Well hello there Leigh-Anne and welcome back to planDisney!
It's always so nice to see fellow Canadians coming back time and time again to ask
our team of Panelists for useful bits of information that'll help towards future trips down to Orlando. I bet you're looking forward to leaving this snowy weather behind as you set your sights on sunny Floridian skies! In fact,
getting around Walt Disney World Resort is such a vastly different experience from catching a bus in the middle of the winter in Ontario that the experience is enjoyable in itself!
Your observations are absolutely correct in deducing that the complimentary
Walt Disney World Bus Service often schedules various
Disney Resort Hotels to share buses at various times of day. On our most recent stay at
Disney's Contemporary Resort we found that the buses we would take were shared with guests staying at
Disney's Wilderness Lodge and folks camping at
Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort. We experienced this most often in the early afternoon into the evening, which did result in longer rides getting back as the scheduled loops often went to the other Resort stops before finally arriving at Disney's Contemporary Resort bus loop. Sometimes, this unfortunately means less available seating at various times.
You may be happy to hear that in our experience there were also times when the service was not shared, and this often coincided with the opening and closing times of each Theme Park to accommodate the increased demand. Whenever we've noticed an extraordinarily long wait for a bus or a long queue of fellow bus travelers, in our experience it's been slightly easier to reconfigure our itinerary slightly by taking
a swift Walt Disney World Monorail ride over to
Disney's Polynesian Village Resort or
Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa to catch a bus from there instead. (In my opinion, the bus loop at the latter option is superior primarily because it's completely covered and often has greater seating availability at more times of the day.)
I spoke to a Transportation Cast Member about the way schedules are handled and part of it is due to rider demand, efficiency and reducing the number of unnecessarily empty vehicles on the road within Walt Disney World Resort property. Schedules and shared routes are of course always subject to change and availability, but it's always good to be fully aware of the nuances of whichever way you intend to travel!
Hopefully this was helpful to you Leigh-Anne, I look forward to the next time you'll
come back to planDisney to ask us any more questions that will help you on your journeys.
Wishing you all the best on your April adventures!
Prince