Disney World hotels have a lot of perks that, for many people, ease the pain of that hefty price tag.
Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin
Not only are you immersed in the Disney magic (we call it the “Disney bubble”), but you can also use complimentary Disney transportation to get wherever you need to go. Sometimes, you have the choice of taking a Monorail, boat, or the Skyliner, but other times, your only choice will be the bus. Disney buses can be great, but we have a MASSIVE gripe with the bus stops at some Disney World hotels. Hear us out.
At some Disney World hotels, there really isn’t a physical LINE at the bus stops. What do we mean by that? Let us show you. Here, we have the bus stop at Disney’s All-Star Music Resort. See that? There is a clear line with a beginning and an end.
Bus stop
Now, here is the bus stop at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort. See the difference? There’s no line! Who’s at the front of the line to board the bus? No one can tell. It’s pure anarchy. OK, that may be an exaggeration, but you get the point. There isn’t any clear line here!
Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
Need an example? Let’s set the scene — you’re at Port Orleans Riverside waiting for the bus to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Your bus is arriving in about ten minutes, and everyone else around you is waiting for the same bus. Some people are sitting, some are standing. A loose “line” is starting to take shape near the road, but the bus hasn’t arrived yet. You’ve been waiting at the bus stop for about fifteen minutes, but out of the corner of your eye, a large group is approaching the bus stop. Uh oh.
Port Orleans – Riverside
Finally, the bus arrives. Predictably, everyone swarms for the bus, and the next thing you know, you’ve ended up at the back of the line. Talk about frustrating!
This has happened to us on many occasions, and that sums up our gripe. At Disney World’s value hotels, Disney has clear lines for each bus, meaning you’ll never be worried about accidentally cutting in front of someone else or feeling frustrated that someone has cut in front of you. Our question is: why aren’t those lines set up EVERYWHERE? We understand that some of the larger hotels have multiple bus stops, so that means ALL of them would need to be revamped…but that seems like a pretty worthy investment to us.
Bus stop at All-Star Movies
Alas, we can beg Disney all we want to bring these to all hotels, and maybe we’ll eventually get our wish. Until that time, though, here are some tips to keep in mind when you find yourself in this situation:
- Make sure your stroller is folded up BEFORE the bus arrives. This will save you time when it’s time to board the bus.
- Be prepared. Don’t waffle around once the bus shows up! Once you’re near that bus and in that semblance of a line, the only way to move is FORWARD.
- Pay close attention to the screens at the bus station, which will tell you what bus is arriving and update in REAL TIME. So if your bus is suddenly arriving 5 minutes early, you’ll know!
Disney transportation screens
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Scooters…. and their families. Sorry, but, Come on now, we’re all waiting.
A separate mean of transfer should be afforded to this.
Once got on to stand with my kids, while 3 scooters (1party)took up all the open space.
Moderate and Deluxe get more buses than the value. When you stay at value you wait a long time for transportation. Value- Art of Animation and Pop Century have the skyliner (I would recommend them to get around fast). Moderate and Deluxe guests don’t run you over. Some deluxe guests get feisty when they share a bus with another resort–polynesian and grand floridian going to studios.
This is definitely a pet peeve of mine. I have often had to wait for another bus even though I was one of the first ones there because of people rushing in front of my family.
I hate the mob scene lack of queue and fairness at these resorts. Disney transportation is bad enough. This just makes it worst
This is the exact reason we stopped staying at Port Orleans Riverside. It is chaos every time a bus comes, especially in the morning.
I have experienced this several times at Beach Club resort. My family and one other family was at the bus stop first and a large group of like 20 people swarmed and cut as soon as the bus pulled up. Another time it was a big family of 9 people cut and jumped ahead of us for the bus line saying “we got little ones” pointing to their kids who weren’t much younger than my kids. It got annoying so we ended up taking a Minnie Van to Magic Kingdom for our last day because we were tired of having so many people cut the line at Beach Club. The roped queue lines at value resorts like AOA and Pop as well as All Star Movies was much better for lining up to get on the bus.
Big pet peeve of mine too. We stay at Beach Club so lucky enough we skip the bus for two parks and sometimes MK if we hop through Epcot. When we do head to the bus I usually stand up by the stop but make note of anyone sitting on the seats and let them ahead of me as best I can. I hate when people just jam ahead of everyone when they just walked up with a large group.
1) The lines with the ropes are probably there because there will be more people at these resorts trying to get a bus. These are cheaper resorts, hence more people for the buses.
2) The buses show up so far apart that the lines get longer and longer. Hence, more people
3) the stops without rope lines are the pricier hotels. Less people to get on a bus. Plus, they might be within walking distance of Epcot and they can take the more regular monorail to Magic kingdom.
1000% Agree. I stayed a couple nights at All Star Music, which I LOVED, then went to Port Orleans French Quarter. I was first in line when someone tried to cut in front of me but the bus driver saw it and told them there was a back of the line lol.
It is clear that Disney could use some improvement with their resort bus service. It was not this way back in the 1990’s to 2010, then all the hotel building began to come 0n line with more guests staying on site and it feels like the bus service was not expanded to meet the demand. Wait times increased, busses became more filled and tempers have been stretched. 9n short, they need more buses.
Oh wow, I thought I was the only one who thought this. I completely agree to the point that the set lines are actually listed as a pro for us when discussing where we want to stay. We like the moderates but default to POP or Art usually because of the ease of transportation. The lines do play a part.
Hey your right.
The economical resorts have marked off lines.
I’ve stayed at those ones.
Just recently I stayed at animal kingdom.
No barriers at all. Since the tourist are lost in transit, and everyone is lost in there own we got infront
I couldn’t agree more with this! And the comment that guests staying at moderate and deluxe resorts don’t run you over, I very much beg to differ. That sense of entitlement gets even worse for some at the higher rated resorts. Internal Disney transports systems need an overhaul.
I agree that people need to have their strollers FOLDED AND READY to get on the bus when it gets there!!! Too many times they hold up the line of people getting on the bus!
Easy fix if you have a rental car or drove there with your own car. Take your car to the parks. As a resort guest you get to park for free at the parks. You pull into the parking lot and take a tram to gates unless close enough to walk it. Magic Kingdom is a coin toss for bus to car since with car you have to also take monorail or ferry
this is why the all stars rock
Same with Fort Wilderness; we usually go to MK on the boat- our first official “ride” of the day then park hop on the monorail to Epcot.
We hated the first come/last on bus stops for the rest of our venues.
Agree!! I hate to start my day battling line jumpers. All Star resorts have it figured out. We were there in May and when we noticed our bus wasn’t arriving for 10 minutes we waited in the shade along with our other resort friends. When time got closer, we got in line and we knew who was really there first. We went to French Quarter and it was crazy. And no distinct bus stop so a line formed and the bus stop short. So those folks at the front now have to move to the back. The other resorts can come up with a cue system.
I’ve been impressed with passengers waiting to board when somebody with disabilities approaches the line. It’s like Moses parting the Red Sea, and the person gets right to the front. (Then again, I visited during the off-season)
I sort of agree with one other issue. Love the real lines at the values but there is no cover. The bus stops at the moderates and deluxes are covered. So you either get a real line but bake in the sun or get drenched or you get cover and have the running of the bulls.
I agree wholeheartedly with the “MAKE SURE YOUR STROLLERS ARE FOLDED…”!!!! It is such a pain in the backside when people don’t do this for ANY transportation service and then it holds everyone else up!!! RUDE!!! When my children were young, we made it a point to fold our stroller!!! I had an infant on my hip, the bag carrying all of our necessities on my back and my husband had the hands of our two older children!!! Even with an infant in tow, I would give up a seat to someone who obviously needed it and would stand for the ride! I give up my seat to this day to people with infants or very young children and to the elderly and I am in my 60’s. I am still capable of standing on the bus or monorail!!!
Port Orleans Riverside is our favorite place to stay but I agree about the bus stops being crazy. Everyone just jams ahead. No sense of anyone else being around them. They really need to do something to things more organized.
I agree!! All the stops need stanchions!
I feel like the main reason for these to be installed is most people have not or do not use public transit of any sort ever. There are unwritten “rules” of etiquette when using public transportation. If you are not aware it doesn’t occure to you. Plus now you’re excited and distracted at Disney! Definitely paying less attention. More stanchions please!
Agree 100%. It’s sad but WDW is one place that people are NOT afraid to be downright rude. For some reason, manners, fairness and consideration go out the window when thousands of $$ come into play. At these bus stops we arrive extra early and plant ourselves on the yellow line and don’t budge. First there, should be first on, with the exception of handicapped, of course. I agree with others that the sheer # of people on scooters lately really changes the dynamics of bussing. 20-30 years ago there were SOOO many LESS scooters!!
We stay at AoA or Pop so that we can use the skyliner for EPCOT and Hollywood and then use our vehicle to drive ourselves to MK and AK. And this bus issue is the main reason we do.
I agree with everything that’s been said here. I hope everyone takes the time to submit their suggestions to Disney. The more voices that are raised in unison, the better the chances are that something will be done about the situation.
People are quite aggressive at the bus stops going to early entry rope drop. This is why we always wait. It’s simply not worth the crowding and aggression. I am disabled and have to use a scooter (I have my own). People glare at you because you board first, for their safety. You get off last but they don’t notice. At French Quarter once a dad had all his kids stand on the wheelchair square at the bus stop so no one who was disabled could board first.