Pop reducing bus service to 1/hour

Agreed - the last few times the bus service has been bad for me as it was. I was hoping the skyliner would take some of the pressure off as we waited many times an hour to get a bus when they were coming "every 20 minutes" - but I am traveling with one that is very distrustful of the skyliner system so we were planning on using the buses mainly. This is a wrench in the plan - we go in a week so I'm looking for reports and debating calling to see if they will accommodate me at a different resort.
We were at Pop last December and the 2 times we went to HS we had to wait for a second bus, because it filled up before we could get on. The waits were still just 20-30 minutes though. So wasn't too bad. I'm scared of heights but really liked the Skyliner. We used it to get back to Pop from HS and it was a very fast and comfortable ride.
 
At POP AoA, this seems easily solved - just schedule buses on the hour at each resort, but stagger them by 1/2 an hour. You can walk between the two in 10 minutes. Of course, you'd need to know when the buses were expected to be at each resort, but that would cut your wait down considerably.
 
I think it is one bus that goes to both Pop Century and Art of Animation.

If there were two buses, having shared buses every 30 minutes would be superior to separate buses every hour.

The spacing would not be exactly 30 minutes since the buses should alternate which resort they start at.
 
I think it is one bus that goes to both Pop Century and Art of Animation.

If there were two buses, having shared buses every 30 minutes would be superior to separate buses every hour.

The spacing would not be exactly 30 minutes since the buses should alternate which resort they start at.
Pop and Art currently don’t share buses. But if they determine that buses aren’t filling up each hour at each of the resorts, I definitely see the possibility of shared buses between the two resorts in the future.
 


Good luck. I hope they accommodate you. Please let us know. Also consider uber or lift.
I do plan on Lyft for one morning but one of the big reasons I stay on site is the provided transportation. My friend has been watching the breakdowns, the swap to busses, time in the air, etc. and we are concerned on the reliability factor. Trying to go in with an open mind as we decided to stay put and try it . . . .
 
I read on another blog that someone spent a day sitting at the bus stop at Pop. Apparently, the buses did not seem to be following a set time schedule. For instance it was not like they were scheduled to arrive on the hour, or on the half hour and there was really no reliable posting of the next arrival time. :-(
 
I read on another blog that someone spent a day sitting at the bus stop at Pop. Apparently, the buses did not seem to be following a set time schedule. For instance it was not like they were scheduled to arrive on the hour, or on the half hour and there was really no reliable posting of the next arrival time. :-(
I think that’s a given. I mean they’re saying hourly, but that’s definitely not going to be exact, and from what I understand, MDE and the bus stops don’t give bus arrival times anymore. They just say use the skyliner.
 


and we are concerned on the reliability factor.
What, exactly, has you concerned with the reliability? That it will not come? That it will stop for hours/days? That (despite extensive testing and live operation for at least six months, it won't run? That it will be completely and permanently shut down before you arrive?

I read on another blog that someone spent a day sitting at the bus stop at Pop.
Why?????????? Even without park tickets, there has to be something to do onsite other than the equivalent of watching a lot of water?
 
Why?????????? Even without park tickets, there has to be something to do onsite other than the equivalent of watching a lot of water?

He has a blog and was doing a 1st person report on what was happeing with the new bus schedule change.
 
I've thought and thought about this. Even sort of went back for awhile mentally on my "I'm not staying at POP!" thing for a couple of days. Told myself, "Oh it won't be so bad. How bad can the gondolas be?" Told myself, "Oh, it'll be fine. Just stay at Pop Century next time."

I just can't. The biggest draw for me to POP for our next trip was the dedicated buses that never shared with another resort, along with the ability to walk over to AoA and get those buses, too. But holy cow, practically every time it rains in FL, it's thunder & lightning, too. So every time there's lightning, they'll be shutting down the Skyliner. And then everybody moves en masse to the ONE bus per hour to Epcot or HS. And then wait 30-60 min for more buses to show up.

No thanks.

I'll stay at All Star Movies instead.

I am sure there are many others with different experiences, but over the last 30 years I have made over 50 trips to Disney World. We have experienced rain on many of those trips. I can think of one trip that had one lightening instance. I have never been in August or February if that matters.

I realize gondolas are not for everyone. We ski frequently and ride them all the time. Never had a major issue. Personally I much prefer them to a bus. We own at BWV due to the walk ability to two parks. Last trip we took the gondola from DHS to Epcot. We had a short delay, but it was much faster than the boat and about the same as we can walk it.
 
The Skyliner system has just one major flaw. There is no backup transportation at the Epcot station able to handle the passenger load in the event of an outage of the Epcot-Riviera-Caribbean Beach link.

Suitable solutions would be complimentary surreys, Main Street Vehicles, etc. to Hollywood Studios, or backstage shuttles to the Epcot bus terminal, or if weather is not the issue, more Friendship boats.

Or maintaining bus service from Future World to the Skyliner resorts on demand with wait time averaging no more than service to other resorts.

It does not make sense to advise guests that service from Future World back to their resorts runs just once an hour and the guests go to the primary transportation station for their resorts outside International Gateway only to find a ca. one hour wait there.
Not to mention the fact that the Skyliner drops off at the IG and if there were a failure on the Epcot-Riviera-CB line, guests would have to go THROUGH Epcot to the front of the park to catch a bus. If they don't have a park hopper or AP, they are out of luck.
 
Not to mention the fact that the Skyliner drops off at the IG and if there were a failure on the Epcot-Riviera-CB line, guests would have to go THROUGH Epcot to the front of the park to catch a bus. If they don't have a park hopper or AP, they are out of luck.

When the Skyliner is down, they send guests to the Skyliner resorts to the Boardwalk and they send extra buses there. They don’t send them through the parks.

At least this is what was done when it went down back in October.
 
Not to mention the fact that the Skyliner drops off at the IG and if there were a failure on the Epcot-Riviera-CB line, guests would have to go THROUGH Epcot to the front of the park to catch a bus. If they don't have a park hopper or AP, they are out of luck.
No they just return to the Yacht/Beach/Boardwalk and catch a bus. It may require a transfer, but still do-able.

I love all of the speculation about all of the what if's without it actually happening.
 
No they just return to the Yacht/Beach/Boardwalk and catch a bus. It may require a transfer, but still do-able.

I love all of the speculation about all of the what if's without it actually happening.
I assumed there was a more logical answer...my brain is a little foggy with the cold medicine today:crazy:
 
Do you all think this bus reduction is permanent? My other half won't ride the Skyliner - period - afraid of heights. Is this just Pop right now or is this also true at AoA? I'm trying to decide where to book our next stay - and buses once an hour to two parks would not work for us. I dislike losing Pop at an option as we really liked those lakeview rooms, but I guess I could book at an All-Stars.....
 
Do you all think this bus reduction is permanent? My other half won't ride the Skyliner - period - afraid of heights. Is this just Pop right now or is this also true at AoA? I'm trying to decide where to book our next stay - and buses once an hour to two parks would not work for us. I dislike losing Pop at an option as we really liked those lakeview rooms, but I guess I could book at an All-Stars.....
The change is at all Skyliner resorts, Pop, AoA, CBR and Riviera.
IMHO, I think it’s permanent as long as the Skyliner remains reliable, there’s no need to duplicate their transportation expense, especially when they struggle to hire enough bus drivers.

I know everyone is different, but my other half really, really, really didn’t like the idea of the Skyliner and the heights. She reluctantly rode with us. She still calls them “flying death buckets”, but appreciated the constant loading over waiting for buses.
 
Do you all think this bus reduction is permanent? My other half won't ride the Skyliner - period - afraid of heights. Is this just Pop right now or is this also true at AoA? I'm trying to decide where to book our next stay - and buses once an hour to two parks would not work for us. I dislike losing Pop at an option as we really liked those lakeview rooms, but I guess I could book at an All-Stars.....
Yes. It’s a drag, I know, especially for people who love Pop, but can’t ride the skyliner.
I’d look into Movies. It’s my favourite AllStars.
 
Why dont people complain to the pop century hotel managers, disney guest services. I think wilderness lodge has both buses and boats and i have not heard of any restrictions on the buses. If you booked your trip before this announcement you should be compensated financially. There are some people afraid of heights, hanging over water etc or even claustrophobic who cannot take the skyliner. This is wrong on disney's part. There goes the disney magic again, if people are inconvenienced or are afraid to ride the skyliner.
 
Why dont people complain to the pop century hotel managers, disney guest services. I think wilderness lodge has both buses and boats and i have not heard of any restrictions on the buses. If you booked your trip before this announcement you should be compensated financially. There are some people afraid of heights, hanging over water etc or even claustrophobic who cannot take the skyliner. This is wrong on disney's part. There goes the disney magic again, if people are inconvenienced or are afraid to ride the skyliner.
Complaining I get, but I would not expect complaining to the hotel managers to get anywhere. I don't think a guest is entitled to financial compensation. For what? A free service that doesn't run as often? Equating it to WL doesn't work because the boats are the supplement to the busses. Whereas at Pop, they're making the busses supplement the Skyliner. Just my .02.
 

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