Is anyone currently/ recently at WDW?

[Aliceacc]

We're hoping to return next summer. And I keep going back and forth on the subject of transportation.

With reduced transportation capacity, I'm anticipating really long lines waiting for buses. If that's the case, we'll probably book the Dolphin, to avoid those long waits.
But if the waits are somehow more reasonable than I'm thinking, we could save lots of money by staying on site.
Any input?

 

[GADisneyDad14]

In case you don’t know, Swan/Dolphin recently changed their bus transportation. Instead of being served by Disney buses, they are now served by the large Mears coaches and use theme park pickup/drop off locations for other third-party/off site resort shuttles. The most material impact is MK as you are now dropped off/picked up at the TTC rather than the MK bus depot right in front of the park.

I’ve had a few stays at different resorts since July and on the whole, to me bus transportation has been pretty much normal. Sometimes short waits, sometimes long waits, and every shade in between. Some of the bus lines have ‘looked’ worse than they are just given the spacing, but move quickly when a bus boards. Sometimes you miss one because they’ve filled all the spots, sometimes you’re the only one one. These are all things I would have said in normal times as well.

Overall and with only a few exceptions, our experiences with the buses have been fine/uneventful, although we have been occasionally supplementing with rideshare or rental car as well in times where we wanted more control over our timing.

 

[Brett Wyman]

Rent a car. It will be the best 300 bucks you have ever spent with the current state of transportation at the parks(MDE included). And our family LOVES to park the car(we drive) and never see it again until check-out day. We are huge fans of all things Disney transportation. But right now it's just not worth it.

 

[kanerf]

I got back from a 10 day stay on 1 Nov. I do not recall any issues with the busses other then the driver only lets on one group (family) at a time and tells you where to sit which does slow pickup a bit.

 

[Aliceacc]

In case you don’t know, Swan/Dolphin recently changed their bus transportation. Instead of being served by Disney buses, they are now served by the large Mears coaches and use theme park pickup/drop off locations for other third-party/off site resort shuttles. The most material impact is MK as you are now dropped off/picked up at the TTC rather than the MK bus depot right in front of the park.

I’ve had a few stays at different resorts since July and on the whole, to me bus transportation has been pretty much normal. Sometimes short waits, sometimes long waits, and every shade in between. Some of the bus lines have ‘looked’ worse than they are just given the spacing, but move quickly when a bus boards. Sometimes you miss one because they’ve filled all the spots, sometimes you’re the only one one. These are all things I would have said in normal times as well.

Overall and with only a few exceptions, our experiences with the buses have been fine/uneventful, although we have been occasionally supplementing with rideshare or rental car as well in times where we wanted more control over our timing.

Yes, I saw that, and it's certainly entering into my thoughts. So maybe we'll rent a car. Or maybe walk to the Boardwalk or BC/YC on our Magic Kingdom days.
Or maybe we'll just stay at Caribbean Beach.
I am SO on the fence!!!

 

[Disneyfan754321]

We rented a car thinking it was going to be crazy,
I wish we had just used uber.
After the $340 rental car for a week.. $20 daily parking fees... we drove to the parks and parked every other car with no tram. If we had just used uber we could have avoided so much stress.. and be dropped off curbside.

 

[ParrotBill]

I was at Saratoga Springs Oct. 20-30. Used buses perhaps 6 days. Most of the time I was "off-peak" and there were no issues getting on to buses. Twice, we did see multiple buses pass by a bus stop full on their way to a park, with increasingly upset people who'd been waiting more than 30 minutes watching multiple buses go by.