Using busess while staying at Buena Vista Palace

[TOBS2010]

The DH and I are going to be staying at the Buena Vista Palace next week while we are there. We planned on using the buses to and from the parks. I have been to Disney several times growing up, so am familar with some of the other transportation systems like boats and monorails. Any tips on how to get from our hotel to other hotels and the parks? This will be my first time in WDW not having a rental car.

 

[pattyw]

You are right across from DTD Marketplace. You could walk there and get a bus to any Disney resort. You can't get to a park, but your hotel has its own shuttles that go to the parks.

 

[seashoreCM]

To get to a park, take a bus from Downtown Disney to any resort (or walk to Saratoga Springs) and change to a bus to the park (or walk from Contemporary to Magic Kingdom or walk from Boardwalk to Hollywood Studios or Epcot). If you miss your last resort shuttle you can take a Disney bus to any resort and change to a Downtown Disney bus. The latter I guess is safe if you get to the transfer point resort by 1AM (the last buses the other way leave DtD around 2 AM).

The DtD buses don't run early enough for you to make rope drop at the parks.

For Magic Kingdom your hotel shuttle drops you off in the parking lot area (Ticket & Transportation Center). To use Disney buses "home" you would have to take the monorail or ferry back to the MK side of the lagoon.

 

[TOBS2010]

Does anyone know how frequent the Disney Buses start running to and from DTD and the other Resort Hotels?

 

[goofy4tink]

Does anyone know how frequent the Disney Buses start running to and from DTD and the other Resort Hotels?

Not with any regularity until later in the morning. There really isn't any huge burning need to get to DTD much before 10am, since the shops don't open until right around then...maybe as early as 9:30.
You really are going to best served by taking the shuttle provided by your hotel to the TCC or other parking lot in order to get to your final destination..using Disney transportation.
There is no way to get from DTD to any park using Disney transportation. You have to go to a resort and then to a park from there....way too time consuming for me, and you can't be at park opening if you do that.

 

[mb187143]

maybe 10ish? I know its AM, not sure what time they start from the resorts to DTD and back - however I stayed at Buena Vista Palace in January 2009, and a PP mentioned walking to Saratoga Springs, which is what we did to get to the parks. We also took the buses to SSR at night and walked back to BVP. I don't know if that was something we were *supposed* to do, but it worked out for us.

 

[goofy4tink]

maybe 10ish? I know its AM, not sure what time they start from the resorts to DTD and back - however I stayed at Buena Vista Palace in January 2009, and a PP mentioned walking to Saratoga Springs, which is what we did to get to the parks. We also took the buses to SSR at night and walked back to BVP. I don't know if that was something we were *supposed* to do, but it worked out for us.

'Supposed to'??? Who knows. I'm sure Disney isn't crazy about that practice. Nor are the people that have paid to stay at SSR. Can you imagine what would happen if this became common practice??? For instance....a bunch of people staying in those non-Disney resorts in DTD decide they want a quicker way to the parks...so they all start hoofing it over to SSR. So, now, those who have paid to stay there have to 'fight' for seats with non-resort guests. And I use the word 'fight' in the nicest of ways.
Would this ever happen? Probably not. But, bus service right to the parks is a perk of staying at a WDW owned resort.

 

[TOBS2010]

Thanks, yes I would prefer to stay at a WDW Resort, but we are staying at BVP because I am attending a business conference for most of our stay there. I hope that BVP turns out to be a nice place as well.

 

[mb187143]

'Supposed to'??? Who knows. I'm sure Disney isn't crazy about that practice. Nor are the people that have paid to stay at SSR. Can you imagine what would happen if this became common practice??? For instance....a bunch of people staying in those non-Disney resorts in DTD decide they want a quicker way to the parks...so they all start hoofing it over to SSR. So, now, those who have paid to stay there have to 'fight' for seats with non-resort guests. And I use the word 'fight' in the nicest of ways.
Would this ever happen? Probably not. But, bus service right to the parks is a perk of staying at a WDW owned resort.

that's kind of why i said that - i mean i didn't even really give a passing thought then, but after staying at the POR this past month, my eyes have been opened to the downside of using the bus system. I also know i'm the type that would recognize that I'm not a guest of the SSR, and would gladly stand or wait for the next bus if I did use their bus to get back to BVP so that paying SSR guests could get on and get seats, but not everyone can/would feel that way or do the same. Definitely a valid point, and with experience comes wisdom

 

[LisaS]

I spend a lot of time on the DVC boards and many of the SSR owners are quite upset at the number of people who walk over to SSR to use the buses. SSR owners pay for that transportation as part of their dues so they do not appreciate it when those staying in the DTD hotels walk over and use their buses instead of their own hotel shuttles.

ETA: Removed the link to the OC Comptroller's website -- put it in the wrong post!

 

[mb187143]

I spend a lot of time on the DVC boards and many of the SSR owners are quite upset at the number of people who walk over to SSR to use the buses. SSR owners pay for that transportation as part of their dues so they do not appreciate it when those staying in the DTD hotels walk over and use their buses instead of their own hotel shuttles.

Here is the link in case the OP is interested: http://or.occompt.com/recorder/web/

Put the owners name in the "Grantee" box. Type in the last name and then the first name without a comma in between. For example for owner Donald Duck you would enter: duck donald

Like I said in my previous post, i never really thought about it too much. That particular trip was my first and only time staying offsite, and until you mentioned it, I had no idea that SSR owners paid transportation dues. Mostly due to my own ignorance about SSR in general (for example, I didn't know that it was only DVC, no non-DVC component). I think that issue runs a little deeper when it comes to the SSR owners and paying for transportation. That's a whole different rabbit hole that i'm not going down, but now that I AM aware, I definitely wouldn't use the SSR buses unless I was staying there.

LisaS, thank you for the heads up!

 

[seashoreCM]

I assume that the resort is within its right to require ID (such as room key) to board buses during certain hours it chooses.

 

[LisaS]

Like I said in my previous post, i never really thought about it too much. That particular trip was my first and only time staying offsite, and until you mentioned it, I had no idea that SSR owners paid transportation dues. Mostly due to my own ignorance about SSR in general (for example, I didn't know that it was only DVC, no non-DVC component). I think that issue runs a little deeper when it comes to the SSR owners and paying for transportation. That's a whole different rabbit hole that i'm not going down, but now that I AM aware, I definitely wouldn't use the SSR buses unless I was staying there.

LisaS, thank you for the heads up!

I don't own at SSR and haven't stayed there so I have no first hand knowledge but have seen several posts about it. I guess it can get to be a problem at times, particularly in the morning. Some SSR owners have complained to Disney but all that has happened so far is a sign at DTD instructing people to take a bus to POR and transfer to a park from there.

Sorry about the completely unrelated link to the Orange County Comptroller's website. That was meant for another post!

 

[LisaS]

I assume that the resort is within its right to require ID (such as room key) to board buses during certain hours it chooses.

Perhaps and maybe they will do that at some point. Since it wasn't costing Disney anything to run more buses to/from SSR for these extra passengers, they probably didn't feel compelled to do anything initially. Now that some of the SSR owners are protesting something may be done at some point.

 

[seashoreCM]

Someone was saying that as Downtown Disney bus service begins in the morning most of the runs out of DtD go to Port Orleans hence the "take bus to PO" signs at DtD.

Meanwhile the Port Orleans guests will be complaining about off site guests inundating their bus stops.

If the problem is combatted by running more buses then I would say the problem is solved.

 

[joelkfla]

Does anyone know how frequent the Disney Buses start running to and from DTD and the other Resort Hotels?

I don't know the exact time, but it's no later than 8:30 a.m. The thing is that buses don't run to all resorts until later, but they will be running to some nearby resorts.

If you're just trying to get to a park, it really doesn't matter which resort you go to; it just might take longer if the resort is out of the way. POFQ is suggested because buses run there pretty regularly in the a.m., it's fairly close to DTD, it's also close to Epcot, DHS, and MK, and perhaps because of the aforementioned SSR issue.

If you're trying to get to a park for an ADR, it's probably best to use the hotel shuttle. Just find out what the schedule is ahead of time, and allow time for transfer by monorail if it's the MK.

If it's an early breakfast, before the hotel shuttles are running, a taxi is best.

If you're going to a resort later in the day, and you want to walk to DTD for a Disney bus, remember that Disney buses out of the Marketplace will stop at PI and TL on the way to the resort, so it can take an hour or longer.

 

[goofy4tink]

I don't know the exact time, but it's no later than 8:30 a.m. The thing is that buses don't run to all resorts until later, but they will be running to some nearby resorts.

If you're just trying to get to a park, it really doesn't matter which resort you go to; it just might take longer if the resort is out of the way. POFQ is suggested because buses run there pretty regularly in the a.m., it's fairly close to DTD, it's also close to Epcot, DHS, and MK, and perhaps because of the aforementioned SSR issue.

If you're trying to get to a park for an ADR, it's probably best to use the hotel shuttle. Just find out what the schedule is ahead of time, and allow time for transfer by monorail if it's the MK.

If it's an early breakfast, before the hotel shuttles are running, a taxi is best.

If you're going to a resort later in the day, and you want to walk to DTD for a Disney bus, remember that Disney buses out of the Marketplace will stop at PI and TL on the way to the resort, so it can take an hour or longer.

Why would buses run from DTD to just 'some' resorts vs running to all of them that early in the morning? I can't for the life of me figure out why they would go to only a select few resorts....unless of course, Disney was encouraging offsite guests to use those buses to access the parks via those few resorts.

In all reality??? Disney doesn't much care what you do at DTD. No, they don't run buses directly to parks. But, they don't do anything to prevent offsite guests from boading the bus to the CR and then walking to MK, or busing to BC and walking or boating to either Epcot or DHS, or to AKL and busing to AK.
The guests at SSR feel the same way about non-resort guests using their buses to access parks as do the CR guests. Many people at DTD use the CR bus to access MK....and we have had many posts regarding it and the displeasure of CR guests who feel that the buses are then overcrowded. Are they??? I doubt it. There are going to be non-resort people on all the buses, it's just a fact of life. and that can happen anywhere, at any park..not just DTD. IF someone wants to walk all the way over from their DTD resort to get a bus to a WDW resort in order to access a park, have at it. Until Disney starts changing the rules, it won't make any difference.

 

[LisaS]

The guests at SSR feel the same way about non-resort guests using their buses to access parks as do the CR guests.

Just speculating here but maybe the problem is worse at SSR because it is within walking distance of DTD, making it a transportation hub for off-site guests. Want to go to Epcot? Walk to SSR and take the Epcot bus. AK? Walk to SSR and take the AK bus. No matter which park you want to go to there is a bus at SSR to take you there. Only those headed to MK would board the CR bus, only those going to Epcot or DHS would take the BC bus, etc. so that divides the traffic up a bit.

As I posted earlier I haven't stayed at SSR so I haven't seen this for myself. I'm just repeating what I have read on the DVC forums posted by SSR guests whose nearest bus stop was whichever one was getting overloaded with folks coming over from DTD.

Since Disney has posted signs recommending that people headed to a park from DTD take the POR bus, I assume (hope!) they are running enough buses on those routes to handle the additional passenger load of the DTD hotel guests. Or maybe they just put the signs up to try to placate SSR owners but did nothing else.

 

[seashoreCM]

I just happened to read on The DIS somewhere (more than 2 months ago) that most of the buses leaving Downtown Disney early in the morning went to Port Orleans. I have not observed it.

I can only guess that the intent was not to provide regular DtD-resort service that early and repositioning the buses for their next runs was optimum if resort-DtD buses went from DtD to POR/POFQ (and to just a few other resorts) next.

The general strategy being: long run full (resort to park AM) short run empty (park to resort AM) long run full short run empty, etc.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

In all reality??? Disney doesn't much care what you do at DTD. No, they don't run buses directly to parks. But, they don't do anything to prevent offsite guests from boading the bus to the CR and then walking to MK, or busing to BC and walking or boating to either Epcot or DHS, or to AKL and busing to AK. The guests at SSR feel the same way about non-resort guests using their buses to access parks as do the CR guests. Many people at DTD use the CR bus to access MK....and we have had many posts regarding it and the displeasure of CR guests who feel that the buses are then overcrowded. Are they??? I doubt it. There are going to be non-resort people on all the buses, it's just a fact of life. and that can happen anywhere, at any park..not just DTD. IF someone wants to walk all the way over from their DTD resort to get a bus to a WDW resort in order to access a park, have at it. Until Disney starts changing the rules, it won't make any difference.

During my recent stays at the Contemporary my family and I stopped taking the bus to Downtown Disney because we got tired of always waiting for it to arrive both going there and going back, so instead we took our car which is a lot faster. Plus their bus also shares with the Polynesian and sometimes the Grand Floridian, so there would be guests on who were staying at those resorts and you couldn't tell who was staying offsite and using it just to arrive at the Magic Kingdom.

Personally I found it to be more frustrating when a lot of the offsite guests would be getting on the Resort Monorail going to the Transportation & Ticket Center after having dinner at the Contemporary, because there have been a lot of times when it caused long line ups and meant waiting for two or three Resort Monorail's to arrive until we could get on. Now incase you or anyone else asks how did I know they were getting off at the TTC, I would always see a lot of guests who got off and started walking down the ramp. However I will say maybe some of them were also getting on the Epcot Monorail.