Port Orleans Riverside to WDW Parks - Best Transportation Options

[iowamouse]

I could really use some help here, deciding what the best options to get around are.

We want to go to a park in the morning, back for lunch, 2nd park for afternoon, back at night - and I'm hearing that the transportation might not be the best.

Our family will have a rental car - is driving ourselves the best option? We have a carseat we'll be using, so I didn't know if Uber would be a good choice given that we won't have a car seat that way.021

 

[JillC LI]

We stayed in POR one year ago (January) and loved it. Although we usually rent a car, we didn't on that trip, and the buses were perfectly fine to all the parks. We waited between 5 and 15 minutes at most in both directions. We stayed in a standard room in building 17, I believe, and we got picked up and dropped off in front of the main building so we never had any other stops. Buses are always preferable to driving to MK regardless. The boat ride to DS was wonderful. Make sure to get some beignets at POFQ, and see Yehaa Bob at the Riverside Roost Lounge!

 

[Master Yoda]

What I have found out over the years is that if you track the time from your resort room door to the turnstiles, driving vs bus is about a wash to all of the parks save for MK. At most, you have a few minutes in either direction. Since the buses eliminate the need to take the ferry or the monorail, they are often the quickest option to MK. If you are going from resort to resort or Disney Springs, driving is often the better option.

What differs between diving and the bus is the perceived amount of time it takes to get somewhere. Driving tends to feel faster because you always seem to be moving forward towards your goal as there is no waiting for the bus to arrive or waiting for people getting on and off at different stops.

If we are just going from the resort to the parks and back again we will take the buses. If resort hopping or going to Disney Springs is on the days itinerary then we will drive.

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

I could really use some help here, deciding what the best options to get around are.

We want to go to a park in the morning, back for lunch, 2nd park for afternoon, back at night - and I'm hearing that the transportation might not be the best.

Our family will have a rental car - is driving ourselves the best option? We have a carseat we'll be using, so I didn't know if Uber would be a good choice given that we won't have a car seat that way.021

Your agenda sounds like what we always do at POR
Don't worry about the buses. We use them exclusively at POR and never had a problem. We have used South and West depots, because they were closest to where our bldg. was.
There are a lot of complaints about Por's buses, but we have never run into that. Maybe because we were just lucky? I don't know.
But I wouldn't be worried about the buses, and if you are, you state you will have a car.

 

[MomofPrincessGrace]

We would drive, especially if we were rope dropping. We would drive to the park early, get a close spot, and use the buses if we needed to go too and from during the day. This way, if we were staying late or leaving right around firework time, our car was a close walk and no horrible waiting for the buses at the end of the night. We also had a garden view that was very close to the parking lot, which was nice for loading and unloading of a stroller.

 

[SteamboatJoe]

Was at POR last year. The only bus problems I had were those that are an issue with every resort on property. Very busy during times it's more convenient to travel. Getting rerouted to an additional stop on occasion. Always busy and long waits leaving the parks at night. I never had an issue catching a timely bus to the parks though.

If you are willing to get up and get the first bus of the day for your park, especially if it's the first park open that day or a park that doesn't have EMH, you will be fine. Lunch is a little trickier. Getting back to the resort in the late AM or early PM shouldn't be an issue. Just try to avoid leaving the resort at a time that is typically more convenient for the majority of folks. I would advise scheduling a lunch that is either early or late to avoid those peak times, even if it means an extra pick up at FQ.