One of the best parts of Disney World isn’t the theme parks, it’s the resorts! Resort Hopping is an entirely different side of Disney that can lead you to some amazing shopping, delicious dining, exceptional entertainment, and more.
Disney Springs
While you can’t park at most Disney hotels without a hotel or dining reservation, there are ways around that. One of the easiest ways is to park at Disney Springs, hop on a free bus, and enjoy your day, but that isn’t the case anymore. For a limited time, it just got harder to resort hop in Disney World.
During a recent stop by Disney’s shopping and dining district, we stopped by the bus station to head to a resort, but no such luck! We were able to confirm that you can no longer go from Disney Springs to any resort you want to. Now, you need to have a reservation to hop on board.
Disney Springs Bus Station
At each bus station, there was a guest relations Cast Member stationed so they could check to see if you have a confirmed reservation before hopping on the bus and heading to the resort. We spoke to a Cast Member who confirmed that it’s restricted to hotel reservations, dining reservations, recreation activities, or any general business at the resort besides leisure.
The guest relations cast member.
Luckily, they also confirmed this won’t last forever! Cast Members confirmed the change is just for this week, which they called their ‘busy season’ for spring break. They did warn us that there are talks of an extension on this change, but for now, it is only around until next week. (That’s roughly April 6th, although they did not confirm an official end date.)
Disney Bus
If you still want to resort hop, you can park at the theme parks and hop on transportation from there, but you will have to pay for theme park parking. If you really want to check out a specific resort, we would recommend grabbing a dining reservation and parking there before exploring and dining to your heart’s content.
Bus at Disney’s Beach Club Resort
If you’re only going to the theme parks, you might be missing out on some of the best parts of Disney World. We’re seriously glad this change isn’t permanent! Be sure to keep following DisneyFoodBlog for more Disney news, updates, and more.
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Congratulations, Disney management; one more way to make DW much less desirable to visit. Every time another “perk” is removed the parks become less of a vacation spot and only an overpriced amusement park. I used to go to DW regularly but when they started removing the perks, and shows and tours (such as the Luau or Wanyama) I have not been back and have no desire to ever go back. I can go to many fine resorts and/or amusement parks for a lot less money.
Can you still park at one of the 4 parks and take a resort bus?
Yes, as far as we know this only applies to Disney Springs transportation and only for the time-being. They could lift the restriction after Easter, but we are not sure yet.
Wow. Disney is making where every day, average families who scrimp and save to go are not going to be able to go or even want to go. I understand the not being able to park at a resort without a reservation but not being able to take a bus from Disney Springs to a resort just to look around? That’s ridiculous. They took the Magic Express away from the airport to resorts so now you have to pay for it (yes, I know that was a while ago but it was something that drew my family to fly rather than drive). What’s next? You can’t ride the monorail and resort hop unless you have a reservation? Can’t ride the skyliner unless you are at a skyliner resort?
I get what disney is doing. They are trying to keep the non disney resort crowd away from their resorts. This is sad & unacceptable. I would plan a long weekend trip to disney springs & stay at a disney springs hotel within walking distance to disney springs & enjoy disney springs & take a short afternoon break by taking the bus from disney springs to the Polynesian & spend my money there relaxing on their outdoor patio having a tropical drink by trader sams outdoor then head back to disney springs. I am not going to use an Uber to do that. This will affect many families who want to go to WDW on a budget. Don’t tell me this is temporary either. This is a test for things to come. Im not going to make future plans with WDW not knowing if i will have transportation issues or not. Universal is looking better & better.
Great move by Disney to keep guests out. If the parking fee wasn’t so high, guests would not need to find ways to beat the system. Ticket prices are high enough along with everything else at Disney. I wish the would stop gouging guests.
Is this still in place?