Transportation issues at Wilderness Lodge..

[Cindy B]

We just returned from a 8/23-8/30 stay at the WL.

Our family, two adults, two children are not strangers to public transportation, and WDW transportation also. We have the expectation to wait for the transportation, and not to expect immediate service.

However, there were some bus diffulculties.

During our stay, the bus transportation from WL to Downtown Disney was horrible. One day, we waited over 45 minutes, and 12 other busses stopped and no Downtown Disney bus ever came.

I know to expect to wait 20 minutes or even 30 for the DD bus, and we were still waiting after 45 minutes. Many bus drivers siad they would call dispatch and nothing happened.

Another bus issue was coming from Animal Kingdom back to Wilderness Lodge. This was Sunday afternoon, and we waited about 25 minutes for the bus, and it got full. Then the over full bus stopped at Blizzard Beach and it got jammed some more.

It was over an hour from waiting for the bus and then finally reaching Wilderness Lodge.

It was those two episodes which made us use our car going to MGM, Animal Kingdom and Downtown Disney.

The boat transportation to MK was fine, off all our boat rides (maybe 4 of them!), only one stopped at Fort Wilderness.

We waited maybe five minutes for a bus from Epcot to WL.

All in all, it was a beautiful resort, but I am grateful that we had our car with us. If we had to rely on the transportation there, we would have been waiting much longer.

 

[Sanchez]

We love the WL, however the transportation issues need to be resolved. Every bus from the WL is shared with another resort - usually FW of GF. Even if you do not wait long for a bus the ride can be long. We found that if you are heading to a park early the wait is not bad. However, if you are attempting to travel mid-morning or afternoon plan to wait as much as one hour and plan on a total time of 45 to 75 minutes to get to your destination. If going to DTD or a water park you may as well hitch hike.

Boat travel to MK was so-so and we did not have bus problems with EPCOT. If heading anywhere else you are better off driving (if possible).

It is difficult to believe that a deluxe resort has a transportation system that is surpassed by every other resort.

During our Jan/Feb stay a bus driver explained that WL, because of its proximity, is difficult to place on a regular loop and that it does not warrant its own loop. The drivers are on call-that is they go where called and are not traveling the same route time afer time. Thus, WL might not see a bus until enough of a crowd builds up to warrant one.

We are staing at WL again in November and plan to drive everywhere but MK and EP.

 

[bumcat]

Wow that's pretty bad. I wonder if it depends on when you stay there? We stayed last year the week before christmas (low crowds) and never waited more than 10 minutes for buses. We did have to wait longer for the boat to MK though.

 

[~Sparkly~Zoe]

It's pretty bad that the moderates and values have a better system than the deluxes do.

 

[crystalb]

Hi. We just returned too from a WL stay.
We had great transportation.
In all our WDW stays we have found transportation to and from DTD lacking all the way around. (Not just a WL issue, from our experiences.)
Disney certainly promotes DTD. But they don't make it enticing to get there.
I only go there when I feel it necessary and when I know we have plenty of time for traveling. Otherwise a taxi is the best bet.