How to Use the Internal Bus to Save a Few Steps at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
Disney’s Caribbean Beach is one of the largest resorts at Disney World. It’s so substantial that the resort has six regular bus stops, one for each of its villages. With that many stops, you can expect a good deal of extra walking around the resort. However, we found a little-known way to help you save a few steps on your vacation: the resort’s internal shuttle. A dedicated internal shuttle loops the resort approximately every 20 minutes.
Now, if you’ve stayed at Caribbean Beach, you might be completely aware of the internal shuttle and extra Skyliner stop. But I’m willing to bet the average guest is unaware that either exists, especially going into their stay. Let’s face it: the Skyliner bus stop is practically hidden from view. (It’s behind the station.) Plus, if you were to walk up to any of the resort’s bus stops and look at the wait times sign, you wouldn’t see the internal bus listed.
The only place I’ve noticed significant signs for the internal bus is at the Old Port Royale bus stop, where there’s a dedicated waiting area for each destination.
Other than Old Port Royale, which is home to the main lobby and recreation area, the rest of the bus stops look like the image below. You could easily overlook the small sign on the back wall that mentions the internal shuttle.
Why do you need to know this? Well, say you’re staying in Trinidad and it’s pouring rain. You planned to visit Old Port Royale for dinner and promised the kids they could do a little shopping in Calypso Trading Post. But with all the rain, you’ll be completely soaked by the time you reach the lobby. It’s a 10-minute walk.
However, your room is only a few steps from the Trinidad bus stop. You could use the overhangs around the building to get close and probably make it to the covered bus stop practically unscathed. From there, you can take the internal bus to Old Port Royale. The internal bus stops in the following order:
- Old Port Royale
- Barbados
- Trinidad
- Skyliner Bus Stop*
- Jamaica
- Aruba
- Martinique
*The internal bus is the only bus that stops at the Skyliner station.
Of course, that is just one of many reasons you could come up with to use the internal shuttle. As another example, on our last stay, we took the internal shuttle from Trinidad to Aruba. We then exited at Aruba and walked the rest of the way to Disney’s Riviera Resort for breakfast.
You might also want to use the internal bus stop when coming back and forth from the Skyliner. For example, if you’re staying in Martinique and visiting Disney’s Hollywood Studios, you might take the internal bus to the Skyliner and board for Hollywood Studios.
As a side note, depending on your room assignment, it might be closer for you to use Riviera’s station. You can check out our transportation map for Caribbean Beach to locate the options nearest your room. The route from the Riviera to Epcot is direct. For Hollywood Studios, however, you will have to exit at Caribbean Beach and transfer.
One last example: say you’re returning to the resort from Epcot or Hollywood Studios via the Skyliner and want to pick up dinner or visit Old Port Royale before going back to the room. Maybe it’s been a long day, and you just don’t feel like making the 0.45-mile walk from the Skyliner to the lobby area. You can take the internal bus from the Skyliner to Old Port Royale. Then, when you’re finished, you can hop on the internal bus again and take it back to your village.
On our last stay, I intentionally used the internal bus and talked with the cast member while we were waiting at one of the stops. She shared with me that during busier seasons, the resort often had two internal shuttles circling the resort. She also noted that they were on a 20-minute loop schedule, meaning they paced the route to come full circle every 20 minutes. Therefore, the driver will typically wait at each stop for a couple of minutes. They do, however, continue to the next stop when other buses arrive to allow room where needed.
Final Thoughts
As always, we hope this information was helpful and provided a few tips for getting around the resort more efficiently. If you are curious about some of the walking distances mentioned, you might enjoy the following article.
Walking Distances at Disney’s Caribbean Beach (Are They Manageable?)
We also have extensive coverage of transportation options at Disney’s Caribbean Beach in the following articles:
- Getting To and From Caribbean Beach (A Mini Pocket Guide)
- Our Average Travel Times for the Buses at Disney’s Caribbean Beach
- Not All Disney Hotels Have Elevators (Here’s Where You’ll Have to Take the Stairs)
- Use This Transportation Hack When You Find a Long Line at the Skyliner
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In the Comments
Were you aware of the internal bus option at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort? Have you ever used the Skyliner bus stop? Let us know in the comments below.
