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WDW Bus Transportation

The most prevalent form of transportation at Walt Disney World are buses. Disney has a fleet that is larger than many cities across the country and have routes that connect the resorts to all major destinations on property. As you move around Walt Disney World Disney buses are one of the most common sights you will see. Busses usually run every 15-30 minutes depending on the route. Buses have signs on the front and side (and some on the back) saying where they are heading. If you are unsure or have a question ask the driver to be sure before settling into a seat and heading off to destination you are not planning to visit. Also note just because a bus came from somewhere does not mean it will return there after.. for example if you board a bus at your resort to Epcot do not expect it to go back to your resort if you stay onboard. Always confirm with a driver or the signs the destination.

 

Geek's Suggestions

WDW Buses have become the nemesis of some guests, a necessary evil for others and for some a fun way to move around property. Depending on the day, your luck and your mode you may view them differently.

When I go on vacation one of my objectives usually is to avoid driving as much as possible. At home I drive on average 500 miles a week just in my regular commute to work so sitting back and letting someone else drive is a plus for me, even if it is sometimes more time consuming. So this means over the years I have spent an inordinate amount of time on Disney Transportation. I have experience some great trip and several not so great ones. Each time you set out can be a new adventure.

At Disney Resort stations information boards are present showing the arrival of the next bus. This is fairly accurate but we have also noticed many times the one we are waiting for the time keeps getting later! Also on the official WDW app you can find the departure time for the next bus from your resort (note this only works from your resort, not too and not at other resorts).

If you are unsure about a specific bus or route ask the bus driver and they are usually more than happy to help you out.

I call it "Bus Luck". Sometimes you have good luck and walk out, the bus you want pulls up, you board and are on your way nearly instantly. Other times you walk out and see the bus you want pulling away and or some reason the park you want does not show up for over 30 minutes where as you see a dozen going to some other park you do not want to visit at that time. Or you show up and there is a mob of a couple hundred guests waiting to board the bus for your destination. When using the Disney buses you have to take the good with the bad and always plan for the worst case when you need to be somewhere. If your luck is like mine and you have no where to be the bus will be efficient but if you have a dining reservation or fastpass and need to be somewhere at a specific time it will take forever!


From December 2016 until August 2017 Disney started offering a premium service called Disney Express Transportation. For more information on this service and my review/experience here is a post.

Quick Facts
  • Disney operates more than 230 buses in WDW. Their fleet consists of three types of busses. The RTS, the Gillig, The Nova.
  • Over 1,000 Cast Members drive Disney busses
  • The buses cover more than 12 million miles every year (that is enough to drive around the world at the equator more than eleven times a week)
  • Disney World has more than 300 lane miles of paved roads


Routes
As a rule busses travel from each resort (or group of resorts) to a hub (theme park). Just follow the signs, Disney has everything very well marked. From a resort you can reach all major destinations directly usually, but most routes do not include other resort stops (some resorts do share buses so there are some exceptions to this rule). Also note throughout the day there are no direct buses from the parks to Disney Springs (in the evening there are sometimes).


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