OKW Transportation

goofy4tink

No tags...not needed! Transportation moderator
Moderator
Joined
May 2, 2002
Just got back Wednesday night, and I have to say that I have never, ever been so disappointed in WDW transportation. I've stayed at OKW before, and the buses were fine. But this time? Not so much. I stayed in the same area, Turtle Pond, that I've stayed in before. But, my wait times for buses were horrible. There was one day that we had a 4:45 ADR at BoG. We left our studio at about 3:30. I sat and watched the times monitor change...constantly. The next MK bus was supposed to be there at 3:50. Ok,, we must have just missed one. No problem. Well, the time kept getting moved. I sat and watched 4 buses to AK, 2 to Epcot, and 3 to DHS roll in. Nothing for MK. Sat and watched as the time moved to 4:10, then to 4:15. Then to 4:23. Finally it arrived at 4:35!! Seriously? An hour. I should have taken the first bus to come along and then transferred to the MK bus or monorail, but never thought it would take an hour!!! We arrived at MK around 4:45...I flew to BoG, arriving about 15 mins late!!

My dh wanted to get to the HH area one night, while dd and I were at AK. He took the bus there, got off and did what he needed to do. But, when he asked how to get back to Turtle Pond, he was told to take the DS bus. Okay. He tried that, after waiting for 20 mins. The driver said he wasn't going through the resort, but directly to DS. And to take the Internal bus....but he hadn't seen one of those. Finally, one arrived, about 30 mins later. He was not a happy camper. I told him he should have just walked across the street and gone to the Peninsula Rd bus stop and hopped on and gone to Turtle Pond. But, non one at OKW thought to tell him that!!!! He told me that unless we have a car, he doesn't want to stay there...ever!!! I have to admit, it was nice having a car there for the two days we rented one. Lesson learned...rent for the entire trip.
 
Busses can be hit or miss, and clumped, with several going to the same place arriving within a relatively short time. And of course it always seems the one you want is the most scarce! I always wondered why there isn't more communication between busses to stagger better or perhaps change one over to another destination. But overall I have had mostly good experiences with the busses, with some scattered not so good waits. I have stayed in turtle pond area quite a few times, but don't use the internal bus, as I tend to just walk to HH area, so I can't comment on how that trip is.
 
I hope you let Disney know about it. A 1 hour wait is unacceptable.

I don't know whether anyone in management will actually investigate, but it should be looked into.
 
I am so sorry you seemed to have experienced the worst of the Disney buses! I just got back for OKW last night, and my buses were fine. I was staying in building 14 which is opposite HH and I rode the bus around to that stop exactly once. Hated that it took 25 minutes to get around the resort. From that point, I got off at the first stop (Peninsula Rd) and walked back to HH. I had originally asked for buildings near that first stop because I can look out the window, see which bus I just missed and then walk over to HH and catch it on the way out of the resort.
 


I have to say that this stay had the worst transportation. I'm usually a strong proponent of the buses.
I have no idea what the issue was. Drivers seemed to be cranky. If, and it's a big if, I stay at OKW again, I'll be in the HH area.
 
Diane, I think you just proved what I've always said bus service at any resort can be great or horrible. It all depends on when you get to the bus stop...and perhaps the phase of the moon.
 
I have stayed at OKW several times and would not stay there without a rental car. The busses always seem to have long waits and it takes forever to get out of the resort (I like Turtle Pond Road) also).

I think the bus monitor times aren't reliable. I had a similar situation at Boardwalk while waiting for an AK bus. It finally came about 30 minutes after the time that was posted when I got to the stop.
 


If Be Our Guest failed to honor your reservation and you had a diary of the bus saga then Guest Relations should have been your next stop.

The correct way to handle it is to pencil in a new reservation for you for 10 minutes* after you got there. Parties who both had reservations for after that magic number and who physically arrived after you would be seated after you. This would not be expected to cause any impact since other parties waiting would be moved up one slot each to fill the slot you missed.

Can it really take 25 minutes from when the bus enters Old Key West (or Caribbean Beach) until it pulls out with new guests aboard, if no disabled guests needed to get on or off?

Hmmmm. Here is a refinement for the bus arrival times display. Have appropriate messages scroll by periodically, e.g.: "We are experiencing moderate delays on the <fill in the route name> route due to <fill in the reason>." I know that the Boston MBTA has some of these messages.

* You're supposed to be there 10 minutes in advance of your reservation.
 
Last edited:
If Be Our Guest failed to honor your reservation and you had a diary of the bus saga then Guest Relations should have been your next stop.

The correct way to handle it is to re-pencil in a new reservation for you 10 minutes* after you got there. Parties who both had reservations for after that magic number and who physically arrived after you would be seated after you.

* You're supposed to be there 10 minutes in advance of your reservation.
I had no problem being seated. The CM was very reassuring and said that even if I had been 30 mins late!

My issue is the 'buses run every 20 mins' policy. I get to the bus stop an hour prior to my ADR, no transfer needed. Even if I just missed a MK bus (entirely possible), it shouldn't have been such a long wait for the next one. There had to be at least 2 or 3 buses for each of the other parks. Glitches happen. It's just really hard to plan.
I have to say, I really did enjoy having a car for our final two days! May just rent a car from now on!
 
Can it really take 25 minutes from when the bus enters Old Key West (or Caribbean Beach) until it pulls out with new guests aboard, if no disabled guests needed to get on or off?
Normal travel time from Peninsular Rd. to HH with no delays is 12 minutes. If there are 2 ecv's to load at 2 different stops, that can easily add 5 min. apiece, so yeah, you're getting close to 25. And sometimes the ecv doesn't even have to be on that bus; it can be on one in front that's holding up the whole line.
Hmmmm. Here is a refinement for the bus arrival times display. Have appropriate messages scroll by periodically, e.g.: "We are experiencing moderate delays on the <fill in the route name> route due to <fill in the reason>." I know that the Boston MBTA has some of these messages.
Might work if there's an accident or ball game traffic causing a general delay, but most late buses are due to transient and completely unpredictable causes, like wheelchair loading.

I want to make it clear that I am in no way blaming the wheelchair/ecv occupants. It's just an unfortunate fact that loading them often causes delays.
 
I have stayed at OKW several times and would not stay there without a rental car. The busses always seem to have long waits and it takes forever to get out of the resort (I like Turtle Pond Road) also).

I think the bus monitor times aren't reliable. I had a similar situation at Boardwalk while waiting for an AK bus. It finally came about 30 minutes after the time that was posted when I got to the stop.


Currently going through that age old debate in my head of if I should rent a car or not.

I have one reserved, but was considering going bubble route this time.

This is our first stay at OKWR.

We have some days planned to Uber or Minnie Van it, but rolling the dice on the bus situation at OKWR is starting to concern me?

Are the busses for OKWR more reliable and thorough now, since this post was written?

Any tips or info is greatly appreciated.
 
Just got back Wednesday night, and I have to say that I have never, ever been so disappointed in WDW transportation. I've stayed at OKW before, and the buses were fine. But this time? Not so much. I stayed in the same area, Turtle Pond, that I've stayed in before. But, my wait times for buses were horrible. There was one day that we had a 4:45 ADR at BoG. We left our studio at about 3:30. I sat and watched the times monitor change...constantly. The next MK bus was supposed to be there at 3:50. Ok,, we must have just missed one. No problem. Well, the time kept getting moved. I sat and watched 4 buses to AK, 2 to Epcot, and 3 to DHS roll in. Nothing for MK. Sat and watched as the time moved to 4:10, then to 4:15. Then to 4:23. Finally it arrived at 4:35!! Seriously? An hour. I should have taken the first bus to come along and then transferred to the MK bus or monorail, but never thought it would take an hour!!! We arrived at MK around 4:45...I flew to BoG, arriving about 15 mins late!!

My dh wanted to get to the HH area one night, while dd and I were at AK. He took the bus there, got off and did what he needed to do. But, when he asked how to get back to Turtle Pond, he was told to take the DS bus. Okay. He tried that, after waiting for 20 mins. The driver said he wasn't going through the resort, but directly to DS. And to take the Internal bus....but he hadn't seen one of those. Finally, one arrived, about 30 mins later. He was not a happy camper. I told him he should have just walked across the street and gone to the Peninsula Rd bus stop and hopped on and gone to Turtle Pond. But, non one at OKW thought to tell him that!!!! He told me that unless we have a car, he doesn't want to stay there...ever!!! I have to admit, it was nice having a car there for the two days we rented one. Lesson learned...rent for the entire trip.

Diane, what day was the bus fiasco on? I ask because we were at CSR that week too and had really slow bus service on Tuesday 9/04. Waited for an Epcot bus for over 30 minutes at least while several busses for the other parks came and went at the first stop #2 there. This was later in the day, about 3pm-ish, spoke with two ladies at our CSR stop who were panicked that they wouldn't get to Epcot in time for the early dinner event for the special fall package and they arrived at the stop before we did. We were just going for a F & W booth dinner around the Showcase so didn't mind the wait, though it seemed that day much longer for some park busses than others. The other ladies even spoke to two different drivers to please contact dispatch for an Epcot bus after 30 minutes had passed for them, arrival time board had pushed back the time a couple of times.

I wonder if after Labor Day or Sept. 1 there were many driver or schedule or dispatch changes? Know that 30 minutes is still within the "approx. every 20 minutes" realm but so many other busses came and went while we were there that it made no sense. Other days were hit or miss as usual but Tuesday stood out as just bad.
 
OKW is where our bus nightmare was.
Left the condo at 5:55 for the MK bus for last year's MNSSHP on a Friday night. Stated 6:23. OK-we'll wait.
Went into the 6:30s-6:40s, and at the 6:50 estimate(around 6:35 PM) we called uber.
Had an uber arrive within 5 minutes to the bus stop(peninsula). Was at the TTC and on a monorail heading to the MK around 15 minutes later.
When we left, there were over 100 people at our stop alone for the MK, and the time had been pushed all the way back to 7:15.

We had major problems from Animal Kingdom also while staying at OKW.
 
The MK bus there's no excuse for that kind of delay, but stuff happens with transit. Living in NYC has me keenly aware of this!

But when we stay in the Turtle Pond area, I just walk to the HH area. It's just faster than waiting for the bus. I do understand that that isn't possible due to various people's fitness or levels of infirm, but for anyone who is able-bodied, it's probably best to just walk.
 
I have to say that this stay had the worst transportation. I'm usually a strong proponent of the buses.
I have no idea what the issue was. Drivers seemed to be cranky. If, and it's a big if, I stay at OKW again, I'll be in the HH area.

Diane, I think you just proved what I've always said bus service at any resort can be great or horrible. It all depends on when you get to the bus stop...and perhaps the phase of the moon.

I am thinking about OKW for my next trip, but have heard horrible things about the transit there. Would you both say it tends to be pretty bad at OKW?
 
Diane, what day was the bus fiasco on? I ask because we were at CSR that week too and had really slow bus service on Tuesday 9/04. Waited for an Epcot bus for over 30 minutes at least while several busses for the other parks came and went at the first stop #2 there. This was later in the day, about 3pm-ish, spoke with two ladies at our CSR stop who were panicked that they wouldn't get to Epcot in time for the early dinner event for the special fall package and they arrived at the stop before we did. We were just going for a F & W booth dinner around the Showcase so didn't mind the wait, though it seemed that day much longer for some park busses than others. The other ladies even spoke to two different drivers to please contact dispatch for an Epcot bus after 30 minutes had passed for them, arrival time board had pushed back the time a couple of times.

I wonder if after Labor Day or Sept. 1 there were many driver or schedule or dispatch changes? Know that 30 minutes is still within the "approx. every 20 minutes" realm but so many other busses came and went while we were there that it made no sense. Other days were hit or miss as usual but Tuesday stood out as just bad.

Diane's post is from 2 years ago - someone just recently bumped the thread.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!






Top