Jump to: French Quarter | Riverside Stops | To Theme Parks | To Disney Springs | To Water Parks | Return Journeys | Hotel Transfers | Tips | Operational Info

The Walt Disney World theme parks, water parks and other entertainment areas can attract hundreds of thousands of visitors per day, and moving them around the property efficiently is a major logistical challenge. While you can drive your own car if you prefer, Disney operates an extensive fleet of more than 300 buses which can (and usually do) transport guests quickly and efficiently from the resorts to the theme parks and other destinations within the Walt Disney World area.

The convenience and reliability of the bus service can be one of the most polarising aspects of people’s experience at Port Orleans. For every online rant saying “We had to wait over an hour for a bus, not everyone could get on, there was a virtual mutiny at the bus stop!!!” there are just as many people who say they stayed at Port Orleans for two weeks in July and never experienced any problems with the buses.

A bus for every destination should arrive at least once every 20 minutes, and more frequently during peak demand periods. The two Port Orleans resorts rarely share a common bus service, as mostly each resort has its own separate direct buses for each theme park. Special buses for guests attending early character breakfasts used to be provided but these have now been discontinued and you’ll need to use the regular services instead, which may include a change of bus.

Disney uses a GPS tracking system to monitor its fleet and they also check the current queue lines to determine when and where extra services are needed, so you should never be left waiting for too long – although after a long day trudging your way around Epcot, “too long” can become a somewhat subjective term!

Note: As from the start of 2022, Disney no longer provides the free “Magical Express” airport transfer service. There is a separate page for other Ground Transportation options such as paid shuttle services, taxis, rental cars, and public buses.

Port Orleans French Quarter Bus Stop

The “Blues” and “Jazz” bus stations at Port Orleans French Quarter are located right outside the main Port Orleans Square building, just on the right hand side as you exit from the main building.

The first station (A) is the stopping point for buses to Animal Kingdom, Epcot and Disney Springs while the second station (B) handles the buses destined for the Magic Kingdom and Disney Hollywood Studios. For Blizzard Beach change at Animal Kingdom, and for Typhoon Lagoon use the Disney Springs bus.

Please be aware that when a combined service is operating (which is very rare, apart from Disney Springs) French Quarter will be the first stop but collecting from the four Riverside Depots can add a further 10-15 minutes to your journey time before the bus finally heads off to its destination.

Port Orleans Riverside Bus Stops

The main (South Depot) bus stop at Port Orleans Riverside is located to the right as you exit from the Sassagoula Steamboat Company main building, just outside the rear exit of Fulton’s General Store. For the theme park bus services, this is usually the final pickup before the bus departs for its park destination.

The first station (‘A’, previously known as the Blue Bayou Platform) is the stopping point for buses to Animal Kingdom, Epcot and Disney Springs while the second station (‘B’, previously River Delta Platform) handles the buses destined for the Magic Kingdom and Disney Hollywood Studios. For Blizzard Beach change at Animal Kingdom, and for Typhoon Lagoon use the Disney Springs bus.

There are three smaller bus stops located clockwise around the Sassagoula Circle perimeter road, with about a two-minute drive between each Depot.

• The first stop is the West Depot, serving Alligator Bayou Lodges 24-26 and 28-35.
• The second stop is the North Depot, serving Alligator Bayou Lodges 36-39 and also Acadian House.
• The third stop is the East Depot, which is located behind Magnolia Terrace and also serves the rear sections of Oak Manor and Parterre Place.

The other buildings are probably best served by the main South Depot, but please check the resort map to see which stop would be closest for your particular room.

Getting to the Disney Theme Parks

The first bus of the morning aims to drop guests off at the chosen theme park about one hour before the park’s officially stated Early Entry access time. So to use the Magic Kingdom as an example: with a general public opening time of 9am, Early Entry access to rides for hotel guests would be at 8:30am, so the first bus of the morning should be dropping guests off outside the park at 7:30am. This means the first pickup from Port Orleans should be around 7:10-7:15am – but allow for 10-15 minutes earlier if you are using one of the Riverside outer circle stops (West Depot, North Depot, or East Depot).

Buses continue to run at least once every 20 minutes throughout the day, with the last return service roughly 1½ hours after each park has closed, or until the last guests have been picked up to make sure that everyone gets home safely.

Once the buses leave the resort area (i.e. after any internal pickup stops) the transit times are fairly short, but remember to allow some further time to get through security and bag check before you actually enter the park.

• Epcot: 8-10 minutes
• Hollywood Studios: 9-12 minutes
• Magic Kingdom: 10-13 minutes
• Animal Kingdom: up to 20 minutes

The routes taken by buses used to vary by park, but as from December 2015 a new simpler routing plan was introduced. French Quarter buses generally go directly to the theme park without calling at Riverside at all, but where a combined service is operating (rare) the shared bus will call at French Quarter first before the Riverside stops. At Riverside, theme park buses call at the West Depot first, then North Depot, East Depot, and finally the South Depot before departing for the park.

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Sometimes during peak periods at Riverside, to reduce overcrowding they may run separate services for the South Depot and a different bus solely for the outer circle stops.

Getting to Disney Springs, and using the Internal Shuttle

The Disney Springs service is the only exception to the above rule, calling first at French Quarter and then Riverside South, West, North and East, then finally adding an extra stop back at French Quarter before heading back to Disney Springs.

As from August 2015 this service also acts as an internal shuttle, so the marquees on the buses will change to read “Internal Resort Shuttle” upon entering the resort area and then switch back to “Disney Springs” before leaving the resort area.

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The first bus of the morning leaves French Quarter just after 9am, then picks up at all the Riverside stops, and then goes back to French Quarter again before departing from the Port Orleans resort area. That first bus also drops guests off at Typhoon Lagoon en route (if that water park is open) and it should arrive at Disney Springs about 20 minutes prior to the area’s 10am opening time.

Disney Springs buses now ONLY travel to the newly-opened central ‘Landings’ bus terminus located behind Planet Hollywood. Allow extra time if you need to get to any of the more remote locations.

Note: As from 28 June 2026, the resort bus services departing from Disney Springs are exclusively for the use of any current Walt Disney World hotel guests or guests with dining reservations, and Resort ID / dining confirmation will be required before boarding a bus for the return journey. This only applies to guests boarding at Disney Springs, you can travel from a hotel to Disney Springs without such confirmations.

Getting to the Disney Water Parks

Guests wishing to travel to one of the Walt Disney World Water Parks – Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach – need to change buses as there is no direct service. For Typhoon Lagoon, first take a bus to Disney Springs and change there for a water park bus (the first Disney Springs bus of the day may also drop guests off at Typhoon Lagoon en route). For Blizzard Beach, change at the Animal Kingdom theme park. Note: often only one of the two water parks may be open at any given time, so check the timetables before traveling.

Return Journeys

All of the theme parks and Disney Springs have separate waiting areas clearly marked for every resort hotel, look for separate signs for “Riverside” or “French Quarter”. The destination will also be indicated on illuminated displays on the front and side of each bus.

Return buses continue to run for about an hour and a half after park closure (including any Extra Magic Hours). The Disney Springs return service finishes about an hour after the last closing time there.

At the end of your day when you’ve just watched the fireworks and you’re heading back to your hotel room, please remember that there will be thousands of other people who have the same idea. Disney do add extra buses at park closing times, but even so the lines for Riverside in particular can get pretty long during peak summer or holiday periods – even with some buses arriving seemingly nose-to-tail. If the lines for Riverside become too lengthy, it’s sometimes worth catching the first bus for French Quarter and then walking back over to Riverside – it’s not much more than a ten minute walk, and even shorter to some of the mansion buildings.

Also, do remember that no-one is forcing you to leave the park just yet. Stay a while and enjoy those thinning crowds and the beautiful evening illumination, or perhaps do a bit of late-night shopping (believe me, Disney will happily take your money until at least an hour after the official park closing time). Then meander your way back to the now emptier bus stop after all the other sheep have departed and you’ll probably have a much more pleasant journey home.

If you are worried that you may have missed the last bus back to your resort at night, speak to one of the Disney Transportation cast members and they will see if they can find a way to get you home. Or there’s always Uber/Lyft/etc as a last resort of course.

Transferring Between Disney Resort Hotels

Unfortunately, while Disney’s bus service is generally pretty efficient at getting you to the parks, it’s not so well designed for quick transportation between the various resort hotels.

If you’ve got a meal booked at one of the other resort hotels for example, the only way to get there by Disney transportation is to first take a bus to one of the theme parks, or to Disney Springs if the parks have already closed, and then change to a second bus to get you to your required hotel. Generally, it’s a good idea to allow yourself around an hour and a half for most routes to be safe, and try to avoid changing at a theme park which is close to its closing time as you may experience long waits.

If you’re trying to get to an early breakfast at another resort hotel and you don’t have access to a car, I would strongly suggest you consider taking a taxi or Minnie Van/Lyft/Uber, which will probably cost you around $15 but will make your morning a lot less stressful than trying to catch two buses before 8am.

If you’re going for a meal at the Contemporary Resort – such as Chef Mickey’s – first get a bus to the Magic Kingdom and then walk over to the Contemporary, it’s only a few minutes away from the theme park bus stop.

For the Grand Floridian, Polynesian, Wilderness Lodge or Fort Wilderness you may find that catching one of the small local ferry boats which dock just in front of the Magic Kingdom will be quicker than waiting for a second bus. The monorail is also a good option for the Contemporary, Polynesian and Grand Floridian (with stops occurring in that order).

For the Epcot area resorts – Yacht and Beach Clubs, Boardwalk, Swan/Dolphin – first get the bus to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and then take the free ferry boat or the Skyliner from just outside the theme park gates (there is also a walking path which takes about 20 minutes). The Hollywood Studios option will usually be easier than the alternative of getting the bus to Epcot and walking through the park, and it does not require theme park admission.

For other hotels, change at the theme park closest to your final destination (or Disney Springs) – for example change at Animal Kingdom for Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Other Information and Tips

• All Disney buses are very disability friendly. If you or a member of your party needs to use a wheelchair or an ECV (electric vehicle) you will be given priority boarding before any other passengers. Disabled access is via the middle doorway and the location to wait is marked on the kerbside. Each bus has an integrated ramp, and the bus driver will help you to load and secure your chair (there is no need to transfer) before admitting your family members and then the rest of the waiting guests. Depending on the size of the ECV or wheelchair, it is usually possible to load up to two onto the same bus.
   
  
• Any strollers are required to be folded before boarding the bus, and there is no eating or drinking permitted on board. Standing is permitted, and at busier times there can be a lot of people crammed on board! There is no facility for bringing luggage onto Disney transporation.
   
  
• If you want to be near to the front of the rope-drop crowd for a theme park which has 8:30am early entry for resort guests, aim to be waiting at the resort’s main bus stop by just after 7am. Note: Animal Kingdom routinely opens an hour earlier than the other parks, so allow extra time within your travel plans.
   
  
• If you are planning something time-critical – such as seeing a show or getting to a dining reservation on time – you should allow yourself at least one hour from arriving at the bus stop to allow for having just missed a bus, a bus turning up full, any additional stops around the resort, and any delays getting through security and into the park. If you also need to change transportation, for example to get to another resort hotel, you should allow at least an hour and a half before your booked time for safety.
   
  
• If you really need to get to your destination as quickly as possible you may wish to consider using a rental car if you have one, or taking a taxi or a Minnie Van/Lyft/Uber as this will often prove faster than taking a Disney bus (since there will be no queues, no wait for the bus to arrive, and no interim stops). The one exception to using your own car is when traveling to the Magic Kingdom, in which case you need to make an extra journey by monorail or ferryboat from the parking lot to the theme park entrance which can delay you a bit.
   
  

Bus Wait Time screen at Riverside (South Depot at 12:02pm on 22 Aug 2014)

• From early 2016 all of the Port Orleans bus stops have featured a dedicated live Wait Time screen which displays the currently expected arrival times for buses for each destination. The same live information is available via the My Disney Experience app for guests staying on-site.
  
  The trouble with this information is that it doesn’t respesent an actual schedule per se. There isn’t one in fact. The details are generated based on GPS tracking of the buses and their distance left to travel. If a bus has an issue – perhaps a long wheelchair load or unload, traffic, or other unexpected delay – then the displayed ETA will change. Similarly, if they add an extra bus or change a route, or a bus is taken out of service, the timings will get adjusted too.
   
  
• At Riverside, the most obvious place to catch a bus is the route’s first pickup point (usually the West Depot) but if that bus then progresses on to each of the other Riverside Depots in turn then your journey time could easily be doubled. However choosing the last pickup point (usually the main South Depot) runs the risk of there being standing room only, or even no room at all. If this happens, Disney is usually quick to allocate extra buses to the route – but that doesn’t help you much if you’re waiting impatiently to get to the Magic Kingdom to watch the night-time parade in 30 minutes and one bus has just gone past full. I would suggest allowing yourself a little extra time at especially busy periods, and adjust your waiting-point strategy depending on your destination.
   
  
• And one last thought before you rush online to post questions asking for people’s experiences with the buses: imagine you have been waiting 40 minutes for an Epcot bus, and when one finally turns up someone else happens to stroll up to the bus stop and just hops straight on with no wait. You’re both riding on the very same bus, but while they are going to tell all their friends how wonderful Disney’s buses are, you might have a somewhat different story... The truth, as ever, lies somewhere between the two experiences.

For more information on any of the Disney bus routes or timetables, call 1-407-WDW-RIDE (1-407-939-7433).

Operational Information

One of the problems with the Port Orleans resort is its sheer size. There are more than 3,000 rooms spread out over a very large area, with a total of five bus stops servicing them all. It doesn’t take much imagination to realise that there are occasions, especially when the parks are very busy, that the bus service can become a little... well, shall we say “strained”?

The dispatch system is computer assisted and the buses are tracked around property using a GPS locater system. New buses can be added to a route if a driver reports that there are long lines at a particular location and guests are being left behind, and routes can also be adjusted based on other factors such as driver shift changes, etc. Sometimes a completely full bus will not even visit all of the remaining stops (other than to drop off existing passengers) instead calling for an additional bus to be sent out. So think of these as not so much Rules but more Guidelines.

It might help to explain how the Disney bus system works if you realise that the buses do not technically run from a resort to the parks and back, but rather from a specific park to the resorts and back. While this might sound like a purely semantic difference, the operational ‘Hubs’ from which the buses are dispatched are located at all of the parks and at Disney Springs (plus a few backup locations, one of which is at French Quarter by the way). Thus a bus which comes from Animal Kingdom needs to return to its own base hub, even if there are a lot of guests at the resort waiting to go to a different destination. The buses are routinely re-routed from their hubs, based on demand, but generally cannot switch to a different park destination once they get to a resort.

To help improve waiting times during busier periods of the day, in August 2014 work was carried out to modify the bus stop kerbside areas to allow the use of double-length “bendy buses” at Port Orleans, which are now in fairly regular use, especially for the Magic Kingdom route during the busier parts of the day.