VWL Transportation Concerns

[chevyAZ]

Just got back from SSR (Our Home Resort) and planning our next trip back. We reserved a studio at SSR for the 2nd and 3rd week in October, but were considering trying out VWL and switching our res at the 7 month mark. I've done a little research and have read many posts about the transportation at VWL and the fact that many of the buses are shared with other resorts adding to the time it takes to get places from there. When we stayed in SSR, we found the buses to be very good. I've checked the Bus Calculator at another website and it seems to echo the posts I've seen that it takes longer to get to the parks from VWL than SSR.

Has anyone stayed at both SSR and VWL? How does the transportation compare? Should I rent a car? Should I stay at SSR?
Thanks in Advance for your kind advice.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

We stayed at WL on our last trip and yes, there was a problem with the bus system there. We waited on a bus at least 20 minutes to go to Epcot. It then stopped at the TTC and GF before we went on to Epcot. The boats to MK are good if you time them right. Our problem was that we would get to the dock right after the boat left. WL is a great place to stay but you need to be on top of the transportation there.

 

[alldiz]

I have only stayed at WL...

however....

The place is so awesome the extra few minutes it takes
probably wont matter?

Boat To M.K....Fort Wilderness or Contemporary is fun.

If others who have stayed at both would only stay at
SSR again......I am even more excited to stay at SSR in the future.....
Happy Planning
Kerri

 

[Psychodisney]

We own at BCV-love the location and easy access to parks. We stayed at VWL and rented a car. Loved VWL and loved having a car. Thought boat service to MK was poor. As DVC members you get complementary valet service. We'll probably rent a car for every trip now! I'd say go for VWL and enjoy!

 

[hoffman32]

We stayed at WLV last year and took the boat to MK then monorail to Epcot. When we did ride the bus it took awhile but we loved the atmosphere and you can see the fireworks from MK from the resort.

 

[Granny]

Just got back from a week at VWL at a very crowded time of the year. All transportation was outstanding...buses and boats ran very smoothly and in a timely manner.

I wouldn't fret about it and certainly wouldn't rent a car. But then again, swinging by FW or GF to pick up additional guests is not a big deal for us. We made every ADR (we had one every night) with time to spare by getting to the bus stop 45-60 minutes before the ADR time. For AKL, I'd lean towards the hour in advance as it is just a long trip.

 

[eliza61]

We stayed at WLV's this past August and had no transportation issues whatsoever. I know a lot of folks post that the boat to MK is slow (it's not supposed to be a speed boat) but we enjoyed it and we never had to wait long for one to show up. I think the longest wait we had was actually for the bus to Blizzard beach water park but since we didn't have any adrs to worry about it wasn't a problem.

 

[lisareniff]

Is there a bus from WL/VWL to the MK (and not TTC) as well as the boat???

 

[BeccaG]

I've checked the Bus Calculator at another website and it seems to echo the posts I've seen that it takes longer to get to the parks from VWL than SSR.

Where did you find a bus calculator? I would love to check out that handy dandy tool!

 

[alldiz]

Is there a bus from WL/VWL to the MK (and not TTC) as well as the boat???

Yes there is a bus from WL/VWL to MK....
i have read it is much faster....

the bus was rerouted to ttc i think....thats over

i just like the boat ride....unless it's raining
peace
Kerri

 

[chevyAZ]

Where did you find a bus calculator? I would love to check out that handy dandy tool!

You can find it here http://www.ourlaughingplace.com/asp/twiz.asp?action=rts

 

[chevyAZ]

Thanks to everyone for the replies.
We're now considering a car to augment disney Transportation.

What parks / disney destinations would you suggest I use the car for as opposed to disney transportation if you had both available to you?

 

[alldiz]

The only time i would use a car if i had one......

is going from resort to resort...

have fun
Kerri

 

[Granny]

Thanks to everyone for the replies.
We're now considering a car to augment disney Transportation.

What parks / disney destinations would you suggest I use the car for as opposed to disney transportation if you had both available to you?

We have a car every trip because we drive to WDW. We only use it for:

- resort to resort trips if we are in a hurry

- trips to DTD

- trips off-site for dining or other Orlando attractions like Universal or Sea World.

- The only park we'd even consider driving to is Animal Kingdom and that's only because with the stops at Grand Floridian and Blizzard Beach during the summer it can take a long time to get there...as much as 45 minutes after we get on the bus! But we only drive there if we really need to get there more quickly such as an ADR. Otherwise, we are fine with Disney Transportation to almost everywhere.

 

[BeccaG]

You can find it here http://www.ourlaughingplace.com/asp/twiz.asp?action=rts

Thanks!!!

 

[ZekeKelso]

I just got back from a stay at VWL. No problem with bus transportation.

Very quick and easy bus direct to MK (enjoyed the leisurely ride back on the boats, but wanted to hurry up and get to the park).

No stops to/from MGM

One stop on the way to EPCOT to pick up folks at FW. No stops on the way home.

Note - does a stop at, say, FW really add that much more to the trip than the internal stops at SSR?

 

[mjfox]

There are only a few resorts that don't share buses. Some resorts share with 3-4 other resorts. This usually doesn't matter unless it is peak times of the year and then Disney adds more buses to handle the load.

 

[chevyAZ]

I just got back from a stay at VWL. No problem with bus transportation.

Very quick and easy bus direct to MK (enjoyed the leisurely ride back on the boats, but wanted to hurry up and get to the park).

No stops to/from MGM

One stop on the way to EPCOT to pick up folks at FW. No stops on the way home.

Note - does a stop at, say, FW really add that much more to the trip than the internal stops at SSR?

Good Point.

 

[sadler]

We stayed at WLV in July 2006. We had a rental car as this is our normal practice. We find it the rental car a better option for ADRs at the other resorts and for transport to some parks at some times. We have also found that using Emerald Club/Emerald Aisle at National is the fastest most stress-free way to get out of the airport.

Our specific transportation experience at WLV was very good. We used the bus to MK for EMH and it was about a five minute ride with little wait time. We took the boat back to WL and it stopped at FW but we did not mind because we were not in a rush. I believe that later in the day the boat goes directly from MK to WL. We took the bus to MGM in the late afternoon for dinner and Fantasmic. Bus stopped at FW and was a little slow but no complaints. Return trip to WL was non-stop. We used rental cars for EMH at Epcot, MGM and AK. In each case, we parked fairly close to entrance as we were there for EMH and found this preferable to Disney transportation. We also used the rental car for trips to DTD and dinner ADRs at Boardwalk using DVC valet parking rights at BW.

Our home resort is BWV (which we really like) but we also really like WLV and do not consider transportation there to be a negative factor at all.

 

[Jimbo]

Note - does a stop at, say, FW really add that much more to the trip than the internal stops at SSR?

Yes, it definitely does. I think the jaunt to FW probably adds 10 minutes to the trip. The boat's pretty slow, and FW isn't on the way. An internal stop at SSR wouldn't add more than 30-60 seconds. I was there last week, and that was my experience anyway.

As to when to use the car... We didn't have a car last October at OKW. The only times that we missed it was when we went to AKL, because it's a long trip with a stop at Blizzard Beach. But that wasn't a big deal.

A bigger deal was getting to Typhoon Lagoon. We spent one full day at TL, but the bus to TL stops first at DTD, then PI, and it just seemed like an endless trip. If we'd had a car, we'd have gone there a couple more times for an hour or two.