Transportation can be a bit of a hassle at Walt Disney World. You never know what hold-ups could occur when on a Disney bus, monorail, boat, or Skyliner.
Recently, though, we’ve realized that you might be surprised before you even make it onto transportation! That’s because Disney is lying about the times that transportation runs — not that the information is easy to find to begin with!
Did you know Disney World is lying to you about transportation!?
If you’ve ever tried to find a clear answer to transportation hours on the Disney World website, you’ve probably come out a little disappointed. The most you’ll find are general statements, but Disney does not post the exact transportation hours every day.
This can be frustrating and a bummer for planning purposes. Will your preferred mode of transportation even be available when you need it? How early and how late?
You’ll need to check signage at the transportation hubs or speak to a Cast Member to get the accurate times. But even then, you might not get the accurate times. In fact, you might get more lies!
Recently, I stayed at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort for a full tour, and I wanted to hop on the Skyliner to Disney’s Hollywood Studios ASAP in the morning. I’d need to if I wanted to be there in time for rope drop!
I checked with a Cast Member at the front desk to ask when the earliest gondolas depart. They told me it would open 45 minutes prior to the park opening. In my case, Hollywood Studios opened at 9AM, meaning I could expect the Skyliner to open at 8:15AM.
Imagine my surprise when I checked the signage at the Skyliner station, only to find out that the posted opening was actually 8AM. Wow! I could’ve been 15 minutes late, right? Wrong. The Skyliner actually opened even earlier!
A line started to form at the Skyliner around 7:30AM, and the gondolas began accepting guests between then and 7:45 — almost a full hour and a half before park opening and way earlier than the Cast Members or the signage told me.
At this time it isn’t super easy to trust the times you’re seeing for transportation. When in doubt, arrive earlier than you expect you need to, and budget in more than enough time for travel from one place to another — especially if you’re trying to reach a park before it opens.
Have you seen wonky transportation times in Disney World? Tell us in the comments!
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I feel like times for the Skyliner are the most inconsistent, it’s difficult planning days in advance when operating times aren’t available. I understand that weather can affect the skyliner so I try to be patient with changes to the scheduled operating times. Those views though, are totally worth it!
There is real time and Disney time. If you go a lot you learn to add or subtract 15 minutes
There were hundreds and hundreds of people from both sides of the skyliner bridge an hour before Hollywood early morning time 2 weeks ago. After a half hour of the line not moving, we got a Lyft. At the junction to switch cars to the park was another half hour wait we heard. It was fine at off times, but in the mornings it’s a nightmare.
Transportation was my biggest issue in my recent trip, especially with the skyliner. Not sure why Disney hasn’t added a transportation times or at least a this transportation is running and that is closed spot back into My Disney experience.
Saying Disney is “lying” is kind of harsh. We’ve been going to Disney World every year since 1992. The buses have always been coming to the bus stop earlier than stated. I think Disney states the time a bus might come so guests won’t be disappointed if they don’t show up earlier. After all, I’m sure they have drivers that call in sick or on vacation (even more so now). If the bus doesn’t show up 45 minutes before the park opens then someone can and will complain. If the bus shows up earlier then the guests are even more excited and happy. Kind of like saying the park opens at 9am, but it actually opened at 8:30am. Yippee!
We just got back Wednesday. One day we were waiting to go to Epcot and the sign said the next bus was 8:50. It was 8:20 so my husband said he would look around the gift shop for a little bit since we had a half an hour wait . One minute later the bus pulled up and I was texting him in a panic! I told the bus driver he was coming and that he was just looking around since the sign said we had half an hour and the bus driver said “oh those are just rough estimates”. We’ve been coming to Disney World almost yearly since 2008 and the times used to be *spot on*. Not complaining … just noticed a huge difference this year in this area.
Stayed at CBR last week. Transportion is a shame right now ! We wrote down multiple situations where we waited between 30 minutes and 75 minutes for a bus. Every time we would call the bus garage or the front desk they said “ a bus is on the way!” Guests were NOT happy !!!!! We ending up using Uber every day. So sad.
Disney’s transportation is terrible right now. Less busses. Terrible customer services over the phone if you have a complaint. We were at the bus station at Skyliner. We didn’t want to walk to Martinique. We watched several internal buses drive by. I called the front desk; they said they would send a bus. We watched more internal buses go by. My husband called the front desk. They put him on with the transportation head at Caribbean Beach. The transportation head was in denial that a bus station exists at the Skyliner while we and 8 other guests are standing at said bus station. Our adult children walked back. My husband’s arthritic knee was acting up and we had to sit and wait. Our kids sent us pictures of themselves in the room before we got our bus ride. It finally came, but it was a battle.
So, critical but not rude comments get blocked?
Don’t worry so much about trying to get to the parks right when it opens!!! Take some time to relax and stop stressing so much!!!!! Vacations are about enjoying yourself!!!!!! Stay Cool 😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎
As my wife says, “relax when you’re dead”! The best thing about WDW is the constant activity, crowds, and planning. If you really want to relax, WDW is probably the last place you should take a vacation 🙂
I’m with you Tim. We usually need time to recover from a Disney trip, but its worth it. We do rope drop to close every day. It means we can save on the hotel and stay in the value ones since we’re pretty much only unconscious there. Last trip we clocked over 97 miles in 11 days. Worth every step!
We were told by Friendship boat staff that Disney did not ok the boats. So Marriot agreed to cover the expense and recalled the staff to get them running. Shame on Disney!
I too agree with Tim AND his wife. 😉 We spend a lot of money at Disney World and we want to get the most out of it. We can sleep in at home, but we can’t ride Thunder Mountain at home.