BW Bus Bum Out !

[valeriekc]

Hello to all! we just got back from BWV in early May and 1st, I would like to say we had a really good time!!
Crowds were moderate, e night was great, new Millionaire show was very addictive, got the 15% American Express discount at World of Disney.

But, I feel that something has to be said and addressed to member services about the bus service.
Did you all notice that the bus for Boardwalk is shared with (4) other, full size resorts??
That is just too many people sharing one bus every 20 minutes.
I have trouble believing that the people that are paying big bucks to stay at the Swan, Dolphin, Yacht Club and Beach Club and Boardwalk Inn can be very happy with this either.
We watched bus after bus go past us at the pickup at AK and a few go past a MK also while the waiting crowds just grew and grew.
All of the other resorts have their own bus or just share it with one other resort. I remember reading about people complaining about the buses at OKW a year or so ago and now they seem to have real good. Bus stop right up front at the parks, don't share their bus with any other resorts etc..
I don't know about OKW firsthand, maybe the grass is just greener, but it sure seems good.
We need to stand up now, and let them know at Disney how we feel!! I would be suprised if they haven't already heard from cash paying guests at the other resorts.
I can imagine it being really horrific when the Beach Club Villas open!!
Am I overreacting?? Have any of you noticed this problem??
Please let me know what you think

p.s. We did have a good time though and will be happy to answer any questions!

 

[SnowWitch]

I don't so much mind sharing a bus with a resort but 4 deluxes sharing buses is a bit much. Our last trip in Dec wasn't that bad but I somehow doubt I will feel that great about it this June. By the way unless it has changed since last summer and before, the WL, Poly, and GF share buses to MGM and AK.

 

[ohiominnie]

We just got back from WDW on Sunday. Several times at the MK I mentioned to my dh about the line for buses to the BW (BC, Yacht club, etc...) Many times we were waiting in our (very short) OKW line and the line for BW (et al) was HUGE!!! Even filling up their entire queue line!!! Looking around there were no more than 5 ppl in any other queue line. I made some comments to my dh about how long that line is, and WHY would they pack FOUR resorts on ONE bus? His response: "Yeah, they've been complaining about that on the DIS." He's so connected! The worst part about that line, is often buses would pass them up to go to a resort spot that had 4 or 5 ppl in it. It made NO sense!!!!

You could always stay at OKW (couldn't resist!)

I hope something gets done, I hate seeing hot, tired ppl getting grumpy at the Happiest Place on Earth!


ohiominnie

 

[Doctor P]

You know, it is in Disney's best interest to do the best job they can to make guests indifferent between their choices of resorts to try to balance out demand (not to mention to even out the demand of DVC members seeking visits with their points) I don't know which is worse: having to take a bus to all of the parks or being able to walk to two of the parks but never get to or from the other parks or DD? I have always thought it was interesting that the general consensus is that the best bus service is to and from the All Star Resorts (though it is the only means of transportation offered).

 

[dvcdudes]

I would love to have our own bus or at least cut back on sharing but in all honesty, I thought the bus service was very good at BWV. I was used to the busses at All Stars so even sharing with 4 other resorts was better.

I was surprised when we first made the loop to the other resorts on our first trip to the BWV. I never imagined that we shared busses with the other resorts. I figured with the BW being "an attraction" as well as a resort, the flow of people would dictate it's own service.

Maybe we just hit it right but eventhough we did have the added time of making the loop, we almost always got a seat and never had to wait for a second bus because the first was full.

I'm all for the squeeky wheel concept though. When the BCVs open, this will be 7 resorts on one bus line (BWV, BWI, Swan, Dolphin, BC, BCV, YC) of course depending on whether you consider each of these a seperate resort. We should at least have our own bus for park opening and closing crowds.

We're going again in Aug so I'll see how they are then. We use Disney transportatiion almost exclusively while staying there. I was worried about Bus on Demand. From what I hear it is only being used to supliment the regular bus schedule. Lets hope they only make improvements and not cutbacks.

 

[PamOKW]

got the 15% American Express discount at World of Disney

This is the part of your report I was most interested in. Hopefully, this will hold true.

As for the buses....sometimes I do think it appears that the buses keep coming for every resort but your own. I think they do run more All Star buses because there are more people. (But, do they still run what looks like a cattle car for them sometimes?) Every resort has times when the bus for them doesn't come or comes late...probably problems with buses, traffic and/or drivers.

I do think treating BW more like an attraction might solve some problems including the parking situation at BW. Even if it was bus service like to the WWofS, only leaving from one central location. Right now, they have so many resorts on the bus line but they are only making one stop at each. The moderates make multiple stops once they get to the resort....making things about even. I'm not sure how the capacity of the resorts stack up.

 

[scootert]

One of the nice things about staying at BW is that there are several ways to get there. DH and I often walk through Epcot and take the monorail to MK. If the bus lines are long for BW, we'll take the bus to MGM and then the boat back. This works for us because it's just the two of us ... no tired wee ones ... and we like to walk (yes, even after being in the parks!!).

This certainly wouldn't work for everyone, but it does for us. Not sure if it takes longer to get somewhere than waiting for the bus, but we're happier because we're exploring.

 

[valeriekc]

Thanks to all who replied!!
We really tried to keep an open mind as we watched the crowds grow while waiting for buses at AK and MK!!.
After 4 days we ended up using our rental car after a bad wait at AK and felt that we were saving a lot of time that way.
If you examine our trip we stayed 10 days and if you consider the travel time on buses to MK & AK it can add up. Consider 6 trips to MK and 2 trips to AK.
If service is perfect and you make every bus without wait time that is about 8-9 hours of precious time from your vacation. If you throw in waiting 30 minutes for overloaded buses, or slow buses that steals 4-5 more hours from your trip, we felt that in a big way as our trip was closing up. We never waited for the sloooow boat to MGM or Epcot and walked to those parks, both ways. We contacted member services and were told to call 407-WDW-RIDE and I am sending them a carefully worded letter.
But I believe that Member services needs to here from all of us that own at BWV in a big way!!
They certainly will hear from me.

As for the 15% AMEX discount that Pam asked about we received it two separate times at World of Disney.
I had to show them my AMEX card and my resort ID which clearly showed me as a DVC member?? Go figure!!
I had a story and plan of action all ready to combat that but never had to use it. So I hope you will have the same success!!

 

[AnnK]

I am sorry to hear about the buses. We have not used them very often over the years, we did not have a problem with them the few times we did use them,( that is not to meant to say that you are wrong) just that we have not experienced any problems. BWV has always shared bus service with the Swan and Y&B. I am curious what will happen when BCV's open.
I would like to ask about your parking experience? Did you valet or self park? Any problems?

 

[valeriekc]

We did the valet parking at Boardwalk and found it to be wonderful. We tip from around 3.00 and they seemed very happy with that. We used our DVC member cards at the parks so of course parking there was free. We just found tht we could be at in the park at MK which is 8 miles away in only 15 minutes.
AK which is a little closer took 15 minutes also.
It seems to be nicer when you are not spending your vacation waiting on a bus to share with 5 other resorts.

 

[Cindy72]

We own at BWV and this bus sharing thing has always bothered me. I have 2 small children ages 51/2 and 3. We do lots of waiting at both the resort and parks and then long bus rides with hot, tired, and heavy to hold children. For all that you spend at these deluxe resorts I think we deserve to have our own buses.

 

[msdis]

On a similar note, what about the empty bus(es) that keep circling from CS to BW. What about that? We once waited thru 4 CS buses before we got the one going to the park we were going to. How does that make any sense? HMMMM maybe if the CS bus is empty, we should ride that one and transfer to the BW that way??????

On a more positive note we do love being at the BW because we don't need a bus or a boat just our good ole legs to get to Epcot and MGM. We can live with 3 slow buses knowing that we don't have to wait for 5.

 

[mikek]

I don't think the sharing is the problem, but the lack of busses.

Sharing actually might be good. Think about it- ASSUMING they used the same amount of busses you could have one bus to BW ever 20 minutes or one bus that makes 4 stops every five minutes. I'd much prefer many more frequent busses that make a few stops.

The problem becomes when they decide that the one bus to BW can make all four stops and they don't bother using the 3 other buses. So the compliant is not enough busses in service, not that it makes stops.

I know - I have a toddler and an infant and when you don't get any seats 'cause your the last pickup it stinks- but its not really because the bus stopped at 3 places first, its because they don't run them often enough. If the bus only went to BW, but it only showed up once an hour, half the people would stand too.

 

[robinb]

I stayed at BWV NYE 1999/2000 and hated the buses. It took us almost an hour to get home from the MK one time. The wait for the bus was always long and stopping at the other resorts is a drag because it eats so much more time. I wondered to myself why the folks at 5 deluxe resorts would put up with such terrible bus service. Then it hit me. They don't. The folks in the deluxe resorts drive everywhere. I usually do too, but not to the MK. In Disney's defense, the busses were never full. They also didn't have us on them again ... even going through the TTC is faster than 1 hour.

FWIW, I stayed at CBR last November (my hubby was on business) and their bus service was fantastic. I never had to wait more than 5 minutes for a bus and I always got a seat. Since my DH had the car my toddler DD and I were relient on the bus. I liked the bus service so much that we even took the bus when my DH joined us. He thought I was nuts because I generally hate busses (grew up in Chicago) and here I was taking the bus instead of the car!

 

[Joan BWV98]

I have stayed at both the Poly, last June, and BWV, Nov, and the lines for the bus were much worse at BWV. This was true even though the weekend before Thanksgiving before the parks got crowded.

I also think it is unfair that we are always at the worst place in the list. If you are going to the parks, its BWV, Swan, Dolphin, Yacht then Beach Club. If you are coming back, we are last.

The same is true with the boat to MGM. It is definitely faster to walk, unless your feet hurt too much to move

I love BWV but you do get better bus service at the other resorts.

 

[valeriekc]

As so many of you have agreed that the Bus bum out is definate at Boardwalk maybe it is similiar at some of the other resorts? (other than the ones on the BW bus route)
I can't really say because we have stayed at BW since 1998 and stayed at Beach Club for three years before that and waaay back we stayed at CB and I can't remember much about the buses there.

I believe the bus situation can improve and want to use it because it is easier, you are dropped off closer than any other form of transportation and don't have the expense of driving, valet etc...

If you are a DVC member that owns at BW then call member services and call transportation at 407-WDW-RIDE and ask them why you have to be treated so poorly when you are supposed to be receiving "deluxe accomodations"!!

It seems like it worked quite well for the OKW members.

The next "Boardwalk Bus Bum Out" might be you!!

 

[Tricolours]

After completing our car rental at the Dolphin we took the bus marked Typhoon Lagoon/Downtown Disney. We were going to Typhoon Lagoon to meet our daughters who had gone on ahead of us.
To cut a long story short, it took 45 minutes to get there! Our bus driver decided to go via All Stars Sports and then Music before going to DD. We complained to transportation (twice) and guest services, with no results. Only after writing a letter did we get someone's attention. That's a sad comment on Disney's quality control.