Using Buses at WDW

[Ajbro44]

T minus 20 days for my family's first trip to WDW!!! DW, DS, DD and I are very excited.

I've mainly been lurking and this is my first post so be nice.
My question has to do with the buses to and from resorts and the parks. We are staying at CBR and plan on using the buses to go to the parks daily. I understand you can expect to wait up 20 min for a bus. When that bus comes and it says it's going to AK do we have to wait another 20 min to catch one going to MK?

When leaving MK to go back to the resort would we look for a specific bus to CBR?

Will there be specific buses designated to go from one park to another or a loop going from park to park?

Finally, do the buses run more frequently near closing time to take us back to the resorts?

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[Jestocost]

T minus 20 days for my family's first trip to WDW!!! DW, DS, DD and I are very excited.

I've mainly been lurking and this is my first post so be nice.
My question has to do with the buses to and from resorts and the parks. We are staying at CBR and plan on using the buses to go to the parks daily. I understand you can expect to wait up 20 min for a bus. When that bus comes and it says it's going to AK do we have to wait another 20 min to catch one going to MK?

When leaving MK to go back to the resort would we look for a specific bus to CBR?

Will there be specific buses designated to go from one park to another or a loop going from park to park?

Finally, do the buses run more frequently near closing time to take us back to the resorts?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Welcome to the Transportation Board!

Buses from CBR to each park will run about every 20 minutes at least, so if you just miss a bus to MK you might have to wait up to 20 minutes for the next MK bus.

There will be a marked bus pick-up area for CBR at the MK and at all of the other parks, so you will go to that location to pick up your bus back to the resort. There will be a sign as you walk from the park to the bus depot telling you what location to go to.

Buses connect MK to AK and DHS, AK to all other parks, and DHS to Epcot (main gate). To get from the MK to Epcot you need to take the monorail to the TTC and switch to the Epcot monorail (reverse going Epcot to MK). Extra options for going between DHS and Epcot (International Gateway) are boat service (with stops at S/D, YC/BC and BWI).

Buses will run more frequently back to the resorts at park closing and, in general, more frequently at peak times.

 

[bumbershoot]

I understand you can expect to wait up 20 min for a bus. When that bus comes and it says it's going to AK do we have to wait another 20 min to catch one going to MK?

This has been close to our experience, yes. They say A bus every 20 minutes, they don't say YOUR bus. (we rent cars and drive to parks)

When leaving MK to go back to the resort would we look for a specific bus to CBR?

Yes. There will be a board with info on where to find your CBR bus, and you just go there, get in line (yay another line!) and wait.

 

[FofMM]

When we rely on any Disney Transportation, we always allow extra time especially if we need to be to a reservation. It is nice to let someone else drive and the time spent waiting or between destinations allows for reviewing the fun just had or about to enjoy! Have a great time!

 

[AngiTN]

T minus 20 days for my family's first trip to WDW!!! DW, DS, DD and I are very excited.

I've mainly been lurking and this is my first post so be nice.
My question has to do with the buses to and from resorts and the parks. We are staying at CBR and plan on using the buses to go to the parks daily. I understand you can expect to wait up 20 min for a bus. When that bus comes and it says it's going to AK do we have to wait another 20 min to catch one going to MK?

Our experience has been that a bus to some destination is coming to the bus stops every few minutes. More often in the mornings and evenings than middle of the day.
But I have never waited 20 min between buses
So you could walk up as a bus to MK pulls off. In the next 20 min while you wait on another MK bus you should see buses come and go to all the other parks.
Now, they are rather random and unpredictable so it's impossible to predict what you'll experience.
In the mornings I've often seen back to back buses too.
Mid day it's really a whole different animal since fewer people are moving around.

 

[seashoreCM]

It is planned to have a Magic Kingdom bus every 20 minutes, an Epcot bus every 20 minutes, etc. except during very slack times. There should be more buses during busy times.

Very slack times include going back to your resort early or mid morning. You should find and check with a supervisor at the park bus station to find out when the next bus back will be coming, and then go to the appropriate platform.

As in any big city, there are delays that can result in two buses for the same destination coming in quick succession then none for what seems like a long time, etc.

 

[Lori74]

all of the transportation seems to be easy to understand, there are signs everywhere directing you. as far as timing, its hit or miss. but we have had good experiences using the buses, we know it's not quick, so we don't stress. it's also fun to see how excited kids are, or to see what a great day they had. and the drivers are terrific, making a big deal over princesses, and pirates! allow yourself plenty of time to get places, and it should all be good. have a great time!!!!!

 

[DOOM1001]

T minus 20 days for my family's first trip to WDW!!! DW, DS, DD and I are very excited.

I've mainly been lurking and this is my first post so be nice.
My question has to do with the buses to and from resorts and the parks. We are staying at CBR and plan on using the buses to go to the parks daily. I understand you can expect to wait up 20 min for a bus. When that bus comes and it says it's going to AK do we have to wait another 20 min to catch one going to MK?

When leaving MK to go back to the resort would we look for a specific bus to CBR?

Will there be specific buses designated to go from one park to another or a loop going from park to park?

Finally, do the buses run more frequently near closing time to take us back to the resorts?

Thanks in advance for the help.

There's continuous buses coming all the time for all the destinations that the bus stop you're at reaches,for example from CBR you'll have DTD buses,waterpark,AK,MK,DHS and Epcot buses,the 20 minutes is an estimate meaning that buses to a specific park should come at least every 20 minutes or so.I've been taking the buses for years and have had all kinds of situations happen,for example you could be waiting for a bus to Epcot and 4 buses will come and 3 of them are going to MK and one to DHS,some times you may get a bus just as it's arriving and other times I've had to wait 25-30 minutes.From the parks if you're hopping to another park or to go back to your resort you will go to the bus stop area which will have a directory saying what bus stop gate to go to for your bus,for example from MK it may say to go to gate #5 to get a bus to CBR and it may say to go to gate #13 to go to AK,the same with all the parks,the only exceptions are that between MK and Epcot you have to take the Epcot monorail from the TTC and then another monorail or the ferry between the TTC and MK.Between Epcot and DHS there's a few options as well,a bus from DHS to the front gate of Epcot and vice versa,a boat between DHS and the back International gateway entrance of Epcot or you could walk this same stretch which has the Boardwalk area in between,about a 20-30 minute walk depending on speed.At the end of the day after fireworks for example there will be plenty of buses but unfortunately there will be a lot more people even for the continuous buses which will mean you will likely have your longest wait for the buses at this time,it's just the way it is when there's 30,000-50,000 people all exiting at the same time.

 

[buzznina]

When that bus comes and it says it's going to AK do we have to wait another 20 min to catch one going to MK?

Not sure why a PP mentioned that this was true? Its not. It's up to 20 minutes from the last MK bus, not just any park bus. There can be times where multiple buses show up for different parks at the same time. We always drive to WDW and rarely use our car once we are there, we rather use WDW transportation. TIP; Try not to leave a park right after fireworks, that is when the transportation lines really back up. We will either do some more rides or find a nice place to sit and have a snack. It's amazing how big of a difference is just waiting another 45 minutes before heading out.

 

[goofy4tink]

You will be surprised by how easy transportation is to figure out...once you get there. At CBR there will be multiple bus stops within the resort. The buses are supposed to run every 15-20 mins or so...more frequently at park opening and closing. That's for each park. I've seen buses to each park stacked up, waiting to get in when it's close to park opening!! They are usually quickly followed by more buses to the same parks. So no...it's not 20 mins between each bus!
When you are done at the park, it's very easy to find your bus stop. There are Transportation boards as you get to the bus stop area, at each park. It will give you the stop number for your resort. Do NOT think that you can just go back to the stop you were dropped at!!! Your bus, from the CBR in the morning, may drop you at stop 10 at DHS, but that isn't necessarily the right stop to get back to CBR. It could be the resort stop for POP!!! So, your bus driver may tell you that this is the correct stop to get back or he may tell you that your stop number is xyz! Trust the board listings..they are correct.

Then, park to park buses? At MK you can get buses to DHS and AK. You would take the monorail to Epcot (this means monorail or ferry to the Ticket and Transportation Center, then getting the Epcot monorail line). At DHS, you can get a bus to MK, Epcot, and AK. You can also get a boat between DHS and the back door of Epcot (the International Gateway) and you can walk between them. At Epcot...monorail to MK, bus to DHS and AK. At AK...buses to all three other parks. If for some reason the monorail has an issue, they will put buses into service.

 

[karly05]

As the PPs have said, buses are super easy. I've always seen plenty of buses during busy times (beginning and end of day) and as others have noted, sometimes multiple buses to the same place pulling up one behind another. They will be fewer during hours when fewer people are traveling, but just plan on allowing enough time if you have to wait. The 20 minutes is an estimated max wait, and I've almost never had to wait that long for a bus to anywhere.

In six trips (I know, not many compared to a lot of folks) - but six trips using only Disney transportation, I can count on one hand the number of times I've had what felt like a long wait for a bus. At least half of those involved going to or coming from DTD, which I think is a mess and a pain and a total waste of good park time - but that's just me.

I remember having a very long wait at BC in 1999 for a bus to AK, but we were going over there mid-afternoon when the park was closing at 5 and we ended up (sis & i) being the only people on the bus.

2014, we had an incident one morning at POFQ where a bus to EPCOT was sitting at the first bus stop/shelter, not going anywhere, and for whatever reason (rule), the MK and DHS buses were not allowed to go around it and pick us up at the second bus shelter. No one seemed to know what was going on or when it would be resolved. Someone else in line decided to walk to POR to catch a bus there, and I was part of the group that went along. (The MK bus may have been able to pick up before we ever got to POR, but at least we were moving and felt like we were doing something.)

Seriously, apart from those instances, I've always had good luck with the buses and don't have an issue with them. FWIW, though, I think you (the collective you) need to ask yourself this question: You walk up to a WDW bus stop. Ten minutes later, your bus comes. What is your reaction? A) "Hey, it only took ten minutes." or B) "I can't believe it took ten whole minutes!" I'm an "A," don't mind waiting, and as I've said, I've been pretty lucky. A "B" would probably be happier with their own car.

 

[loves to dive]

Karly05 you make a good point and I'm like you, I would be in the A category. The only time I've ever waited an excessive time for a bus is the dreaded DTD bus. The worst part about those is even after you have waited forever they then have to stop at the water parks and two or three other resorts, stop for the drivers to switch out, stop for dinner, stop to chat with their wives (those last three are obviously exaggerations on my part it just seems that way). I was waiting for a bus once at MK, just me standing there and not really paying attention to how long I had been waiting, I was reading my kindle on my phone and perfectly fine. One of the bus CMs came over and apologized for the wait and said they had called for a bus for me. I was like huh, why? Was I waiting long? Oh man you didn't have to call one just for me I'm good. I was the only one on the bus and really felt kind of guilty.