Inconsistent Bus Wait Times at Disney World
We have a love-hate relationship with Walt Disney World transportation. When it’s firing on all cylinders, the system of monorails, boats, gondolas, and even buses is unparalleled–the best exemplar of mass transit of any major “city” in the United States. In the past, we’ve gone entire trips with only great experiences from start to finish, enjoying efficiency and, frankly, fun transportation.
Other times, Walt Disney World’s transit has been the exact opposite. Consecutive days waiting 45 minutes for a bus to Magic Kingdom while 4 empty ones pass for EPCOT. (I’ve lost count of how many times this type of scenario has played out, a continuing issue despite supposed “improvements” to the way Disney dispatches buses.) Monorails that break down while you’re on or waiting for them. Long lines for the Skyliner.
Our trip-length experiences with Walt Disney World transportation feel like they’re always one or the other: perfection or disaster. That’s probably not the case–mostly short waits help gloss over a couple of long ones, and vice versa–but it sure seems like it. We’re probably not the only ones, as reader feedback suggests many Walt Disney World guests experience similar extremes–excellent or awful. In the last week or so, we’ve received more reports of the latter…
Since reopening, we’ve advised in our “Temporary Abnormal” Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide and other transportation posts to rent a car upon arrival at Orlando International Airport. This is our advice both on the basis of health safety and convenience. The first part of that should be obvious, given that it’s shared transportation in a confined, indoor space with minimal ventilation.
Equally as important is convenience. During Walt Disney World’s phased reopening, transportation capacity has been reduced. Only 6-8 parties are allowed per bus, which has resulted in long lines and wait times for bus transportation at peak travel times. If you’re trying to take a bus to one of the parks at opening or closing, you could wait 45+ minutes for a bus, depending upon your resort. (Off-hour waits are much more bearable.)
Accordingly, we recommend saving yourself the headache and renting a car at Orlando International Airport (ideally in-terminal). The upsides to this are total control—in addition to not having to hassle with WDW transportation, you can also dine off-site after the parks close, get groceries, etc. The biggest downsides to this is the cost of renting a car at the airport, and parking fees at Walt Disney World resort hotels.
Consequently, you might save money and headache by using ride share services for rope drop or other strategic times when you see long lines at the bus stops. Our Tips for Using Uber & Lyft at Walt Disney World offer advice to help you bypass the worst transportation woes at Walt Disney World.
That has been our advice since last July. Even though it’ll cost you more money to rent a car (both in direct costs and parking fees) or use an Uber or Lyft, it’s worth it. If you’re on a budget, you can always stay off-site to cheaper accommodations–right now there’s little benefit to staying on-site, anyway.
Nevertheless, many readers have opted to rely on Walt Disney World transportation and have reported positive experiences during the phased reopening. These good reviews typically coincide with the off-season, and rarely peak travel dates. As noted above, we’ve received more concerning reports in the last week or so as spring break crowds have descended upon Walt Disney World.
We want to preface this by conceding that it’s difficult to assess complaints about Walt Disney World bus service. It’s not that some reports aren’t credible–no sane person is going to lie about transportation woes. Rather, two parties staying at the same resort for the same dates could have dramatically different experiences simply by virtue of luck. That has always been the case and probably always will be.
The challenge is thus developing a consensus from sometimes disparate or conflicting reports and also determining what’s normal inconsistency and what’s physical distancing-induced issues. Usually, we do the homework on our own–we’ve spent way too much time sitting at bus stops for the sake of research–but this is a scenario where crowdsourcing is more beneficial and immediately feasible. To that end, we inquired about recent experiences with buses at Walt Disney World on our Facebook page, receiving 95 comments thus far.
There were a lot of conflicting reports, which is unsurprising–it’s simply the nature of this inconsistent beast. However, some clear trends did emerge, which we’ve distilled from all of the reports. (Thank you so much to everyone who replied there–hopefully the comments on this blog post will garner many more firsthand accounts from recent visitors!)
First, all of this applies primarily to pre-park opening and around park closing. That’s when demand for buses between the hotels and parks peaks, and most issues arise. This isn’t to say you won’t have issues midday, but they’re more of the random and inconsistent variety. That’s when you might wait 45 minutes for a bus to Hollywood Studios while 3 pass for Animal Kingdom. (This might seem like hyperbole to you first timers, but it’s not. Almost every Walt Disney World fan who visits regularly and has relied on buses has at least one such story. It’s pretty much a rite of passage–like accidentally seeing the Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along or eating at the Italy booth.)
Second, sprawling resorts with multiple bus stops are the biggest source of problems and frustration right now.
Caribbean Beach Resort was the “most mentioned” with overwhelmingly negative feedback. Historically, Caribbean Beach Resort has been the biggest source of bus complaints that we’ve seen, but its reimagining (and consolidation) had improved things in recent years. Apparently it’s a problem again.
Coronado Springs Resort also had its share of complaints. The route here is temporarily altered due to the NBA G League taking over a portion of the resort, but that doesn’t appear to be the source of the frustrations.
Back when Gran Destino first opened, we reported significant headaches with Coronado Springs bus service, noting that it seemed like Walt Disney World failed to account for the addition of a tall tower (and the guests staying in it) when allocating buses.
This sounds like a redux of that, with Disney failing to scale up bus service as occupancy rates have risen from winter off-season lows to more healthy numbers at Coronado Springs. It also probably does not help that Coronado Springs requires buses to access every park.
Old Key West and Saratoga Springs Resorts had some negative feedback, but not as much. Really, this was more mixed than anything.
We suspect this is at least partially attributable to both being Disney Vacation Club resorts. Members are more likely to drive or have rental cars, in part because of the nature of their vacations and in-part because they don’t pay a separate charge for parking (it’s built into annual dues).
Of the single stop resorts, Pop Century garnered the most feedback by far. Again, this one was mixed. Everyone indicated that bus lines were long, zig-zagging around the front lobby before rope drop.
One recent Walt Disney World visitor said that, despite appearances, these lines moved quickly as buses were staged in the parking lot and dispatched one after the other. However, we did receive some reports from the last two weeks of 10-15 minute waits between buses, which, coupled with the long line, resulted in long waits.
Art of Animation surprisingly did not have nearly as many complaints as Pop Century. There were actually more positive reports than negative ones, and even the bad were nothing scathing. It’s difficult to reconcile this since the two sister properties are very similar; our best guess is that occupancy is lower at Art of Animation.
Unrelated to buses, but we want to reiterate (again) that Skyliner lines in the morning are long and can take a lot of time due to the one-part per gondola physical distancing rule. We didn’t ask about the Skyliner, but received a lot of feedback about it anyway. We should do another Skyliner rope drop report soon, but for now, refer to this from our last stay at Caribbean Beach Resort. (Note that since then, Art of Animation has reopened and lines have worsened.)
There were scattered reports from other resorts, but nothing that sounded like anything more than typical Walt Disney World bus inconsistency. In particular, Beach Club, Yacht Club, and Animal Kingdom Lodge all sound fairly good–that’s probably a byproduct of low occupancy.
If you have the time and inclination, it might be worth reading the full thread on our Facebook page. A lot of people took the time to post their experiences, which might be helpful if you have an upcoming trip and are on the fence about renting a car v. relying on Disney transportation. (Again, thank you to everyone who commented there–and anyone who shares their reports in the comments here!)
Ultimately, we just wanted to bring these potential problems with buses to the attention of those visiting Walt Disney World this spring or summer. As long as physical distancing limits the number of parties per bus, this will likely be an issue during times of high occupancy at the resorts.
Renting a car is going to be the easiest way to avoid all of this, but it might be overkill and overly expensive. Uber and Lyft will be the more cost-effective approach, and can be wonderful when used in conjunction with Disney buses. Simply use whichever the situation calls for–buses during off hours when demand is low and rideshare when you’re trying to rope drop a park or want to bypass long waits at park closing. Walt Disney World transportation can still be great, especially when strategically leveraged and avoided as the circumstances warrant.
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 Walt Disney World buses between the parks and resorts in March 2021? What about earlier during the phased reopening of Walt Disney World? Have any experiences of your own to share with regard to Walt Disney World bus service? (If so, please share your dates, resort, and typical travel times.) Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Other thoughts or concerns? 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!
My concern with Uber and Lyft..
I thought I’ve heard they aren’t allowing drop offs very early? No entry into the parking lot till an hour before official open, and cars are backed up… Is that true?
What’s the best way to Uber from Riviera to DHS, MK and AK for rope drop?
The thing I wish they had at the bus stops at the resorts is a better line. When we went there were social distance markers but it was hard to tell who came first and who was last, especially as some people sit on the benches. So the bus pulls up and people just start trying to get in – whether they were waiting before or after the other people. Not always their fault, there really is no line (at least that’s how it is at AKL).
Since October, we’ve stayed at BCV, AKV-KV, OKW and BWV. Only BWV gave us any trouble with buses and that was a single time. We were waiting for a MK bus and at least three AK buses came and went before a MK bus arrived (with a crowd waiting). When you only have three buses that need to pick up, you’d think those three would be more regular.
I stayed at Coronado Springs in early Feb, and drove down in order to avoid airport crowding. We elected to take the bus on days we went to the Magic Kingdom so that we could be dropped off right at the front of the park instead of doing a switch at the Transportation Center. We never experienced lines for a bus at CSR, but did experience the three-Epcot bus wait. Finally, a bus that said ‘Refueling my pixie dust’ pulled up and when I asked if he’d take us to the Magic Kingdom he agreed and switched his sign. That was nice service!
I did experience frustration regarding scooters as many others have noted, but only at the end of the night leaving the park. Mostly we took your advice and wandered the parks after close to take pictures and avoid the rush, and that worked really well!
WDW bus system has always been a problem IMO. The concept is great, yet randomness of available buses for destinations has been a head scratcher, cramming the buses full to the max after a long day in the park, or waiting in a long line for the bus to come only to have to wait for the next bus since it is already at capacity or needs to pick up those with scooters eliminating seats, taking 60-90 minutes to go from resort to resort for a dining reservation. All of that has pushed my hand to renting a car for our stay. My family, at first, was against the idea until I explained the perks. The last 3 trips, we rented a car. We will more than likely by-pass the complimentary transportation system. I would love to see the concept that Walt had dreamed up with the People Mover being a way to move people through WDW would be awesome. Unfortunately, it may be too risky to try. Yet if Walt were still here, he may have pushed ahead anyway.
I hope I don’t jinx anything by posting this, but I might be Disney buses’ #1 fan!!! Ok let me justify this.
So first of all, I stayed at CS Christmas 2019 (pre-covid), and yeah it was a mess, especially at park open and close. Like at the end of the night when my feet were killing me, I stood in a giant line where it seemed like every other hotel had multiple buses going and we were waiting 20+ minutes between buses and had to deal with midnight rides back with standing room only. Ugh. So I get where people who have had negative experiences are coming from.
With that being said, I’ve had overall positive experiences, especially post reopening. I stayed at CBR the week of Christmas, so we used the buses to get to DS, MK, and AK. I think that whole week there was only one time that we had to wait for the next bus to come because the first one filled up. It was so nice to not be packed in like sardines, and they came one right after the other. Although to be fair, this was when it was in the low 30s in the mornings, so the Christmas crowds weren’t really showing up right at park open.
Then we were at Animal Kingdom Lodge for MLK weekend. Both of our park days we were the only people waiting for the bus at park open; our bus to DS at night was easy peasy; and again I think there was once that we had to wait for the next bus at park close, and that bus came in under 5 minutes.
Where the buses really shine for me, though, is when we’ve relied on them for resort hopping. During both our Christmas 2019 trip and our MLK 2021 trip, we had dining reservations at another resort and naively thought we could just take whichever bus came first and switch at whatever park it was taking us to. Lol that was stupid. The first time we had a super early Boma breakfast reservation and didn’t find out that buses weren’t really making return trips to the resorts yet until we were already at a park. Over this past MLK weekend, we had dinner reservations and the buses weren’t taking guests to parks anymore because they closed to capacity due to park hopping. Both times a bus driver in shining armor offered to be our personal Lyft driver (one actually referred to himself that way) and just took us where we needed to go. There was also another time over this last Christmas when we were waiting to come back from Disney springs and a driver for another hotel who didn’t have anyone in line asked where we were going and told us to get on, another personalized trip.
So I know sometimes the lines are long and during normal times it gets uncomfortable when we’re all standing on top of each other, but I feel like the bus drivers are like any other CM and strive to make the Disney experience special when they’re able. So yeah, I love them.
My next trip we’re playing it cheap and staying at All Stars Movies for Memorial Weekend, so I feel like that has all the makings of a yikes experience. Fingers crossed!!!
By 6-8 parties do you mean 6-8 groups or 6-8 groups of people? We travel with 3 families for a total of 12 people. Would we be able to board 1 bus or have to split up. We always drive but have never driven from the resorts to the parks as we always took the buses. mainly to avoid the hassle but also we have gained alot of useful information just conversing with other passengers. However the last couple of times we were pretty disappointed in the service. Our last stay was at Caribbean Beach and we always seemed to be waiting forever to get a bus from the parks back. Not that bad so heading out. I agree with others, nothing like waiting in the heat for 45 minutes watching 2 or 3 busses from another resort go by or at the last minute grandma and grandpa roll up on the scooters with 10 family members. I have no problem letting the scooters on 1st with 1 or 2 “helpers” but the rest should have to wait. Disney needs to have dedicated scooter buses. Another pet peeve is watching families take up all the seats with the kids while older folks or moms with young children have to stand instead putting a couple kids in their lap or doubling up some of the others. Ok enough ranting, if we were to drive from the resorts, how early do you suggest we leave for rope drop? I an guessing Magic Kingdom is the most complicated? Thanks
Hi Tom, Uber can be hard to get during busy hours. I find taxis are the best, while uber for the less busy times. Another problem with uber or taxi is that sometimes they have insufficient air conditioning, whereas buses are guaranteed to freeze you to death. So, I mostly take taxis/uber when the sun isn’t blazing out, like early in the morning, after dusk, or when it rains. The Minnievan is guaranteed to have excellent air conditioning and a fantastic driver. I hope it comes back.
Hi Tom, I bet I have the most interesting bus woe story ever. I once waited at Pop Century around 5 p.m. for a bus to Epcot (before Rona, after Galaxy’s Edge). We waited for an hour without bus, and the line got super long, while 4 Hollywood Studio buses came and left empty. Now, you already mentioned that situation, and that’s not the interesting part. Here’s what’s interesting. Finally, a fifth bus came stopped at our line. The driver came out and loaded the handicapped person onto the bus. The bus says “Hollywood Studios,” but I figured the driver just hadn’t changed the sign yet. Then the driver opened the door, and the guy in front of me asked if he was going to Epcot. Upon hearing that question, the driver closed the bus door, went to the back, kicked the handicapped person off the bus, and drove away empty! Really, it wouldn’t have killed him to drive us to Epcot and then go on to Hollywood Studios which is next to Epcot, but no. WDW just can’t get the buses to run without bugs. All they need to to allow the bus drivers to make certain obvious decisions, like if your bus is completely empty with no passengers waiting at the stop, and there’s a big line of passengers wanting to go somewhere else, then give those passengers a ride, and then go back to what you were doing. They can even radio the control center to tell them where they are going. In the last 10 years that I’ve been going to WDW, Disney just haven’t been able to find one smart person to run the bus dispatch, not one.
I’ve spent close to three months at WDW using nothing but bus transportation (arguably risky!) and Uber, and I feel like I have a sense of the average now. Where there are lots of options (DS to Epcot for example) things are seamless but where there is only one option (eg to Animal Kingdom) things get less predictable.
I think large resorts are underserved at present. So I’d join the negative feedback for OKW/SS. It also doesn’t help that direct service from the parks to Springs has been suspended, which feels like a cost saving measure. Accessing Disney Springs from a theme park is now painful. Also bad that the walking route from SS to the East Side has been fenced off so you have to go miles around to the west side entrance.
While not related to the transportation system, you mentioned something in your post that made me curious… “It’s pretty much a rite of passage—like accidentally seeing the Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along or eating at the Italy booth.)” What does this mean? Having only been to WDW once, right after it reopened in August, I’m wondering if we should look out for this when we go back in June.
Tom has previously reviewed the still sort of new “Beauty and the Beast” sing along in the France pavilion at Epcot. It replaced “Impressions de France.” I took Tom’s advice and have never wasted my time with it. You can still see “Impressions de France,” but now it only plays in the evenings, usually after 6:30pm, and it is phenomenal (it’s a film). It used to play all day but was replaced by the “Beauty and the Beast” sing a long.
I have to say my experience over President’s Week with AoA vs. Pop was the opposite of what most of your facebook comments were. We found the buses at Pop arrived in quick succession, one after the other so that lines moved fairly quickly. In contrast, we decided on our Epcot day to take the bus from AoA instead of the Skyliner (having encountered terrible waits for Epcot opening on the Skyliner in the past – but not Hollywood Studios ironically). We thought maybe the bus would be a better bet, but we were wrong. We were on the first bus, but that didn’t arrive at AoA until almost 10:30 (we had been on buses for park opening at Pop around 60-90 minutes before park opening, so expected the same at AoA). At that point they easily had a good 10 buses worth of people waiting – likely because at the Skyliner station they were telling people the bus would be faster. We lost whatever rope drop advantage we were hoping to get for Test Track by arriving at the front vs. the back of the park. Lesson learned. Next time we’ll stick with the Skyliner and likely jump in line for Hollywood Studios and walk to Epcot from there if the Epcot line is long (a strategy that has worked well for us in the past and gotten us in as one of the first people in the park).
Wow, you skyliner to HS and then walk to Epcot, and that’s faster than skyliner to Epcot? Good to know. I once walked from Epcot to HS in 25 minutes. I thought I was fast.
My husband and I are pretty fast walkers – so it’s never taken us more than about 15 minutes to walk between the two (there’s also a shortcut most people don’t know by the Boardwalk pool that saves some time too).
i have not been there recently but i read through the facebook comments last night. saw a number of remarks about distancing and the wait it’s causing. i am all for distancing and limits on the buses, but disney simply needs to pony up and operate more buses to compensate. it’s common sense. they can’t operate the same number they would normally if distancing, but in many accounts, it almost seems that way from what others have said.
we stayed at CB years ago and said we probably would not ever again due to the bus issues, and sadly it sounds overall like those have not improved much in 15 years. skyliner might help, but they still need buses for some locations.
Staying in September. Hoping for a lot more clarity by then BUT I’ve seen several people post on different sites that they decided to drive themselves and then were held at the parking tolls booths while resort buses went in. Obviously for those wanting to rope drop that’s sort of a frustrating, no win situation. Would love more reporting and articles on navigating transportation as the summer goes on and (hopefully) things begin to settle into a more normal pattern. Thanks for your site! Always helpful and enjoyable to read!
Hi Tom! Thank you for the info, heading there in June and want as much info as possible.
I remember the last time we were at WDW, they had a bus schedule/estimated arrival time of WDW buses on the WDW app. It was very convenient. Is that defunct now?
Since I ride mass transit every day to work, I plan my Disney trips to avoid them. For example, I have reservations at the Contemporary for September 29-October 2 so I can walk to magic kingdom for the 50th anniversary and then am moving to the yacht club for 3 days to spend time at Epcot and Hollywood studios. The only park I will have to take a bus to is animal kingdom.
My biggest complaint about traveling by bus in WDW are their rules for scooters. I understand that you need to allow the guests with scooters to board first, but they need to make a permanent rule change that prevents their entire party from boarding with them at the same time and skipping the line. At most, it should be one add’l guest and if they don’t think the rest of their party will be able to board the same bus than they can wait for the next one or split up and arrive on 2 busses. It is extremely frustrating to patiently wait in line for 20 mins and then watch 2 guests with scooters arrive just as the bus pulls in and cut to the front of the line with their traveling party, which than pushes you to the next bus.
i’ve had similar thoughts over the years. they need some dedicated wheelchair party buses on standby for the busy times to load those folks on while having another bus for everyone who has been waiting in line. or, they need to have a way that the wheelchair party waits their allotted time in line the same as everyone else, then when it’s their turn, they load first. now, before anyone says anything, i have traveled with a wheelchair in our party in the past and am the first to say how disney is tops for treatment. but i will also say we would have no problem waiting our turn. i’ve never thought it was right that the scenario described above happens where a party can skip the bus line at the last moment. i understand ADA compliance, but there needs to be a better, more fair way for all.
One trick we did last week was hop on the AoA bus to get back to PC from DS. Only a one bus wait, while PC’s line was overflowing and starting well out of the zig zags. This was at about 9PM both nights we went to DS.
That’s one of our go-to tricks for any resorts within walking distance of one another. Also works great with the Crescent Lake resorts, Riviera & CBR, and Poly & GF. (Probably should’ve mentioned this in the post itself!)
I’d much rather walk a bit but have my wait be a ‘known quantity’ than wait around for a bus (or stand in any sort of line for it).
So if we drive ourselves from Disney hotel each day to parks, is there handicap parking at parks? Is there now transportation from parking spots to entrances? Can we make rope drop if driving?
Yes, no, yes.
My last trip we stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge. There were a few 40 minute waits or full buses. With little ones in tow, in the end, we rented a car.
So disappointing that Europa Park had a more reliable transport Infrastructure in Germany. We vowed that it would take a lot for us to return to WDW, opting for Anaheim and Paris many times instead.
Thanks for sharing your experience!
In part, I think it’s easier for the smaller theme park complexes to nail transportation. However, I also think people from countries with excellent mass transit are less forgiving when it’s bad.