Wilderness Lodge - Bus or Boat

[RockNRollKittie]

This May will be the first time I'm staying at a resort that offers boat transportation to the parks. From your experience which do you prefer boat or bus? How are the crowds? How often do the boats arrive/depart the resort? Any information/opinions are appreciated!

 

[GillianP1301]

We stayed at WL a few years back. We had a car and drove to all parks except MK. My experience was the bus was much faster, but the boat was a nicer overall experience. We would generally take the bus to MK and the boat back. The wait time on the boat was a bit long on the days we used it (15ish minutes) and one day was extraordinarily bad and we ended up waiting 40 minutes and that wasn't waiting through a long line of people with multiple boats loaded, it took 40 minutes to get a boat there. It was frustrating because 3 boats left for the campground almost empty in that same 40 minutes. I think that was a 1 off though and assuming a 15 minute wait is probably safe.

 

[Capang]

If I want to rope drop I take the bus. At the end of the day I love the boat. If I’m not in a rush it’s akways the boat. It’s about 15-20 minutes by boat to MK and by bus it’s about 5 or so. Love the boat to CR and FW as well. I always found the boats to run more frequently than the buses, but maybe that’s because I can always see the boat coming. Never had a super huge crowd on the boat like you get for the bus.

 

[Smalerie]

I stayed at Wilderness Lodge a couple years ago and the boat to the Magic Kingdom was a game changer. Taking the first boat in the morning was not only really pretty, but it felt like you were already starting your day with some special. We took that boat back and forth all the time and except for the usual busy times, we never had an issue waiting for it or getting on the boat. Considering that I have waited up to 40 mins for a bus, waiting for the boat didn't seem like that much of a difference. I think the longest waiting time we had was maybe 15-20mins.

The boats are also more comfortable and less cramped.