Important Disney Transportation Lesson Learned

[NotUrsula]

In re: BWR and the "Epcot resort circle" issue: it depends on what is important to you. We stay at S/D quite often, and we've got a system.
If we want a seat, we get on at S/D; if we want to save time, we hoof it over to Y&B and catch the bus there. Same strategy at the more spread-out resorts that have multiple stops; you can always walk to the bus stop that gives you your preferred experience.

That said, we always rent a car, and we drive everywhere but to the MK (well, mostly. If we are staying until closing at the MK on a late night, we tend to eat dinner at a Monorail resort and valet park there, so that we can just hop the resort transport back and pick up the car immediately. MUCH more convenient when you are exhausted.) We like the flexibility that our own wheels give us, particularly when it comes to moving from park to park or from resort to resort. (The longest bus wait we ever experienced was in hopping from Epcot to AK. The ride didn't take long, but the wait for the bus was 82 minutes; I happened to note what time we arrived at the bus stop.)

 

[CleveRocks]

For me, one of the very very sweet things about a Disney vacation is not having to drive for a week. I drive every day of my life ... on a few of my work days I'm driving up to about 4 hours a day in total.

I LOVE going to Disney for a week and not even thinking about driving. It's part of the magic for me. Part of it may be my background; I grew up a city kid and from 7th grade through high school graduation I had to take regular city buses (not school buses) to get to and from school.

We just returned from our fourth family vacation in WDW in the past 7 years, and before we had kids we were there three other times. So in 7 trips, I'm proud to say I've never driven a car in the Orlando area. I'm a very satisfied Disney Transport guest!

 

[capegirl]

We use both the bus and the car depending on where we're headed. We like to have the car at TL and BB...don't feel like waiting for a bus after a water park adventure. One thing for sure, we will never again drive to DTD at night. We thought it would be easier to drive since we would not have the usual long wait for the bus back to the resort...WRONG. The parking lots were jam packed....we had to circle around forever to find a spot. Leaving DTD was just as bad; it was a nightmare trying to navigate around pedestrians in the dark the parking lot. In the future, we will wait for the bus...much less stressful.

 

[badiggio]

We've been to disney 8 times in the past 3 years,and though not perfect,imo,buses are better than renting a car.Heck,rent a cab the odd time you absolutely have to be somewhere on time;in most cases it's the same as one parking fee.Rental expenses,gas expenses,parking expenses,finding a parking spot at your resort and at a park.and once you get to a park,you still have quite a ways to go before you get to the gates,where the busses drop you off a lot closer.
Go to Mk with a car on a busy day and see how long you wait just to get on the monorail to go to MK,after you paid for parking and made your way to get to the monorail line,lol.

 

[VLee]

We normally bus mostly; however, for our coming trip in June, I have rented a car for part of the trip. We have making a move to another DVC resort mid-way and although, we could have Bell Services transfer our luggage, I prefer taking it over earlier in the day myself and checking in early. Also, there are two mornings where we must get to Epcot super early for the Y.E.S. classes and fearing the bus may take too long from VWL, we will drive directly on those days.
This trip no dining plan, so having a car increases our chance and convenience of eating some off site. We have done the DDP many times, and kind of burned out with it.

 

[ceecee]

That proves my point even more, an hour to an hour and half? I can't imagine getting my wife and kids to the bus by 6:30 am to get to rope drop. That's absolutely nuts!

We do this and let me say we have NEVER left at 6:30 am! We haven't had very many bus issues and this will be our 15th time. However, getting back to the car when we rode with BIL was just as bad, we waited for a tram and then had to wait for the car to cool down before we got in. They even use the buses now. After fireworks there is a wait or we stop for ice cream and avoid the crowd.

 

[tjmw2727]

For me - like a few pp's part of vacation is not having to drive. I drive so much every day that taking a break from driving is worth the extra time.

That said I have never over the past 17 years or so (with stays at Value to Deluxe) had experiences like the OP - knock wood I didn't just make a jinx as we will be back in a few weeks !

We often stay at the Dolphin so we only use buses to MK and AK and often we leave MK when Epcot is still open so we take the monorail and stroll through Epcot to get back to the Dolphin. We have also stayed at AKL and WL and never had issues with bus service.

I also do budget $ for cab fare - esp for DTD, ugghh. So for me the combination of buses and cabs works well so I don't have to drive and it is still cheaper than a car rental.

So there are plenty of rental cars to go around and plenty of parking spaces for those who like to drive, Personally I am so happy that there is also a WDW bus, boat, monorail transportation every where I want to go

 

[abbygirls]

No, you had it Right in the first paragraph, the bus system stinks! Once, I stayed at moderate resort and because of slow buses, I'll never do it again.

 

[pigletto]

We never minded the buses too much and appreciated the convenience. That is until we rented a car this past trip. We liked that sooooooooo much better. We still used the buses a bit, but the car saved us a ton of time waiting and travelling. It also allowed us to go to Universal without paying for additional transportation, and drive ourselves for our super early flight home.
We're rental car converts!
However, if I went during holiday time and the roads were jammed I would go back to the buses to not have to deal with the stress of heavy traffic.

 

[goofy4tink]

Chiming in here in defense of the bus system at WDW. Is it perfect? No. Does it work efficiently? Sure does. But, if you book ADRs at very early, or very late times, you are going to have to plan accordingly. Disney isn't running a personalized transportation system. It is basically public transit...and it moves a huge number of people around a very large area very well.
There are some people that are not going to be happy with the bus system at WDW....or the monorail system or the boats. And for them? A rental car is going to be the best solution.
But to say the bus system stinks? Nope, not hardly. It has seldom taken me 90 mins to get anywhere using the buses. The only time??? The monorail had to be shut down due to a lightning strike. So, getting over to the MK area, from Epcot, was a nightmare. Other than that, I usually plan on it taking no more than an hour...and that's resort to resort, not resort to park.

 

[jmkrat]

I love the riding the bus. It has never taken too long to get a ride to the parks for us anyway. We have discussed renting a car and just don't want to bother with parking and driving. Especially after a long day. Part of the fun for us is waiting for your bus to arrive at the resort. You have to do what is comfortable for you. We just wouldn't trade our bus service for a car.

 

[Marshel]

Chiming in here in defense of the bus system at WDW. Is it perfect? No. Does it work efficiently? Sure does. But, if you book ADRs at very early, or very late times, you are going to have to plan accordingly. Disney isn't running a personalized transportation system. It is basically public transit...and it moves a huge number of people around a very large area very well.
There are some people that are not going to be happy with the bus system at WDW....or the monorail system or the boats. And for them? A rental car is going to be the best solution.
But to say the bus system stinks? Nope, not hardly. It has seldom taken me 90 mins to get anywhere using the buses. The only time??? The monorail had to be shut down due to a lightning strike. So, getting over to the MK area, from Epcot, was a nightmare. Other than that, I usually plan on it taking no more than an hour...and that's resort to resort, not resort to park.

And yet it takes no longer than 15 minutes to drive from resort to resort, even those located furthest away. To each his own as they say; to me the rental car represents freedom: I can run offsite to eat, shop, explore, or even go to a non-Disney park. I can get anywhere quickly and I can avoid waiting in long lines after park close only to be asked to stand on a crowded bus or wait even longer for another. Disney isn't spending the considerable sum that it costs for DME out of the goodness of their hearts; it's to keep people out of rental cars and captive to staying on their property and spending all their money there.

 

[lurkernj]

Bus lover here too. We've never had an issue with the buses with the exception of DTD and waterparks. I enjoy being in the Disney "bubble" and not having to think about driving, directions (fighting about taking a wrong turn), accidents, parking. I enjoy talking with other park goers, and just the relaxed pace of being driven around. Between the advanced planning (adrs and park plans), and not having to drive, cook, or clean, I barely have to think at all and I truely feel like I"m on vacation.

That being said, I'd never get to the bus stop 30 mins before park opening and think I'd make rope drop. I'm hitching a ride with them on their schedule, it's not a personal chauffering service, so I normally do get to the bus stop 8-8:15 in order to make a 9am rope drop, and I've not missed it yet. So I get that this isn't for everyone and if those extra 20-30 mins are needed for your family, by all means drive yourselves (more room on the bus for the rest of us)

 

[kerriemiller]

We recently vacationed at Disney (7/29-8/9) and stayed at the WL.

We used the bus to AK for WL when we stayed in 9-18-11 to 9-24-11. Rope drop was not our goal. But we did get to the park during extra magic hours first thing in the morning, so 8 am. Once we were on the bus it made no other stops (Im guessing it will only stop it there is room to pick up other guests) And on the way back we did have to make a stop at GF before WL. But it wasnt that bad.

Now if you ask my husband he will have a completely differant version. He will only stay at the deluxe hotels because of the monorail and the boats. He hates the buses.

This was our first trip with the kids they are 2 and 4 so we went to AK for them. On our adult trips we would go to Epcot and MK only

 

[Minnesota!]

Not having to drive/be in a car is all part of the vacation for us. From getting dropped off at the airport on our way until we get back - we want busses and busses only.

One of our favorite parts of the day is the bus ride - we love the bus ride home at the end of the park day, too. Sleepy kids, soft music, dark. We love it!!

Having a rental car would equate - NOT A VACATION to us. Which is why we are back at WDW this summer vs. our trip to San Diego as planned - we just do NOT want to drive on vacation.

We have been there 12 times....and never a bad bus ride.

It takes you 45 minutes to get somewhere? Oh well! 45 minutes doesn't make or break my day. It's time to meet people, take in the sights, listen to music, etc.

I guess I am just very laid back - I don't worry about "wasting time". On vacation - time is time. It's all the same to me.

And we make rope drop every vacation - and are never at the bus stop more than 45 min prior to park open.

 

[sokerfrog]

We spend 12 hours in the car to get to Disney World. Once we are there, the car stays parked for the duration of our trip. We typically stay at Pop and don't usually have any problems. Our last trip, we opened the Magic Kingdom, closed it, then went straight to Downtown Disney to close it down too. So...we fell asleep, the bus driver had to wake us up with at friendly, "You're home."

My only complaint is that the lines for the Pop buses are ALWAYS longer than any other bus including the other value resorts. Hopefully now with Art of Animation, they will have the longer lines!

 

[wdwfan1]

We always rent a car but dont actually use it much. We will use it for DTD and to get to dinner at Narccoosse's and maybe mini golf or a meal off property. We take the bus to AK.

We have been doing split stays between VWL (where we take the boat to MK.) and BWV. The only time we had a problem with the boat was when we were going to the first night of MVMCP and they "forgot" there was a party. They did not send a boat to transport guests. They finally got one there but we were late for the party.

We spend the other half at BWV and walk to Epcot and DHS.

This works for us but we have not had too many problems with the busses.

 

[darguel]

Love this thread, thanks all the varying opinions! We're visiting wdw for the first time in nov and are deciding between staying at poly and gg buses all the way or at a cheaper but less accessible resort and renting a car.

The spanner in the works is that frm where we're frm we drive on the other side of the road so my worry is my soon to be dh will get confused despite his current assurances that he'll be fine.

Think I'll convince him to stick to buses n cabs and splurge on the poly for our honeymoon Cabs seem really pricey though but we probably will linger in the parks till they close so it's either squeeze w everyone or just spend that dough!

 

[goofy4tink]

Love this thread, thanks all the varying opinions! We're visiting wdw for the first time in nov and are deciding between staying at poly and gg buses all the way or at a cheaper but less accessible resort and renting a car.

The spanner in the works is that frm where we're frm we drive on the other side of the road so my worry is my soon to be dh will get confused despite his current assurances that he'll be fine.

Think I'll convince him to stick to buses n cabs and splurge on the poly for our honeymoon Cabs seem really pricey though but we probably will linger in the parks till they close so it's either squeeze w everyone or just spend that dough!

I will always recommend staying onsite at WDW and using the bus/boat/monorail systems!! Are they fast and efficient? Not fast, but fairly efficient. I wouldn't use a cab unless speed was of the essence. If you hang out at the parks until they close, may I suggest hanging out a bit longer??? Grab a Mickey bar and sit and watch the park close down..then about 20 mins later, head to the buses. You will find the lines to be much shorter..no jamming in at all. Very pleasant to do!!! Have a wonderful honeymoon!!!!

 

[Brian Noble]

I wouldn't use a cab unless speed was of the essence.

I consider cabs in only two situations.

1: For a resort-to-resort trip, between two resorts not in the same "area". WDW runs a hub-and-spoke system, and these sorts of trips can be painful.

2: For trips to/from Downtown Disney, unless a boat is an option (i.e. I'm not staying in one of the DTD area resorts). For some reason, these bus routes are often problematic for me.

But, these tend to be less frequent---usually you are going between a resort and a park, or two parks. For that, the buses are fine.