POP bus transportation is terrible

jbehr12

DIS Veteran
Joined
Aug 18, 2018
I’ve stayed at 4 resorts over the last year ranging from value to deluxe and hands down most frustrating transportation is POP. Waited 15-20 minutes consistently for busses, every time to and from parks, and there was ALWSYS a huge line. ASMo last summer had it happen a couple times but not consistently at all. It was every single bus this trip and I’m so over it. It’s probably because of the price vs renovated rooms and the fact there are no gondolas, but there’s a good chance I’ll never stay here again, even with gondolas. Anyone else experience this?
 
I haven't been at POP for years, but I think the schedule IS for the buses to travel every 15-20 mins. And was this wait for the bus you wanted? I always find it so frustrating to be waiting for a MK and 3 show up for Epcot.
 
We were there is April and we had it about 75% of the time we waited 20 minutes plus for buses. We resorted to regular lyft.
 
I guess ignorance is bliss. I have only stayed at POR and POP and found both to be similar experiences of 15 to 20 minutes. Longer leaving AK and Disney Springs and just awful leaving MK at night. I just assumed every resort would be the same. If I knew the transportation was better at other resorts that would definitely be part of my equation when picking a resort. We thought many times that AoA buses came more frequently than POP, but I convinced myself it was my imagination. Perhaps not.

We are also convinced that POP bus stops are the farthest away in every single lot! It's a killer walk after a long day at the parks. Sadly, DD is convinced that POP is the best resort of all and I'm hard pressed to talk her out of it. With our little family of two, I definitely take her opinion into consideration. I suppose if I'm always expecting a 20 minute wait, I won't be disappointed.
 


I haven't been at POP for years, but I think the schedule IS for the buses to travel every 15-20 mins. And was this wait for the bus you wanted? I always find it so frustrating to be waiting for a MK and 3 show up for Epcot.

When every other resort (that I have been at, which is a pretty good sample size) has less than 20 min waits regularly and POP is the only one with that consistently it’s a problem. It happens elsewhere but not every single bus to and from the resort. Not once did I wait less than 15 min and that’s being generous.
 
I guess ignorance is bliss. I have only stayed at POR and POP and found both to be similar experiences of 15 to 20 minutes. Longer leaving AK and Disney Springs and just awful leaving MK at night. I just assumed every resort would be the same. If I knew the transportation was better at other resorts that would definitely be part of my equation when picking a resort. We thought many times that AoA buses came more frequently than POP, but I convinced myself it was my imagination. Perhaps not.

We are also convinced that POP bus stops are the farthest away in every single lot! It's a killer walk after a long day at the parks. Sadly, DD is convinced that POP is the best resort of all and I'm hard pressed to talk her out of it. With our little family of two, I definitely take her opinion into consideration. I suppose if I'm always expecting a 20 minute wait, I won't be disappointed.

And it was ALWAYS the farthest walk, the All Stars have shorter walks. It’s ridiculous.
 
Couldn't agree more. I've stayed at POP twice, and had similar experiences. While at other resorts, like CSR and the All Stars?? Rarely more than a 10-15 minute wait. I just don't understand!
 


I’ve stayed at 4 resorts over the last year ranging from value to deluxe and hands down most frustrating transportation is POP. Waited 15-20 minutes consistently for busses, every time to and from parks, and there was ALWSYS a huge line. ASMo last summer had it happen a couple times but not consistently at all. It was every single bus this trip and I’m so over it. It’s probably because of the price vs renovated rooms and the fact there are no gondolas, but there’s a good chance I’ll never stay here again, even with gondolas. Anyone else experience this?

This is the Orlando forum (non-Disney hotels) you might want to post this on the Disney Resort forum to share with them.
 
This is the Orlando forum (non-Disney hotels) you might want to post this on the Disney Resort forum to share with them.

I’m aware I reported it with the mistake hopefully an admin moves it lol, if not I’ll repost in a few weeks to avoid being redundant.
 
I stayed at both All Star Sports and Pop in February and found the wait and lines at Sports to be much shorter than at POP. I was very surprised because I had heard from many sources that POP's buses were great. I'm staying at POP again in July and expect it to be the same and wish I would have picked an All Star instead.
 
In Jan 2019 I was at A of A and we could see the bus schedule on our phones so we knew when the next bus was coming. Found it very helpful. This was only at the resort and not in the parks.
 
I haven't stayed at 4 resorts in the past year, but I have stayed on site many many times, and the buses run as expected. Unfortunately, it seems like for-freaking-ever, and WHY are there so many buses going to EPCOT or Hollywood on party nights at MK, etc... I wish they'd run them more frequently at peak times or send more to resorts with a ton of stops. Or maybe occasionally flip that empty Epcot bus over to MK when there are 30 people waiting for MK bus... We've learned to just expect to wait 20 minutes, and expect it to take 20 minutes to get to the park, and plan accordingly...

I feel your pain, but I also must admit it's really just the price you pay for the convenience. Riding public transportation sucks, too. That's why I drive to work every day instead of hopping on a bus to get on a bus to get on a train to get on another bus or walk a mile. It's not for me.
 
I feel your pain, but I also must admit it's really just the price you pay for the convenience. Riding public transportation sucks, too. That's why I drive to work every day instead of hopping on a bus to get on a bus to get on a train to get on another bus or walk a mile. It's not for me.

Yes and no, I am fine with the issues surrounding bus transportation in general but when one experience was so much more consistently frustrating than the others, it points to a problem with that single operation.

I’ve only stayed at POP once so it very well may have been a fluke, but by the sounds of some of these responses others have noticed it as well. I would take busses from the All Stars any day of the week basing my opinion on my experience there last summer, but I don’t think I’d go back to POP before the gondolas open based on the busses alone.
 
We stayed at Pop once and that was enough for us. Every time we left a park, there were at least 3 bus loads of people waiting for a bus so it always took forever to get back to the resort. We like the All Stars better because there are less people staying at these smaller resorts so the lines are shorter, making the wait less.
 
I waited 30 minutes for an EPCOT bus. I had a PPO at 8, got to the bus stop at 7 and the next Epcot bus arrived at 7.30 (after 4 MK bus had come and gone)
 
I did find that leaving parks could be a wait, but I also would board whichever bus came first - pop or AoA. I think more often than not I’d take an AoA bus home.
 
Waited 15-20 minutes consistently for busses, every time to and from parks, and there was ALWSYS a huge line.
When every other resort (that I have been at, which is a pretty good sample size) has less than 20 min waits regularly and POP is the only one with that consistently it’s a problem
The bus interval is about every twenty minutes. IMO, guests with repeated 20 minute waits are arriving at the bus stop at the wrong time, i.e. a minute or so after a bus left for their desired park. Guests with consistently shorter waits are arriving at the bus stol somewhere toward the end of tha 20 minute period.

I wish they'd run them more frequently at peak times or send more to resorts with a ton of stops. Or maybe occasionally flip that empty Epcot bus over to MK when there are 30 people waiting for MK bus.
But they don't have the buses or personnel to add more to the more they already add at peak times. As for converting buses, it's not that easy. Just like your plane has to be at your destination to drop you off and pick up the passengers waiting there to go somewhere else, so do the Disney buses.

That Epcot bus you want converted to an MK bus can't do that AND pick up the guests it's supposed to at Epcot. If there's a Transportation CM nearby, you can certainly ask for help - although they should already know. Or ask one of the Epcot bus drivers. Or send someone over to Luggage Assistance for bus assistance.
 
There's very little difference in bus service from one resort to the other because none of the resorts have dedicated buses or bus service. It's the same buses and drivers dispatched by the same automated process or live dispatch CM.

Buses will not be diverted or destination changed on the fly except in extreme cases, which is very rare. A MK bus will not be changed to an Epcot bus just because there hasn't been an Epcot bus in a while, even though there have been multiple MK buses. MK buses are assigned to the MK bus hub and Epcot buses are assigned to the Epcot bus hub and changing their destination is extremely unlikely. It's just not practical to do it due to the complications involved.

The OP said that buses were consistently arriving every fifteen or twenty minutes, isn't Disney delivering what they promised?
 
The bus interval is about every twenty minutes. IMO, guests with repeated 20 minute waits are arriving at the bus stop at the wrong time, i.e. a minute or so after a bus left for their desired park. Guests with consistently shorter waits are arriving at the bus stol somewhere toward the end of tha 20 minute period.


But they don't have the buses or personnel to add more to the more they already add at peak times. As for converting buses, it's not that easy. Just like your plane has to be at your destination to drop you off and pick up the passengers waiting there to go somewhere else, so do the Disney buses.

That Epcot bus you want converted to an MK bus can't do that AND pick up the guests it's supposed to at Epcot. If there's a Transportation CM nearby, you can certainly ask for help - although they should already know. Or ask one of the Epcot bus drivers. Or send someone over to Luggage Assistance for bus assistance.

1. Before saying the bus loop is every 15-20 minutes please read everything before reply condescendingly. Makes you look ignorant.

2. To say Disney doesn’t have or can’t add personal is ludacris. If it’s impacting guest experience hire someone.

3. Your Epcot point is irrelevant, I’m not even sure what you’re talking about there
 

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