The buses were a nightmare

[alyssa810]

The very first "extra" I budget for in any Disney trip is a rental car.

We're right there with you! We stayed at WL the first time we stayed on site, and we didn't get a car. It was the biggest mistake of the trip, and one we have not since repeated. The other thing to remember about having your own car is that you don't need to worry about getting a seat, getting rammed by a stroller, or being dropped off last.
Rental cars in the Orlando area can be really inexpensive too, if you know how to work the codes and coupons. The signage all over WDW is clear so people needn't worry about getting lost.

 

[Brian Noble]

waiting for the buses is good practice for the rest of the day

It needn't be. With a little sensible planning, you can avoid most attraction waits.

 

[sjs314]

I have never had a problem with how long a Disney bus took to get from point A to B, I am on vacation and actually enjoy looking out the windows as we travel around Disney property....in all my visits we have never used a car to go to the parks other than HDDR @ FW, one thing we love about Disney is not having to drive during our stay there, and I can remember only one time where the wait for a bus was terrrible it was on Memorial Day some years ago, after the fireworks @ MK, our own fault we should have known better. Last year the bus service at OKW was fantastic, never a wait , always had a seat.

As someone said a bad day for the buses can happen, nothing is perfect but if you allow sufficent travel time, just relax and enjoy the ride. Personally I find the scramble to grab a seat on the monorail can be most irritateing at busy times also.

 

[elsie7119]

*

 

[keishashadow]

The OP wasn't complaining about the wait time, the complaint was centered on the time it took to get anywhere once on the bus. It's funny to me that the deluxe resorts really have the worst bus transportation. Those resorts have one or two excellent forms of transportation (the monorail resorts and walking from CR; the Epcot resorts can walk or take a boat to DHS and Epcot) and then the busses from hell. We were at BWV the first week of April and with the stops at BC, YC, Swan, and Dolphin, it took a long time to get anywhere. The best bus service we've had has been at Pop.

jmho, when i did use the bus system didn't notice anything different between that of a value/moderate vs non-monorail deluxe, other than there were typically less people waiting in line & we'd usually get on the 1st bus that arrived vs having to wait for next one @ the values.

i do agree the BW bus route is challenging, even ME has had multiple stops when we've utilized it.

perhaps because folks r paying more @ the deluxe resorts they expect faster 'deluxe' service.

 

[keishashadow]

It needn't be. With a little sensible planning, you can avoid most attraction waits.

tell that to all those who complain about both the transportation & attraction lines

only line i complain about @ disney is the one for the women's bathroom, im always happy just to be @ WDW& have reasonable expectations that every minute of my trip isn't going to be over-the-top pixie dust infused.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I thouht Disney was going to have electronic signs at the bus stops. Tell us about how long until the bus is expected to arrive.

I also thought they were going to have that, however instead at the Contemporary bus station they had a Cast Member standing out there with a clip board marking down which buses came and at what time. Well I asked him when should the next Hollywood Studios bus arrive? He told me since the bus for the Animal Kingdom just drove off the next one arriving should be for Hollywood Studios, however it turned out to be another Animal Kingdom bus.

 

[Magicbus]

I thouht Disney was going to have electronic signs at the bus stops. Tell us about how long until the bus is expected to arrive. Guests who just missed a bus would know if they have enough time to go to the rest room or buy a bottle of water. They may re-think their plans, or consider a taxi, if the anticipated wait for a bus to DTD is going to be 30 minutes.

Never heard about the electronic system but it sounds like a good idea. I think the cost of putting in such a system might be the holdup. There are a ton of bus stops. Last time I tried to figure out how many, I was up to over a hundred.

 

[goofy4tink]

The OP wasn't complaining about the wait time, the complaint was centered on the time it took to get anywhere once on the bus. It's funny to me that the deluxe resorts really have the worst bus transportation. Those resorts have one or two excellent forms of transportation (the monorail resorts and walking from CR; the Epcot resorts can walk or take a boat to DHS and Epcot) and then the busses from hell. We were at BWV the first week of April and with the stops at BC, YC, Swan, and Dolphin, it took a long time to get anywhere. The best bus service we've had has been at Pop.

And that's the issue with the deluxes in a nutshell. As soon as you have alternative transportation to one or two other parks, the bus transportation to other areas starts to suffer. Happens at every single deluxe resort...I have stayed at most of them...I think the only one I have yet to stay at is GF..and the bus transportation pretty much is the pits. But..it's something I understand going in..so I realize it's going to take me longer to get to MK when I'm staying at BWV than it is when I stay at POP.

I hear you all when you talk about the wonderful bus system at the moderates. But....when you add all that stopping, at multiple bus stops within the resort, it still takes time. I know that our ride from POR to MK took just about as long as the ride did from BWV. Those mulitple stops add up. And I have to tell you....if you got on at the last stop at POR, about 30 mins before park opening, you stood on that bus. That was my experience the majority of the times I was there.


All in all....no bus service is going to be perfect. POP is about as close as you are going to get. But...there are a ton of people going to and from that resort. The lines can get long at park opening and park closing.
As long as you realize what you are getting into, you should be okay with the buses. But...if you aren't going to like waiting for the bus to come, then possibly having to stand on the bus and/of having to make multiple stops along the way...then, perhaps a rental car is going to suit your family much better.

 

[eliza61]

What do people consider a "long" time. Doesn't Disney recommend alotting an hour to get to your destination?

 

[twinklebug]

Just a note - when staying at WL as honeydiane1953 (the OP) mentioned, we'll almost always take the boat over to the MK and switch to the monorail bit in lieu of taking the buses to EPCOT. There's the entertainment factor in going that way even if it saves no time (or adds some.)

From VWL to...

MK = Boat
EPCOT = Boat/monorail:TTC/monorail
HS = Bus
AK = 4 wheel drive Safari vehicle (bus with a bit of imagination added)​

 

[SuzanneSLO]

Never heard about the electronic system but it sounds like a good idea. I think the cost of putting in such a system might be the holdup. There are a ton of bus stops. Last time I tried to figure out how many, I was up to over a hundred.

They actually have this system in our home town and it seems to be pretty user freindly with electronic signs at the major bus stop. I recently read that SF has a system that allows you to follow the buses on a GPS system on your mobile device.

For the major theme parks, we actually like the bus. My husband is very friendly and likes talking with the other guests. We never worry about getting a seat and always try to give our up our seats to familes with small children, so we are able to avoid that stress. We stay at BWV and will get off at the Swan and walk back sometimes.

Going to DTD and the water parks on the bus, on the other hand, is something I am happy to avoid. Although we have always gotten a rental car in the past to go grocery shopping and to go to DTD and the water parks, we are thinking of just using a shoping service and taxi next trip to save a little money. -- Suzanne

 

[Huff]

If you want to ride buses that make no other stops, then stay at POP...that's about the only resort that has no other stops along the way..

I keep hearing that but every time I've stayed at POP the buses are hit or miss if they stop elsewhere or not. POP to AK sometimes stops at BB. We've also stopped occasionally at other resorts on the way back to POP. This is especially the case when we've gone from AKL to POP after AK closes.

 

[disneygrandma]

We just returned on 4/16, & had stayed at the WL. We thought the bus service, with a couple of exceptions, was wonderful! Most times when we left the resort, our bus was at the bus stop.....no waiting. When we left the MK, same story. We did wait a little bit at the other parks, but not very long. Our longest wait was going from AK to EP. We saw multiple buses show up for the same location, before the EP one showed up.

When going back & forth from WL to MK, there were no other stops. If we went to any of the other parks, we had a stop at the GF. On 1 occasion, we also stopped at FW. It really wasn't that bad.

However, some of the bus rides were far from being smooth. Not sure if that was the fault of the driver, or the bus itself. It seemed like every bus was structured a little bit different.

I'm hoping that our experience at WL is pretty normal, because I would gladly do it again. Also, I would much rather stand in a short line for a WL bus, and then make 1 add'l stop, rather than stand in a long line at POP & make no other stops.

 

[goofy4tink]

Just a note - when staying at WL as honeydiane1953 (the OP) mentioned, we'll almost always take the boat over to the MK and switch to the monorail bit in lieu of taking the buses to EPCOT. There's the entertainment factor in going that way even if it saves no time (or adds some.)

From VWL to...

MK = Boat
EPCOT = Boat/monorail:TTC/monorail
HS = Bus
AK = 4 wheel drive Safari vehicle (bus with a bit of imagination added)​

I do like the way you think!!!

I keep hearing that but every time I've stayed at POP the buses are hit or miss if they stop elsewhere or not. POP to AK sometimes stops at BB. We've also stopped occasionally at other resorts on the way back to POP. This is especially the case when we've gone from AKL to POP after AK closes.

I will admit that the buses to AK do tend to stop at BB along the way...if I remember correctly. But, that is the only stop we have ever made when I was staying at POP..and that's been probably about 8 times now. I'm sure that there are occasional deviations from the normal route but they just don't happen often enough to say that 'POP shares a route with xyz'.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Well, yeah. This is the established, official route from any resort when Blizzard Beach is open; when Typhoon Lagoon is open, the resort buses assigned to Downtown Disney also stop at TL. There are no dedicated water park-only buses.

But what "stay at POP...that's about the only resort that has no other stops along the way" means is the buses stop only once inside the resort and don't stop at any other resort; with the exception of Pop--> BB--> AK, buses from Pop Century to parks go directly to parks; they do not pass go, they do not collect $200...

As for stopping at other resorts on the way back to Pop from AKL after AK is closed for the day, well, this routing is very generous on the part of your bus drivers. As a rule, with a couple of specific exceptions*, buses don't travel between resorts like this. Ordinarily, Guests going from AKL to Pop Century or another resort would be expected to take a bus to an open park or Downtown Disney, and switch to a Pop-bound bus from there.

*Three I can think of:
Buses shared by resorts, i.e. the MK-area resorts, the Epcot-area resorts, POR, All-Stars...
Hoop-De-Doo-Revue provides shared buses for Guests after the 7:15 and 9:30 shows
MAY be shared buses at the Boardwalk late at night

 

[joelkfla]

I keep hearing that but every time I've stayed at POP the buses are hit or miss if they stop elsewhere or not. POP to AK sometimes stops at BB. We've also stopped occasionally at other resorts on the way back to POP. This is especially the case when we've gone from AKL to POP after AK closes.

Actually, as others have said, all buses out of DAK to a resort (except All-Stars and AKL) stop at BB from BB opening until it clears. Buses to DAK stop at BB from one hour before opening until about 1 p.m., and later if the driver knows there are guests going to BB.

After a theme park closes, regular resort bus service runs until the park is almost empty. When there are no longer enough guests leaving to justify full service, then resorts will be combined on a single bus. That way we can guarantee that every guest leaving the park, no matter how late, will get a ride home.

 

[Magicbus]

You are absolutely right. In most cases it's the bus. Some of the newer buses have a system that slows the bus down in herky jerky fashion when the driver takes their foot off the gas. It's annoying and it takes a certain amount of effort to overcome. The older buses actually give the best ride when it comes to slowing down. It's more like your car. You have complete control on the smoothness of the stop. I wish they would get rid of that braking system on the new buses.

 

[Huff]

As a rule, with a couple of specific exceptions*, buses don't travel between resorts like this. Ordinarily, Guests going from AKL to Pop Century or another resort would be expected to take a bus to an open park or Downtown Disney, and switch to a Pop-bound bus from there.

Generally this is true. However, on all three trips we've had a late dinner at Boma. Every time when we've left at around 9 or 10pm our bus stopped at other resorts on the way to POP. One time the bus driver did state that it was his last route of the day and thats why he took on passengers going to other resorts. He said that he always does this nightly if there are people waiting and the bus is near empty. Since it happened 3 times over 3 years I can only assume its somewhat of an unofficial occurance.

Two out of three trips on DME we've stopped at another resort before POP. I assume it has to do with the number of people needing to go to various resorts at a given time.

Nonetheless I love POP and found the buses to be better than going to other resorts. We've only had to wait long once and that was following MNSSHP. That wait was LONG, about 45 minutes until they started doubling and tripling buses to POP. All other waits were no more than 15 minutes and usually less.

 

[KY*Figment]

Our worst experiences w/ busses was on Pop but it didn't make our trip bad. It's all in how you deal w/ it.