Walt Disney World is changing how it handles transportation for guests at Disney Springs. Later this month, Disney will only allow guests with a resort reservation, dining reservation, or recreation reservation to use the resort buses and boats from Disney Springs.
Guests will need to show their reservation or scan a MagicBand linked to their reservations in order to board the buses and boats. Disney tested this new procedure earlier this year during times of high attendance. Those tests must’ve yielded the results Disney wanted because this change is now believed to be permanent.
What’s behind this change? Disney is saying this is to make sure transportation runs smoothly for resort guests. But, we think there are a couple other things at play here. Disney seems to be trying to eliminate the popular / viral hack of parking at Disney Springs for free and using the resort buses to get to the theme parks. This was a widely-documented “hack” to save money on theme park parking.
We also think this change is about the resorts themselves. Resort hopping has become a popular activity for many Walt Disney World guests. It’s one reason why some resort pools, like Stormalong Bay, also scan MagicBands and reservations to make sure only resort guests are using the pool.
But, while visiting the resorts isn’t a bad activity, it can add additional strain to the resort’s amenities. That can make it harder for guest staying at the resort to utilize these amenities, such as the quick service dining locations. Remember when every Disney vlogger was hyping up visiting the Riviera Resort for coffee? That increased crowds for Le Petit Café, and made it less convenient for guests actually staying at the Riviera.
Non-resort guests who still want to visit the resorts can do so with a reservation (room, dining, or recreation) or by using transportation available at the theme parks.
Personally, our biggest issue with the bus service at Disney Springs is the unpredictable waits. We’ve waited more than 45 minutes multiple times to get back to our resort. Sometimes longer! Will this change help that problem? Time will tell.
Let us know what you think of this Disney Springs transportation change in the comments below.
