Shockingly, the concept of a small, enclosed box hanging on a thin wire above a highly trafficked highway became SUPER popular in Disney World. If you really think about it, the Disney Skyliner is pretty incredible! It’s fast, efficient, and fun (unless you’re afraid of heights, anyway).
Disney World’s Skyliner
The DFB team LOVES the Skyliner — don’t get me wrong. But after a recent trip to Disney World, where I was limited to just one main form of transportation, it got me thinking. Are people too hard on Disney World bus transportation?
Whoa. Let’s pump the brakes. Sure, a Disney bus is a solid option, but am I really about to compare it to the Monorail, the Skyliner, and the FREE watercraft all available for Disney guests? Yes, yes I am. Hear me out.
Skyliner at Caribbean Beach Resort
Recently, I stayed at Disney’s All-Star Music Resort. It’s one of Disney’s Value Resorts, meaning it’s one of the least expensive rooms a person can get while still staying on Disney property. If you’re on a budget but want access to that free Disney transportation, this is the way to go. But, if you’re looking for a hotel that offers more than one way to get to the parks (without your own car, that is), you might want to avoid the All-Star Resorts.
Disney’s All-Star Music Resort
But before you go counting this place out, I need to share my experience with the bus system at All-Star Music. Now, I’ve stayed at Moderate Resorts, Deluxe Resorts, and Value Resorts, so I’m familiar with all kinds of bus stops, Monorail lines, and Skyliner stations. But let me tell you, no form of Disney transportation is perfect. The Skyliner shuts down when there is lightning in the area. And, being Florida, there’s often lightning in the area. The Monorail breaks down a LOT. Even boat transportation is rather unreliable, and some boats have a small capacity.
Yacht Club Lighthouse
Know what DOESN’T shut down in the rain? Know what has a shocking amount of space for a LOT of people? A Disney bus. In fact, I had better luck with Disney bus transportation at my All-Star Hotel than I’ve had with some Moderate and Deluxe Resorts. Out of the ten days I stayed at the resort, I only waited 20+ minutes for a bus one time. And I took a LOT of buses around Disney World! That’s a GREAT track record!
Disney Bus
Now, I did have a bit of an advantage. I was staying in a building that was right across the parking lot from the All-Star Sports Resort, so if I saw the All-Star Sports bus first, I’d often jump on that instead. I had double the options! But even if I had only taken the All-Star Music bus, I found that buses showed up at the bus stops frequently, and there were only a small handful of times when the bus was completely full. I got a seat every single time I boarded the bus. It was shockingly…nice!
Disney bus
Plus, the air conditioning on those buses is FROSTY cold. And in the middle of summer, it feels like stepping into paradise. So, yes, the Monorail or Skyliner might seem more interesting and fun, but when you get right down to it, the Disney bus is a WORKHORSE. It’s a trusty, reliable, simple way to get back and forth from your hotel, and it deserves a little recognition. I see you, Disney buses!
Bus pickup in front of All-Star Music Resort
Keep in mind that your experience may vary depending on the hotel you’re staying at and the time of year. Some hotels may have a less reliable bus schedule, but in my experience, the hotels that rely solely on bus transportation tend to be pretty on top of it. But enough about me! Is your experience similar? Let us know in the comments! In the meantime, we’re always on the lookout for the latest Disney news, so stay tuned for more.
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The buses do get a lot of ‘busting’ and not enough love. It is an amazing free perk. And seeing the decorated buses adds to the magic. Bus transpo can be a perfectly good plan if you’re strategic about it. If you’re a night owl (or a rope dropper), it’s important to be mindful of when the buses stop (and stop) running where you are. But thank you for this post full of bus love! (… and yes, fewer cars on the road with us 🙂 )
There should be busses just for those with scooters and their families. 1 scooter takes up 3 seats on 1 bus, so when there is 2 or 3 it takes up that much more space. Plus there could be 2 or more family members with them taking up that space as well. So even if those without the need have been waiting for the bus, it could be an even longer wait. They don’t use the double busses as much as they used to. So this would expedite how many people can get on a bus, and allow busses to get to their destinations much quicker.
The wdw buses are on the whole brilliant. Yes there are times when buses take ages to arrive or are full, but for me they are one of the best things about staying onsite.
I love the buses! Going to the bus stop the first morning, waiting with anticipation until it pulls up, then a short, comfortable ride to my park. Maybe b/c I started going to WDW 35 years ago when they were the main form of transportation they don’t bother me at all.
For sure. We stayed at All Star Movies, with easy access to All Star Music, in April, and we can hardly fault the bus transportation. The other forms of transport were fun and diversionary during our stay, but the buses were great. We found the All Star resorts so convenient
On blog after block, I hear people complaining about the long waits they have to endure for a bus! In my 31 years as a DVC member, I do believe about 20 minutes was my longest wait because I just missed my bus. And this was only on a few occasions. Most of the time, I might have to wait 5 or 10 minutes at the MOST.
We’ve stayed at many hotels in WDW. When my children were young, we loved All Star Music because of the close proximity some rooms were to the buses and the food court. The buses were always crowded with tours, but that wasn’t my biggest complaint. It was the distance that you had to walk to get to the bus returning from the park. After a long, hot day of walking, adding a long walk to your hotel’s bus stop is difficult. The value hotels have their bus stops very far away, mostly at the end. To make matters worse, if you’re a slow walker, then several people pass you by and then we would have to wait to get on a bus. I find the monorail much easier in the long run.
We Stayed at Pop Century in May primarily to use the Sky liner. The Sky liner as great but does not go everywhere. We used the buses a lot and never waited more than a few minutes. Unlike the Polynesian and Grand Floridian who shares a bus, Pop has a dedicated bus. You can have your high priced deluxe resorts, I go for the parks anyway and I can still visit the restaurants at other resorts when i want.
We stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter last year and made sure we would be there at rope drop for all four parks. We always made it on time and when we stayed to the end, never had to wait too long to get the bus back. We mostly took the boats when we went to Disney Springs but when we took the bus there, no problems.
I have been enjoying Walt Disney World since my first trip as a toddler in November 1972. I have seen some great changes at WDW. I have seen some not so great changes at WDW. The bus system? Great change. The way that they pack you in like sardines, especially at the end of an exhausting yet fun filled day, not so great. WDW could easily fix this problem not only on the busses, but on all modes of transportation (especially the monorails). One simple rule: everyone gets a seat. No standing allowed.
We stay at the All Star Resorts every year. The buses at these resorts specifically work really well. We’ve stayed at Caribbean Beach many times prior. However, the buses there have to stop at multiple pick up locations. It added as much as 30-45 minutes to your traveling. At All Stars, there’s one stop and you’re on or off.
I totally agree that the bus service it really quite nice very usable and underrated and complained about a lot. Waiting is never fun but the buses get you where you are going.
We just got back from staying at Coronado Springs and had great experiences with the buses! The Disney app has the expected arrival time for each stop, and it was usually spot on. That feature was super helpful.
I wouldn’t mind the wait so much if I could be sure that I would get a seat. As a retirement-age woman, it gets harder and harder to stand during the stops and jolts along the way.
Just got back from WDW. We are a family of 5, all over the age of 18, and one needs a scooter and one in a motorized wheelchair. We stayed at the Kidani Village at Animal Kingdom Lodge. This is a deluxe resort , it is beautiful and the handicap facilities are great, but it only has bus transportation which means you need to allow extra time to get to the parks due to large amounts of people wanting to arrive at the parks at the same time. The biggest problem was trying to get to Epcot for a reserved morning extra event which we couldn’t get to on time. We suggest to get Lyft services if you are able, it is difficult to get Lyft rides also. Our suggestion is always leave lots of extra time.
DVC member here–the last time I took the bus was about 10myears ago. We were staying at Saratoga Springs Resort–our home resort at the time. We had been used to long wait times and long arrival times for parks but one night we stayed for the fireworks at Magic Kingdom. We waited for 45 minutes for a bus. It was ridiculous how many buses passed us by. We vowed to never take the bus system again. We actually had missed a reservation previously at Cinderellas Castle because of the lack of buses to our resort. We now take Lyft regularly, even though our home resort now is the Grand Floridian. Not worth the anxiety anymore.