Bus packed to DTD

[Judyat]

Sounds like a very good reason to stay at SSR and just walk across the bridge.

 

[DVC California]

We got on at 745

Got off the bus at 905

Wow, that's a long ride. I expect that type of trip leaving the parks on NYE, not going to DTD. I hope you were able to salvage some of your night.

 

[joelkfla]

Yes there are some benefits to space. I just can't see how Disneyworld botched it up so badly that it took the OP 1 hour and 20 minutes to go three miles. That is 2.25 miles per hour. You could have walked there in half of the time.

DTD is in the midst of an expansion roughly doubling the number of venues, and the roads are in the midst of expansion to handle the additional traffic. You have to endure some pain for future pleasure.

I.e., April showers bring May flowers.

I.e., We are enhancing this area for your future enjoyment. We apologize for any inconvenience.

 

[kaytieeldr]

They did it at Disneyland. I can stay offsite and walk to the front gate at Disneyland in 10 minutes. They have just as many rides at the two parks that Disneyworld spread over 4. Downtown Disney is between the two parks. The hotel is on top of the stores are restaurants. Sure it costs more money to build like this but the benefit is that far easier to around the place.

Disney didn't purchase more Florida land than all of Manhattan to crowd all its entities within walking distance of each other. And something like 60% of that space is protected.

Yes there are some benefits to space. I just can't see how Disneyworld botched it up so badly that it took the OP 1 hour and 20 minutes to go three miles. That is 2.25 miles per hour. You could have walked there in half of the time.

There are many, many, many, many more vehicles on the road now than when any park or Downtown Disney opened. An extra 40 minutes of travel time can only be attributed to some problem the OP couldn't see.

 

[PACVII]

I am also thinking more vehicles are using the same detour the buses are using around the back by Saratoga. Not sure I see a benefit for them. All you can do is go off peak time and hope for the best.

 

[luvseaside]

Got off the bus at 905

Yikes. I am really rethinking taking the bus from CBR to DTD when we go in three weeks. We are going for dinner Sun night with a toddler. The thought of spending an hour on a bus, when he could be spending that time in our own car watching a DVD makes me rethink the bus option. I know construction is bad, but would a car trip take 80 minutes? Google maps directions says 18 mins so at most I would maybe double that for construction issues? Would love to hear some feedback on time it takes to drive to new parking garage.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

NEVER go to DTD on a Saturday for this very reason.

Lets just amend the basic statement to "NEVER go to DTD in the evening" Until they get this mess figured out I only go if I can WALK LOL!

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Yikes. I am really rethinking taking the bus from CBR to DTD when we go in three weeks. We are going for dinner Sun night with a toddler. The thought of spending an hour on a bus, when he could be spending that time in our own car watching a DVD makes me rethink the bus option. I know construction is bad, but would a car trip take 80 minutes? Google maps directions says 18 mins so at most I would maybe double that for construction issues? Would love to hear some feedback on time it takes to drive to new parking garage.

Yep! Car takes just as long. Plus you get to add in extra time for parking and walking

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I know exactly what the situation is like at DLR. I was just there. Correct me if im wrong, but DLR only has 3 resorts on property, no water parks, no Animal Kingdom, no campground, no golf courses or mini golf courses and a DTD that is tiny compared to the one at WDW.

I would much rather stay at CBR or CSR, with their beautiful and peaceful grounds, on site amenities, beautifully themed pools (plural) and suffer the inhumanity of taking an air conditioned bus to a park. Compared to staying in a crowded, noisy, motel on a major off site thoroughfare, with a tiny barebones swimming pool in the middle of the parking lot and homeless people on the street. Pros and cons for both resorts, I guess.

Yeah, why go to a nice easy park where you can walk between things and walk to nice off property restaurants? It's much better to spend hours commuting then just walk back and forth LOL!

 

[PACVII]

I would just say to go a little eailer if possible. Not at rush hour. Monday night got on the bus a little after 4 and moved right through it all. Now coming back to the resort is still a mess but they did keep the lines moving and I never waited more the 20 to 25 minutes in line to get on a bus. I will say they are just as packed coming back as it was going. Maybe even worse. I just can not believe packing people on a bus like that is safe. I know that overall you have that with public transportation and that is not something I deal with on my daily commute but could not help to think as I was standing with 80 of my closest new friends if the bus was in an accident the level of injury increased by double due to the number of people standing. I came to the conclusion that Disney was more concerned with moving large number of people and the cost factor then safety of those people. Otherwise they could increase the number of buses and yes that would increase traffic as well as cost to lower possible injury?

 

[MillauFr]

I would just say to go a little eailer if possible. Not at rush hour. Monday night got on the bus a little after 4 and moved right through it all. Now coming back to the resort is still a mess but they did keep the lines moving and I never waited more the 20 to 25 minutes in line to get on a bus. I will say they are just as packed coming back as it was going. Maybe even worse. I just can not believe packing people on a bus like that is safe. I know that overall you have that with public transportation and that is not something I deal with on my daily commute but could not help to think as I was standing with 80 of my closest new friends if the bus was in an accident the level of injury increased by double due to the number of people standing. I came to the conclusion that Disney was more concerned with moving large number of people and the cost factor then safety of those people. Otherwise they could increase the number of buses and yes that would increase traffic as well as cost to lower possible injury?

They do it everyday in every major city without incident. Those buses are extremely safe even when packed to the gills. Much safer than riding in your own car.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Yes there are some benefits to space. I just can't see how Disneyworld botched it up so badly that it took the OP 1 hour and 20 minutes to go three miles. That is 2.25 miles per hour. You could have walked there in half of the time.

It's typically/normally/usually a 25 minute ride. Maybe you know a way for WDW to prevent pedestrians, passenger vehicles, and commercial vehicles from blocking, delaying, or interfering with buses. An hour+ transit time is an EXTREME anomaly. Generally, it takes 25 minutes. There's nothing to fix.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Yikes. I am really rethinking taking the bus from CBR to DTD when we go in three weeks. We are going for dinner Sun night with a toddler. The thought of spending an hour on a bus, when he could be spending that time in our own car watching a DVD makes me rethink the bus option. I know construction is bad, but would a car trip take 80 minutes? Google maps directions says 18 mins so at most I would maybe double that for construction issues? Would love to hear some feedback on time it takes to drive to new parking garage.

This is one single experience. Buses travel between each resort and DtD about every 20 minutes, over about 16 hours. So, 27 resorts times three buses per hour times 16 hours, so More than 1,200 trips per day. I wouldn't let one person's or party's experience on one trip stop me from using WDW buses.

 

[m86]

A couple of weeks ago we came back from our Disney vacation, and while we had a great time, DTD-buses were not the best. Almost every night we went to DTD the traffic was backed up at the DTD bus station. Not because of construction or traffic, but because the bus stop does not have the capacity to cope with all the buses.

It seems like that Disney fails to invest in infrastructure for their buses. While there are many buses and enough seats, there is very little separate infrastructure for busses, such as bus lanes and bus short cuts. The buses usually have to take the same routes as cars - this decreases the efficiency of the system.

 

[joelkfla]

A couple of weeks ago we came back from our Disney vacation, and while we had a great time, DTD-buses were not the best. Almost every night we went to DTD the traffic was backed up at the DTD bus station. Not because of construction or traffic, but because the bus stop does not have the capacity to cope with all the buses.

It seems like that Disney fails to invest in infrastructure for their buses. While there are many buses and enough seats, there is very little separate infrastructure for busses, such as bus lanes and bus short cuts. The buses usually have to take the same routes as cars - this decreases the efficiency of the system.

The Marketplace bus loop has been there for many years, and there is no room to expand it. The queues were modified last year to make loading more efficient, but you're right, there just isn't enough room for it to do what is expected of it. IMO, there are still changes that could be done operationally to relieve some of the load, but Disney does what it wants.

Anyhow, you will be happy to hear that the new Disney Springs bus depot will be much larger, and that that wide strip of concrete down the middle of the under-reconstruction Buena Vista Drive, between Bonnet Creek Parkway and the Orange Garage, is for dedicated bus lanes with separate signals for the buses. Also, much of the auto traffic for DS will be removed from BVD by the addition of direct connectors to I-4.

 

[agwood123DLFerguson]

What is it like at DTD during the day? My daughter has a BBB appointment there, worried about making our ADR at Epcot after her appointment.

 

[kar915]

Was there last week, DTD bus area is a hot mess. Too many people and too buses packed into such a small area. Counted 10 buses waiting to enter one evening around 9. I had ADR at Raglan Road at 5:15 one evening, I cut it too close and was 9 minutes late to reservation but he understood. Got to Pop bus stop at 4:30 and one didn't arrive until 4:55 arrived at at DTD bus stop a few minutes after 5:15.

 

[hoffman1]

We were in the same situation a couple of weeks ago. We were on the CSR bus to Downtown. It was packed.
I think there are some people like us who normally drive to Downtown instead of taking the bus but parking is so horrible right now we had thought the bus would be a better option.