Any other bus haters out there?

[DebbieB]

Wow I am really surprised so many of you rent a car! We fly down and never even considered renting a car since Disney takes care of transportation. Maybe one year I will be able to
Convince my DH to let us rent one.

I rent a car also for the freedom to go offsite. I can go to the store, go to the outlets, go to other restaurants. That's why Disney came up with Magical Express, to discourage car rentals and going offsite.

 

[lylone]

Walt planned Magic Kingdom that way, putting a monorail (he was a train buff) ride or a ferry ride between your car and the Kingdom to add to the magic. At what was known as The Living Seas, there used to be a Hydrolator (q.v. via Google) between the outside and the main exhibit area that worked well until extreme crowds developed over the years.

Those hydrolators were cool!!

In my opinion it seems like transportation was just added in without the "cool" factor.

 

[NJRRK]

We normally drive down, and then we rarely use the car. Last time we only used the car to go to Typhoon Lagoon and AK, and I don't think we'll use it for AK again. The busses run fine for us, but we're used to using public transportation on a regular basis.

Saying that, no matter where we stay it seems our bus stop is furthest away from the park exit. I think they move the bus stops when they see our name on a reservation.

 

[gamerlovesdisney]

I've been going to Disney World for decades and never rented a car. I find it so much more relaxing to let them to do the driving. So I never minded the buses...until the last few years. Now with the time it takes to load the scooters (adding about 10 minutes delay time for each one) it takes for ever for the buses to go. In addition, with more space being taken up for scooters, the number of seats are down and you usually have to stand. I'm starting to get old and standing in the bus just takes it out of me and hurts my hip. NOW I HATE THE BUSES! And unfortunately, my favorite resort is AKL and only uses buses.

I'm thinking about taking more vacations now to Universal since you can take a boat or just walk to the parks from their hotels. Everything in walking distance. Yes!

 

[kirstenb1]

I rent a car also for the freedom to go offsite. I can go to the store, go to the outlets, go to other restaurants. That's why Disney came up with Magical Express, to discourage car rentals and going offsite.

Totally agree!! We used to fly, and always made a rental car part of the budget. The last several years, we've driven. Love being able to go off-site. The only exception we make is taking the bus to MK. That has proven much quicker than driving for us.

Although, WDW tix have gotten so crazy, we skipped them altogehter in June, and went to Sea World and Aquatica instead. Doing that makes an even more compelling reason for our own wheels.

 

[LilyWDW]

Nope. I have no issues with the buses. I account for the time they might take. If I am going resort to resort I will take a taxi. Otherwise it is buses or boats (I stay at POFQ). I do think that a lot of people that experience the buses at Disney are not used to any type of public transportation or have unrealistic expectations.

 

[sotoalf]

This year I have decided to stay at the Wilderness lodge so we can take advantage of the ferry to MK and transfer to Epcot from there.

No direct transportation to Epcot from the MK. You'll need the good ol' bus to reach Epcot from WL.

 

[retlaw_yensid]

I like all you bus haters, because it only means there's less people waiting for the busses!

 

[Tara]

I was looking at the some maps and it looks that even if you drive your car to the Magic Kingdom you'll still have to ride a shuttle and then transfer to a monorail? Is that correct? Seems pretty inefficient to me. I guess I am just spoiled walking 10 minutes from my hotel room on Harbor Blvd. to the front gate of Disneyland. No car, no bus, no monorail, no wasted time.

Inefficient? Maybe. But for us, the ability to go wherever we want when we leave MK (including offsite) is worth it. Plus, if we didn't do that, we might not have any excuse to ride the monorail, plus my son LOVES the ferry. Add in that I'm just nostalgic enough to remember being little, holding my mom's hand, and feeling like the tram was a ride itself, bringing me another step closer to M-A-G-I-C. So we virtually always drive to MK, too.

To the OP...I don't HATE the buses, but I don't like them much, either. My son has Asperger's, so having the quiet of our car is nice (and even I can get people-d out and need that bubble). I don't like the element of not knowing when the bus I need will arrive and the needless worry of "Have I allowed enough time?" even when I'm sure I have. And honestly, a lot of people love the a/c on buses, but it takes about 42 seconds and I am shivering. In my own car, it might be hot when we get in, but it cools off quick enough and then I can turn the a/c down if I'm too cold.

Another issue - we're DVC members, which means we're always at a resort that shares with multiple other resorts, or has multiple stops within that resort, so that's a lot of time making stops and loading/unloading. And we do almost all of our dinner meals at resorts, which can be a real hassle to get to using Disney transport.

I also LIKE driving. I love turning up the music, singing along with my son. It isn't a chore. Maybe if I had a long commute every day I'd feel differently, but driving is easy and pleasurable and I like the control it gives me.

 

[MillauFr]

Nope. I have no issues with the buses. I account for the time they might take. If I am going resort to resort I will take a taxi. Otherwise it is buses or boats (I stay at POFQ). I do think that a lot of people that experience the buses at Disney are not used to any type of public transportation or have unrealistic expectations.

Yes taking public transportation in Seattle probably does fuel my unrealistic expectations on buses at Disneyland. As others have pointed out Disney does not want to spend the money it takes to run an efficient transportation system. It is more of a toy. I still don't except this though as Disney is a multi billion dollar corporation and I believe they have plenty of resources to improve the transportation system if they wanted to.

In Seattle the bus pulls up 1 block from my house every 7 to 8 minutes. It makes a few stops before getting on the freeway and then taking a dedicated exit into a tunnel than runs under downtown. They are also building a subway 5 blocks from my house that will be even better.

Disney needs to get with it before they have absolute gridlock when they expand the resort to 15 to 20 parks and 100 hotels.

 

[Tara]

Disney needs to get with it before they have absolute gridlock when they expand the resort to 15 to 20 parks and 100 hotels.

This is never, ever, ever going to happen. They would expand in different cities before they ever did anything even remotely close to what you're suggesting. (Never mind the fact that they've pledged to never develop what...a third of the Florida property, and not all of it is suitable for building anyway.)

When Disney has vested interest in "fixing" the bus system as you suggest, they'll do it, but there has to be a payoff. I doubt smoothing out the transportation for resort guests, which are a small fraction of overall guests, is worth the investment.

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

No direct transportation to Epcot from the MK. You'll need the good ol' bus to reach Epcot from WL.

I know there isn't direct transportation from MK to Epcot. I don't mind monorail jumping and to clarify, I don't dislike busses because of the lengthy time it takes to get places. There is just something about the busses that makes me feel un-Disney.

I would rather spend my waiting time in the dock at the WL admiring the scenery or for a shorter wait time at the monorail than in a chain link que smelling bus fumes. Obviously the boat and monorail have their hiccups as well but I'll take those any day over a darn bus!

 

[joedplumber]

I take public transportation for work. So it's the last thing I want to take when on vacation!

Luckily we mostly drive to FL so we have our car. The most valuable thing to us is onstar.. I start the car from my iPhone app when I know I'm about 10-15 minutes away and when we arrive it is ice cold!

 

[bumbershoot]

I do think that a lot of people that experience the buses at Disney are not used to any type of public transportation or have unrealistic expectations.

I see it the other way. Using efficient transportation with a schedule ruins the wdw bus experience with "a bus every 20 minutes" though that doesn't mean YOUR bus. Or include the nearly two hours my DH and aunt spent trying to get from DHS to OKW one night. They were the line and no buses were being dispatched for just a couple people. Ugh.

I like all you bus haters, because it only means there's less people waiting for the busses!

Win win!

Yes taking public transportation in Seattle probably does fuel my unrealistic expectations on buses at Disneyworld.

DH commutes from tacoma to Seattle and it works so well. When it snows and the Seattle coworkers can't get in he can because he walks to the free Link, gets to the train, then continues to walk or take the bus to his office. Brownie points galore. When the bus is late it's by minutes, not 20 minute increments, and if the train is late they can generally look at a news website to find out why.

 

[Disneylover99]

Love the buses!!!

I've been at Pop for 13 days and we've never waited longer then 5 minutes for a bus. We have had a very lucky trip in terms of transportation.

 

[ain0004]

I prefer not to use the buses. I can't stand the waiting

 

[Maggie7313]

The first time we rented a car, it was a revelation. That trip was magical and we've never looked back. Always a car - haven't set foot on a Disney bus in 5 years and have been much happier as a result.

The busses can certainly be an effective means of transportation but I take public transportation in my regular life and don't want to deal with waiting/standing/transferring in my vacation life.

 

[tobikaye]

I know there isn't direct transportation from MK to Epcot. I don't mind monorail jumping and to clarify, I don't dislike busses because of the lengthy time it takes to get places.

Another option from WL is the boat to Contemporary then monorail to TTC, which is the next stop. The walk from the dock to the monorail may be a bit longer than the walk from the boat dock at MK to the monorail there, but it is another option.

 

[Sheilby]

I've only been to Disney World twice. Once in 1982 when it was just MK and Epcot and we were staying at the Poly so we took the monorail. The other time was in September of 2010 at Saratoga Springs. Most days we shared the bus with maybe one,two or three other families, one day we were alone and one day when we left a park it was completely filled. I guess I was spoiled. I do admit that I don't have the patience to wait for the bus and I do get slightly annoyed with the time it takes to load on the scooters. I know that isn't fair of me, and I do have a disabled mother so I should know better, but it just seems the safety precautions regarding how they are loaded add sooo much time. If I can stand on the bus why can't Disney let people stay on their scooters?

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

Another option from WL is the boat to Contemporary then monorail to TTC, which is the next stop. The walk from the dock to the monorail may be a bit longer than the walk from the boat dock at MK to the monorail there, but it is another option.

Thanks for the tip! This will be our first time at WL so I'm sure we will try both ways at least once to test them out.