One hour wait for AK bus

[LSUfan4444]

This is the reason why I rent a car because that would've driven me bananas. Even if the buses are running well and you're only having to wait 10 - 15 minutes, I can still drive just about anywhere on property before a bus rider has left the grounds of their own resort.

It's also one reason people will spend more on a deluxe resort with the ability to avoid busses to one or more theme park. You spend more for convenience.

 

[ErinsMommy]

I think that's typical to or from HS service for any monorail resort.

Why is that? We've watched just about every other bus come along but not the monorail resort buses.

 

[jscottnc]

My experience with buses at Magic Kingdom resorts has been disappointing. It is as though there are fewer buses to parks with morning EMH. I have more than once called the number provide in the MDE app and asked about bus times and informed the CM about the number of guests waiting for a particular bus.

Grand Floridian to Animal Kingdom is the worst. Our party got to the bus stop shortly after 7am with the plan of getting to AK for morning EMH. 90 minutes later an AK bus pulled it. I almost felt sorry for the CM stationed at the bus stop. ("Almost" because his presence did nothing to reduce out wait.) I called WDW Guest Services and expressed my disappointment at all the "magic" being sucked out of the morning.

Uber drivers must be making a killing (or should). I paid $10 (including tip) to get my party of four from GF to DHS in under 15 minutes INCLUDING waiting for the driver (granted, he had just dropped someone at GF). II consider it money well spent.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

They had MK buses because the monorail was down. Not everybody wants to or can walk to MK, so they have buses when the monorail is not available. (And Epcot buses).

 

[hakepb]

Why is that? We've watched just about every other bus come along but not the monorail resort buses.

I'm not sure if that is on purpose for budget reasons (to combat other high transportation costs running boats and monorails)

Or perceived lower need (speedy monorail guests more likely to drive/rent/taxi/Uber than other resorts)

Or those shared bus routes with other MK resorts just take a really long time to complete.

It's probably some of all 3. It's sure fun standing at the Poly/Grand bus stop and watching value after value bus pass you by.

 

[jkh36619]

I live driving distance to WDW and had always stayed onsite and used resort transportation. I saw it as a huge perk for staying onsite. One trip we decided to stay off site at a condo because it had more room and was cheaper than even a value resort so I said fine we'll try it, but the down side is I have to drive. Well, I can honestly say it is so much better to just drive. I have never looked back. I feel I have so much more freedom, no waiting. When I'm ready to go, I go. And I'm saving enough money by not staying onsite that we are able to go more than once a year!

 

[Minnesota!]

Hope it is a one off time, OP. We had service like that at CSR. I don't mind waiting for busses - we ride a bench (except at Pop) until the crowd clears. However, the lack of communication is what would get me cranky..

 

[Lalalyn]

We've never waited that long for a bus at the Poly, but I worry about it every time we go and need to rely on the bus. I'd send a nasty-gram to any address at Disney I could come up with. Unacceptable.

 

[TLSnell1981]

Did they offer any kind of compensation for wasting your time?

Nope.

 

[TLSnell1981]

In my mind the real issue is that no one was keeping those waiting for a bus informed. We had a situation in June where we could not get a MK bus at Riverside. It wasn't an hour, but something like 40 minutes, but it was almost laughable as empty bus after empty bus to the other 3 parks and Disney Springs came and went (3-4 each) while the board just kept adjusting the MK bus arrival time by 5-7 minutes every so often. When it finally came, with the crowd at just our stop (and keep in mind Riverside has 4 stops) it took two buses to get everyone on.

The screen displayed the ETA, but the time kept changing for the AK bus only. I asked several drivers to call for a bus, but they only gave me their ETA.

I'm still extremely peeved about the situation at EPCOT last night, regarding bus transportation. Again, supposedly a monorail issue. It was a nightmare.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

I have used a Disney bus in ages do they still do the cool announcements and music ??

I mean it sucks, but hey it happens.

 

[TLSnell1981]

Wait....4 MK buses??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!? Contemporary is right across the street from MK for petesake! They seriously had buses to MK? And people took them?

I wouldn't kid about this...not even remotely funny.

 

[TLSnell1981]

We have a vehicle, but it won't accommodate a scooter and double stroller. Pretty much useless for running to the parks. I wish Uber was an option. We're stuck with Disney transportation...at their mercy.

BTW..AK is normally the only park we rely on bus transportation. Monorail issues have forced alternate transportation.

 

[ellie05]

Wow that is terrible! The first time we decided to take Disney bus was at CBR the whole experience was terrible so we went back to using our car. Last October we flew so we were stuck with Disney buses and was pleasantly surprised. Now we take the busses most of the time, because it means we can have more than 2 drinks without having to worry about driving.

From where we are it is about the same distance driving than it will take us from our door to Disney resort if we fly. So we always drive it is nice to have a back up, although we can fly for much cheaper than driving.

 

[AngiTN]

Is there any advance warning if the monorail is down? One of the main reasons we are staying at the contemporary is the monorail. Might rethink it and stay at an Epcot resort instead.

Sometimes but not always. Can't predict a weather or computer outage.
I do not hold to the theory that the monorail is a perk of staying in a monorail resort. It goes out too much and the alternative transportation is always bad. Plus, the buses share with other resorts and are generally just not as good in our experience.

Now, we've never waited that long for a bus anywhere. I think long waits for them are very rare. Can they happen? Yes. But they are far from the norm. We have used buses a lot over the past 2 years (when we quit driving and starting flying to Disney) and I can count on 1 hand the number of times we've had bad issues with the buses, and one of them was due to a bad wreck outside the park entrance, not the bus themselves and nothing anything Disney could do about it. We find the benefits of using the buses outweigh using a car on every issue, for us. The number one issue is, if DH wants 3 beers while in the park he can have them. If he knows he's got to drive, he won't have but maybe 1, and that's hours before we plan to leave. That's a poor way to spend a vacation, having to worry about driving and traffic and finding your way, etc. Not driving is a huge part of being on vacation for DH

 

[AngiTN]

Wow that is terrible! The first time we decided to take Disney bus was at CBR the whole experience was terrible so we went back to using our car. Last October we flew so we were stuck with Disney buses and was pleasantly surprised. Now we take the busses most of the time, because it means we can have more than 2 drinks without having to worry about driving.

From where we are it is about the same distance driving than it will take us from our door to Disney resort if we fly. So we always drive it is nice to have a back up, although we can fly for much cheaper than driving.

This is us, though driving is cheaper dollar for dollar. When you compare the intangibles, flying is. Doesn't matter though, we fly since even if we drive, we aren't moving our car while on site (see above post about not driving being a #1 requirement for DH to be on vacation)

 

[hakepb]

I have used a Disney bus in ages do they still do the cool announcements and music ??

I mean it sucks, but hey it happens.

It's a lot more silent than it used to be.

 

[ellie05]

This is us, though driving is cheaper dollar for dollar. When you compare the intangibles, flying is. Doesn't matter though, we fly since even if we drive, we aren't moving our car while on site (see above post about not driving being a #1 requirement for DH to be on vacation)

Yeah I can get round trip tickets to Orlando for $38

 

[joelkfla]

Uber drivers must be making a killing (or should). I paid $10 (including tip) to get my party of four from GF to DHS in under 15 minutes INCLUDING waiting for the driver (granted, he had just dropped someone at GF). II consider it money well spent.

If your fare before tip was $7, your driver got to keep about $4 of that. Deduct gas cost. And factor in that he then probably spent 15 minutes to an hour waiting for the next call (not always, but usually), or driving around looking for a hot spot. UberX drivers almost never make a killing driving at WDW.

So it's good that you added a tip. Unfortunately, very few riders do.

 

[joelkfla]

Wait....4 MK buses??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!? Contemporary is right across the street from MK for petesake! They seriously had buses to MK? And people took them?

Usually when the monorail is down, the bus between MK & WL will stop at CR. It runs every 15-20 minutes, so there would be 4 in an hour.