Disney World In-App Bus Wait Times Review
As we recently shared, bus wait times from your resort to Walt Disney World theme parks are now available in the My Disney Experience app. In this post, we’ll review the new feature, covering just how accurate these “real-time” bus departures were during our field testing at Port Orleans French Quarter shortly after the wait times debuted.
My approach with testing the bus wait times feature was perhaps a bit unorthodox and not entirely feasible for all or even most guests reading this. While staying at Port Orleans French Quarter, our room was about a 4 minute walk from the bus stop. I would thus keep an eye on the bus wait times in the app, and when a bus was 5 minutes away, I’d leave the room.
This is a very slim margin for error, but my reason for cutting it so close is because I found that about half the time, the original bus arrival time was delayed. Meaning that if a bus departure time to Magic Kingdom was listed as being 10:00 a.m. as of 9:45 a.m., there was a 50/50 chance the bus departure time would end up being delayed until 10:05 a.m.
For the most part, this was a flawless strategy. It gave me the chance to stay in the room and get work done on my laptop, refreshing the bus waits screen of the My Disney Experience app periodically, and only leaving once the bus was almost at the resort.
In the past, we’ve found waiting for a bus first thing in the morning to be a frustrating way to start the day, so it was great to stay out of the humidity and not stand around the bus stop, anxiously waiting. Most of the time, there was a bus pulling up (or even waiting for me) when I arrived at the bus stop.
My only complaint here is that there’s not a “your bus is now arriving” option for push notifications a la Uber or Lyft, which meant interrupting what I was doing every couple of minutes to check the My Disney Experience app. I realize this is probably advanced functionality that most people would ever need, and it’ll probably never happen.
I say “for the most part” this was a flawless strategy because there were a couple of times that the bus departure time actually moved forward. On one occasion, I literally had to run to the bus stop because of this, and caught the bus just as it was about to leave.
In fairness, this was my own fault and I should’ve given myself a little more breathing room. Since these are real-time bus wait times, my guess is that they are measuring the actual progress of the bus on its route and providing an anticipated wait time based on assumptions about traffic.
Think of these times just as you would those in Google Maps, which is constantly adjusting your arrival time based upon how you’re progressing in traffic. Even something as minor as making or missing a stop light can cause the estimate to rise or decline.
This was the whole reason I waited as long as possible before leaving the room–the closer to arrival time, the lower the likelihood traffic variables would cause further delays. With that in mind, I was incredibly pleased with the overall experience of relying upon the bus wait times to plan when I’d leave our room. I’ve never spent this little time at our resort bus stop waiting. It was great.
While my review of the in-app bus wait times is pretty glowing, there’s another half of this story. Sarah and I were often leaving the room at different times because, as fun as walking around in the heat and taking photos for construction updates might sound, she wasn’t always interested in that.
Rather than checking the app in advance, there were several times she just showed up to the Port Orleans French Quarter bus stop and waited…and waited. She waited over 20 minutes for a bus on 3 separate occasions, and once waited nearly 45 minutes. She experienced several delays, unreliable times on the board, and, overall, a lot of frustration.
Although not to the same extent, I experienced some of this when I went to other resorts to do the construction updates and then tried to leave for the parks. Since I didn’t have a reservation at these resorts, I couldn’t consult the app for wait times, and just showed up at the bus stop whenever. That was definitely a less pleasant experience than leaning heavily on the app.
The big takeaway here is that you should consult the wait times in My Disney Experience before leaving your hotel room, and time things accordingly. Give yourself enough time that you don’t have to run to the bus stop, but don’t head out too early. (And never leave the room when the app says “buses every 20 minutes” as that’s a giveaway that no bus is en route.)
Then there’s the buses from the parks, which I guess is like a sequel to the previous two halves of the bus wait time story. It’s been a while since we’ve heavily used buses from the parks during normal operating hours. This might sound odd given the frequency of our Walt Disney World trips, but this was a bit of a blindspot for us.
During the day, we often park hop, but usually between Epcot and Magic Kingdom (monorail) or Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios (walking). When we go to Animal Kingdom, we tend to stay the entire day. No matter where we start, at the end of the night, we stay until after park closing for photos and to soak up the atmosphere, slowly lingering out to find a bus waiting for us at the bus stop. We’ve heard the horror stories of post-fireworks lines for the buses, but have never experienced it ourselves.
On this trip, we didn’t stay late as often and did atypical (for us) park hopping more. In so doing, we used the buses from the parks more. A couple of times, we arrived to find huge lines of people who had been waiting a while (and were visibly frustrated). On another occasion, we waited and waited before a bus arrived. One other time, we called an audible and took a bus to Yacht Club instead of waiting for an Epcot bus and entered through International Gateway.
After that, our “data” is incomplete because we just used Lyft from the parks. As we note in our Tips for Using Lyft & Uber at Walt Disney World, we’re huge fans of these services and think they offer efficient, private transportation for affordable rates. (Although we didn’t use them this trip, Minnie Vans are another viable, albeit more expensive, alternative.)
On the plus side, this ended up working out really, really well. Uber and Lyft have become so ubiquitous at Walt Disney World that all but once, there were already drivers waiting at the pick-up areas outside the parks when we requested a ride. Obviously, Uber or Lyft cost money as opposed to the “free” service Disney buses offer, but there’s the opportunity-cost of the wasted time spent waiting for a bus, as well as the frustrations that entails.
In the end, this trip worked out to be a great learning experience on the transportation front. While there were absolutely some frustrations and delays, we further refined our processes for “hacking” Walt Disney World transportation. On the whole, Walt Disney World transportation is still not perfect, but no public transit ever will be.
With that said, when I think back on how we got around Walt Disney World on this trip using bus wait times and Lyft, as compared to how things went a decade ago, when we didn’t have wait times and had to use overpriced taxis when things got too frustrating, I think the experience has improved exponentially. I expect that trend to continue, as backend technology for bus deployment improves, and once the Skyliner goes online. As I’ve said before, I see zero reason for us to ever rent a car at Walt Disney World again, and I think with a similar strategy to the one here and a modest budget for Uber/Lyft when the situation calls for it, you can dramatically improve your transportation experience at Walt Disney World.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
Have you used the new bus wait time feature in My Disney Experience? Do you agree or disagree with our review of the feature? Did it improve your transportation experience at Walt Disney World? Any questions we can help you answer about WDW transportation? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Information is great , but where do you find the screen for the information. I have the my disney experience app and it does not have a screen that you are showing.
Let me google that for you.
You go to an active hotel reservation and click “Show Bus Times.”
You will only see it if you are actually checked in at the resort
We have stayed at port Orleans fq twice and found the bus system good. My only problem is no system for lining up which means that people don’t always respect the fact that others were there first and just rush to get on first. Or those with scooters have 20 family members – they all get on first, regardless of the fact that people have been waiting for a while then it’s a mad dash to see who else can fit.
I have a question about the best way to get from Port Orleans Riverside to the following restaurants
1) Chef Mickeys and
2) Ohana
There are 11 of us so we would prefer not to take Minnie vans – not very cost effective.
thanks you – LOVE your blog!
There’s obviously the option of getting multiple uber/lyft cars, but if you’re trying to keep it free..
The best option to get to either restaurant from POR would be to take a bus to the Magic Kingdom. From there, walk or monorail to the Contemporary (Chef Mickey’s), and monorail or boat to the Polynesian (‘Ohana).
I agree with Andy’s response to take a bus to Magic Kingdom, but you will need to leave yourself a great deal of time, maybe an hour or hour and a half. But it’s ok if you are early for your reservation as both hotels are fun to look around.
Regarding getting to Chef Mickeys I would definitely just get off the bus and circle up around to your right as you exit the bus area and walk on the sidewalk to the Contemporary. I don’t think you are allowed to walk out of the bus area directly across the road to the Contemporary, but I could be wrong.
This advice pertains unless you see a monorail coming from the Grand Floridian (way off) , no line on the ramp to get on the monorail, and all 11 of you feel like running! 🙂
Have a great time!
We will be going in December and get to try out the new system, I am looking forward to that.
One thing this does not help at the hotel bus stops is the frustrating process of waiting for the bus, and when the bus comes there is no “law and order”, people will just jump to the bus front door area, even if people have clearly been waiting. If there are 2 people waiting and it is a fairly empty bus it obviously doesn’t matter. But, there have been many mornings where a bus arrives full and only a few people can get on.
Having a little courtesy would obviously be the solution, but not all Disney guests adhere to that philosophy. I would like to see a queue system with ropes or whatever that you enter in order of arrival similar to what they have at the park bus stops.
Several (not all) of the hotel bus waiting areas have enough room to setup a system like this.
I like the queue idea. Maybe future renovations can accommodate something along these lines in the future. Really sad to see adults behaving with poor manners. Makes it hard to impress upon youngsters to be courteous when adults are not.
Disney parking costs $22/day, and you can go in and out if you keep the receipt. We’re looking into costs of car rentals and a non-Disney hotel for comparison.
The all star resorts have queues, it’s one of the reasons we actually prefer the value resorts over moderate/deluxe. It was a madhouse at AKL when we waited for a bus.
While maybe not feasible or even practical, I’d like to see a bus or two dedicated to just, “scooter riders”. As was mentioned, when the bus arrived they take the priority as well as multiple seats at seemingly the busiest times. Sometimes it takes a good five or more minutes to get the scooters loaded and secured. Then the family of these scooters board in front of everyone who had been waiting just as long if not longer.
On our resent trip WDW,we stayed at all-stars sports. We had few 15 min or longer waits for the buses. On our trip Animal Kingdom one morning we waited almost an hour for a bus. Needless to say standing directly in the sun wasn’t very fun. My nephew is 7 and was taking it like champ though. We didn’t have the ap on our phones but we used the screen out side by the bus stops. For animal it said every 20 min. We seen 5 MK buses. But now I know you can get the ap on the phone have it handy for the next trip thanks.
Thanks.
I accidentally found the bus times on Google Map too. They also show the boat routes and time too, like the one from Magic Kingdom to Wilderness Lodge.
Can you please tell me how you found the bus times on Google Maps? That may come in handy for my upcoming trip, when at other places besides my resort.
Thanks!
I went to Google maps and put in AOA to Magic Kingdom and when it came up I saw the bus icons and it told me how long it would take. It probably isn’t as up to the minute as the phone app, but it gave me a good idea how long it would be.
Thanks Kathy!
I appreciate the help! Have a magical day! 🙂
I had two people tell me that this spring in Orlando the busses were very late most of the time, but they did not tell me which resorts. They complained that they lost out on FastPass reservations in the morning. Even if the app is considered accurate, a cast member noted situations when busses are not all connected with the server. Can anyone comment on the current timeliness experience to/from Orlando resorts?
As a cast member in buses for over 24 years the “bus every 20 minutes” does not mean that there is no bus enroute all the time, it just means that the bus hardware is not currently communicating its location to the server that sends the information to the app and monitors at the bus stops. It is something that is currently being worked on and I know it is a frustration to many guests that assume “every 20 minutes” means that there is no bus enroute, that is not true and it is very frustrating for the drivers who have the guests get upset when they see that “every 20 minutes” and immediately assume there is no bus coming. The system that is currently being used is currently being revamped to try to eliminate many of these issues and they are getting ready to implement a new type of dispatch system which will hopefully correct many of the bus spacing allocation issues that we’ve noticed that does happen, such as 2 or 3 buses heading to MK from a resort while guests wait for 1 bus to Epcot or other park. Also you need to understand that each bus does not stay on a dedicated route, as each bus arrives at the park or “hub” as we call it the bus is then dispatched to the next available needed route. This is why the app does not show departure times from the park to the resort. This is because the dispatch system has to take in account the length of the “next” route available the time availability of the driver on the bus (such if the driver is scheduled for a break or to go home). The system will then select the next available route that bus can do in the allotted time period and the bus is then assigned that route. This dispatch system is currently being revamped in an attempt to alleviate this and many other issues that they have noticed. Hopefully this clears up some of issues that you mentioned.
Thank you for taking the time to explain all that Cast member…. and thank you to you and all the other Cast Members who always work so hard to make our time at Disney a magical experience 🙂
Thank you !! This is great info and really interesting.
Thanks for the tips Tom! Does anyone have experience taking an Uber or Lyft with kids requiring booster seats? We were planning on using the Minnie vans purely because they had a booster seat option for our youngest but I’d be interested in alternatives if any to make it to resort dining reservations. Cheers
We used rideshares with our littles the last time we were at WDW, when we had to go off property. We brought our own travel boosters. The brand we use is called Bubble Bum and is inflatable (packs down into a bag about 1ft long & 5in diameter). I know there are some fold-flat options available, too!
We were there in April and its $25 per trip. We had 4 adults and two kids (3 & 5) and a mobility scooter. We were going to use them for the princess breakfast and I called the night before to see if they could acommodate us, was told no problem call back in the morning to schedule. Called and was told they couldnt help us then and weren’t sure at what time they would be able to. If you use them I hope you have better luck. For $25 a trip, they better get there act together
I’m sorry, I should have stated that my experience was with the Minnie vans
The accuracy sounds about the same as the app for the public transit system here in DC, which is actually pretty accurate. Time ALWAYS gets added but real time predictions, like you said, are gonna get modified in the moment by traffic, wheelchair loading/unloading, etc. All things considered, they’re pretty accurate.
I am a little baffled by only providing the real time reports for your resort. I’m hoping that’ll change over time. Again, the DC public transit apps allow you to put in the name of any stop on the metro or any bus stop in the city (regardless of whether you’re at that stop or not at the time) and receive real time updates.
This is a great first step. Just hope it’s only the beginning!
I think the have the bus times on the app is a good idea but it didn’t really work out for us. We were staying at the Movies, but in the Mighty Ducks section so we ended up using the Music bus stop as it was a shorter walk. It would be nice if eventually they would update it so you could put in which resort or place you were leaving from and going to so then it would be more helpful. We did find that the bus time boards at the bus stop were helpful and usually accurate although we were frustrated when it said “bus every 20 minutes”.
Tom:
My understanding is that the app provides one-way information – departure time from your resort to the parks. Is that correct? If so, I am interested to know why Disney will not provide information about departure times from a given park back to your resort. Providing a reasonably reliable schedule of departure times from parks to resorts would be equally useful, and perhaps more useful with respect to planning and determining if you can get one more attraction in, etc. Thoughts?
I will be planning to use this on our trip in September. We are staying at The contemporary, so to/from Epcot/MK won’t be used, but AK and DHS will be useful, especially for the trip home.
I wish there was a way for it to show you from park to park transportation too.
I’m actually surprised Disney hasn’t built a better transportation system yet. They need a few more monorail systems that could be automated.
If you can only see bus wait time based on the resort where you are staying, it seems to me that Disney missed something obvious here. The app has your location. Why _doesn’t_ it use it to show you bus wait times from the nearest available bus station?
Hopefully, that will be a future improvement, I’ve generally been pleased with the added functionality every time the app has been updated.
The update to the Disney app was implemented while we were on our 20th wedding anniversary vacation. We thought it was a great addition. There were little bits of information that we thought we wanted to know for connecting from one distant nation to another where there are multiple stops. I am not exactly sure how I found it the 1st time, probably ham hands while trying to work my phone, but Google Maps app has the whole bus schedule. It is not easy to navigate or not as easy to navigate as the in Disney app, but it does have all the information you need. You simply click on maps and then click on the bus icon. Make sure your location settings are turned on.
Thank you! I use Google Maps for public transit all the time at home, but I would never have thought to check it for Disney bus info!
I’ve been curious about the availability of Minnie Vans around closing time at Magic Kingdom if anyone here can speak to that. They seem like a great option, albeit somewhat on the pricey side, but I can absolutely see the value in using them to escape the mass exodus at the end of a night at MK.
We stayed at the art of animation two weeks ago and the transportation/app times were spot on! Art of animation transportation is unique because it doesn’t share with other hotels so maybe that is why the times on the app were so accurate (early if anything and the driver would wait a minute or two). Only complaint about transportation for us was trying to get back from Disney springs .. we waited about 40 minutes for the bus back… another 5 and we would have hitched a ride to pop and walked over to animation … but 99% of our experience was positive!
We used the app to look at bus times while staying at AKL. I wish I had known a bus every 20 minutes implies none are in route. The wait times were typically within five minutes. Only once did I see four busses for AK before we had our first bus to HS and missed morning EMH. I think the wait times helps for a lot less wait time.
I used the app to see when a bus from my resort would be arriving to the park I was planning to leave. That worked out well to have minimal wait to return to AKL from the parks. We did not wait more than 10 minutes at any park to return to our resort.
This is a great strategy for returning to your resort! I’m going to try this out when I’m there in September. It’s obviously not fool proof since busses don’t always return to the resort they came from, but I bet it helps ease that return frustration. Thanks!
Great information again Tom, thanks! We’ll be back down Labor Day week and will try it out. Have you all stayed at Ft Wilderness yet? It may be worth renting an RV for a week off season to get a feel. Really a different experience. Thanks again, John
The one time I stayed at the campground was about 10 years ago, so I don’t know how much has changed. I loved the campground, and the only reason I have not returned since is because the rest of my family insist on staying at hotels. I truly enjoyed taking the ferry direct to the Magic Kingdom. It was great to have the general store there, too. My big complaint at the time was the seemingly infrequent bus service from the parks back to the campground. Perhaps others could comment on whether Disney still provides fewer buses to and from the lower-priced resorts?