What is the WL transportation like?

[Kallison]

Always wanted to try staying here but the transportation issue has held us back. How slow is the boat, how often does it come? How are the busses to the other parks?

 

[44disney]

We stayed there in Feb. 1999. I don't remember the answers to your questions, but here is something that may be helpful to you.

One morning we were waiting for the 1st boat to the MK (I can't remember the exact time but it would have been before opening) and it was a bit foggy outside. After waiting for quite awhile, we were finally informed that the boats would not be running because of the fog. We ended up driving and got there as it was opening (which was a lot later than we planned to arrive). If we had needed to use the bus I know we would have gotten there even later. We were pretty annoyed that we weren't told earlier that the boat were not running.

So -- if it's foggy outside, don't wait for the boat. It may not come!

 

[Gabrielle]

I know that complaints about the boat transportation seem to be frequent but I didn't have any problem - I thought the boat was such a relaxing way to travel.

 

[rcraw45425]

We used the buses to the parks and the boats to both the resorts and to the MK. No problems, but the boat from CR back to WL seemed to take forever to get there.

 

[Dizzy for Dsny]

I've stayed at WL 3 times and I haven't had the problems people have discussed previously. Maybe its because I go in August. The only complaint I would have was in 2002 we went to Fort Wilderness after being picked up and it took a lot longer than previous trips where we picked up Poly and GF. It seemed to have changed by next trip in 2003. We occasionally had FW people on bus going back to resort, but we were the first stop, so it didn't make a big deal.

As far as how long you will wait - 5-10 minutes at very most!!! Average was probably 7-8 minutes. Downtown Disney busses seem to take the longest (10 minutes).

Re boats: I don't think we ever waited over 5-10 for a boat to MK.

Hope this helps! We are staying at CBR in early Dec, so I will have something to compare to when we return, but my DH and I love WL like crazy!!!!!!!!!

 

[BeamsofLight]

We've stayed at WL in late January and June, so a 'quite' and 'busy' time of year. We never really had to wait more than 10 minutes for a MK boat or a CR boat. I think the longest we ever waited was at the close of the MK, where we had to wait for the second boat. I'm sure that was a lot shorter wait than a lot of people waiting for buses, though!

I agree the DTD bus always seems to be the longest wait, probably because it's shared with GF (or it was when I was there last). As an option, we frequently took the TTC bus, walked over to the Poly and took their DTD bus. Sounds convoluted, but it worked for us.

Overall, I would say the WL transportation is no better or worse than any other Disney resort I've stayed at, and it has more options for transportation too (boat, bus, bus/monorail, foot to FW).

 

[KayakDaddy]

We stayed at the WL in July and we loved the boat transportation. My 4 yr. old DS viewed it as an attraction in and of itself. You have great views of both lakes and the surroundings and it gives you a unique perspective. Even the delays were interesting – like pausing to allow the ELP to come through the canal between the lagoon & the lake. Many of the boat captains & mates were friendly and offered helpful advise.

We didn’t have to wait longer than 5-10 minutes for any of the boats. Often, there was a boat waiting for us at the end of the dock –especially the MK boats since they are much larger. They are so big that we never had to wait for a second one – even at the end of the E-ride night. We caught the first boat after Wishes one night, but I imagine that if we hadn’t gotten there quickly, we would have had to wait for the next one.

We enjoyed taking the launches to the CR for breakfast and just to ride the Monorail around. The thing that I would say was frustrating was having to stop at FW. I didn’t mind going there, but there didn’t seem to be a consistent pattern of which one they went to first, etc.

The bus system seemed comparable to the other resorts we have stayed at. Don’t let the transportation issue hold you back, I consider it a plus. Even though we loved our stays at POFQ, CBR, AKL, we will stay at the WL again first, just because of the location & transportation advantages. I’m guessing the only resorts more transportation friendly would be the monorail resorts.

 

[DISLOVE]

We have stayed at the Wilderness Lodge twice (and are preparing for our next trip in Dec!). This is hands down my favorite resort!

We've never had a problem with the transportation. We enjoy the boat and often take the boat to the MK and take the monorail to Epcot. We only really use the buses for MGM and AK.

Have fun!

 

[Chicago262]

We stayed last year in May at WL and are going again in 2 weeks. We did not wait more than 5-10 minutes for a boat. It was the most delightful transportation. Our kids really enjoyed the boat rides. The only time we waited was coming back from MK after the fireworks. There was a huge crowd and we waited for approx. 45 minutes to get on a boat. We probably could have taken a bus back quicker.

We thought the transportation was so "hassle-free" from WL that we were going to stay at AKL this trip but thought our kids would miss the boat rides too much. It beats taking the busses all the time.

 

[Geoff_M]

I agree that, except for the DTD Bus, WL transportation is just fine.

 

[Kimberle]

We actually prefer the WL transportation over the CR's. Staying on the monorail is just so over-rated. I can't tell you how many stops we'd sit on the train 4-6 minutes (there is a countdown clock).....

The boat from WL to MK is just wonderful. It's so relaxing, especially on a hot day. If you have a stroller, you just roll it right on. This boat runs approx. every 20 minutes

The buses were great for us, too. We rarely waited more than 5-10 minutes coming or going.

We also enjoyed the convience of the small (blue) launch to go to Cr and FW. This boat runs abt every 15 minutes.

Oh, yeah, we stayed in Sept, SLOW season.

 

[DJ Disney Kid]

Just a quick note to add here, there is NO bus that runs from WL to Magic Kingdom. Your only way of getting there directly is by boat. I just got back this week and we didn't have any "waiting" issues with the boats for the most part. It was about 10 minutes at most. The only other time "waiting" was an issue was coming home from Magic Kingdom after the fireworks when the park closes. If you don't RUN to the boat dock, you will be waiting for quite some time. The other thing that really bothers people about the boat transportation is the amount of mosquitos that are on there at night. It is absolutely disgusting and your bound to swallow atleast one. Everyone is like sitting there swatting away mosquitos and slapping themselves trying to get them off them.

 

[SondraD11]

My last stay at the Wilderness Lodge was in May 2003 and I'll be returning in December 2004. I really enjoyed the boat ride to the Magic Kingdom. It was so relaxing and enjoyable. Night time rides were even more fun. It took a little mental adjustment getting used to the fact that the buses are usually shared with someone else depending on where you are going. I remember stops at the Grand Floridian and Fort Wilderness (not on the same trip). I finally stopped being irritated about it when I considered that the Port Orleans bus may stop 4-5 times to pick up passengers within the resort depending on where you board.

In addition to the boat to Magic Kingdom, I think another plus for the Wilderness Lodge is that the walk from the hotel to the bus stop is sheltered. If the weather is bad, you don't have a long walk back getting wet.

Sondra

 

[John Dobbertin]

I've commented before about the WL-MK boats. We love the WL & are timeshare owners there, spending about five-weeks a year at WL. We know the transportation service fairly well because we do not drive in FL & depend entirely on WDW transportation. WL boat service was cut back after 9/11 and never really restored. Boat service from MK to WL after "Wishes" can be terrible. We have also encountered "the fog" issue. We had exactly the same experience mentioned above. There was -0- communication about the fact the boats were not running. WDW did provide bus service from WL to MK -- but it took a while to have it up-and-running. We have complained several times to WDW about the boat transportation and only response we received: "Budget cuts." We still love the WL & will be there again in December and January, only wish the boat service to MK could be up to usual Disney standards.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Originally posted by Kallison
Always wanted to try staying here but the transportation issue has held us back. How slow is the boat, how often does it come? How are the busses to the other parks?

We were there just last month. Although it seems to move slowly to and from MK, it is much much better than having to park at TnT. It was about every 20 minutes, as was the boat to and from the Contemporary which we did a couple of times.

We've used the boats so many times from the Epcot Resort areas to MGM and it seemed similar, but without all of the stops.
Edited to add: We used to use the bus transportation but started driving ourselves. We found that we were able to be more flexible when we drive ourselves to places other than MK. So I cannot speak for the WL bus transportation.

 

[boswellnakia]

The ease and availability of WDW transportation was one of the greatest assets of WL. My one mistake was getting off the monorail at CR thinking that I could catch the boat to WL after wishes; I was wrong.