We won’t lie to you — getting around Disney World property can be a PAIN!
Disney Bus
Disney World’s land mass is literally the size of San Francisco, and that means that it can take you a WHILE to hop from one place to another, whether you’re heading to the parks, hotels, Disney Springs, or anywhere else. Bus transportation is often the simplest solution to getting around the parks, but just sitting around and waiting for those buses is a nuisance — good thing we’ve got a hack to help you improve that wait!
Did you know you can TRACK your Disney World bus on the Google Maps app? To start, you’ll need to put your starting location and final destination in the app, then select the “public transportation” tab. Here, it’ll tell you how long the path will take.
©Google
From there, click on the route you’re interested in to get a full breakdown of what the trip will be like. Since we just selected Saratoga Springs as our initial location, the app made sure to include the walk to the bus stop from the main building.
©Google
If you select the bus option from that last screen, it’ll take you to a bus schedule tab! This shows when the Disney buses are expected to arrive at the bus stop throughout the day. Very handy! It looks like the buses were set to come about every 25 minutes for our route.
©Google
But the REAL kicker is that when you click on the bus you want to ride, the app will track it for you! Ours gave us a full schedule of all the places the bus stops and what time it will reach those spots. This is particularly helpful at resorts like Saratoga Springs where there’s an internal bus loop and you want to see the route it takes.
©Google
Just think how well you could plan your day by using this tool! Want to grab a snack or use the bathroom before the bus arrives? Now you know if you have the time! There are so many different ways you could apply this hack to your travels, so don’t forget to download Google Maps before your trip.
Stay tuned to DFB for more updates and tips on how to navigate Disney World. We’ve got you covered!
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The Grandstand bus at SSR is the first pickup amd first drop off at.nigjt. Neat bus stop at SSR
Sorry can’t type. That’s first drop off at night. Best bus stop at SSR.
Being a long-time WDW passholder and bus-rider, there is a huge difference between when buses are SUPPOSED to appear and when they actually do. I’m guessing that Google is showing info based on what Disney tells them is their usual/published “schedule” — I’m almost positive that they do NOT have real-time access to individual/actual bus positions. Disney itself SHOULD have this real-time access and info, and apparently attempts to make that info available at some times via their MDE app, but it is NOT accurate most of the time for whatever reason. It’s happened to me way too many times where I’m waiting for my bus 30-60 minutes, while 2 or more buses to a different park show up at EXACTLY the same time or just minutes apart. I see no reason why Disney could not use technology like Uber or Lyft have that can REALLY show you EXACTLY where your ride vehicle is at in real time (even MEARS Connect can do that in their app). For the huge amounts of money we all spend at Disney, you think they could provide a similar service so we could know EXACTLY where our bus is and when it will arrive — imagine how great that would be to have in MDE.
Disney should make this information available and accurate in their My Disney Experience App. It would be a great benefit to guests and a big help with planning the day.