Disney World transportation just makes everything easier, doesn’t it? Well, that is, until it doesn’t quite work right.
We’ve seen Disney buses go down, we’ve seen the Monorail have problems, and we’ve seen the Skyliner get shut down due to weather. But being prepared for any kind of issue like that can help. However, there’s one really weird problem that you might not expect at all!
So we were looking over some of our guest reviews for Disney’s Art of Animation Resort and one particular guest and their family had a bizarre situation with the Skyliner come up during their trip!
So here’s the story: a guest wanted to get from the resort to EPCOT, but the Skyliner was down due to weather. Now, this happens often, and the guest was aware of that. So after speaking to a Cast Member, the guest and their party were directed to get a bus (buses run at the Skyliner resorts only when the Skyliner is down).
So the guest went to where the buses pick up and waited for over 30 minutes. After that, another guest went inside the resort to speak with a manager, who told that guest that the buses were no longer running because the Skyliner was back up.
So those guests who had been waiting on a bus walked across the property back to the Skyliner station — when they arrived, it was closing again and they were told to go back to the bus stop.
Understandably, the guest was frustrated and mentioned it in their review of the resort. It seemed that communication between Cast Members might have been missing on that particular day, but the weather in Florida can be very fickle, particularly during hurricane season. After waiting for another 25 minutes, the guest in question ordered an Uber so they wouldn’t miss a dining reservation.
So this is something to keep in mind if you’re staying at a Skyliner resort during bad weather. Our best advice is to speak to every Cast Member you can to make sure you’re getting the most recent update on whatever is going on with transportation. As this particular guest did, you can also consider getting a rideshare service if you need to be somewhere at a certain time.
This isn’t necessarily a situation we’ve heard of happening a lot, but we want to make sure that you have ALL the details you need in planning your next Disney World trip. It might be best to not stay at a Skyliner resort during hurricane season.
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Have you ever had a similar issue at a Skyliner Resort? Let us know in the comments!
They really need to make updates about the Skyliner available on the Disney app.
The definition of NIGHTMARE is having this happen in reverse… another poster has touched on it. You are at Epcot getting ready to head back to Pop Century and go to the skyliner and are told it is closed, please use the buses, which are at the front of Epcot, a LONG, LONG, way at the end of a busy day. So you trudge thru Epcot out the gates and all the way to the bus ques. Then you are looking for Pop Century pick up and when you find your number there is a sign that says skyliner is running again and the buses are NOT. So one of your options is to trudge back, slower this time, to the skyliner. It is a NIGHTMARE. And I agree a major Disney FAIL. The buses should continue to run for at least 30 to 45 minutes after skyliner restarts so those folks who have walked up to the buses are taken home. The other choice is another park is open late, is to catch the bus or monorail to the other park and then a bus back to Pop. But it is something that needs to be fixed.
A simple solution would be some sort of notification on your phone or signage in the park.
We ran into this problem while staying at Pop. The Skyliner to Epcot was running, but the line to Hollywood studios was down and we were directed to the buses. Got to the bus line and it was insane. I’ve never seen so many people waiting for a bus. We drove ourselves to the park and when we got there, what did we see? The Skyliner was running. Maybe they were testing it, but we weren’t happy because we were now late for early Park opening. And we had the long walk back to our car in the parking lot at the end of our day. But if we hadn’t drove ourselves, we would still have been waiting on the bus.
Staff members with radios might could have helped that situation.
We have had this happen to us at Pop Century numerous times. We have waited over an hour for a bus due to the skyliner being down. We got to where we programmed in the transportation department’s phone number in our phones and called them as soon as the skyliner closed.
That situation is a huge fail on Disney’s part. The Skyliner was always billed and “sold” as an option. As you can see it is and has been forced down guests throats. They should not only refund these guests’ Uber costs but also pay for their dinner. No guest should be forced to take a rideshare and add to an already ridiculously expensive and frankly overpriced vacation.
Animal Kingdom is fairly close to AoA and PC, so when the weather is iffy, take the bus to AK and then another to your final destination.
This can also be a problem if you are at Epcot looking to go back to your resort as the bus stops and Skyliner stations are quite a distance. We found ourselves running back and forth one evening.
Very good point Carol. I assume that you have to re-enter the park each time you attempt to “change” modes of transportation. I’m with Scott in the fact that what was sold as an “Option”, leaves you with no other options and Disney apparently has no concerns about customers who are afraid of heights or cable systems. Uber’s aren’t complimentary transportation, so that isn’t a very good alternative to the promised park transportation included in your resort cost.