Shuttles? For Good Neighbor Hotels

[beckymomof2]

Do the Good Neighbor Hotels all use the same shuttle system?

 

[beckymomof2]

by shuttle system I am referring to hotel to park (not referring to the airport)

 

[joelkfla]

The Disney Springs area hotels on Hotel Plaza Blvd & Buena Vista Dr. share shuttle buses, run by Mears. I don't know if any other hotels are designated "Good Neighbors"; if there are, they would have a different shuttles.

 

[Marshel]

Disney Good Neighbor hotels refer to non-Disney hotels that can be booked through the Disney Travel Company (although they try really hard to push you to on site resorts these days). The 7 Disney Springs Hotels happen to be Good Neighbor hotels, and they do have their own dedicated shuttle service that runs every 30 minutes to the parks. All other Good Neighbor hotels have their own shuttle services that are almost always shared with other area hotels and runs infrequently, usually 2 in the morning and 2 at night. Relying on these shuttles can be a pain and will lead to lots of disappointment, full buses that make many stops and often get you to the parks well after rope drop. If you're not at a Disney Springs motel, strongly advise renting a car or planning on relying on Uber or Lyft.

 

[dancin Disney style]

The DS resort shuttle service is not that bad. There is an A line and a B line. A is one side of the street and B is the other. The bus stop at the resorts will have a sign that says A or B(so you know which one you need to use to get back) and then when the bus pulls up it will say on it which parks it is going to. Pretty simple.

 

[Santa]

How quickly do those shuttle busses fill up in the mornings?
If a bus is at capacity before getting to the last stop, will they run a secondary bus or do you wait for the next one to come along & hope there is room?

 

[Lewisc]

How quickly do those shuttle busses fill up in the mornings?
If a bus is at capacity before getting to the last stop, will they run a secondary bus or do you wait for the next one to come along & hope there is room?

Neither. Many of the hotels require a reservation day prior. Once the bus is fully booked you're out of luck.

I'm not referring to the DS hotels

 

[writerguyfl]

How quickly do those shuttle busses fill up in the mornings?
If a bus is at capacity before getting to the last stop, will they run a secondary bus or do you wait for the next one to come along & hope there is room?

Note: This information relates to the seven Disney Springs Hotels.

I've stayed well over 100 nights at various Disney Springs Hotels over the past few years. In my experience, I've never seen a bus heading to the theme parks completely full. That said, I'm not a "rope drop" person. Still, I don't think it's a common occurrence.

As joelkfla notes, the buses are run by Mears Transportation. That's the same company that runs Disney's Magical Express Service. They are huge. If there's a problem, it's pretty easy for them to an additional bus. When the parks close, there almost always is a Mears employee stationed at the bus stop. I overheard one tell an anxious family that if the bus to their hotel was full, he'd call for back-up.

Although each bus stops at multiple hotels before heading to the theme parks, these hotels are literally next to each other. It takes 1-2 minutes in most cases to travel between each hotel. With the exception of each of the Hilton hotels, each hotel is relatively small (when compared to Disney resorts). As such, there usually aren't more than a handful of guests waiting at each hotel.

The two Hilton hotels both have large convention centers. When full, the bulk of the guests staying there are usually attending meetings at the hotel. Those guests won't be heading to theme parks each morning.

Route A (in order of pick-up):

• Hilton Lake Buena Vista (814 rooms)
• Holiday Inn Disney Springs (323 rooms)
• B Resort and Spa (394 rooms)
• DoubleTree Suites (325 rooms)

Route B (in order of pick-up):

• Best Western Lake Buena Vista (229 rooms)
• Wyndham (232 room in tower, 394 rooms in Garden wings)
• Hilton Buena Vista Palace (1,014 rooms)

More information on the Disney Springs Hotels can be found in the "Orlando Hotels and Attractions" forum. Link: https://www.disboards.com/forums/orlando-hotels-and-attractions.15/

Opinions on the pros and cons of the Disney Springs Hotels (including transportation) can be found in this thread: https://www.disboards.com/threads/disney-springs-resorts-vs-onsite.3624239/