Boardwalk Transportation Issues?

Unomas

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
This questions is for people who have stayed at Boardwalk before. During a recent visit, we noticed that Boardwalk shared a bus route with Swan and Dolphin when going to Downtown Disney. Boardwalk is on our list of potential resorts and I was curious if that bus route is for parks as well? Is the bus system at Boardwalk any good?
 

Thrill

Well-Known Member
From what I remember, a whopping week ago:
-Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios buses are shared between Boardwalk, Swan, and Dolphin (in that order).
-Downtown Disney/Typhoon Lagoon bus is shared with Yacht, Beach, Boardwalk, Swan, and Dolphin (I think in that order, but don't hold me to it; I know Boardwalk is not the first stop, for sure)
-I don't remember about Animal Kingdom/Blizzard Beach. I want to say it was just Swan and Dolphin, but I don't know for sure. Boardwalk was the first stop, though.

Keep in mind, Epcot is only a few minutes by foot or a Boardwalk-only boat. Hollywood Studios is supposed to be a longer walk, and you can take a boat (stops at Yacht/Beach and Swan/Dolphin in both directions, I believe). For DHS, I suggest using the Swan/Dolphin boat dock and walking the rest of the way; it's a pretty short walk. I was unable to walk the full way between Boardwalk and DHS due to concerns about rain.
 

shipley731

Well-Known Member
From what I remember, a whopping week ago:
-Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios buses are shared between Boardwalk, Swan, and Dolphin (in that order).

I don't think there is bus service to Epcot & DHS from any of the Epcot resorts unless there are special circumstances. (Rain so heavy or fierce that the friendship boats can't run or other odd circumstance.) I could be wrong however.
 

Ariel484

Well-Known Member
I don't think there is bus service to Epcot & DHS from any of the Epcot resorts unless there are special circumstances. (Rain so heavy or fierce that the friendship boats can't run or other odd circumstance.) I could be wrong however.

I thought the same thing. Since you can walk or take the boat to either park I'm pretty sure there aren't buses. So it's really only MK, AK and DtD/water parks that have bus routes.

Also...the boat is a nice ride but it does take a long time. If you're heading to Epcot or DHS walking is much faster.
 

Thrill

Well-Known Member
I don't think there is bus service to Epcot & DHS from any of the Epcot resorts unless there are special circumstances. (Rain so heavy or fierce that the friendship boats can't run or other odd circumstance.) I could be wrong however.

I typed Epcot mostly out of habit, and I now that I'm thinking, there might not have been a bus. I think there was a DHS bus, though.
Perhaps the Epcot buses run early in the day? As in, before World Showcase opens?

Boardwalk is an amazing resort..transportation wont be an issue even if shared with the aforementioned resorts...

Transportation was quite bad last week, actually. At the Boardwalk bus stop, we saw three consecutive Downtown buses. Two of them were at the station at the same time. Busing from the Magic Kingdom was pretty bad, as well. Buses often took a long time to arrive (i.e. two to three Contemporary/Wilderness Lodge buses arrived in between Boardwalk/Swan/Dolphin buses) and were packed.

The semi-good news is that transportation has been horrendous at all of the resorts I've stayed at in the last few summers. Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom Lodge had their issues; the monorail resorts required monorail transfers to reach Epcot (unless they changed that?).
 

journ116

Well-Known Member
This questions is for people who have stayed at Boardwalk before. During a recent visit, we noticed that Boardwalk shared a bus route with Swan and Dolphin when going to Downtown Disney. Boardwalk is on our list of potential resorts and I was curious if that bus route is for parks as well? Is the bus system at Boardwalk any good?
My family of 4 and I stayed there from June 5-12th and here's what we experienced:

1. Busses only service: MK, AK, DTD, and water parks (with the latter pairing with either AK or DTD).

2. There are no dedicated depots for the above stops. Everyone gathers under the one bus pavilion and "watches" for their respective destination, boarding on a "first-come, first-serve" basis. A CM only keeps time tallies in the morning hours.

3. Depending on how crowded the resorts/stops are, here's what you could experience in terms of the bus loop: BW -> Swan -> Dolphin to MK...Dolphin -> Swan -> BW from MK. AK follows the same route as MK, but also stops at Blizzard Beach, if needed. Sooooo, you're looking at a potentially crowded bus no matter what, unless the park bus that you want comes in 2's. DTD stops at the same places, in addition to Typhoon Lagoon.

*When we were coming back from DTD the one day, we hopped off at Swan and walked back to BW before the bus reached our resort.:eek:
*And since we are AP holders, we would sometimes cut thru EP to take the monorail -> TTC -> monorail or boat to MK.


4. To get to EP and DHS, you either rely on your feet or the Friendship Boats! This fact alone makes this resort one of the best on property...Location, location, location!

Overall, the bus transportation isn't that bad, if you time it right: very first thing in the AM, around lunch or dinner times. Enjoy the resort!
 

skipperg

Member
We stayed at the Boardwalk from June 11 thru June 18. No issues with the busses at all. For as busy as the parks were Busses were never overly crowded. Have tried many of the Disney Resorts and after this trip the Boardwalk is now our favorite!
 

StarWarsGirl

Well-Known Member
My family owns at BWV.

For Magic Kingdom (and apparently Animal Kingdom now) yes it runs with Swan and Dolphin. They've been known to change it and add Yacht and Beach if the buses aren't busy.

There is no bus route to DHS or Epcot unless there are extreme storms in the area making boats unsafe. I've only seen this a handful of times.

The great thing about BW is that you can easily get to DHS and Epcot. You can walk to both or take a boat. It takes way less time than buses. Also, if you get there and the Yacht/Beach bus is there but the Boardwalk one isn't, you can hop on the Yacht and Beach bus and walk over to Boardwalk if you're in a hurry.
 

Mukta

Well-Known Member
I love staying in the Epcot area, but I am not a fan of the buses.

I walk to Epcot
I boat to DHS
I take a cab to the contemporary and walk to MK.

AK is the only park I am still taking a bus to because the bus sharing got on my nerves.
 

Alison1975

Well-Known Member
This questions is for people who have stayed at Boardwalk before. During a recent visit, we noticed that Boardwalk shared a bus route with Swan and Dolphin when going to Downtown Disney. Boardwalk is on our list of potential resorts and I was curious if that bus route is for parks as well? Is the bus system at Boardwalk any good?
When we stayed there in Sept 2012 and the few times we took the bus ,yes it stopped at the Swan and Dolphin every time.
 

JohnD

Well-Known Member
On DHS day, I have reservation at Big River Grille and Brewing Works at 9:30 after the Fantasmic show. So the question is boat or walk?
 

Unomas

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
That's disappointing to hear. Sounds like it would really slow down your transportation. Not what I'd expect when paying for a deluxe resort.
 

harryk

Well-Known Member
On DHS day, I have reservation at Big River Grille and Brewing Works at 9:30 after the Fantasmic show. So the question is boat or walk?
If you see the boat coming to the dock (and there is not a hugh waiting line before you) take the boat.
Otherwise - walk - you will get there before the boat does. The boat stops at the Swan/Dolphin before it goes to Boardwalk.
 

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