Buses Reduced at Disney World’s Skyliner Resorts
Walt Disney World has reduced bus transportation between the Skyliner gondola hotels, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios. In this post, we’ll cover the new policy, share results of our ‘field testing’ the buses, and recommendations for how this might impact your vacation.
Effective immediately, buses for Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios will pick-up guests approximately once per hour at the hotels with Skyliner gondola stations. This means Disney’s Riviera Resort, Caribbean Beach, Art of Animation, and Pop Century all now have reduced bus service.
Prior to the Disney Skyliner gondola system beginning operations for the day or if it’s experiencing downtime, bus service will be increased to approximately once every 20 minutes. These changes apply to both pickup from the hotels and pickup from Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios…
This news broke over the weekend, but aside from a sign at Pop Century notifying guests of the new policy, there were scant details about how this would work. Rather than rushing to share the incomplete story, we decided to head out to Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort and spend an afternoon seeing what, exactly, “approximately once per hour” means.
Sitting around a bus stop for hours might not sound exciting, but with construction now wrapped up at Caribbean Beach, Riviera Resort, and on the Skyliner stations, we have to find some way to fill our time there this year. 😉
Our first goal was to see whether the buses were operating on any sort of schedule. It seems, to us at least, that this would be fairly easy to accomplish at Disney’s Riviera Resort, Pop Century, and Art of Animation, since each of these only have one bus stop. (Due to the internal loop, it’d be more difficult at Caribbean Beach Resort.)
If buses now departed at the top of each hour or on a consistent schedule, this could actually be an improvement. Guests could plan around departure times and get to the bus stop when necessary. This would save Disney money, and improve predictability for guests. Win-win.
Unfortunately, this is not the case. What we found is that bus pick-up times are totally random, sometimes slightly less than an hour apart, sometimes slightly more. Never did the buses come on the top or bottom of the hour, and clearly that’s not the intent.
It’s unclear to us why this isn’t possible, but it’d be a huge improvement over what’s currently happening. Instead, our experience with the buses was unpredictable and frustrating.
The big problem aside from buses operating on an unpredictable schedule is that the wait time boards (and by extension, times in the My Disney Experience app) are unreliable. At Caribbean Beach’s Jamaica bus stop, times for the Epcot bus never displayed, and the bus just showed up unannounced.
This is actually an experience we’ve been having more and more of late. The entire time we were at Disney’s Riviera Resort, the bus wait times didn’t work in the app or on the signs. At the time, we assumed it was an opening week snafu, but we’ve had similar issues at other resorts in the last several months. (We were staying at Saratoga Springs while doing this test, so we didn’t have access to MDX wait times for the Skyliner resorts.)
If you’re concerned that the reduced bus schedule means longer lines for the Skyliner, don’t be. We took a divide and conquer approach to this testing, and while Sarah did most of the less glamorous bus stop stalking, I was flying the friendly skies. Never once did I encounter any line, let alone a long one.
Aside from park closing time (and to a lesser extent, park opening), the wait times for the Skyliner are rarely above 5 minutes. I often ride solo, and the unofficial midday policy seems to be to give each party their own cabin if the line is reasonably short. (We haven’t been grouped with another party at all in the last month.)
If you’re thinking this results in more crowded buses, that’s also not the case–which probably also helps explain the reduced bus service.
Again, this was midday and all of the buses (except Disney Springs) were departing less than half-full, but far and away the least-crowded buses were those bound for Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. If this continues to be the case, I could see Walt Disney World discontinuing bus service from the Skyliner resorts to DHS and Epcot entirely within the next year.
For us, this policy change comes as no surprise. Readers who won’t use the Skyliner have been optimistic that more guests using the gondola should reduce crowds on the buses–we’ve constantly been cautioning them that it’ll probably simply end up reducing buses.
Walt Disney World didn’t spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a new transportation system only to run the same number of buses as before. Every decision is always about revenue and costs.
On that note, if you’re not going to use the Disney Skyliner gondolas for whatever reason, we’d strongly encourage you to stay at a non-Skyliner resort. Walt Disney World fans love to praise the “free” perks like Disney’s Magical Express, Extra Magic Hours, and the resort-to-park transportation.
None of this is actually free. All of it is built into the nightly resort room rate.
The monorail is one of the main reasons the hotels on that loop cost over $500 per night. Take a hard look at Disney’s Contemporary Resort…do you really think that hotel would fetch those prices if it didn’t have a monorail running through it?! Same goes for Crescent Lake Resorts and being within walking distance of Epcot.
The same is also now true of Caribbean Beach, Art of Animation, and Pop Century. (Heck, even if you like Disney’s Riviera Resort, does anyone honestly think it could command its high rates without that Skyliner station?) Between last year and this year, this trio of existing resorts saw price increases disproportionate to Walt Disney World hotels, as a whole. We’ve contended that these price increases are surprisingly reasonable for the value-add of the Skyliner, but that’s only true if you use the Skyliner!
In short, the bus service is now virtually unusable between the Skyliner resorts, Epcot, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios as a result of this change due to unpredictability and the longer wait. If you are afraid of the Skyliner, you really should stay at other resorts. If that ship has sailed, we’d highly recommend getting to the bus stop before the Skyliner begins daily operations when bus service is still consistent.
Walt Disney World could turn this into a positive for all parties with a published bus pick-up schedule from the Skyliner resorts (even if this required only offering bus service from Old Port Royale, it’d be a net gain). However, we don’t view that as likely given the lack of bus utilization we observed. More likely, regular bus service will be further reduced or eliminated entirely from these resorts. Even if the buses were operating as before and you had perfect luck, the Skyliner is still the most efficient route to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot from the gondola hotels.
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Your Thoughts
What do you think of Walt Disney World reducing bus service at the Skyliner resorts? Will this cause you to book elsewhere, or do you not care since the Skyliner is so much more efficient? Does this surprise or disappoint you? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? 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!
I’m looking forward to the day that the Skyliner is available to all parks from all resorts. I tolerate the buses, but they’re sporadic at best and I can never find where the pick up times are on the app. Thankfully it seems the buses days are numbered.
I’m currently staying at Caribbean Beach this week. Each time we’ve been to the bus stop, there has been a Cast Member monitoring the bus stop and updating the times. So far, they’ve been pretty accurate. We took the Skyliner. If you’re in a scooter and not afraid of heights – it’s so much easier!
Hi Tom,
We are big fans of Pop Century, but I don’t want to use the Skyliner. You said to consider booking another hotel. Just want you to know that I don’t have that option either. I want to stay at Pop from Sept 8-14. Can’t. Every single room is gone, with or without discount. So, I booked All Stars Movies.
I’m OK with it. I’m wondering if all those people who booked Pop know about this bus change?
I meant I don’t have the option of considering Pop or All Stars, being that Pop is not an option, it’s so popular nowadays.
I’m wondering how hard it is for for scooters getting on the skyliner at Riviera. Does there seem to be a long wait for scooters? Or are there issues with the stop and restart for loading them at Riviera?
We stayed at Art of Animation this past week and there was never anyone in line for wheel chair line. My son has a special needs stroller and one night after Fireworks at Hollywood Studios when the line is wrapped outside the station, we walked right up and got on in the handicap accessible line. Skyliner is the way to go if you can use it!
I think this is terrible. My mom was so scared to use the Skyliner in the heat (also doesn’t like heights but the heat was the main concern) as it kept stopping while we were on it, and when that happens there is no air flow, you just bake in this little box in the sky; it’s dangerous. But she loves staying at Pop. No one should have to choose between being scared/uncomfortable and staying somewhere on Disney property without another option (like the buses) just because Disney wants to save a dime. That’s not the level of comfort we pay this kind of money for. Especially if they aren’t planning on putting ac in the gondolas while they reduce other transport. Ridiculous.
Funny, I asked a cast member today at Hollywood Studios if the Skykiners have a/c. She replied yes. Definitely didn’t feel like there was any a/c when i decided to take a ride to Epcot in the middle of the afternoon. Agreed with other replies – Just a gentle air flow coming through the vents.
That’s exactly how we feel, and why I’ve been frustrated since I found out about the Skyliner. We loved Pop – it was our go-to because it was still value-priced but didn’t share buses (unlike the All-Stars). Generally a bit quieter than AS, too. But between my horrible reaction to heat and my partner’s absolute terror at all gondola-type rides, Skyliner is a non-starter for us. Which means finding another resort. And as the moderate we would have considered if budget allowed is also a Skyliner resort, I’m not sure what we’re going to end up doing. It’s really frustrating.
Unfortunately if is to be the case with the Buses at Pop Century, I will no longer stay there. The main reason I have stayed at POP for my last 50+ visits is the convenience of only one bus stop and timely bus transportation. I have scooter and the buses are much easier for me. I am not a fan of the Gondola’s and will not be forced to ride on them to get to the park in a timely manner.
I agree ! Pop is my favorite resort but I have vertigo. There’s NO WAY I can ride those gondolas!! My favorite building was the 50’s because it was so quiet and peaceful. I loved listening to the frogs and peepers. Now it’s just as hectic and those rooms may as well be next to the bus stop. Not a fan at all. The parks are so much noise and stimulus that your resort is supposed to be peaceful. A “get away”. From the parks to decompose if needed. Not anymore. Bummer !!!
Decompose? That must have been one heck of a day at the park!
If you are looking for a small, compact resort with one bus stop, I recommend Port Orleans French Quarter. Virtually everything at this resort is a five minute walk or less to the main desk and bus stop. Highly recommend for that reason!
Does anyone know what the weather restrictions will be for the Skyliner? Sorry if it’s already been said, but I didn’t see it.
TIA
Great question, was wondering that myself. Also, about the temp and humidity inside gondolas on a hot and humid FL day.
They said on January 4 2019 we asked and they said 40 mph it was very windy that weekend
We are staying at Pop Century in early February. Is the trip to EPCOT and DHS a direct route from Pop Century? If not, what should we expect our route to look like and how much time would you allot for riding to each of those parks on the gondolas?
I’m currently staying at AoA, there is a change-over for both Epcot and DHS, but it takes less than 15 minutes to arrive to both park from the AoA/Pop hub. Far and wide it’s way faster and more convenient waiting for buses.
More convenient THAN waiting for buses
Thanks!
Pop and AOA grab the Skyliner in the same spot, between resorts. So travel time and changeovers will be the same from either resort.
My concern is operating hour of the Skyliner. There’s no way I can rope drop the Skyliner and the get in DHS to grab a Rise of the Resistance boarding group. Otherwise, I’m totally on board.
Buses should run on a normal schedule prior to Skyliner opening.
Has anyone rode the Skyliner on a super-hot day?? As I understand it, there is “state of the art ventilation system” but no AC. The AC on the buses give a small reprieve from the crazy FL heat, just wondering if a person melts on the gondolas on a hot day??
Local here. It isn’t bad. If you can trudge around the Magic Kingdom in 90 degree weather, you will make it through the brief ride on the Skyliner, which is way shorter than a bus ride time wise. The gondolas aren’t necessarily cool, but they aren’t too hot to bear either, even when briefly stopped.
Has anyone rode the Skyliner on a super-hot day?? As I understand it, there is “state of the art ventilation system” but no AC. The AC on the buses give a small reprieve from the crazy FL heat, just wondering if a person melts on the gondolas on a hot day??