From: russell@pmarlowe.uucp (Russell Shanks)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.disney
Subject: Re: WDW transportation question
Summary: WDW transportation
Keywords: WDW, buses, monorails
Date: 24 Jul 92 05:05:14 GMT
Reply-To: russell@pmarlowe.UUCP (Russell Shanks)
Distribution: na
Organization: rsg

In article <l6r5hiINNf34@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM> brenda@bookhouse.Eng.Sun.COM (Brenda Bowden) writes:
>We're going to WDW in early December, (First trip, hurray, I can't wait!), and
>We're staying for 8 nights, first at the Polynesian, and then at the Disney
>Villas. I figure it won't be too tough to get around from the Poly, but 
>that a car might be really welcome at the Villas. From the Villas we'll be
>going to Fort Wilderness, and, weather permitting, Typhoon Lagoon and/or 
>River Country. Using the WDW transportation, would we then need to take a bus
>all the way to the TTC and transfer to another bus to these destination? It
>sounds like this could take almost an hour! 

	My wife and I stayed at the Disney Village Resort for a week and 
  half in July.  We were wondering about the transportation too, but decided
  to risk it after figuring how much the car rental would run us.  We found
  the WDW bus system to be excellent. I'll try to give you a little background,
  it was my first trip too!

	The Disney Village Resorts had some 10 bus stops:

		2 at the Vacation Club
		2 at the Treehouse Villas	(stops 1-2)
		1 at the Fairway Villas		(stop 3)
		2 at the Club Suites		(stops 4-5)
		an unofficial stop at the Pampano Grille
		2 at the Vacation Villas	(stops 6-7)

	(helpful hint:  REMEMBER your bus stop number.  The bus driver's announce
    		these and you can save him yet another explanation if you know yours. :) 

 The Village Resort had 4 sets of buses:

  The MK buses ran to the Magic Kingdom from the various stops.
  The ST buses ran to the Disney-MGM Studios from the various stops.
  The EC buses ran to EPCOT from the various stops.
  The V  buses ran to the Village Marketplace, Pleasure Island and Typhoon Lagoon.

  The buses are marked with a color-coded placard indicating which WDW resort
  it was serving and a letter corresponding to the above routes.
 
  Depending on the time of day, the Park buses ran from their respective
  	park to a subset of the resort, and a companion bus hit the
	remaining stops.  This improved cycle time.

  We never had to wait for more than 20 minutes for our bus. The average was more
  like 10 minutes.  During our 8 day stay, only one bus was crowded.  The bus
  leaving EPCOT after Illuminations (closing).   The buses were clean, air conditioned
  and the rides were enjoyable.  If public transportation were like this everywhere,
  I might be convinced to garage my car!

	To get to River Country isn't as easy as Typhoon Lagoon.  I think you
  will want to take a bus or walk to the Village Marketplace, then pick up a 
  bus to River Country.  There is probably a bus to Fort Wilderness from there
  was well, but this I'm not sure about.  You can pick up buses at the TTC,
  but this may take longer if you're leaving from the Village Resorts.

>The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland states that if you were at Epcot and wanted
>to return to the Contemporary to get your child down for a nap, it's a lot 
>faster with a car than by monorail. We'll be in the same situation, except at
>the Poly. Is it really a lot faster by car?
>

	To get from EPCOT to the Polynesian, you do have to change monorails at
  the TTC.  I didn't think this was too bad, but then again we didn't stay there
  so we only did it once.  Note that the Contemporary is the worst case scenario.
  Once you go from EPCOT to the TTC and change monorails, the next stop is the
  Polynesian, followed by the Grand Floridian, and then the Magic Kingdom, and
  finally the Comtemporary Resort, before hitting the TTC again.

>Also, is it ok to bring a ton of luggage on the WDW buses? I can't imagine that
>would be looked at too favorably, but we will need to get from the Poly to the
>Villas with all our stuff. (No, we don't travel light!) Obviously a car would
>be nice for this. 
>
>How easy is it to get to the Goodings grocery store from the Villas, using the
>Disney transportation?  
>

	The buses were usually about 25% to 50% full, so we had no trouble
  bringing stuff on board.   Unforunately the V buses do not split the route,
  and since we were at stop 7 (the last stop on the Village Market loop) we
  had to hold the groceries for about 15 mins.

>Finally, I believe there are no parking fees for guests of the WDW resorts. Is
>this true? 
>

	This is true. 

	One more thing...It seemed to me the Magic Kingdom's
  parking lot was a bit distant.  To get to the Park's gate, guests had to
  park, then take either a monorail or ferry.  The buses dropped off near
  the gates themselves. I'm not sure if the situations are similar at the
  other parks.

>I'd love to hear from any voices of experience. Thanks!
>
>Brenda
>
>p.s. I know we won't *need* a car, it's more a question of how much convenience
>a car will really provide. 

	I hope this helps.  Let me know if you have any more questions.  
   Enjoy your trip.  We certainly did!!!!

	Russell