Resort bus, what happened

[wdw4rfam]

I think we won't be staying at CBR again. This morning we had yet another issue with the buses, this time for animal kingdom

I think it's everywhere. We had great buses in November at CBR. On the other hand, It took an hour to get to Disney springs from POLY 2 weeks ago, 45 minutes to AK. Our worst bus experience ever was our 2013 trip at POR. It just depends. I would never base where I stay on buses, because they are hit or miss EVERYWHERE.

 

[evilqueenmindy]

Blurg, last weekend at OKW the buses were AWFUL. I'm not prone to complain about Disney transportation, but we waited 20 min plus for every bus.
saturday afternoon we wanted to go to the pool (ANY bus would drop us at the front) and waited almost 20 min for *ANY* bus. And the bus screens were never right.

Lot of standing around at the parks and waiting to back as well. It seemed the buses were understaffed, at least for the few days we were there.

 

[O-so-good Disney Mama]

Just for future reference Disney recommends you budget 90 minutes to make it to an ADR using their transportation. If you were at your bus stop any time after 6:40 am you were late. That huge amount of time is the reason I budget for taxis to make it to early morning ADRs.

This was our 4th trip in 5 years and never has it taken us the suggested 90 minutes to get to an ADR, especially one that is in a park, one bus ride away.

 

[O-so-good Disney Mama]

We had horrible experience with buses at POR last week. Most times waited half hour or more. Screen for buses was never accurate or not on at all. Don't think bus issues was only at POR

We were there and can agree with this! There was never any times even posted for the Epcot or MK buses on the screens.

 

[maxiesmom]

This was our 4th trip in 5 years and never has it taken us the suggested 90 minutes to get to an ADR, especially one that is in a park, one bus ride away.

Nevertheless Disney does suggest allowing 90 minutes. Allow less at your own risk. Allowing less and then complaining it did take 90 minutes seems rather silly.

 

[mickey2minnie1]

We waited 40 minutes at the Poly for a posted 20. Wasn't happy for sure.

 

[maxiesmom]

We waited 40 minutes at the Poly for a posted 20. Wasn't happy for sure.

I think if those screens are off too much they will vanish.

 

[HopperFan]

I was there a couple weeks ago and appreciated the screens at ASSp and they seemed to match up with buses ............. but seeing many buses coming and going for everywhere but where I was going was frustrating.

Question: Never thought to look but is this also available as a TV Channel in the room. I could have saved us 30+ minutes in the scorching sun if I could see the time post what looked to be about 15 minutes before arrival. We could just leave the room as it posted and be fine.

 

[lampshadehead]

After a 10 night at Pop in late August, it seemed like most nights, the bus service was worse than its ever been in our 6 prior visits. Waited for 50 minutes, twice, at DS. The night of the Halloween Party, got in line at about 12:20am, got back to room at 2:10am (and we are fast walkers and had a preferred room). I felt worse for Riverside, their line was longer than Pop and the buses seemed even less frequent.

Edit to add:that I am usually a big defender of the bus transportation and never could understand renting a car. Well, now I understand. We had so much time taken up waiting for a bus and also it was very tiring standing waiting after a long day and then also standing on a crowded bus.

 

[amomma23]

I think the time of year and crowd level has a lot to do with it, too. We were regular September visitors for years and the busses seemed slow, no matter where we stayed. We didn't mind, just planned for it.

Our last (long) trip was December 21-29, 2015 at CBR. Bus service was amazing! We never, ever waited more than 5-10 minutes. We just got back from a quick weekend at POR for MNSSHP and again, we waited and waited.

 

[wilkeliza]

I think they have a bus driver shortage. That and security are the two positions I always seen as available for hire. This trip was the worst we've ever had. Several times the posted waits were 30 plus minutes for a bus. We ended up Ubering a lot and next time may just rent a car.

 

[maxiesmom]

Question: Never thought to look but is this also available as a TV Channel in the room. I could have saved us 30+ minutes in the scorching sun if I could see the time post what looked to be about 15 minutes before arrival. We could just leave the room as it posted and be fine.

Unless there was a huge queue and you didn't make it on that bus.

 

[HopperFan]

Unless there was a huge queue and you didn't make it on that bus.

That is true but I never head out during peak, too stressful for DS, so we rarely have been in a line that would even fill half a bus ... even with AS sharing.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Just got back from POR. There was an organizer at the bus stop every morning. Longest wait was 30 minutes for an AK bus.

 

[Liv4Dis]

We had horrible experience with buses at POR last week. Most times waited half hour or more. Screen for buses was never accurate or not on at all. Don't think bus issues was only at POR

We were at POR the last two weeks, and while I wouldn't use the word "horrible" to describe our bus experience I would definitely say we consistently waited longer for all buses when we were at the resort in the mornings to go to the parks than we have in the year's past. However I felt that the buses were pretty good on getting back to the resort - and of course there were many times we went to Disney Springs and then came back by boat which is awesome!!!

 

[adisneyaunt]

Perhaps all those that had the bus issues ..I hope would consider Speaking up while you are At the resort and/or follow up in writing post trip. I don't think Disney wants Unhappy people....you d be surprised by what effect repeated Complaints can do. I mean, sounds like some of you wont return to those troubling resorts. And rightly so.
The Only room we take at POR is preferred..its closest to main bus stop and that alone seems to alleviate some of the issues. And we have taken the bus from a park to POFQ and Walked to POR as well. Sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do. It seems those POFQ buses just came more frequently.
I think up to a 20-30 minute wait is the limit to timely travel from a resort to a park.
Asking people to allow 1.5 hours to get from point A to B is simply Too Long and imho unreasonable. We ve used a taxi ( which always seems to be about $20) and readily available everywhere. Or used our car, but very infrequently.
I actually Like the bus rides..people watching is great fun!
Sorry to hear all the bus travel woes! Hope ur trips were great despite that.

 

[Liv4Dis]

The Only room we take at POR is preferred..its closest to main bus stop and that alone seems to alleviate some of the issues.

Just wanted you to know that the bus system has changed at POR. All buses going to and coming from the four parks start at the West depot, North, East and the South depot is now the last stop. I guess choosing a preferred room is now for the purpose to be close to the main building.

 

[dkmulder]

I'm not one to complain about bussing, and I know problems can happen anywhere, but I do think CBR has the worst bussing by design. There are seven stops, and it takes just as long (even longer) to get through the stops within the resort as it does to get to the park. There were a few times we walked up to the food court before heading out to the parks, and busses that would be scheduled to arrive in three minutes would suddenly disappear from the monitor all together. The food court bus stop is the fifth stop, and that was never an issue at our usual stop, the second bus stop. I think the buses would fill up at the first four stops and leave before getting to the last three. Saturday night we got on a bus at MK at 10:40 and did not get off until 11:45. I have never let transportation dictate where I would stay, but this trip the long transportation times in the resort itself pushed me over that line, and I will not be staying at CBR again.

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

We have experienced this more and more as the years go by, we've stopped using the buses and now just hop into our car and it's so much better. We get there as soon as the lots open, so we don't have a far walk and then we are set with no wait after park closing

 

[Disneylover99]

I think the time of year and crowd level has a lot to do with it, too. We were regular September visitors for years and the busses seemed slow, no matter where we stayed. We didn't mind, just planned for it.

Our last (long) trip was December 21-29, 2015 at CBR. Bus service was amazing! We never, ever waited more than 5-10 minutes. We just got back from a quick weekend at POR for MNSSHP and again, we waited and waited.

Yep. The buses over Christmas seem plentiful no matter where you stay. Hope the trend continues this year.