Wilderness Lodge Transportation

[ninjaprincesst]

Stayed at the WL in September 2013 and June 2012....I thought transportation was OK but sometimes the busses were backed up and at times two busses showed up for the same park....so...a bus shows up for DHS and another one for DHS right after it. A bit aggravating when you are waiting for a bus to another park. One morning, we went to The Grand Floridian Cafe for Breakfast and there was a man at the bus stop at the GF with an i-Pad communicating with the busses or the main bus hub. If a bus was late, he told them and they sent a bus right out. I have never seen that at any other deluxe resort....I guess the GF is the most deluxe of the deluxe. The bus stop at the GF is also shaded and has lots and lots of benches. Anyway....enjoy the WL....you will love it and just be patient. In the scene of things, waiting for a bus a few extra minutes is not a big deal, just factor it into your plans especially ADR's so you won't be anxious.

They do it at the Wilderness Lodge too. We have more than once been asked by the guy with the ipad where we were going and in no time the bus would appear.

 

[BJones82]

We are staying at the WL in Oct, are the buses still so so? We have never stayed on property before and therefore have no experiences with the buses on property but reading these forums are scaring me a bit lol... Renting a car isn't preferable sense we will be in WDW for 18 days(1 or 2 out of the WDW area) so it would be a huge cost (I know not huge compared to our hotel bill but still...) I just want to make sure we go in with the proper expectations of the transportation offered by Disney. Thanks!!

 

[Tuvalu]

We are staying at the WL in Oct, are the buses still so so? We have never stayed on property before and therefore have no experiences with the buses on property but reading these forums are scaring me a bit lol... Renting a car isn't preferable sense we will be in WDW for 18 days(1 or 2 out of the WDW area) so it would be a huge cost (I know not huge compared to our hotel bill but still...) I just want to make sure we go in with the proper expectations of the transportation offered by Disney. Thanks!!

As a frequent on-site visitor to WDW, and having stayed at WL three times in the last year, I can say that the bus service is no better or worse than any other resort. There were times the bus was just pulling up when we arrived at the stop and there were times we had to wait 15-20 minutes for a bus (waits never exceeded 20 minutes.) WL shares buses with either the Contemporary, Grand Floridian or Fort Wilderness (based on park and time of day) but is always picked up first (so better chance to get a seat) and dropped off first. We usually have our own car and the only time we use it is if we have a dining ADR at another resort. Otherwise we use the bus and the boat.

Remember people are always quick to post about "lousy bus service" but few bother posting about decent/adequate bus service .

 

[ToTBellHop]

We were very pleased with WLs transport last week. Only once in a week was there an excessive wait for a bus (to DHS this time). An excessive wait has happened at least once on every WDW vacation I've ever been on. We thought it was better than AKLs transport certainly.

 

[216bruce]

Same as the two above posts. It's really no different than anywhere else. I've never 'gotten' this gripe. We've stayed at about 6 or 7 different resorts and the service is pretty much the same everywhere. The ride might be a few minutes longer depending on destination (AK or DD) but that's due to distance and route. Same can be said for AKL (to MK).

 

[Weather_Lady]

We stayed there in May, and found the bus service to be comparable to anywhere else we've stayed (FW Campground, PORS, Coronado Springs, etc.). It seems like every time we go to WDW, we have one bad experience (where a bus doesn't show or breaks down, and we end up waiting 40+ minutes to get somewhere), and the rest of the time, we're never waiting more than 10 minutes. Again, other than a snafu one particular morning, we had seamless transportation to and from WL on our last trip (and we take midday breaks, so we were traveling on Disney buses at least 4 times a day).

The boat launch to MK is a nice alternative way to travel from WL, and if you want to visit the Hoop-de-Doo Musical Revue at FW, you can take a boat or stroll along the "nature trail" to get there.

 

[zeebs758]

I've found the transportation to be just fine as WL, especially the boats. The boats were never crowded every time we used them. I don't remember having trouble with bus line waits either. As everyone already said, there are other resorts on your bus route. I also find that at the end of the night when a park closes, the line for Wilderness Lodge buses are not long because there are less people staying in the deluxe resorts.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I've found the transportation to be just fine as WL, especially the boats. The boats were never crowded every time we used them. I don't remember having trouble with bus line waits either. As everyone already said, there are other resorts on your bus route. I also find that at the end of the night when a park closes, the line for Wilderness Lodge buses are not long because there are less people staying in the deluxe resorts.

This last point is absolutely true. Unlike CBR or the values, I never had to wait for four buses to fill up before getting on a bus back to the resort at night. In fact, each time, we were on the first bus back to the resort (with seats!).

 

[BJones82]

This last point is absolutely true. Unlike CBR or the values, I never had to wait for four buses to fill up before getting on a bus back to the resort at night. In fact, each time, we were on the first bus back to the resort (with seats!).

Thank you everyone for the help!! This especially is great to know We definitely are excited to take advantage of the boats for the MK and a boat to Monorail for Epcot But DHS, AK, and DTD we will need to buses so I wanted to know

 

[zeebs758]

Thank you everyone for the help!! This especially is great to know We definitely are excited to take advantage of the boats for the MK and a boat to Monorail for Epcot But DHS, AK, and DTD we will need to buses so I wanted to know

I think it would take longer to take a boat then monorail to Epcot. First you would have a wait for a boat to take you to Contemporary Resort. Then walk and wait for a monorail that takes you to the TTC which you will have to transfer to the EPCOT route. It's easier to just take a bus to EPCOT. My last stay at WL, we didnt use the monorail at all.

 

[Tuvalu]

I think it would take longer to take a boat then monorail to Epcot. First you would have a wait for a boat to take you to Contemporary Resort. Then walk and wait for a monorail that takes you to the TTC which you will have to transfer to the EPCOT route. It's easier to just take a bus to EPCOT. My last stay at WL, we didnt use the monorail at all.

Agree! And even if waiting for/riding the bus took the same amount of time as what @BJones82 plans to do, bus would still be my preference since the other way is requires much more effort!

 

[BJones82]

I think it would take longer to take a boat then monorail to Epcot. First you would have a wait for a boat to take you to Contemporary Resort. Then walk and wait for a monorail that takes you to the TTC which you will have to transfer to the EPCOT route. It's easier to just take a bus to EPCOT. My last stay at WL, we didnt use the monorail at all.

Agree! And even if waiting for/riding the bus took the same amount of time as what @BJones82 plans to do, bus would still be my preference since the other way is requires much more effort!

I definitely get what you both are saying and know it will take longer most likely but there are two big things for us... 1: We aren't in a hurry, we are in Disney for 18 days with 1 going to the Ocean beach and 1 day at Uni because I am a huge HP fan so I need to see the new area lol... 2: we love, LOVE the monorail and the comfort of just riding a boat. We will use the buses a lot I am sure but we look forward to the relaxing time on the boat and any excuse for us to sit on the monorail is a good enough reason for us to do it lol

That being said if we decide after the first time we take the Monorail that it was horrible we will take the bus, we aren't anything if not flexible lol

Thank you both for your advice as well!! it is really helpful and I will keep it in mind when we are there

 

[zeebs758]

I definitely get what you both are saying and know it will take longer most likely but there are two big things for us... 1: We aren't in a hurry, we are in Disney for 18 days with 1 going to the Ocean beach and 1 day at Uni because I am a huge HP fan so I need to see the new area lol... 2: we love, LOVE the monorail and the comfort of just riding a boat. We will use the buses a lot I am sure but we look forward to the relaxing time on the boat and any excuse for us to sit on the monorail is a good enough reason for us to do it lol

That being said if we decide after the first time we take the Monorail that it was horrible we will take the bus, we aren't anything if not flexible lol

Thank you both for your advice as well!! it is really helpful and I will keep it in mind when we are there

Didn't realize you were there for 18 days! No rush at all then haha! Enjoy!

 

[BJones82]

Didn't realize you were there for 18 days! No rush at all then haha! Enjoy!

It's our wedding and honeymoon So we are excited to be able to be that relaxed about time in WDW, it will probably be the only time that we can get that long off again at once before we retire lol!!