BW bus frustration

[Paticake]

We had 2 situations on BW busses last week. The first on a bus from MK Sat morning at around 10:30 am. We were me DH, DD, DGS and DGD. We had a carriage that we folded up. We were seated. We were heading back when we were stopped at a red light for several minutes. I'm not talking 2 or 3 but at least 10. Someone on the bus was like what the heck. The driver finally just took a right turn and drove thru Coronado Springs resort to turn around. Ok we are back on our way. I am not sure why sometimes BW, BC, YC, Swan and Dolphin all have the same bus but we first stopped at Swan then Dolphin and picked up so many people. I have never been on a more crowded bus. People were standing all the way into the front stairwell. Indeed not safe. People up front were yelling to push back and there was no room. People in the back were yelling back. It made for a very unpleasant ride and we ended up getting off at the Beach Club because we couldn't stand it any longer and again we were sitting. The second issue was Sunday night when we were waiting for a bus to go to DTD. A bus pulled up full to the brim. We opted not to get on. I don't think one bus for all these resorts is the way to go. Especially when BW is the last stop. Just my 2 cents.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Okay, well, I'm sure you know the bus driver isn't responsible for the traffic light, right?

The rest of your complaints? You can write to Walt Disney World now, but next year, talk to a manager or supervisor at your resort when you have legitimate issues regarding transportation. Seriously.

 

[valeriekc]

The bus route for the Boardwalk resort has always been overcrowded in my opinion.
Last time we went though Boardwalk was only sharing with the Swan & Dolphin? I hope this has not changed back to the old version??
It has always amazed me that Disney could get away with sharing only (1) bus for seven very expensive resorts! Think about it...you have the Swan, Dolphin, Yacht Club, Beach Club, Beach Club Villas, Boardwalk Inn and finally the Boardwalk Villas. That is a huge number of guests cramming onto only one bus for the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom.
I have written to Disney previously about this and looks like I will be again.
I should hand out protest flyers to everyone on the bus when I go down in July.
There is nowhere else on property where they combine that many resorts onto only one bus.
If they are doing that again that is atrocious and unbelievable!
No wonder everyone has to drive their cars to the parks.

 

[seashoreCM]

... BW buses ... from MK ... we were stopped at a red light for several minutes. I'm not talking 2 or 3 but at least 10. Someone on the bus was like what the heck. The driver finally just took a right turn and drove thru Coronado Springs resort to turn around.

Whahoppened? Driver went the wrong way? Pondering his next move while waiting at the light? CS is not on the way from Magic Kingdom to Boardwalk.

 

[TaraPA]

It may have been a slower time (in their opinion!) that they combined all Epcot area resorts onto one bus. This is not always the case. I've been on the bus many many times that it was just S/D and Boardwalk - YC/BC had their own busses.

I agree complaining now won't help anyway - resort managers need to know ASAP so they can try & aleviate the siutation by contacting Disney Transportation.

And as far as the wait at the traffic light - obviously not the driver's fault, there must have been something go on up ahead or in the road (that passengers couldn't see or weren't aware of). Frustrating yes, but no need to blame Disney Transportation!

 

[VAN]

We rent a car now for our visits ... getting too old for the bus nonsense!

 

[seashoreCM]

It has always amazed me that Disney could get away with sharing only (1) bus for seven very expensive resorts! .

But do they come more often?

Anyone have the roster of resorts with room counts? For the All Stars, much of the time one bus serves almost 6000 rooms (all 3 resorts).

 

[MICKEEP]

Whahoppened? Driver went the wrong way? Pondering his next move while waiting at the light? CS is not on the way from Magic Kingdom to Boardwalk.

I may be wrong but I think the OP is saying is that there was a problem with the traffic light and it was not turning green. Therefore the driver made a decision to make a right turn on red and reroute in order to avoid waiting any longer at that light.

 

[irishtigger]

This is why I will never stay at any of those resorts ever again. First off the Swan and Dolphin are NOT disney resorts so I don't see why we who are paying deluxe resorts rates have to share a bus with them and deal with the overstuffed busses. Sorry they need their own bus they don't pay anywhere near what we pay for our rooms and I don't think its fair. NO I don't care how snotty that sounds. Each resort needs their own bus from that area I really hated waiting for a bus than having to stand when it finally got there. I will never stay there again.

 

[seashoreCM]

There is a financial arrangement, either an annual fee or a part of the land lease going back to ca. 1980, that puts the Swan and Dolphin in the Disney Transport system.

Other non-Disney resorts could conceivably join Disney Transport too, although some lead time would be needed to purchase more buses and hire more drivers.

 

[DebbieB]

We rent a car now for our visits ... getting too old for the bus nonsense!

 

[kaytieeldr]

We rent a car now for our visits ... getting too old for the bus nonsense!

Really? There's an age limit for the buses?

Or did you mean you're getting too impatient for WDW's equivalent of public transit?

 

[Telcogirl]

The rest of your complaints? You can write to Walt Disney World now, but next year, talk to a manager or supervisor at your resort when you have legitimate issues regarding transportation. Seriously.

I don't think the resort manager can do anything about crowded buses. I had an issue with a BW bus on my last trip and from speaking to the resort manager she told me I had to take it up with transportation.

That said, your best bet would be to approach one of the transportation 'huts' at the parks if you wish to speak with someone in person. Or, you could write to Guest Services when you return from your trip.

 

[francie57]

Guess we have been lucky. We stay at the BW every trip and we have never had any trouble with the buses. We have always had a bus that we were the first stop for MK and on a few occasion it went straight from BW to MK. We have also been on ones that stop at S/D. As far as the stops coming back from MK, we just hop off at the first stop the bus makes at the S/D and walk over the bridge. We do take the rental car to AK since we can park closer to the entrance with our AAA parking pass than taking the bus.

 

[joelkfla]

Whahoppened? Driver went the wrong way? Pondering his next move while waiting at the light? CS is not on the way from Magic Kingdom to Boardwalk.

That would be the light exiting World Drive southbound, for a left turn onto Buena Vista Drive towards DHS. Although there's also a cloverleaf ramp going the same direction, buses headed for the Epcot resorts are supposed to use the left turn instead so they don't have to move left across 3 lanes of traffic to get to the left-turn lane to the Swan.

Many of the traffic lights are controlled by optical traffic sensors -- those camera-like thingies you see on top of the lights. Some of them have a problem, I believe, caused by the angle of the sun at certain times of day. The one exiting Pop Century is another one that gets stuck occasionally.

Once we get stuck at one of these, there's really nothing we can do except make a (possibly illegal) right turn and find someplace to turn around.

 

[joelkfla]

I don't think the resort manager can do anything about crowded buses. I had an issue with a BW bus on my last trip and from speaking to the resort manager she told me I had to take it up with transportation.

Actually, resort management does have more say in the level of service to a resort than does trasportation management. You'd probably have a better chance of making a difference by complaining to the resort about overcrowding or inefficient routes.

Issues about rude drivers, dirty buses and such should be addressed to transportation management.

 

[VAN]

"I'm" getting to old/impatient to deal with the bus issues.

It used to be that they were very efficient, but over the years things have gotten crazy. I think the last time I waited an hour at TL (along with 3 busloads of people) to arrive, and the last time at the close of MK were we also waited for close to an hour for a bus (while buses for the other resorts came and went), and the last time I waited 40 minutes in line thinking I'd be on the next bus only to be "cut" by a wheelchair person and his party of 10 at the last minute (wheelchair person looked quite frail while the rest of the party hopped on the bus and seated themselves in the back and nowhere near "grandpa").

Okay, see, I'm getting excited!!!!

That's why we now rent a car and drive ourselves on our schedule.

 

[ccgirl]

We had the same problem in May. For a bus to DTD, not only did it stop at the Epcot resorts, Swan/Dolphin/BC/BW it alway stopped at Port Orleans. Not sure if a bus was out of commission or what but we swore we would always rent a car. In addition, I just don't understand why it takes 45 minutes to get to a park when you stay on property and 15 when you don't.

 

[seashoreCM]

1. I waited an hour at TL (along with 3 busloads of people) to arrive.

2. ... thinking I'd be on the next bus only to be "cut" by a wheelchair person and his party of 10 at the last minute .

These I consider to be legitimate issues. (The latter if the next bus doesn't arrive within 10 minutes i.e. half the normal interval.)

3. Although there's also a cloverleaf ramp going the same direction, buses headed for the Epcot resorts are supposed to use the left turn instead so they don't have to move left across 3 lanes of traffic to get to the left-turn lane to the Swan.

4. ...the traffic lights are controlled ... another one that gets stuck occasionally... really nothing we can do except make a (possibly illegal) right turn and find someplace to turn around.

(Truly tasteless and off topic)
Why not continue on down Buena Vista Drive and go into the Boardwalk entrance first? Gives Disney's resort guests first dibs on seats in the shared bus. As well as a longer run to change lanes in.

Ph.D. in transportation engineering needed. A light that is known for getting stuck needs to be fixed promptly. Temporarily it can be set to give a few seconds to the stuck street on a recurring basis anyway using a process called "recall". To keep the system from interrupting the main flow and serving the stuck street too often, the main street should have a minimum of say 30 seconds. Does Disney have any strings to pull to dismiss traffic violations done by its own drivers on its own roads?

 

[popgfd]

DW and i have had issues with the transportation and on a few occasions took the time to complain. my personal observation is you will see empty busses because they came just a few minutes after a bus with the same destination so they had no one to pickup. then the next bus winds up being packed; or just a couple of larger groups arrive together. CM's do try to help and there are CM's at the stops when crowds are anticipated. Drivers will also radio about longer waits/larger crowds.

IMO it's rare Disney doesn't try to rectify the situation

i prefer BWV because we can walk/boat to 2 of the parks; monorail and change to ferry or the other monorail to MK thus leaving AK and DTD as the only destinations without a free option to the bus.

it does seem unfair that BW is the last pick-up for either the 3 hotel loop or the 5 hotel loop but the walk to Swan or BC is about 5 minutes and you can be one of the earlier riders.

Pop