ART Review

[GatorChris]

I had asked about this before my recent trip. I needed just a way to get from Ayers Hotel near the Honda Center to the parks where my family had driven to earlier in the day. I paid the $3 one way fare for a ticket, went outside on a bench and waited....and waited....and waited.... Sheesh, the sign said the bus swings by every 40 minutes. It took 45. Ridiculous! Then it took over 25 minutes to get to the park drop-off. While I didn't expect it to be fast, I didn't expect to lose 70 minutes. If not for me being there 2 weeks ago and being in no rush to hit late afternoon heat in the parks, I would've been livid. Instead, I was mildly irritated...that's all. Still, wherever I stay in the future, there's no way I could trust the ART system to get me to the parks in a timely manner. Anyone else have the same problems?

 

[tlovesdis]

I had the opposite experience! I've only used ART once, from the Motel 6 Maingate and it came right on time, made two other stops and we were at the drop off within about 15 minutes of getting on the bus.

Sorry you had a bad experience!

 

[Happyjenz]

I had asked about this before my recent trip. I needed just a way to get from Ayers Hotel near the Honda Center to the parks where my family had driven to earlier in the day. I paid the $3 one way fare for a ticket, went outside on a bench and waited....and waited....and waited.... Sheesh, the sign said the bus swings by every 40 minutes. It took 45. Ridiculous! Then it took over 25 minutes to get to the park drop-off. While I didn't expect it to be fast, I didn't expect to lose 70 minutes. If not for me being there 2 weeks ago and being in no rush to hit late afternoon heat in the parks, I would've been livid. Instead, I was mildly irritated...that's all. Still, wherever I stay in the future, there's no way I could trust the ART system to get me to the parks in a timely manner. Anyone else have the same problems?

 

[Happyjenz]

We've used ART for years and have been pleasantly surprised at how efficient and easy it was. That changed on our most recent trip in February...
No problem getting home from the park, but getting to the park was slow with an unpredictable schedule. We're always at Worldmark so there haven't been changes with our location. I heard ART had a "makeover" end of 2014 and I was not impressed after the changes. Before that, it was fantastic!

 

[bfost87]

I've only used it once, this past February and I didn't have any problems with it coming back from the park, but getting to the park from Motel 6 Maingate was an issue. We waited 20 minutes past it's 'scheduled' arrival time, and ended up just driving down and paying the parking charge at Disneyland parking.

 

[chickapin parterre]

there are issues with mid-afternoon shift changes- all of my problems have been in that 2-4 frame, so I always to try to make a point of boarding soaking wet at 1:00 to head back to Motel 6.

 

[offwithyourhead]

Sorry, I don't really see the problem. You apparently just missed the bus so you had to wait the full 40 minutes (sucks but it happens) and the bus was 5 minutes off from that. This could be due to a shift change (they give the bus a look over at every shift change, apparently, and do a little sign-on paperwork), a traffic jam, or maybe a rider with a disability needed to get on and/or off.

Your trip time and wait time (assuming you just missed the previous bus) sound fairly normal and not like they took an extremely long amount of time above the usual for that route.

The reality is that stops off the 'main drag' route have fewer buses and as a result, less frequent pickup. We found ART to be decently reliable. I suggest staying closer whether you want to use ART or not; you can always take the shuttle from the Toy Story lot or stay anywhere between Ball and Chapman, which are all walkable distances for the average able-bodied person (maybe not in the heat of the day, but if you're down the Chapman end, you can take the TS bus and only have to walk half the distance) if the buses seem to unreliable for you.

 

[GatorChris]

Wait, you don't see the problem with it taking 70 minutes to get from a hotel to the parks? What WOULD be a problem?

I always get a hotel that's within walking distance, but this was a hotel paid for by my company for a meeting. Free is free. I just find service terrible when it takes that long to get to a park. I guess you get what you pay for.

 

[T0rrent]

Wait, you don't see the problem with it taking 70 minutes to get from a hotel to the parks? What WOULD be a problem?

I always get a hotel that's within walking distance, but this was a hotel paid for by my company for a meeting. Free is free. I just find service terrible when it takes that long to get to a park. I guess you get what you pay for.

I've made that drive myself, and it takes 10-15 minutes roughly in my car to go from the parks to that end of town. You also left out some details, like were there any other stops from the time it picked you up to the time it dropped you off. The bus is also going to sit at the gate for a few minutes at disneyland before it drops you off. Honestly, with the limited details you gave me, and knowing that from Motel 6 on Katela which isn't far from Ayers takes me about 15 minutes roughly to get to the parking structure, and their time line, you were right along in what would be an acceptable time frame with how limited the buses are. 5 minutes behind schedule is acceptable when you factor in all the variables. So yea, really no complaints on that. If you knew you were going to have to rely on ART, you could have done a quick google search, gone to the ART website, checked the route information and know how often the bus comes along, and essentially double the time as it's going to take time to travel back and forth.

 

[purple figment]

I had asked about this before my recent trip.

I remember your thread about "ART: Good, Bad and Ugly" where posters told you about their experiences.

Wait, you don't see the problem with it taking 70 minutes to get from a hotel to the parks? What WOULD be a problem?

I always get a hotel that's within walking distance, but this was a hotel paid for by my company for a meeting. Free is free. I just find service terrible when it takes that long to get to a park. I guess you get what you pay for.

It's inexpensive public transportation. I would guess it was waiting 45 minutes for the bus that annoyed you the most, but waiting is a part of any public transit system. Buses don't come on demand at exactly the minute you want one - you have to adjust to the bus schedule which in this case is a bus every 40 minutes so waiting 45 minutes is well within the expected range.

If you waited 45 minutes it would seem you just missed a bus and the next one was 5 minutes behind schedule or maybe the previous one was 5 minutes ahead of schedule. I used to ride city buses almost every day and I allowed up to twice as much time as expected.

If the bus arrived just as you got to the bus stop and it took 25 minutes to DL, I doubt anyone would have said that was too long factoring in additional stops, traffic lights, and traffic. It would probably have taken longer to drive, park at the structure or the Toy Story lot and taken the tram/shuttle.

 

[GatorChris]

It's inexpensive public transportation. I would guess it was waiting 45 minutes for the bus that annoyed you the most, but waiting is a part of any public transit system. .

That's exactly it. This is called "ART Review". My review includes that I waited a really long time for a bus. I was not informed that buses come every 40 minutes in the afternoon instead of every 20 minutes or whatever. I would hope that someone would come along, see the post, and realize that if they go with ART, they will probably do the same during the afternoon transits. Or they could read this and decide to just drive to DL parking lots, catch a tram and be there in less than 20-25 minutes every time. My bad experience is someone's gain. Is it strange that someone is annoyed that it took 70 minutes to go 3 miles? I would hope that anyone who reads my posts doesn't have to go through the same wait. I was alone, on my own, in no hurry and got annoyed. I don't want to think about if I had the wife and kids with me and we were in a hurry to catch a FP time or a dinner reservation. And since that's usually the case when going to DL, this would be a good place to warn the good folks to take their own ride.

 

[elaine amj]

I would not have been happy waiting that long either. It does suck that there is a 40min wait between buses in the afternoon. Something good for potential ART users to be aware of.

 

[ADLFAN]

We used ART to get to Knots Berry Farm once, and Medieval Times once on separate trips. Both times worked out fine, and the shuttle to Knots which I feared would be too full actually only had 6 people on board both ways. Same for Medieval Times, actually. It was a little hard to try to communicate with the driver who for some reason was unable to tell us the return time possibilities for after Medieval Times, but they had schedules/maps and an ok website, so we were able to figure out the every 20 or 40 minute thing. A cab pulled over to try to poach customers from the bus stop saying that ART sometimes didn't show up... We asked him to circle back in about 20 minutes and if we were still waiting... But then ART showed up! So... No problems here, but I would not want to stay somewhere that was dependent on the ART system for transportation to and from Disneyland!

 

[Malcon10t]

Using ART from the Ayres is a LONG distance run. I would have driven and parked at Toy Story. The drive alone is 20 mins from the hotel, down Chapman, down Harbor to the parking area. Taxi would have been about $10. Just a couple of other options.

 

[figment_jii]

Sheesh, the sign said the bus swings by every 40 minutes. It took 45. Ridiculous!

My review includes that I waited a really long time for a bus. I was not informed that buses come every 40 minutes in the afternoon instead of every 20 minutes or whatever.

Now I'm confused. In your first post, you said there was a sign that said that buses come every 40 minutes. In your follow-up post you said you were not told that the buses come every 40 minutes...what happened to the sign in the first post? If the sign had said buses every 20 minutes or so, I could see being annoyed, but if the sign said buses come every 40 minutes, then having to wait 45 minutes doesn't seem that unrealistic.

I think it if had taken 70 minutes from when you boarded the bus to when you arrived in DLR that would have been an issue, but a travel time of 25 minutes doesn't seem unreasonable given that it is public transportation and likely makes other stops.

 

[sheetz]

Bus lines that run less than every 15 minutes should run on a set schedule rather than an indeterminate one like "every 40 minutes." Does this line have a specific schedule?

 

[mgd]

I also think that the wait you experienced is not a problem, given that it is only supposed to come every 40 minutes and you likely just missed it. If you had gotten to the stop 5 minutes earlier, your trip may have been less than a half hour.

And there are often different routes that go in different directions stopping at different stops nearby, so maybe there was even a better option you didn't see. They should make it simpler to casually use, but you also need to do your own homework first about routes and timetables if you plan to depend on a bus. It's fair to warn people that a bus can take a long time in certain situations, but I think most already knew that.

 

[GatorChris]

Now I'm confused. In your first post, you said there was a sign that said that buses come every 40 minutes. In your follow-up post you said you were not told that the buses come every 40 minutes...what happened to the sign in the first post? If the sign had said buses every 20 minutes or so, I could see being annoyed, but if the sign said buses come every 40 minutes, then having to wait 45 minutes doesn't seem that unrealistic.

I was not informed from the post I wrote before the trip. I don't recall anyone saying the wait time doubles in the afternoon. Once I bought the ART pass, I was shown the travel schedule that said it went from 20 minutes in the mornings/evenings up to 40 minutes in the afternoon. There's no confusion or contradiction. I just didn't have all the info I wanted before I tried out ART.

As for anyone who doesn't see the problem with the 70 minute wait, by all means, please take the ART bus system and enjoy! You have every right to disregard my experience.

 

[offwithyourhead]

Wait, you don't see the problem with it taking 70 minutes to get from a hotel to the parks? What WOULD be a problem?

I always get a hotel that's within walking distance, but this was a hotel paid for by my company for a meeting. Free is free. I just find service terrible when it takes that long to get to a park. I guess you get what you pay for.

No, because it isn't their fault that you waited 70 minutes.

How is it their fault that you just missed one bus and had to wait for the next? If the bus was supposed to show up every 40 minutes, sure it was a few minutes late, but it was pretty close. And if it took 25 minutes to get back to the park, then that falls pretty close as well to their estimated trip time from your stop to the park if it takes 40 minutes between every pickup at your stop.

If you remove the 40 minutes you had to wait because YOU missed the previous bus (they can't control when you arrive at the bus stop) then they were 5 minutes 'off' from their estimated pick up time, which is forgivable because they can't control the speed at which passengers get on and off, particularly disabled ones who may need extra assistance. Their trip time from your stop to the parks was nearly spot on with their estimate of travel time.

The bulk of your wait time was because of you just missing one bus, not because their buses suck or are very off-schedule. This is not the fault of ART and if you'd like to see more frequent service out that far, shoot them an email and let them know. But it isn't their fault that you had to wait so long. Their buses were running on schedule, you just missed one.

 

[zanzibar138]

So from what I understand, GatorChris found himself in an opportune situation to try out the ART system (rather than walking, which is what he normally does), and posted an overview of his experience here in the hopes that it will help other DISers. Nobody mentioned on his other thread that there is a 40 minute wait between buses in the afternoons, and it is not widely known, nor published anywhere obvious to see before purchasing a ticket. His main complaint seems to be that 40 minutes is too long between shuttles (rather than the fact that the bus was 5 minutes late), especially when there is no actual timetable. When there is no timetable, how can one possibly ensure that they don't just miss a bus and be stuck waiting for 40+ minutes?

Personally, this is what I expected with ART, and why I always stay within walking distance. I have no patience for public transport, and would have been annoyed in that situation too. I appreciate the review, as I will know in future about the 40 minute wait in the afternoon, and will continue to stay within walking distance rather than risk relying on the ART.