Yacht Club, bus system, so give it to me straight

[GaRedHead]

So just how bad is the bus system at the Yacht Club? We will be there 8/19-8/25. We will use the buses for Magic Kingdom, Typhoon Lagoon and Downtown Disney I'm sure. Will walk to Epcot. I think I have heard horror stories about trying to return from Downtown Disney on them to the Epcot area resorts? Give me all the tips and truths!!

 

[thisismyusername]

We never went to DTD by bus, so I can't comment on that, but let's put it this way--we had a car, and never used it. No problems at all with buses.

 

[Wood Nymph]

So just how bad is the bus system at the Yacht Club? We will be there 8/19-8/25. We will use the buses for Magic Kingdom, Typhoon Lagoon and Downtown Disney I'm sure. Will walk to Epcot. I think I have heard horror stories about trying to return from Downtown Disney on them to the Epcot area resorts? Give me all the tips and truths!!

The last few years we stayed at BC, the bus usually only shared with YC. It picks up at YC, then to BC and then to MK. The return has YC being first, then BC. It is not a horrible bus at all. I don't know where the rumors come from. We stayed at WL last month and the bus from WL to Epcot is much worse than the bus from YC/BC to MK because the WL has to make a stop at FW. So the comparison gives the edge to YC.

Besides, you can always walk through Epcot to go to and from MK if you get a park hopper. We did it many times.

 

[disnut8]

So just how bad is the bus system at the Yacht Club? We will be there 8/19-8/25. We will use the buses for Magic Kingdom, Typhoon Lagoon and Downtown Disney I'm sure. Will walk to Epcot. I think I have heard horror stories about trying to return from Downtown Disney on them to the Epcot area resorts? Give me all the tips and truths!!

Just remember that if you are on a shared Epcot Resorts bus, you can always get off at the first stop (which would more than likely be the Swan) and just walk to the Yacht Club. Or wait until the Dolphin stop which would be closer. There's no law that says you have to wait until the Yacht Club.

 

[mickeynut1]

I don't know where the rumors come from.

They are not rumors, but actual experiences from guests like myself who have experienced horrible bus service from the BC. During our stay, the buses shared among all 5 resorts, with the buses being to full capacity the majority of the time with standing room only. Our stay was quite some time ago (2003), but I have read reports of others with recent stays (within the last year or two) that have experienced the same bus service we did.

OP - I think the buses are hit or miss at the Epcot resorts as people have reported many different experiences from the buses only sharing between the YC & BC to the buses going to all 5 resorts. I don't think there's any sure way of knowing what the transportation will be like until you are there. People have reported the buses sharing among all 5 resorts only during slow times, but our stay was at a pretty busy time and all 5 resorts were included in the transportation to the other parks. Good luck.

 

[Wood Nymph]

They are not rumors, but actual experiences from guests like myself who have experienced horrible bus service from the BC. During our stay, the buses shared among all 5 resorts, with the buses being to full capacity the majority of the time with standing room only. Our stay was quite some time ago (2003), but I have read reports of others with recent stays (within the last year or two) that have experienced the same bus service we did.

OP - I think the buses are hit or miss at the Epcot resorts as people have reported many different experiences from the buses only sharing between the YC & BC to the buses going to all 5 resorts. I don't think there's any sure way of knowing what the transportation will be like until you are there. People have reported the buses sharing among all 5 resorts only during slow times, but our stay was at a pretty busy time and all 5 resorts were included in the transportation to the other parks. Good luck.

I wonder if it isn't the opposite. Your experience with sharing among all five resorts was during a busy period. We have only gone during low crowd periods and our recent experience, meaning the last few years, has been sharing with YC only. Maybe the busy times do have worse bus service. I don't know.

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[MissionMouse]

So just how bad is the bus system at the Yacht Club? We will be there 8/19-8/25. We will use the buses for Magic Kingdom, Typhoon Lagoon and Downtown Disney I'm sure. Will walk to Epcot. I think I have heard horror stories about trying to return from Downtown Disney on them to the Epcot area resorts? Give me all the tips and truths!!

This is the X Factor in any vacation at the Epcot Resort area. The buses are shared and the resorts are large. People do play the bus station games from cutting lines or going to the other resort station that is an earlier stop, since buses can load to capacity before they arrive at you resort. The frequency of buses not always in synch with the volume of guest wanting service is real. The frequency is depending on the time of day. There is no Disney CM on site, so situation are depending on the bus driver to call in the over flow of guest waiting...another X factor.

I have observed this issues during Early Morning Entrance days. We also experienced a lack of service at parks around midday as you watch the other resorts have 2-4 buses arrive before one bus arrives for a Epcot Resort. Sometimes as you are waiting in the Summer heat if your resort bus was dispatched somewhere else without regard to guest waiting for service. It becomes real when you are waiting 20-40 minutes for a bus at a park bus station around 12-1pm to take you back to your resort. You pay more for a deluxe for an overall vacation experience and waiting for a bus just doesn't fit.

Overall the experiences of others, why interesting, are just that, interesting. Even my families experiences. We found that it takes one bad person or family or two to make or break a bus ride experience. If you arrive at a bus station when it arrives and you walk right on its a great experience. If you wait for a bus for 20-30 minutes and it arrives almost full and you don't get on and are left to wait for another bus, or others just arriving at the bus station just jut to the front and on the bus and then the bus is full with multiple families left behind; then it's not a great experience.

We always have a rental car when we go to Disney. We normally have experienced other local attractions prior to Disney. We took our rental car to Typhoon Lagoon and DTD. Its quick and easy. If the line is bad on an Early Morning Entrance day we will just grab a cab. It not worth the hassle and reflects on the resorts management. Getting back from a park at midday (in our cases AK) can sometimes entail a wait that can start to heat member of the family up along with the other families in line with you.

 

[roydavid7771]

My personal experience, I've never had a problem with the buses at YC/BC. The only issue I ever encountered was going to/from DTD, but that stinks for almost everybody.

 

[tsme]

We stayed at BC during the "low" season. The buses shared with YC, Dolphin, Swan, & sometimes BW. So it isn't fun, especially coming back from the parks, being tired & hot. But it's bearable. However, do not use the bus service for DTD. It is horrible!!! I can not stress this enough. Take a cab, especially coming back. We made that mistake & it was an ordeal. Not only did another resort bus have to call in for our resort bus (after we had been waiting around 45min), but after picking up the crowd that had gathered for the BC, etc bus, the bus went to the other side of DTD, stopped picked up more people on an already full bus & changed drivers (which takes a good bit of time) then the bus went to a water park before hitting every Epcot resort, with BC being the last stop. We will never make that mistake again. So unless you like wasting your vacation time waiting for buses & riding around, take a cab!!

 

[DisneyMomx7]

I think the DTD bus system is a horror for most resorts!

We've had the same experience with the DTD busses when we were staying at BC, YC, the Polynesian and the GF.

Best advice - TAKE A CAB!!!!

 

[Pakey]

I own at BCV and have had at least a dozen vacations at Epcot resorts. Park buses are not bad. DTD (and TL) will be terrible. It doesn't matter when you go ( in last 2 years I have done Jan, May, Oct, Dec) the DTD route sucks.

 

[goofy4tink]

I own at BWV, and that is where I primarily stay. But, I have stayed at the BC a couple of times, as well as at both the Swan and the Dophin. And many other resorts in WDW.
Is the bus system at the Epcot resorts nighmarish? Nope, they are not. Yes, all buses, to and from, DTD are nasty. And it doesn't matter where you are staying...it's the same everywhere. It's just not good. If I had a car, I would always drive to DTD.
So, how is the bus service to, say, MK from YC? Yes, you will share with BC in the mornings and in the evenings. Generally speaking? If it's busy, park opening/closing? Just YC/BC on a route. But when things slow down, you may see the S/D/BW added to the route. Those three resorts generally share a bus route.
Can you get on a bus at YC that has already stopped at three other resorts? Yep, sure can. But I have to tell you....in all my stays, at those resorts, I seldom took a bus in the morning, from any of those resorts, and had to stand. Park closing? Yep, have had to stand many nights. But, it's been no different at any other resort.

People say these are large resorts. They really aren't. They really have fewer guests than the moderates do. And those moderates have multiple bus stops within each resort. When I stayed at POR (on several occasions), if you didn't get on at the first or second stop, you found yourself standing more often than not. I know that people say that it's different..but it really isn't. 4 stops is 4 stops...whether it's all within one resort, or at 4 different resorts. It's 4 stops. When I'm on a bus, going from BW to MK, and we head to YC, no I'm not thrilled. But it does greatly remind me of the buses at POR. The drive time, from resort to resort in the Epcot area, is very similar to the drive time between bus stops within POR.


So, long story short...no, the bus system at the Epcot resorts is no better, no worse than other resorts. The best bus service in WDW??? Pop and AoA!!! One stop....that bus goes from the resort directly to the park..that's it. Really nice.

 

[disneydee6]

We've stayed at BC and I will say the bus service to MK and downtown disney is not the greatest. However, we keep this in mind and prepare for a 30+ ride. The convenience of travel to Epcot/dhs more than makes up for it (for us).

 

[thisismyusername]

I haven't experienced anything but bus service from an Epcot resort during peak season, so maybe my perception of "bad" bus service is just that I haven't had "good" bus service. I do know that I'm on vacation, I'm not in a rush, and I'm just grateful that Disney provides many forms of transportation from one park to another so that I don't need to take my car. After a long day in the park, I'm perfectly fine to sit (or stand) and relax in air conditioning while Disney does the work.

I will say that I think being able to walk into the back entrance of Epcot in a few minutes is absolutely magical and something that makes me want to never stay anywhere else on property. Additionally, the ability to walk or take a boat to HS, and walk to the front of Epcot to take the monorail also outweighs any negative experiences there may be with busing.

 

[OKW Lover]

Give it to you straight? OK here it is:
The busses at Yacht Club are no worse than the buses at any other resort.

That's right. You'll hear people saying they had a great bus experience at [blank] resort. You'll hear people saying they had a bad bus experience at [blank] resort. Both are correct --- for the time they visited. It really just depends on when you get to the bus stop and when the next bus comes.

 

[mickeynut1]

I wonder if it isn't the opposite. Your experience with sharing among all five resorts was during a busy period. We have only gone during low crowd periods and our recent experience, meaning the last few years, has been sharing with YC only. Maybe the busy times do have worse bus service. I don't know.

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It could be we just hit a bad time for transportation (although I have read reports of others that so many resorts shared and it being bad) and that's why my response to anyone asking about the buses at the Epcot resorts is that it can be hit or miss. I have read a lot of responses to other threads asking about YC/BC transportation and some responses seem to say that during slower times, the buses "could" share among all 5 resorts, but during busy times, it's only between YC & BC. So, IMO, there's really no telling how the buses will be until you get there as everyone has a different experience (i.e., our busy time was shared among all 5 resorts and not just shared between the two even though it was a busy time).

Is the bus system at the Epcot resorts nighmarish? Nope, they are not.

So, how is the bus service to, say, MK from YC? Yes, you will share with BC in the mornings and in the evenings. Generally speaking? If it's busy, park opening/closing? Just YC/BC on a route. But when things slow down, you may see the S/D/BW added to the route. Those three resorts generally share a bus route.

So, long story short...no, the bus system at the Epcot resorts is no better, no worse than other resorts.

This is entirely your opinion and not fact as you make it appear. Some of us have experienced "nightmarish" bus service at the BC/YC. Does that mean the buses are horrible every day, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year? No.....but they also are not the best all of that time, either. We were there during a busy time and although I have read a lot of responses in the past that said the buses were only shared among all 5 resorts during slow times and went between the BC/YC during busy periods, that wasn't the case during our trip. The buses serviced all 5 resorts the whole week we were there, which was during a busy time. Also, we have had much better bus service at other resorts compared to the BC, so in our experience, yes, there are other resorts out there that do have better transportation than the BC.

 

[mmmears]

We were at the YC last summer and the MK buses really weren't bad. They picked up at YC first then went to BC then straight to the MK. In the past when they shared with BC, S/D and BWI it was awful.

We also took the bus to TL one morning, and it was fine. No problems at all.

As for DTD, we have yet to find a good bus there (from any resort we have stayed at) so we just took a cab. I don't really understand why, but we always have trouble getting to DTD so we often just skip it now.

 

[goofy4tink]

They are not rumors, but actual experiences from guests like myself who have experienced horrible bus service from the BC. During our stay, the buses shared among all 5 resorts, with the buses being to full capacity the majority of the time with standing room only. Our stay was quite some time ago (2003), but I have read reports of others with recent stays (within the last year or two) that have experienced the same bus service we did.

OP - I think the buses are hit or miss at the Epcot resorts as people have reported many different experiences from the buses only sharing between the YC & BC to the buses going to all 5 resorts. I don't think there's any sure way of knowing what the transportation will be like until you are there. People have reported the buses sharing among all 5 resorts only during slow times, but our stay was at a pretty busy time and all 5 resorts were included in the transportation to the other parks. Good luck.

Your 'experiences' at BC....one time, back in '03.

It could be we just hit a bad time for transportation (although I have read reports of others that so many resorts shared and it being bad) and that's why my response to anyone asking about the buses at the Epcot resorts is that it can be hit or miss. I have read a lot of responses to other threads asking about YC/BC transportation and some responses seem to say that during slower times, the buses "could" share among all 5 resorts, but during busy times, it's only between YC & BC. So, IMO, there's really no telling how the buses will be until you get there as everyone has a different experience (i.e., our busy time was shared among all 5 resorts and not just shared between the two even though it was a busy time).



This is entirely your opinion and not fact as you make it appear. Some of us have experienced "nightmarish" bus service at the BC/YC. Does that mean the buses are horrible every day, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year? No.....but they also are not the best all of that time, either. We were there during a busy time and although I have read a lot of responses in the past that said the buses were only shared among all 5 resorts during slow times and went between the BC/YC during busy periods, that wasn't the case during our trip. The buses serviced all 5 resorts the whole week we were there, which was during a busy time. Also, we have had much better bus service at other resorts compared to the BC, so in our experience, yes, there are other resorts out there that do have better transportation than the BC.

I will put my 'opinion and not fact' experiences from over 20 stays in these resorts up against your 'one time stay back in 2003'. May not be 'fact' but it sure is 100% true!!! Those were experiences that I had...same as you. Obviously, my idea of 'nightmarish' is vastly different than yours. Those of us that routinely stay in this area know what to expect. If transportation was 'that' awful, we wouldn't stay there. I've stayed at almost every resort onsite at WDW. I have used all modes of transportation. I go to various resorts just to take their buses back to the parks...I want to be able to more or less report correctly back to my Transportation Board as to any issues they might find at various resorts.
I do try to give accurate and concise info regarding buses at all resorts. And as of right this moment?? The worst bus transportation I've ever had??? At the Polynesian! And frequent stops??? As I said, the moderates have multiple stops unless it's a very slow season and they don't see guests at various stops, waiting to board.
All in all??? There are a lot of variables in transportation within WDW. Again, timing is a big thing. I have been at BW and never stopped at either YC or BC on any bus ride...for the entire week. Other times...the bus I've been on made all 5 stops...but that just hasn't been the norm..in my many stays in those affected resorts. Can you get on a very busy bus, that makes stops at all the possible resorts? Sure you can. But it rarely happens every single time. Just saying.

 

[MrsT2013]

I have had bad experiences with the buses at the Epcot resort, so much so that it would be a difficult decision to stay at one again.

The worst experience I had was trying to return from AK, when we joined the queue there was already around 15 people in front of us, the bus didn't arrive for 25 minutes after we joined the queue (you can imagine what it was like then) and mostly all the Epcot resorts share bus stops...
And the bus that turned up was for all resorts!

Not great.

 

[mickeynut1]

They are not rumors, but actual experiences from guests like myself who have experienced horrible bus service from the BC. During our stay, the buses shared among all 5 resorts, with the buses being to full capacity the majority of the time with standing room only. Our stay was quite some time ago (2003), but I have read reports of others with recent stays (within the last year or two) that have experienced the same bus service we did.

Your 'experiences' at BC....one time, back in '03.


I will put my 'opinion and not fact' experiences from over 20 stays in these resorts up against your 'one time stay back in 2003'. May not be 'fact' but it sure is 100% true!!! Those were experiences that I had...same as you. Obviously, my idea of 'nightmarish' is vastly different than yours. Those of us that routinely stay in this area know what to expect. If transportation was 'that' awful, we wouldn't stay there. I've stayed at almost every resort onsite at WDW. I have used all modes of transportation. I go to various resorts just to take their buses back to the parks...I want to be able to more or less report correctly back to my Transportation Board as to any issues they might find at various resorts.
I do try to give accurate and concise info regarding buses at all resorts. And as of right this moment?? The worst bus transportation I've ever had??? At the Polynesian! And frequent stops??? As I said, the moderates have multiple stops unless it's a very slow season and they don't see guests at various stops, waiting to board.
All in all??? There are a lot of variables in transportation within WDW. Again, timing is a big thing. I have been at BW and never stopped at either YC or BC on any bus ride...for the entire week. Other times...the bus I've been on made all 5 stops...but that just hasn't been the norm..in my many stays in those affected resorts. Can you get on a very busy bus, that makes stops at all the possible resorts? Sure you can. But it rarely happens every single time. Just saying.

As you can see from my original post as I quoted above, I did mention that our stay was quite some time ago, along with saying I have read many reports of other guests who have had more recent stays (within the last year or two), that have experienced the exact same thing we did. Even though we have only had one experience at an Epcot resort, it was still OUR experience, whether it happened yesterday or 10 years ago, which is what I thought the Dis was all about.....other people's experiences and opinions?????? As for your many experiences being 100% true, same goes for my one experience. You having over 20 stays at the Epcot resorts doesn't make my experience any less true. I do agree with you that there a lot of variables in transportation, which is my point. Our one experience was totally different from your 20+ stays, but that doesn't mean our experience wasn't was it was or that everyone will have a great experience like you. To me, your original post sounded like you were saying transportation is fine and that anyone that says otherwise is mistaken. I'm not saying you DID say this, I'm saying it's the way I perceive your post. I'm not saying the OP will experience terrible bus service, just that it is a possibility.