Bus Times

[tombomb31]

When I go to WDW in July, I plan on doing the morning EM hours for each day that I'm there, then heading over to which ever park has evening EM hours for the rest of the day. About what time should I board the bus in order to arrive at the parks by 8 AM.

How early do the buses start running?

 

[nicnic]

Disney busses start 1 hour before park opening even on emh. I would allow half hour before opening to get there maybe a bit more for mk, depends what resort your staying in.

 

[ClemsonTigger]

You should give yourself the full hour. While busses "officially" run one hour before, quite often they start 15 or so minutes before that. It can take about a half hour to get to the park of choice, and you need time to get to the entrance etc. If you want to be there for rope drop festivities, I would plan on an hour before.

 

[fosse76]

I personally think that Disney should just schedule busses at specific times...while it may not seem like it, busses run on a specific schedule in all major cities...though traffic can and does affect the actual time they arrive and depart. I'd hate to walk all the way to the bus stop to JUST miss the bus...and then wait another half hour for the next one. At least with scheduled times I'd know if I was going to miss it.

 

[Dwarful]

fosse76- couldn't agree with you more! We always wondered why they didn't just post a schedule, and then insert extra buses as needed for peak times.

 

[blackthidot]

A lot of times they will just randomly send out busses to areas that need it. Thats probably why they dont run on a schedule. That would screw with everything.

 

[DisneyJoe]

Major cities have bus routes with fairly consistent rider populations. In general, most people keep the same schedule every day, with very minor variations. My daily bus makes schedule corrections, if necessary, every 6 months, if needed - and even then, they sometimes only move the time by a minute or two.

If the WDW bus ridership was this consistent, then I would agree with published bus schedules.

 

[DisneyJoe]

Here's something with bus schedules that would drive someone on vacation absolutely crazy:

- bus drivers on a schedule (at least in my area) are supposed to do their best to keep on that schedule, there are "time points" throughout the route. If we start at point A at 5:45am and are supposed to be at Point F at 7am then the driver is supposed to do their best to make that happen....

- this helps them know when they are behind schedule of course....

- accordingly, as they drive the route, if they see they are going too fast and getting ahead of the schedule (based on the time points on the schedule) - they are supposed to pull over and stop at that time point until they are back on schedule - they get penalized for being EARLY, not just being late!

Just imagine boarding a bus at the Magic Kingdom heading to the Animal Kingdom Lodge, with a stop at Blizzard Beach, and there is no traffic at that time.... and the driver gets ahead of schedule - would you rather

a) make a quick stop at Blizzard Beach, see no one waiting, and then continue on with no waits OR

b) pull into Blizzard Beach, hear the driver turn off their engine, and come on the speaker and tell you that we need to wait 5 minutes until he is back on schedule?

This happens to me a few times a month on my daily commute, mostly in the morning.

 

[CleveRocks]

Disney busses start 1 hour before park opening even on emh.

The above is not an accurate statement.

Buses start running around 6:30 a.m. for MK, perhaps slightly later for the other parks. ALL four theme parks have character breakfasts that start prior to park opening, and Disney makes sure you can use Disney Transport buses to get there on-time.

The "one hour before park opening" is one of those rumors that just won't die.

And I'm not just talking from theory here ... I've been on and seen park buses WAAAAY before one hour before park opening.

Just an example ... Cinderella's Royal Table (inside MK) and Chef Mickey's (across the street from MK) start their ADRs at 7:00 a.m. Even on days when MK opens at 9 a.m., you can still get to CRT and CM for your 7 a.m. ADR using Disney Transport buses.

FACT, not opinion.

 

[Blonde Princess]

Our good friend used to be one of the bus drivers. He advises that you should be prepared to leave on the bus from your resort 45 minutes before EMH opening. He drove the Beach Yacht Swan Dolphin Bdwlk route and they would leave the first stop 45 minutes before EMH