Bus strategy for POR

[Blshoemaker]

HEY! First timer here (to the forums...5th Disney trip coming in January) and I have a question. We've booked a royal guest room at POR in the Magnolia Bend section of the resort. Should we load the bus to theme parks at the South Depot (nearest the main lobby) or the West depot behind the Magnolia Bend section?

 

[Tuvalu]

Actually the East Depot is behind Magnolia Bend; your room location (the Royal rooms are in Oak Manor/building 90 and Parterre Place/building 95) will determine if this depot is best. When we stayed in Oak Manor we used the East Depot, but when we stayed in Parterre we walked acorns the bridge and used the South Depot. Also, if we had breakfast in Riverside Mill we would use the South Depot to the parks.

Welcome to WDWMagic .

 

[NonnaT]

WELCOME!

 

[tglancy]

Bus strategy for POR? Pray.

 

[DisneyFans4Life]

Bus strategy for POR? Pray.

This! The buses for POR are tough because you could end up making so many stops. Sometimes it took a good 10-15 minutes from the time we boarded the bus to the time we actually left the POR property because of the stops. We were there for 8 nights and ended up driving our own car a lot of the times. Though if we visited MK, we took the bus to avoid having to take a monorail or fairy.

 

[Blshoemaker]

Thanks yall! Do the buses have a set stopping pattern? Do they stop at the South depot first, for example, and then hit the others clockwise?

 

[daisyduckie]

Thanks yall! Do the buses have a set stopping pattern? Do they stop at the South depot first, for example, and then hit the others clockwise?

Not necessarily. Sometimes the West Depot is the first, sometimes the South Depot is. I wouldn't stress about going to a certain one, use the one you are closest to at the time. No matter where you board at most it will make 3 more stops, so plan for 10 minutes (maybe) riding around before you are on your way. Have a great time, POR is one of my favorite resorts.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

Not necessarily. Sometimes the West Depot is the first, sometimes the South Depot is. I wouldn't stress about going to a certain one, use the one you are closest to at the time. No matter where you board at most it will make 3 more stops, so plan for 10 minutes (maybe) riding around before you are on your way. Have a great time, POR is one of my favorite resorts.

Well, not really. The bus drivers cannot arbitrarily decide which way to go. The buses to the parks go one direction, and the buses to Disney Springs go the opposite direction. Always the same. The only way it might change is if there is an accident on the internal road that completely blocks the road. We have stayed there, and had no issues with the bus at all. You are on vacation, so just because the bus has a few more stops (other resorts like SSR and OKW do this as well), just relax and enjoy your day of not driving.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

This! The buses for POR are tough because you could end up making so many stops. Sometimes it took a good 10-15 minutes from the time we boarded the bus to the time we actually left the POR property because of the stops. We were there for 8 nights and ended up driving our own car a lot of the times. Though if we visited MK, we took the bus to avoid having to take a monorail or fairy.

Y'all really need to slow down. You are on vacation. Wow, an extra 10-15 minutes? The horror of it all. In the grand scheme of things, it really isn't worth it if I have to drive and put up with the idiots on property that have no idea how to get where they are going, despite the excellent signage. I always let Disney do the driving, even when we have a car.

 

[TB4244]

I never found the bus service at POR to be a problem but I guess it does depend on the dates of your stay, high season will mean more people and longer stops. January shouldn't be a problem though.
But my advice is if you're going to Disney Springs, jump on the boat instead. Its much nicer!

 

[Blshoemaker]

Sounds good, thanks for chiming in! I have no problem with Disney buses and I really LOVE not having the stress of driving on vacation. Disney has totally ruined us on other vacations for this very reason! We were in Destin this summer and found it oddly aggravating that we had to drive to dinner each night! Driving is stressful.

I asked mainly bc sometimes we don't mind loading a pretty full bus and standing, but then other times we are tired and really prefer to sit. In which case it would be good to know the first stop (sitting) or the latter stops (standing).

A small matter nonetheless.

 

[tglancy]

Yeah, make sure you take the boat to Disney Springs. It's a very nice ride. Also, take a horse drawn carriage ride while you are there! It was a lot of fun.

 

[Weather_Lady]

When my family stayed at POR, we had great luck with buses - we never waited more than 10 minutes for one. We used the South Depot (the one near the main, Check-in/Food Court building) exclusively, and it appeared to us that there were some advantages to doing so, in that buses seemed to stop there first, and only continued around the loop to other depots until they were full. If that meant they were full after the South Depot, they left without going anywhere else. (Perhaps there are other buses that stop at other depots first, but if they do, they must not continue around to the South depot -- we never had a bus pull up with people already on it.)

 

[DisneyFans4Life]

Y'all really need to slow down. You are on vacation. Wow, an extra 10-15 minutes? The horror of it all. In the grand scheme of things, it really isn't worth it if I have to drive and put up with the idiots on property that have no idea how to get where they are going, despite the excellent signage. I always let Disney do the driving, even when we have a car.

With an 18 month old...having to deal with buses can be hard and if she starts getting cranky...we're affecting others. I enjoyed my vacation very much...but driving around the entire resort was a quick way to annoy us. May not be a huge deal to others, but it was one thing that we didn't like so we just drove ourself.

We're doing AoA in March and will most likely do the buses since it's only one stop versus multiple.

 

[daisyduckie]

Well, not really. The bus drivers cannot arbitrarily decide which way to go. The buses to the parks go one direction, and the buses to Disney Springs go the opposite direction. Always the same. The only way it might change is if there is an accident on the internal road that completely blocks the road. We have stayed there, and had no issues with the bus at all. You are on vacation, so just because the bus has a few more stops (other resorts like SSR and OKW do this as well), just relax and enjoy your day of not driving.

I think it also changes based on if the bus fills up at one of the first stops. I've stayed at POR multiple times, and more often than not the West Depot is the first stop picked up.

 

[Mireille]

When my family stayed at POR, we had great luck with buses - we never waited more than 10 minutes for one. We used the South Depot (the one near the main, Check-in/Food Court building) exclusively, and it appeared to us that there were some advantages to doing so, in that buses seemed to stop there first, and only continued around the loop to other depots until they were full. If that meant they were full after the South Depot, they left without going anywhere else. (Perhaps there are other buses that stop at other depots first, but if they do, they must not continue around to the South depot -- we never had a bus pull up with people already on it.)

Yeah, this. I was just there 3 weeks ago, and if you are trying to get anywhere in the morning, before or near park opening, the buses tended to fill up at the south depot and did not go around to the other stops. Later on it was a different story, but I tend to get out before or shortly after park opening. It works out if you decide to have breakfast at the food court first, you're right there anyway. I thought about the other stops as places to get off the bus more than to try to get on. And as spread out as the grounds are, nothing is really that far away. I was in Alligator Bayou and it was just a 5-ish minute walk, thought it may be a bit longer from Magnolia Bend. But I like walking and made the walk between Riverside and French Quarter a couple times, which didn't seem too bad to me. And I was there alone and didn't have to worry about little ones, so...

 

[Dj Corona]

My family and I always stay at Riverside (still call it Dixie Landings, sometimes!) We kind of find the bus service very random, much like in what order they hit the bus stops around the property, sometimes....it really has become a visit by visit basis!