Pop Century buses/Skyliner operating schedule?

[Dad 2 M & M]

Not a fan of this latest move...changing Epcot and studios buses to hourly at skyliner resorts.. loved having options. They are now going to pack Skyliner when kinks are still there. I understand the business aspect but options are always good. Especially with what they are charging at riviera

This isn’t unexpected. In fact it’s exactly what was said right at the beginning.

Eventually the bus service will be reduced to nil except when bad weather intervenes.

I personally think only having buses every hour at Skyliner resorts is ridiculous. Many people are scared of heights. So that means they have to plan their schedule around one bus an hour? Every other resort has multiple ways to get to parks. Monorail resorts has boats, monorail and walking. Epcot area resorts have boats and you can walk. yes, you can Uber from the Skyliner resorts but why should guests have to pay for that? We're staying at AO starting tomorrow and I am NOT impressed with this change AT ALL.

AND......Pop/A0A have been sharing buses now more than ever. So, not only will the schedule be reduced, but it will be more common to share a bus now. It used to be they rarely shared, and usually it was late after an EME, or during the day on a trips back to the resort.

Do want to point out the Disney Busing at ANY resort is trying at times and with free parking being a perk of the AP, we tend to drive now. The bummer is MK and having the TTC hassle when driving.....that makes it tough on whether or not to use busing. In December, we shared with AoA on return trips from MK....

 

[tractor tipper]

Not a fan of this latest move...changing Epcot and studios buses to hourly at skyliner resorts.. loved having options. They are now going to pack Skyliner when kinks are still there. I understand the business aspect but options are always good. Especially with what they are charging at riviera

Rode Sky when long lines were present. Had a good 300' line at HWS closing, took us 8 minutes to be on and on our way. We were a group of four shared with party of 3. No one standing and no one was packed, don't need to the way it moves people. Yes they're kinks, no doubt like a computer when it works it's great, when it messes up, well. Need a site on MDE to let folks monitor what's going on.

 

[wagamama]

Rode Sky when long lines were present. Had a good 300' line at HWS closing, took us 8 minutes to be on and on our way. We were a group of four shared with party of 3. No one standing and no one was packed, don't need to the way it moves people. Yes they're kinks, no doubt like a computer when it works it's great, when it messes up, well. Need a site on MDE to let folks monitor what's going on.

Agreed - if they can provide estimated bus arrival times, it should be just as easy to add a little blurb with the current skyliner status on each line. Maybe they’ll roll that out in a few years

 

[Clamman73]

Last stayed at POP a little over a year ago and plan to stay on my next trip in August.

I'm curious....
Do buses still run to HS and EPCOT on the normal schedule now that the Skyliner is open?

Also is there a set operating schedule for the Skyliner?
I'd hate to expect that I'm going to take the Skyliner to HS to arrive 30 prior to RD only to find that it doesn't start running until 10am that day.

Just trying to gather info so I'm prepared.

I would say a week or two before you go, check out the times guide to see how the Park hours and transportation hours are to one another. I did a mix of skyliner, bus and car in the fall and had mixed results with timing. Seemed Skyliner opened right at the time posted, bus would be early, but it wasn't like there was a bus for every Park waiting at 45 minutes before Park opening; however I think sometimes the bus would be there an hour before.

It's funny when you're waiting there for the bus and you see one pulling in you're like, Magic Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, Magic Kingdom.....oh no it's an Epcot one.

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[The Colonel]

As if there was ever any other purpose to the Skyliner than laying off bus drivers.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

We definitely have reconsidered since it seems like there's no real set schedule and we are RD'ers who like to arrive to the parks at least 30 minutes prior.
Also I can imagine how long it would take to gather some buses together if the Skyliner is down.
Efficient transportation is always a huge factor for us.
So we are probably staying at ASMo since we have always found the AS buses to be good.
Plus the rooms are refurbed so it should be just as nice as POP's refurbed rooms.
We are not afraid to ride the Skyliner so we will definitely get on probably from HS to EPCOT.
We also plan on going in November or December so if the feedback from the limited buses is positive and the Skyliner runs constantly in the next few months we'll probably stay at POP for that trip.

 

[Dad 2 M & M]

We definitely have reconsidered since it seems like there's no real set schedule and we are RD'ers who like to arrive to the parks at least 30 minutes prior.
Also I can imagine how long it would take to gather some buses together if the Skyliner is down.
Efficient transportation is always a huge factor for us.
So we are probably staying at ASMo since we have always found the AS buses to be good.
Plus the rooms are refurbed so it should be just as nice as POP's refurbed rooms.
We are not afraid to ride the Skyliner so we will definitely get on probably from HS to EPCOT.
We also plan on going in November or December so if the feedback from the limited buses is positive and the Skyliner runs constantly in the next few months we'll probably stay at POP for that trip.

BY the way....the LM rooms are within $4 or Pop, if you are able to grab them at the AP discunt.

Wednesday of this week:

AoA = $120
Pop = $116

...and we lean towards the All-Stars nowadays......the same room is $84....

Last by the way....NONE of the Little Mermaid or Sport have had the refurbs......Music should be almost done and then they'll move over to Sports (Movies completed last year)

 

[esskay]

As unpopular as it may be, it actually makes perfect sense to drop the busses down to 1/hour, although you'd hope at opening/closing they'd throw a few more out there just to help take the load.

- The skyliner is designed to be quick and efficient. Does it have kinks? Obviously yes, but they'll be ironed out this year.
- The busses cost a lot more to operate daily (wages, maintenance, fuel, etc)
- MOST guests will prefer the skyliner

Whilst it's obviously a negative point for anyone not wanting to ride the skyliner its time to wake up to put it bluntly. It makes no business sense to increase your costs beyond what you make back. What I mean to say is, for the minuscule percentage of people that wont now stay at a skyliner resort it makes zero difference to Disneys bottom line. In other words - its your problem, not theirs.

If it makes no business sense, and it affects a tiny subset of people then you seriously can't be surprised, or expect to be treated differently.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

As unpopular as it may be, it actually makes perfect sense to drop the busses down to 1/hour, although you'd hope at opening/closing they'd throw a few more out there just to help take the load.

- The skyliner is designed to be quick and efficient. Does it have kinks? Obviously yes, but they'll be ironed out this year.
- The busses cost a lot more to operate daily (wages, maintenance, fuel, etc)
- MOST guests will prefer the skyliner

Whilst it's obviously a negative point for anyone not wanting to ride the skyliner its time to wake up to put it bluntly. It makes no business sense to increase your costs beyond what you make back. What I mean to say is, for the minuscule percentage of people that wont now stay at a skyliner resort it makes zero difference to Disneys bottom line. In other words - its your problem, not theirs.

If it makes no business sense, and it affects a tiny subset of people then you seriously can't be surprised, or expect to be treated differently.

It does make sense to do it during the day but they did not specify what they are doing in the morning and at night.
Also if the Skyliner goes down it will take quite some time to gather the buses needed.
Not to mention I have heard that POP and AOA are now sharing buses.
If I might be sharing a bus I rather it be at All Stars where they are a well oiled machine.

 

[esskay]

Also if the Skyliner goes down it will take quite some time to gather the buses needed.

It really wont. It's not like a bunch of drivers have to be called in off work, theres enough drivers and enough busses to pull a few off of quiter routes for a period of time. For something thats unlikely to happen anyway its a total non issue.

Not to mention I have heard that POP and AOA are now sharing buses.
If I might be sharing a bus I rather it be at All Stars where they are a well oiled machine.

AFAIK nothings been said officially about that so would take it with a grain of salt until its confirmed. Even if it was, it'd be based on seeing that there was no longer a need for a dedicated bus service to each resort.

 

[tractor tipper]

To be honest when we were at POP in Dec I didn't look to see how many people were waiting for a bus to HS or EPCOT. When we went to get bus to MK it was the only stop that seemed full waiting for a bus, if the others were it didn't catch my attention. Seen a lot of comments of what could or will happen with the buses. Like to hear what is happening with the bus service.