The Disney Skyliner is a new mode of transportation offered to help guests get around Walt Disney World resort. If you’re staying at one of the four Disney resorts on the Skyliner, you can now get to Hollywood Studios or Epcot in a matter of minutes by hopping on the gondola line.
Disney Skyliner
While up until this point, the other options for free transportation at Disney World have stayed the same for the resorts on the Skyliner line, it looks like that has now changed!
The Disney Bus Service to both Epcot and Hollywood Studios has been reduced to once per hour at Disney’s Caribbean Beach, Pop Century, Art of Animation, and Riviera Resorts. Instead, guests at these resorts are being directed to use the Disney Skyliner to travel to Epcot and Hollywood Studios, as evidenced by this sign at the bus station of Pop Century.
Pop Century Bus Stop
We spotted a similar notice at the Caribbean Beach Resort as well, advising guests to use the Skyliner for trips to Epcot and Hollywood Studios.
Caribbean Beach Bus Stop
Even though the signs seem to imply the Skyliner is the only way to access these parks, multiple Cast Members assured us that the buses will still be coming to these resorts, just at a greatly reduced rate. The change has been implemented to all four resorts on the Skyliner, so for the quickest (and most scenic!) way to get to Epcot or Hollywood Studios, you’re likely going to want to take the most magical ride in the sky!
If the Skyliner isn’t your jam and you’re not wanting to wait an hour for the bus, check out another mode of transportation at Walt Disney World Resort here!
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What do you think of the reduced bus service to Epcot at each of these resorts? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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I’m really angry about this. I literally just moved to Pop because of the free dining.
What about people that are afraid of heights? What about those who want to use the main entrance of Epcot rather than International Gateway?
What happens when the skyliner shuts down due to the daily thunderstorms? Or has a malfunction?
I’m really not happy about this at all.
Ugh!! I noticed this might be the case when we stayed at Pop the week before Thanksgiving. We waited quite a long time for buses to come when leaving Hollywood Studios each time. I get terrible vertigo and absolutely HATED the Skyliner so this is such a bummer!
I really don’t understand the big deal. You don’t book a room at the Polynesian and expect a bus to take you to Epcot. You get on the monorail! You don’t book a room at the Beach Club and expect a bus to take you to Hollywood Studios. You board a boat.
This seems like a logical decision by Disney and I will continue to enjoy the efficiency of using the Skyliner. If the Skyliner is down, Disney sends more buses to compensate, nothing to worry about.
If you have a fear of heights, don’t book a room at the Pop, Art, Caribbean Beach, Riviera (Skyliner) or the Contemporary, G Flo, Poly (monorail). If you have a fear of boats/water, don’t book a room at the Boardwalk, Beach, Yacht, Swan, Dolphin, or Wilderness.
Not happy about this decision because our son has Autism and doesn’t do heights. If all we see is “use skyliner” on the board, how do we know when a bus WILL arrive for EPCOT or Hollywood Studios if one is to arrive once every hour?
AJ, I have yet to find operating hours anywhere for the Skyliner. Is there any consistency to it as to when it starts for the day?
Will the shortened bus schedule be this way first thing in the morning (6:30-7 AM) when the parks first open or is this mainly during the middle of the day?
How very cheap of Disney. I’m sorry but some people have kids that are dog tired and ready for bed. Come on Disney.
Does this mean guests who are staying at hotels without access to the Skyliner have a shorter wait time for the buses? If so this kind works in my favor as an upcoming guest at the All Star Movies Resort 🙂 Does anyone know when this comes into effect?
We were at Pop and received 1 minutes notice of this new policy.
I complained heartily to management about the fact that there was no notification of this change in policy. My wife is severely afraid of heights and started having Panic attacks, just getting close to trying it.
This is clearly a way to reduce the cost of higher cost employees,
to the deficit of customer service. We saw many examples of this during the last week.
We shall not be returning to Pop, AoA or Caribbean beach until this policy changes…
There was a comment above:
David says
January 7, 2020 at 1:14 pm
I really don’t understand the big deal. You don’t book a room at the Polynesian and expect a bus to take you to Epcot. You get on the monorail! You don’t book a room at the Beach Club and expect a bus to take you to Hollywood Studios. You board a boat.
My reply: The big deal is, Pop Century had buses to both parks every 10 minutes when we booked our vacation and without notice to anyone with reservations they reduced the buses to every hour and assume that is ok for those people to just embrace the skyliner. If I booked at the Polynesian and expected to use the monorail and then it was reduced to service once an hour and I was told I could take some other mode of transportation that would also not be ok. We book our trip 6 months to a year in advance, we have our dining reservations set with the assumption that the bus service was every 10 minutes as it was when we booked our vacation. We have people in our party that have issues with heights, claustrophobic, vertigo, and other medical conditions.
The skyliner is supposed to be an ALTERNATIVE mode of transportation. NOT a replacement for the busses.
And if they are going to completely remove the bus option then they need to FILL those gondolas to max capacity. Which I have NEVER seen them do.
It is a big deal that they changed the rules without any notice!
My daughter tried it and was swaying so much that she was nauseated.
It’s the fact that we didn’t have a choice. It was a too bad you’re doing what we tell you to do. And it was freaking cold and windy
I am apprehensi d about this xhange because I do not know if I will like the Skyliner. I too have verrigo, and if I get àn attack, it will really ruin my day. We are arrivi g in a few weeks, so cannot change our hotel reservarion. I àlways rhought the buses were fantastic on our previous 4 visits – the way they circled quickly made it great ro get around without losing park time.
I love it when people say “what’s the big deal?” You have to remember that “one man’s ceiling is another man’s floor“. We are all different and we all have different needs. It may not just be as simple as booking another hotel if the one you want is more budget friendly for your family. It may not be so simple, as in my case, where I have a family member who is handicapped and incapacitated in some ways. Yes, the gondolas are supposed to be wheelchair accessible. But if you have a person with special needs who cannot afford to be caught up in the air while on the gondola if it breaks breaks down again – you need an alternative and the buses have proven to be a much better solution. You have a driver – so if you have an emergency your driver can get you assistance right away or call for another bus or ambulance if that is the case. What do you do when you’re 100 feet up in the air and have a medical emergency? And suppose you are over water on the Skyliner and you have a medical emergency? So it’s not just a matter of “just get on the gondolas”. Many people with special needs do go to Disney – and many people with budget restrictions also go to Disney. Please stop judging everyone else by your standards or your situation. We are all different with different needs. We need to respect one another and not judge one another. I hope that Disney changes this policy and decides to run the buses more often from these resorts. But even if they don’t, when I travel with my family member who has special needs, I will wait the hour for the bus because it’s the best , safest and most comfortable solution solution for them.
I completely agree with the comments about special needs. When they become second class. I have to catherize myself on a regular basis. Very little leeway. I would hate to do that in front of strangers.
We have been going to pop century for years. It’s like home for us. But now your telling me that if we’re waiting in line for a bus and it fills up(which happens alot if there are wheelchairs) we have to wait an hour for the nxt one? Not ok! My daughter will not take the skyliner. Disney is so accommodating for everything else, this is disappointing. At least bring that down to half an hour. We pay good money and save everything to be able to go we shouldn’t have to spend hours waiting for a bus.
Tyler, it begins operating before park opening. According to Disney signage we’ve seen, it’s 15 minutes before park opening. But whether that’s consistent or Skyliner actually begins running earlier than that, I don’t know. The best way to try for a confirmed time would be to call the Resort directly to ask.
Heather, if there is a cast member in the bus stop area, ask them if they can find out. Very often they can. Perhaps your My Disney Experience app will also have that wait time; when you’re on site, you are able to access bus wait times in the app itself.
I think we who have concerns about this issue should email or call Disney and let them know our feelings about the situation. Perhaps if we let them know that our family members cannot take the gondolas for medical or health reasons, they may rethink this decision. Sometimes I think Disney does things just to see what the public reaction will be. No reaction? Then no action on their part. However I have seen them change policy due to the overwhelming response from their guests to a policy that they did not like. Let’s email Disney or call them and tell them our reasons why we think limiting the bus service is not only unfair, but could be potentially dangerous to many of us or our family members due to fear of height, phobias, anxiety disorders, autism, medical needs, personal needs, and the list goes on and on. Let’s voice our concerns to the people that can change this policy and let them know how we feel.
Less upset about the change itself and more annoyed about the lack of notification!! Waited forever at Hollywood Studios trying to get to Art of Animation/Pop Century. App still says every 20 minutes, and there is no information at the bus stop. Main issue though with the change is lack of access to Skyliner if you end up at the main entrance of Epcot and don’t have a park ticket for the day, you’re stranded with waiting an hour or doing a bus transfer elsewhere :/
At the bus stop, this signs very clearly say use the skyline.
And the people at the Pop bus stop said every hour.
Even though, we saw a bus at 7:20 in the morning, and we arrange to be there for 8:20. They told us a bus had been there 20 minutes earlier, and we would have to wait an additional hour
Worst experiences of our vacationing lives
In theory, I understand this because it’s part of the reason for having the Skyliner but Disney has got to get the Skyliner to work consistently. We never take the buses anyway and always rent a car and will continue to do so and when it warrants, take the Skyliner.