All Star Buses

[JenniferS.]

I have heard a number of people say that they would rather stay at pop because of the bus sharing at the all star resorts. Is it really that bad? I'm considering getting a family suite at music for next november. We've already stayed at pop 2 times in Sept. and we've always had to wait awhile for a bus especially going back from the parks at the end of a night. It seemed that there were tons of all star buses. I was thinking that maybe because they share, that they have more buses. Can anyone clear this up? Also, what is the routine? Which all stars does it stop at 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Thanks!

[johnO]

The worst bus experience we've had was a stay at All Start Music. The week of our stay we had long waits in the morning as we tried to get to the parks and long waits as we tried to get back to the resort at night. I've posted about it before here on intercot. It was unreal as we watched bus after bus for Pop, Movies, and Sports go by as we sat waiting. The ratio, which I began to keep track of a few days into the trip was 5 to 1!!! We watched 5 Pop buses, 5 Movies/Sports buses go by for every one Music bus. We complained, but nothing changed. I've never seen anything like it.

[Strmchsr]

I've stayed at all the value resorts and, honestly, didn't see much difference. I know Pop doesn't share buses, but when I timed it I actually waited as long (and sometimes longer) on buses at Pop than I did at the All-Stars because the buses did not run as frequently. Therefore the lines could become quite long. I think the music is probably the most difficult of the three All-Stars because movies often have their own buses, but Music shares with Sports and Sports is picked up first. Still, the bus system would not make me choose one resort over another. I think they're all close enough.

[Johnno52]

I always notice doesn't matter where we are staying, all the other resorts have more buses. Also our resort always seems to have the standing only buses. So I wouldn't worry about the schedules and sharing fears.

We can't plan for everything to be perfect so just go there and enjoy the whole place good and bad, as it will even out over the years.

As we had a Suite last month at ASM we thought it was better and more comfortable than having our DVC suite at BWV

[PrettyMinnie]

I was wondering the same thing! We stayed at POP last time and had no problems in the morning and at night after the parks. This year were are staying at ASMu, and I am nervous. We don't have tons of time ecspecially to waste on waiting for buses. The worst is by far at night trying to get BACK to the resorts...

[Disneycrazed]

The worst bus experience we've had was a stay at All Start Music. The week of our stay we had long waits in the morning as we tried to get to the parks and long waits as we tried to get back to the resort at night. I've posted about it before here on intercot. It was unreal as we watched bus after bus for Pop, Movies, and Sports go by as we sat waiting. The ratio, which I began to keep track of a few days into the trip was 5 to 1!!! We watched 5 Pop buses, 5 Movies/Sports buses go by for every one Music bus. We complained, but nothing changed. I've never seen anything like it.

I agree 100%.
On our last trip in August we left the MK after it closed. We got to the ASMu bus depot and were about the second bus away in line. Well to make a long story short we didn't get back to the resort until an hour and a half later! People were ready to riot. I complained and other people complained but we got the "sorry's" response. Bus service was always spotty. Sometimes if you hit it right it was okay but most of the time it was a long wait with no guarantee of getting a seat after a long day of walking. Needless to say I rented a car the next day for the remainder of our trip.This has happened one other time we stayed at ASMu. I only used the bus system three times in the many trips to WDW and that was to save money. On my next trip this August I am renting a car again at the Car Care Center. I will never be "Penny wise and pound foolish" again.

[wdwnomad]

I actually prefer the buses at the All Stars over the ones at Pop. They only share during the non busy times. In the mornings and in the evenings each All Star has it own bus.

[DisneyFr33k]

We've visited only during the "non-busy" times (even then, things seem busy). We've stayed at Music, twice and Movies and once at Pop. We much prefer the buses at Movies and Pop as they have a bus dedicated to just that resort. However, at Movies many times when buses would pull up to take us to a park, they were already full as they had stopped at Sports and Music first (Movies is last). Pop had enough buses running and many times they would double up - side by side - to accomodate long lines. We were really impressed last October with how quickly they would address long lines and how fast we were on our way. Two for Pop from us. That is where we'll stay next time.

[joonyer]

It's like choosing a line to get in, whether a cashier line at a big discount/grocery store, or which lane to get in during a traffic jam. Whichever line you choose will move the slowest. It's a natural law.

The same law applies at WDW resorts. Unless you are staying on the monorail, whichever resort you are staying at will have the longest wait for buses and the most crowded buses. It never fails. So don't choose a resort based on transportation issues unless you want to pay the premium for a monorail resort. Even staying there you'll have to wait on buses to go & get home from AK and DHS.

So just relax over your choice and enjoy. In reality, you will probably have to wait a while for a bus during your trip regardless of your resort. But so will everyone else. You can't do anything to avoid it altogether no matter where you stay. So don't sweat it.and have a great trip. There's plenty of magic to overcome the little hassles.

[WDWNut02]

It's funny because I was just wondering the same thing. Last trip we stayed at Pop and it seemed like the lines were shorter for us. I am going this month and staying at ASMovies and was wondering what everyone thought. I agree with most everyone else with the thought that there is probably no significant difference. Besides, I kinda enjoy the bus rides sometimes, good people wathchin.

[CaptSmee]

I will never stay at an All Star resort again because of POP and the bus situation. It's much, much better at POP. Think about it...each All Star resort has approx the same # of room as does POP. POP will never have to share a bus with another resort, while the All Stars do just about on a daily basis. 3 times the rooms, same # of buses...nope, not for me...

[Unique1]

We have stayed at All Stars four times.

We are usualy the first on and the first off.

The bus drivers are very funny.

Don't Worry

You will have a good time.

[grumpyguy]

we've stayed at two values and maybe it's just me but i have no complaints of the disney bus service.sure i'd like not to wait at all but what a great feeling when your bus arrives!!!it's like winning an instant lottery!!!
have fun and don't stress 'bout it.

[MOJoe]

Any resort at any time can have a unusually long wait for a bus. It is just the nature of a Bus System. I am certain that if you asked, you could get someone to respond to having a bad bus experience at every resort in WDW.
So what to do? Short of renting a car or taking taxis everywhere, you just have to go with the flow.
I have stayed at every resort category (including All Star Music) and found no difference in bus service. So trying to pick a resort based on peoples experiences will not guarantee that you will not have a long wait.
Instead, pick the resort that you want to try based on its appeal to you.

[johnO]

I will never stay at an All Star resort again because of POP and the bus situation. It's much, much better at POP. Think about it...each All Star resort has approx the same # of room as does POP. POP will never have to share a bus with another resort, while the All Stars do just about on a daily basis. 3 times the rooms, same # of buses...nope, not for me...

That's not quite accurate CaptSmee. Pop has 2,880 rooms while each All Star has 1,920. So Pop alone is the same size as adding two All Stars together.

The last time we stayed at Music there was a noticeable difference in bussing services that did not favor All Star Music. On numerous occasions during our week long stay Bus supervisors had to respond to the scene to assess the problems due to the volume of complaints. It was absolutely baffling. He had no answers for the differences in services.

One morning we waited for more than an hour for a bus to epcot. Not due to the length of the line, we were near the front. That's an hour between buses! One Bus supervisor showed up and then his boss showed up. We finally got onto a bus and got into an accident!!!!!! Then we had to wait until another bus could come get us!!!!!!

[Hull-onian]

We found out that desperate times call for desperate measures. We hop in a taxi, and we are back at our hotel in about fifteen minutes and we always have a seat. It's great.

[Recusit8m]

If you are driving or renting a car...aviod the buses all together if you can...We drove down in January and drove everywhere while we were there...Took the bus once...It was nuts...We even cheated a bit too...we would drive to the Poly, Boardwalk, etc and take the boats or the mono...It was waaaaayyyy easy and no one said anything...Quick and easy and mostly relaxing...I know the traffic can be rough at closing but I would much rather be stuck inside my own car talking about the days events with my family and listening to our music vs the sounds of the poor screaming kiddos that parents have kept out waaaayyy too late with no naps, and those parents having breakdowns...lol...

[disneyers]

We stayed at ASMusic the week before Christmas. We had no problems with the busses.

[Disney_Barbie]

We've never tried POP, but we found the All Stars to be so bad (all around, but transportation was pretty bad too) we'd stay off property before we ever stayed there again

[pink]

We have stayed in Music, Movie and Pop and Pop was the best, bus wise for service.

If you stay at the All-Stars the busses pick up guests at Sports and also drops them off first. By the time you get to Music and Movie most of the seats are full so you either have to wait for another bus or stand up the whole time. We went in September to and we never had too many problems with the bus system at Pop but honeslty, waiting the extra 5 minutes for the bus was worth standing for another 15-20 minutes anyday.