If you have been to Disney or are planning a future trip you have probably heard all about the complimentary bus system. There is generally a negative feeling toward the buses, with travel by monorail, skyliner, walking, and driving being preferred. At first glance, it is easy to see why – buses are noisy, big, ugly, and tightly packed. They don’t exactly keep up the illusion of the magic that Disney tries so hard to curate.
That being said, I think the buses have been ragged on long enough. I want to make the case in defense of the buses. After all, Disney doesn’t have to provide free transportation to and from each park, resort and Disney Springs, from early in the morning until late into the night. Disney has been perfectly happy in recent years to take things that were once complementary and start charging separately for them (RIP Magical Express). Let’s take a moment to appreciate the complementary transportation while we still have it!
Problems with the Alternatives
There is no perfect way to get around Walt Disney World. Additionally, a given transportation option might be good for traveling to one particular park from your resort, but not available for the others. Here are some drawbacks for each mode of transport in WDW.
Driving
If you drive to Disney World and park at your resort you might think: “of course I’ll drive, why rely on Disney Transportation?” However, Disney is difficult to navigate and if you aren’t very familiar with the layout you could end up spending a lot of time figuring out where to go. You will likely have to sit in traffic daily when entering and exiting the parks. When visiting Magic Kingdom, you can only get as close as the Ticketing and Transportation Center (TTC) and then you will have to get on a bus or Monorail to get to the park. After waiting in line you’ll wind up spending more time than you would have otherwise. And lastly, if you aren’t staying on Disney property you will have to pay to park everyday.
Walking
Spending time in Disney World will mean lots of walking whether or not you choose to use Disney’s complimentary transportation. You can choose to walk a little extra each day to the parks, however your options here are limited. Monorail Resorts (Contemporary, Grand Floridian, and Polynesian) are walking distance to Magic Kingdom. You can also walk from Boardwalk Inn, Beach Club, Yacht Club, or Swan and Dolphin to EPCOT and Hollywood Studios. Saratoga Springs has easy access to Disney Springs.
There are a couple of issues with walking to the parks instead of taking a bus. The first problem is that most hotels aren’t within walking distance of most parks. Another issue with walking is that if there are any storms or bad weather you don’t have the shelter that a bus provides. And of course the most obvious problem with walking is that you will probably already be walking close to ten miles each day. At the end of a long park day just the idea of one more step might be painful.
Monorail
Using the Monorail at Disney World is faster than some of the other transportation options, but you are still limited with where you can go. Grand Floridian, Polynesian, and Contemporary are the only resorts with a Monorail station. Even if you are staying at one of these resorts, you can only get to the other two other resorts, TTC, Magic Kingdom, and EPCOT. Another downfall is that if you are traveling from a Magic Kingdom area resort to EPCOT you will have to transfer when you get to the TTC.
The Monorail is a great idea and works very well for Disneyland. As Disney World has grown, however, the Monorail hasn’t been able to grow as fast. We would love it if all of Disney World could be connected by Monorail. This, of course, would be a massive construction project and involve many new interchanges. Probably not coming anytime soon.
Skyliner
The Skyliner is a very fun mode of transportation especially if you have kids that would be fascinated by “floating” through the air. The Skyliner is not a particularly fast mode of transportation. There are waits at each Skyliner station and depending on where you are going and coming from you will have to get off and change tracks and wait in line again. Like the Monorail, the Skyliner also only goes to two parks and four resorts so you cannot use it as your only form of transportation if you’re wanting to see all of Disney World.
The other problem with the Skyliner is that it does get shut down for bad weather. The nature of the system does not work well with Florida storms. If you are relying on this to get places you will be stuck waiting for storms to pass in order to get where you want to go.
Boat
There are quite a few Disney World resorts parks that have boats as a transportation option. Using boats for transportation is fun but if you are looking to get somewhere fast this is not the right option for you. The boats are another option that will be delayed or closed when there is bad weather.
The Buses
The buses are actually much better than they are made out to be. People really like to complain about the buses and we have complained in the past too. The first major point to bring up is that most bus rides are 10-15 minutes. We have been warned about 20,30, even 45 minute bus rides! In reality, even the longest distances will be covered in less time than that. Additionally, you can check bus arrival time before leaving your resort to minimize waiting at the bus stop. (Note: you cannot do the same while in the parks, though this would be a welcome addition).
Waiting at the Bus Stop
We always felt anxiety leaving the parks when relying on buses. We would worry that there would be too many people already waiting and we wouldn’t make it on the first bus out. However, that has only ever happened to us during the post-fireworks exodus. You are very likely to be able to catch the first bus out during other times of the day.
Flexibility
The persistence of buses at WDW is mostly due to their flexibility. What other mode of transportation can be increased, decreased, or redirected at will? Disney can’t simply add and subtract monorail cars all day. They can’t bend the skyliner around to accomodate peak times at certain theme parks. But the buses can do all of these things. Disney knows exactly when peaks and valleys in demand will exist, and they build the routes and schedules to match.
Solving the Transportation Problem
Is this problem just unsolvable? 14 resort hotels, 4 theme parks, and 2 water parks all across 27,000 acres. The goal is to connect them with reliable, fast transportation while keeping costs minimal. To make matters worse, WDW is on swamp land, so tunnels are likely out of the question.
I don’t expect that we will ever get one perfect mode of transportation that makes traveling between any two points on property easy. What we can hope for, however, is incremental improvements along the way.
Animal Kingdom Transportation
Adding a dedicated transportation system into Animal Kingdom would be a great improvement. Every other park can be reached by a combination of boats, monorails, and skyliners. Additionally, the naming of Animal Kingdom Lodge would make a bit more sense if it was actually connected somehow to the park. I would propose a train loop that hits Animal Kingdom, Animal Kingdom Lodge, All-Star resorts, Art of Animation, and Pop Century. These are all relatively close together and would make for a quick trip to Animal Kingdom. The best part is that a train could be made to fit seamlessly into the theming of Animal Kingdom.
Bike Paths and Trails
Bike paths could be used to walk, bike, or ride a golf cart around property. While some destinations would be too far apart, this could be really usable for a lot of Disney World. To give an example, Port Orleans is actually pretty close to EPCOT. However, there is no special transportation option connecting the two. A paved trail would allow for flexibility for guests who want to bike or take a golf cart.
Final Thoughts
A vacation to Walt Disney World is about entertainment, not convenience. Getting around the grounds is just something that you have to deal with. That being said, Disney has tried their best to give us multiple options for quick and reliable transportation. I think that the buses are the most important piece to the transportation puzzle, and we need to appreciate what they have to offer!
