Throughout the year, Disney has been doing trial runs for a new rule on transportation access to help manage crowds. These tests were run during popular times of the year, like holiday weekends and spring break, but now it appears this rule is becoming permanent.
Let’s get into all the details of this likely new transportation policy and how it will impact the way guests use transportation at Walt Disney World. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including our review of Disney’s new version of Soarin’ and the best Disney World resort for dining options.
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Disney Springs Transportation Rule Change
During spring break, Walt Disney World implemented a temporary bus transportation rule at Disney Springs to help manage crowds. This verification step at the Disney Springs bus loop was meant to restrict guests from boarding the buses that did not have an active resort hotel reservation.
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Cast members were stationed at the entrance to the bus queues at Disney Springs to ensure that transportation was prioritized for those with confirmed resort hotel reservations. Before being granted access to board a bus heading to a resort, guests were required to verify their eligibility by providing their MagicBand or mobile device to verify hotel reservations. This rule was put in place to discourage guests from using free parking at Disney Springs as a workaround to avoid paying for parking at the theme parks.
Disney Springs is the primary shopping and dining district at Disney World and one of the only locations with free parking. Theme park parking requires a daily fee, while parking at Disney Springs is complimentary. The concern from Disney is that these bus routes can see high demand from guests who use Disney Springs as a parking hub to access other areas of the property. The free Disney World bus transportation is meant to be a perk for Disney resort hotel guests.
According to WDW Magic, Disney considers the trial run from spring break to be a success and that the verification process helped free up capacity on the buses. This policy change is expected to start again before the 4th of July holiday week and will transition into a permanent operating procedure. This is a busy time at Disney World, which reaches above normal crowd levels according to our Disney World crowd calendar.
Disney has not made an official announcement about the change nor confirmed any details, so the exact start date could change. When this policy is put in place, guests have to provide the following to board a bus from Disney Springs to a Disney resort hotel:
- An Active Resort Hotel Stay: A current reservation at a Disney Resorts Collection hotel
- A Confirmed Dining Reservation: A table-service meal booked at a restaurant located within a resort
- A Booked Activity or Experience: A reservation for a resort-specific recreation, such as a specialty cruise or spa appointment
If guests cannot provide verification, they will be denied boarding the Disney Springs loop. When this policy was previously in place, it was not resort-wide and only applied to the specific route from Disney Springs to the resort hotels. Standard transportation between the four theme parks and the resorts continued to operate under its normal procedures.
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This policy change essentially puts an end to the popular workaround to avoid paying for parking at resort hotels and theme parks. Guests can still practice resort hopping, which is a popular method of enjoying the dining options at these popular resort hotels, but they may need to pay for parking now.
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