would be wasting a huge amount of time - about 60 to 90 minutes each way.

I'm not at all concerned about cost of parking. I'm thinking about 3 kids and the time and energy spent trekking back and forth through the parking lots when they could rest on an air conditioned bus between parks. Also, we'll be there during high crowd times, so I'm thinking car lines might be long. Thanks for the advice!

Lines for the buses and monorails will be long, too. And you would have to transfer.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

I'm not at all concerned about cost of parking. I'm thinking about 3 kids and the time and energy spent trekking back and forth through the parking lots when they could rest on an air conditioned bus between parks. Also, we'll be there during high crowd times, so I'm thinking car lines might be long. Thanks for the advice!

You would be trekking through the Downtown Disney parking structure, trekking to a Downtown Disney bus station, waiting for a bus, sitting or standing on a bus, repeating those two steps at a resort, and finally walking from a theme park bus stop to a park -- and then doing the reverse at the end of your theme park day. The buses are a reasonably efficient way for resort guests to get to parks, but there's nothing fun or restful about them.

You will lose a significant amount of time compered to simply parking at a theme park. At Epcot, DHS, and DAK, if you arrive early in the morning, you can walk from your car directly to the theme park gate without even needing a tram. At MK, it's more complicated, but it still much easier and faster than trying to do it from Downtown Disney.

 

[goofy4tink]

It's a huge chunk of time wasted. You are much better off parking in a park lot, and then taking park to park transportation when you change parks.
Here's the problem.....the buses heading to resorts don't really get ranking until 9ish. So, you get to DTD, park your car, and then trek to the bus stops. There's 20 mins. Wait another (possibly) 10-25 mins for a resort bus to arrive. Then a ride to the resort (15-25 mins). Then, depending on the park you want to go to and the resort you're at, you may be able to walk to the park or take a boat, bus, or monorail. If you chose a particular resort, lets say the CR,to get to a particular park, lets say MK, you may find yourself waiting longer for that particular resort bus to get to the DTD stop.

Those that use DTD to park and get to a park, are spending a lot of time doing so. And those that are doing it to save on parking are throwing away park time!

 

[tmcm611]

Thank you everyone. I will scratch that idea.