Bus Sharing?

[ClaraOswald]

We just got home from BRV yesterday, small world! First time staying at Wilderness Lodge (at least not as locals with a car) and we found this to be by far the biggest drawback to the place, we pretty much decided we won't stay here again despite loving the ambiance.

One of the few times they weren't sharing a route with the Contemporary or Fort Wilderness, was the one morning we had breakfast reservations at Steakhouse 71 and figured we'd just jump on a bus to the Contemporary, WRONG. After finding out there was no contemporary bus this early, we figured we'd catch the Bay Lake Resort boat, only to find out it doesn't start running until 3pm, had just missed the magic kingdom boat so we hoofed it back to wait for an MK bus, had to go through MK security to walk to Contemporary (I have a camera with multiple lenses yay), it was a 45-50 minute affair by the time we sat down for breakfast from the time we originally got to the Wilderness Lodge bus stop. If they were still renting Water Mice we would have rented one and drove it over ourselves at that point.

This is why we find the Riviera to be superior when it comes to bus transportation, it has a small number of rooms, yet has dedicated bus service everywhere.

The fact that Bay Lake Tower, Contemporary, Wilderness Lodge, Copper Creek and Boulder Ridge share a bus line to several destinations at any point of the day is frankly unacceptable in my opinion.

Don't get me started on sharing with the Fort, it's so far out of the way given the route the buses have to take to the Fort. The one night we stopped at the Fort before the Lodge, the only guests on the bus for the Fort forgot to get off when the bus stopped (or were confused?) so the bus driver had to turn around in the Fort parking lot to take them back to the bus station.

Which days were you at BRV? I bet we crossed paths! We were there 20th-26th. First floor at the far end of the hall.

 

[psc85]

Which days were you at BRV? I bet we crossed paths! We were there 20th-26th. First floor at the far end of the hall.

Sunday the 21st to Saturday the 27th, we were 5th floor right off the elevator. Probably saw you at the bus stop because we typically head to the parks around 10-10:30!

 

[psc85]

Which days were you at BRV? I bet we crossed paths! We were there 20th-26th. First floor at the far end of the hall.

Also....staying at the Wilderness Lodge realllllly made us miss Grand Californian. We were discussing how amazing it would be if Wilderness Lodge was connected to a theme park like Grand Cal is!

 

[sndral]

So just the 2 stops that I assume are somewhat near each other? During the day (non rope drop/closing times), do the buses ever fill up with standing room only?

AKV is one of our home resorts & we rely on Disney transportation. We don’t do rope drop, so don’t know about that, but the only time it’s been crowded going to/from anywhere/AKV is at park closing. We always stay at Jambo, thus we’re the second stop & have never had to stand going to a park or DS (Jambo is first stop for DS) coming ‘home’ at park close, yes it can get packed. I’ll sometimes wait for another bus if we’ve been standing at the park bus stop for awhile rather than standing on the bus, IME it’s not unusual for the next bus to show up pretty fast after the packed first bus leaves. I suspect that what happens is that one bus gets delayed by slow to load/unload passengers resulting in the long wait at the park & the bus behind it ‘catches’ up to it.

 

[CastAStone]

I believe I’ve read that at very busy times like park opening, Kidani and Jambo have separate buses, but I’m not certain of that

It’s inconsistent, of course.

Buses can fill up at Kidani before they go to Jambo in the morning so they do seem to send some straight to Jambo.

But even in the morning our experience was we “shared” more often than not. It’s no big deal unless they need to load an ECV at each stop in which case that of course adds about 5 minutes per stop.

We found WL/CR resort bus sharing to be about 30 times more inconvenient

 

[DonMacGregor]

This is why we always rent a car, regardless of resort. Of all the amazing experiences to be had at the resorts, the last thing I’m going to do is discount one of them because I didn’t like the sardine can trip to and from a theme park. I absolutely hate the busses. DW had a different opinion until she had to take one back from MK to BCV at closing and had to watch 2 go past because they were doubling up with YC.

 

[Judique]

The AKL bus stops are about a 10 minute walk apart, one at Kidani and one at Jambo. I believe I’ve read that at very busy times like park opening, Kidani and Jambo have separate buses, but I’m not certain of that. I doubt that it’s standing room only during the non-busy times of day.

Many years ago BW (Villas and Inn) shared with Yacht, Beach, Swan, and Dolphin and was the last stop, and I can’t tell you how many times we watched very full buses to MK pass us by in the morning! Then Yacht & Beach got their own route, and BW just shared with Swan/Dolphin and was the first stop. Finally BW got its own route, so at busy times (park opening or closing) the bus doesn’t share, just goes directly to MK or AK. During the day, though, BW might share with Swan/Dolphin/Reserve, but it isn’t crowded then.

In December 2023 we (BWV) shared with Yacht and Beach while I was there. I only rode a couple of times so not sure if it was all the time or just 'my' trips to and from MK and Disney Springs. Probably just the 'me' effect as I rarely ride the buses.

 

[JoJoGirl]

Poly will sometimes share buses with GF - two stops total, Poly first. Yesterday we rode shared buses both ways to AK, morning and afternoon.

 

[kes601]

Buses can fill up at Kidani before they go to Jambo in the morning so they do seem to send some straight to Jambo.

They don't share in the morning unless you are talking about late morning (after 10:30). That's why some go straight to Jambo.

 

[sndral]

Poly will sometimes share buses with GF - two stops total, Poly first. Yesterday we rode shared buses both ways to AK, morning and afternoon.

VGF is our other home resort.
IME the GF always shares w/ the Poly for the 2 parks they bus to - AK & DHS & it’s always Poly first, a bus driver once told me (I know, I know, ) that because of the layout of the Poly driveway/bus stop they have to stop there first because going GF first would require the bus to do too much maneuvering to then go to the Poly?
I am slightly concerned about GF transportation after they open the Poly tower, especially that the buses will be more crowded once they arrive at the GF.

 

[skier_pete]

Riviera (1 stop)
AKV (2 stops - Kidani and Jambo)
SSR (5 stops)
OKW (5 stops)
GF/Poly (2 stops)
WL/FW - (2 or 3 stops - depends on park and time of day - some include contemporary)
BLT - (1 to 3 stops - depends on park and time of day)
BC/YC (2 stops - but some D Springs buses will include all 5 Epcot resorts)
BWV (1 stop - but some D Springs buses will include all 5 Epcot resorts)

I never thought of that as an advantage of Riviera, but it's a good point that there's only the one stop. I find resorts like BC/YC VGF/Poly and the AKV resorts even though there are two stops they are so close together and the buses tend not to be that crowded that they aren't a big deal. WL sharing with FW is a real stinker of inconvenience, and the SSR and OKW are just awful IMO.

 

[Genie+]

This is why we always rent a car, regardless of resort. Of all the amazing experiences to be had at the resorts, the last thing I’m going to do is discount one of them because I didn’t like the sardine can trip to and from a theme park. I absolutely hate the busses. DW had a different opinion until she had to take one back from MK to BCV at closing and had to watch 2 go past because they were doubling up with YC.

I am the DW in this scenario. DH does not want bus. I’m more prone to accept dealing with bus so I could spend that car rental money elsewhere. The few times we used the buses of course hiccups happened and I had to admit he was right! Lol.

 

[softballmom3]

We stayed @ AKV Jambo house in 2022. It was by far the worst bus experience we've had at any resort. Being the second stop, the bus would often fill up at Kidani so it wouldn't stop there and we would have to wait for another bus. Many times the bus was standing room only. It was so bad a cast member was out there trying to get a bus for Jambo house multiple times. This was not Christmas or any holiday either. We've stayed at AKV Jambo before and it wasn't that bad, but was still worse than anywhere else we've stayed and we've stayed at most resorts.

I'll add- this included early morning (which I heard wasn't the norm).

I would go back, but I would have a vehicle of my own to use or Uber/Lyft.

 

[sndral]

Riviera (1 stop)
AKV (2 stops - Kidani and Jambo)
SSR (5 stops)
OKW (5 stops)
GF/Poly (2 stops)
WL/FW - (2 or 3 stops - depends on park and time of day - some include contemporary)
BLT - (1 to 3 stops - depends on park and time of day)
BC/YC (2 stops - but some D Springs buses will include all 5 Epcot resorts)
BWV (1 stop - but some D Springs buses will include all 5 Epcot resorts)

I never thought of that as an advantage of Riviera, but it's a good point that there's only the one stop. I find resorts like BC/YC VGF/Poly and the AKV resorts even though there are two stops they are so close together and the buses tend not to be that crowded that they aren't a big deal. WL sharing with FW is a real stinker of inconvenience, and the SSR and OKW are just awful IMO.

I know that Disney stopped providing buses for the Swan/Dolphin to the parks & they have their own buses now. The friendship boats still stop at the Swan/Dolphin dock, though, do you know if Disney still provides buses to Disney Springs for Swan/Dolphin guests?
Because the Swan/Dolphin buses are apparently not as convenient, especially the MK route which drops/picks up at the TTC, I’ve read that a lot of Swan/Dolphin guests now walk to/from the BW or YC stops to use the Disney buses.

 

[CarolynFH]

I know that Disney stopped providing buses for the Swan/Dolphin to the parks & they have their own buses now. The friendship boats still stop at the Swan/Dolphin dock, though, do you know if Disney still provides buses to Disney Springs for Swan/Dolphin guests?
Because the Swan/Dolphin buses are apparently not as convenient, especially the MK route which drops/picks up at the TTC, I’ve read that a lot of Swan/Dolphin guests now walk to/from the BW or YC stops to use the Disney buses.

No, Disney doesn’t provide any buses for Swan/Dolphin/Reserve. I’m sure Marriott pays for the boats to Epcot and DHS.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Sunday the 21st to Saturday the 27th, we were 5th floor right off the elevator. Probably saw you at the bus stop because we typically head to the parks around 10-10:30!

I bet we did! We were a family of 3 - me, my husband, and our 10 year old son. I'm immunocompromised so we always wore masks on the bus which definitely made us stand out, I think.

Also....staying at the Wilderness Lodge realllllly made us miss Grand Californian. We were discussing how amazing it would be if Wilderness Lodge was connected to a theme park like Grand Cal is!

Yes! We really did enjoy the boat ride to MK a lot though. Relaxing and convenient.

 

[kes601]

No, Disney doesn’t provide any buses for Swan/Dolphin/Reserve. I’m sure Marriott pays for the boats to Epcot and DHS.

Pre-covid closure (or perhaps it ended before them) Disney did provide buses (I'm sure at Marriott's expense) to at least MK and AK. This is why they used to drop at the same location as Disney buses instead of at the TTC.

 

[crvetter]

Pre-covid closure (or perhaps it ended before them) Disney did provide buses (I'm sure at Marriott's expense) to at least MK and AK. This is why they used to drop at the same location as Disney buses instead of at the TTC.

Correct Swolphin used to pay Disney for buses to all parks. Though when the contract ran out they didn't renew it and pay for their own buses now. Though they still cover their share of boat costs.

 

[skier_pete]

I know that Disney stopped providing buses for the Swan/Dolphin to the parks & they have their own buses now. The friendship boats still stop at the Swan/Dolphin dock, though, do you know if Disney still provides buses to Disney Springs for Swan/Dolphin guests?
Because the Swan/Dolphin buses are apparently not as convenient, especially the MK route which drops/picks up at the TTC, I’ve read that a lot of Swan/Dolphin guests now walk to/from the BW or YC stops to use the Disney buses.

I actually didn't know that. I guess now those DS buses don't stop at Swan and Dolphin. It doesn't seem like that long ago that we stopped at those resorts.

 

[crvetter]

I actually didn't know that. I guess now those DS buses don't stop at Swan and Dolphin. It doesn't seem like that long ago that we stopped at those resorts.

It basically stopped near when the parks reopened. I think October 2020.