Bus pain

[Msmithmd]

Yesterday we waited a half hour for a bus from our resort to Animal Kingdom. And then waited forty minutes for a bus from Animal Kingdom back.

And we are staying at...wait for it...

Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Ugh.

I've had generally good luck in the past with Disney transportation. But seriously Disney- it should never take this long to transport guests to a Deluxe resort that's only one mile from a park-especially when you decided to not build a walkway to give those guests the option to just stroll home. Get your act together!

Rant over.

 

[MinnieMSue]

We had generally good luck last week at ASMu except waited an hour for Blizzard Beach. I was leaning against the BB sign pole at the front of line and read every single bus that came in. Our driver insisted he had been at our stop 15 min prior but I know for a fact he wasn't because I and my DD were standing there the whole time and paying attention. Don't know what happened there ???

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

We generally have no problem with Disney transportation.

The facts are that any number of things could have happened, a bus breakdown, without a replace bus available, driver shortage, driver illness, traffic accident, traffic back up, or even just a plain old error in planning.

When your running a system of bus as big if not bigger then a middle sized City, you cannot expect everything to be perfect all the time.

While 30 and 40 minutes are longer then they should be, its not off the wall long.

Just MHO, based on a transportation background.

Hope you don't have an further delays.

AKK

 

[MillauFr]

Like the OP said, why couldn't they have located the resort and built walkways so you can just walk between the hotel and the park?

 

[anonymousegirl]

There is always a trade off car versus bus.
1) Bus is free but you have to go on their schedule. Car isn't free but you gain freedom to go when you want with no waiting (except for tram to the parking lot).

2) Buses are always air conditioned, but your car is a sweltering oven when you get to it after a day at the park.

3) Riding the bus is also good for the air quality and environment.

It's up to you to decide what matters the most to you and your family. for me, I take the bus and that's because I travel solo and I don't want the expense and hassle of a car.

 

[pepe of ohio]

In our cases, we always use Disney Transportation, even if we have our own car... Is why complain... It's free, you knew about the waits beforehand and do have the option to drive yourself ( whether your own car or rent one)

Their system isn't perfect but for our 51 trips, 98% of the time, spot on and even better...we don't look a gift horse in the mouth..!

 

[SandyinMonterey]

This is why my husband always insists on a rental car. I always fight him on it, he always wins. But when we're in a car heading to wherever and not standing in those long lines....I'm thankful.

 

[wdwrich]

There is always a trade off car versus bus.
1) Bus is free but you have to go on their schedule. Car isn't free but you gain freedom to go when you want with no waiting (except for tram to the parking lot).

2) Buses are always air conditioned, but your car is a sweltering oven when you get to it after a day at the park.

3) Riding the bus is also good for the air quality and environment.

It's up to you to decide what matters the most to you and your family. for me, I take the bus and that's because I travel solo and I don't want the expense and hassle of a car.

True on #2, but waiting in a long line at park closing just to stand on a packed bus with a horde of tired, stinky and grumpy strangers is not my idea of a great vacation activity.

 

[Stitch_Is_King]

The first few trips we took to Disney we had good luck with Disney transportation but the last couple of trips we found ourselves spending a good deal of time waiting for buses. It would be frustrating when you would see three Epcot buses in fifteen minutes but wait thirty minutes for a Magic Kingdom bus.

Because of that we decided when we went in April that we would try renting a car and I will not do Disney again without one. For us the positives outweighed the extra expense.

 

[Brian Noble]

I always rent a car unless I'm staying in the Epcot area. And, even then, I often wish I had one, for exactly this reason.

 

[gigicnm]

Of all the resorts we have stayed at we found AKL busses to be the most inefficient. We started to rent a car after that trip.

 

[charmed59]

We've been to DW three times, staying on the monorail twice, and once staying at AKL. The buses from and to the AKL were always a hassle. We waited in line for an hour for the bus from Epcot to AKL. After the experiences with buses at AKL we will now always rent a car, and use that to get anywhere not accessible by monorail or boat.

 

[hsmamato2]

Never stayed akl,but have visited all the resorts multiple times...only problems we ever had (in a big way) was akl.....again,and again,and again. Thats a reason i wouldnt stay there.

 

[brymolmom]

I always tell my clients to anticipate an AVERAGE of 20 minute wait for buses. That means sometimes it's a 5- 7 minute wait and others it's a 35 minute wait.

Oh - and I tell them to disregard any end of nighttime fireworks/show waits from this calculation - If you stay until then (and don't hand right at the entrance) then you should be agreeing to waiting awhile for a bus.

I would be interested in hearing what your average works out to be - sounds like these two incidents weren't so good. But you don't mention if it's after fireworks or not.

We have stayed at value, mod and deluxe...And I would guess our average is in the 15 - 18 minute range. Out of maybe 150 - 180 bus rides (probably more) we have had actual problems with it maybe 10 times.

Our worst encounter was at a MOD resort....When we waited over 60 minutes for a bus to MK first thing in the morning...and unfortunately because there are no roped lines in MOD bus areas, there was almost a mob scene when one finally showed up.

Overall, a very good record. I tell clients that it is all about EXPECTATIONS and not to expect 10 minutes or less every time.

 

[smidgy]

we generally have good luck with bus service.. EXCEPT at AKL.. it is the worst.

since they added Kidani Village, it has gotten terrible.. ok, we all already know that AKl is the farthes from the parks than any other resort.

but they use the same bus for both jambo house and kidani, and it just takes FOREVER!!! none of the other resorts with DVC have this problem. they need seperate bus service for the 2, since they are so far apart.

 

[seashoreCM]

... except waited an hour for Blizzard Beach. I was leaning against the BB sign pole at the front of line and read every single bus that came in. Our driver insisted he had been at our stop 15 min prior but I know for a fact he wasn't because I and my DD were standing there the whole time and paying attention. ...

Once close to home (Boston MBTA) I saw a bus load up at the starting point normally at its assigned berth but the marquee said "Out of Service". I wonder what passengers for that route at intermediate stops thought as they ignored the "out of service" bus as it passed by and it seemed unusually long before their desired bus arrived. There would be a genuine dispute if any complained that the T missed a trip and the T replied that the bus ran as scheduled.

At Disney the normal headway is supposed to be every 20 minutes which makes the average wait about 10 minutes. Except I heard a rumor that to and from a few resorts the normal headway is every 30 minutes (average wait 15 minutes) apparently due to some internal accounting and budgeting.

We need more reported data so a short sticky thread can be published to determine the truth of the aforementioned rumor and thereby answer once and for all, "What resort has the best bus service?".

 

[Pooh2]

We rented a car on our last trip and will definitely budget for that on future trips. I have mobility issues so waiting for and standing on a crowded bus would not work so well. We really enjoyed being able to come and go whenever we were ready.

We went in the cooler months though so a hot car was not an issue. That might make a car rental less appealing in the heat of summer. Then again, at this point in our lives, we would avoid the hottest time of year anyway.

 

[ParrotBill]

I always regard 20-30 min a standard wait. Less than 20 is a bonus, 30-40 happens once or twice in a week's trip.

I still find the buses to be more convenient overall, plus I can drink at dinner!