Transportation comparison between WL and BC

[jamnich314]

I would love both good and bad stories of transportation from the two resorts.

With the BC, EPCOT is walk-able and HS is either walk-able or short boat ride so those aren't any concern. I want to hear about the bus service to MK though. I have heard both good (15 minutes) and bad (50 minutes) stories of bus service to MK from BC.

With WL, MK is a boat ride away. My concern here is the other resorts. EPCOT can be a bus ride (or for the adventurous a boat ride to CR, monorail to TTC and monorail to EPCOT). HS is also a bus ride away. I want to know how long the service is to EPCOT and/or HS, what the wait times for a bus to arrive are usually like, and does it share buses with other resorts?

Having only stayed at value resorts in the past, I have no problem with a 15-20 minute bus ride to a park. I just want to make sure the bus service from WL to EPCOT and/or HS is that same timetable or less.

I LOVE the theming of WL and it's proximity to MK which we tend to spend the most time at, but I also love the proximity of BC to EPCOT (our second most frequented park) and it's AMAZING pool .

Essentially, I would choose WL over BC if I knew that the bus service to EPCOT and HS is a normal 15-20 minute journey with shorter waits between buses.

 

[spiceycat]

for epcot WL did share with FW and it was 10 to 15 minutes.
now that it might be sharing with GF or Polyn - would expect it to take longer.

never did the HS while at WL/VWL.

for BC the buses shares only with YC in the morning to the MK - if you go doing a non-busy time - generally late morning to early afternoon - sometimes longer. then it shares with all the epcot resorts. D&S, BC/YC, and BW - this can take some time. coming back get off at the first stop and walk to your resort - if you can. (this gets to be hardier the older I get)

 

[Raenstoirm]

These are our two favorites! The last two times we stayed at WL were Sept and December of last year (2011) and BC was last month. WL has the best themeing, but personally I hate the transportation. The boat to Mk is annoying and you are standing in the hot sun waiting for it. We did discover a few years ago that there is also a MK bus that runs very reliably. The buses to the other parks do make a stop or two before arriving at the park, so the wait is a bit longer, but not too bad. As for BC, last month the MK buses seemed to never arrive, but when they did it was a fast ride to the park. The AK bus was pretty standard. The boat to DHS was great (especially if you have a stoller- no folding) and walking to epcot was awesome. One issue for us in the international gateway though is there is no "bag free" entrance, so we had to stand in the bag check line even without bags.

As I said, these are our two favorites. You wont be disappointed in either!

 

[Sue M]

We loved the boat to MK from WL For the other parks, WL sometimes shares with GF or FW, I can't keep track of which route and resort sharing lol. Never had long waits. Stayed there 3x.

BC also had good transportation with walk to Epcot, and walk or boat to DHS.
When we used the bus to MK, we shared with YC. And YC is picked up first, so we left directly to MK after pick up.

I know there are horror stories about transportation at ALL resorts, but IMO, 99% of the time it runs well. I wouldn't pick a resort based on transportation horror stories. Pick the one you want to stay at.

 

[padawans]

The deluxe resorts always share busses and it stinks. That's why I like Poly and BC. You have the option of walking, monorailing or boating to the parks. I would choose BC. It also has a much better pool and a multitude of dining options. The pool at Wl is pretty lame.

 

[Kimberle]

I have stayed at both. I find the transportation better at WL. It's a smaller resort, so the buses aren't as crowded as BC. You have the boat to MK and buses everywhere else. Like all deluxe resorts, you will share buses. We have always shared with either GF or FW.

During our BC stay, we shared with 4 other resorts. BC/YC/BWI/Swn/Dol. I do love the BC. I would not base my decision soley on transportion.

 

[madalex]

I know there are horror stories about transportation at ALL resorts, but IMO, 99% of the time it runs well. I wouldn't pick a resort based on transportation horror stories. Pick the one you want to stay at.

+1000. I cannot agree with this more.

The Disney transportation system works well overall, but that doesn't mean that there won't occasionally be long waits and crowded buses. Issues with transportation are such a small part of the overall WDW experience that I would not put too much emphasis on that when deciding where to stay.

 

[deej696]

+1000. I cannot agree with this more.

The Disney transportation system works well overall, but that doesn't mean that there won't occasionally be long waits and crowded buses. Issues with transportation are such a small part of the overall WDW experience that I would not put too much emphasis on that when deciding where to stay.

Agreed....

That said, if transportation is important, then I would probably go with BC. You're knocking out two of the four parks on foot, which is faster than any form of Disney transport. We just stayed at WL and the boat was just as big of a pain as the busses, but I'm used to spending most of my time in Epcot and staying at BC or BW....

 

[MissionMouse]

Agreed....

That said, if transportation is important, then I would probably go with BC. You're knocking out two of the four parks on foot, which is faster than any form of Disney transport. We just stayed at WL and the boat was just as big of a pain as the busses, but I'm used to spending most of my time in Epcot and staying at BC or BW....

We have stayed at both resorts and agree with deej696.

I personally would not let transportation be one of the top reasons to select a deluxe resort, since there are stronger reasons to select a resort: theme, location, price/discount, restaurants, park plans. I am not even sure transportation ever played a park, as location is one of the key items of a deluxe resort that are normally right next to a part with foot/water transportation options.

 

[jamnich314]

We have stayed at both resorts and agree with deej696.

I personally would not let transportation be one of the top reasons to select a deluxe resort, since there are stronger reasons to select a resort: theme, location, price/discount, restaurants, park plans. I am not even sure transportation ever played a park, as location is one of the key items of a deluxe resort that are normally right next to a part with foot/water transportation options.

And I agree that transportation should not play a huge roll. But a HUGE perk for BC is that you can walk to two parks, which like deej696 said, is going to be better than any Disney transportation.

I've never had a problem taking the Disney buses as that is what I am used to. But, if I am going to pay the big bucks for a Deluxe, I would hope that I wouldn't have to take the bus as much. We like WL and BC because of the theme of each, the relatively low price of WL as a deluxe (especially with a 25% code) and the incredible pool at BC. Transportation isn't that big of a concern, I have just heard some bad things about bus service to various parks from those two resorts.

As far as transportation is concerned I think Poly is the absolute best because you can take the monorail to both MK and EPCOT (after a short walk to the TTC, which could also get you to the other parks via bus) and those two parks comprise about 75% of our park time. We also think the Poly is the most beautiful resort... until we see the prices . Some day... some day