Disappointed with the bus service

[chartle]

I am with the OP. The buses are over crowed and I can kind of see why. They are just trying to get everyone transported the quickest way possible. However, in today world that may lead to legal problems.

The buses maybe designed to hold 30 people standing, but they did not take into count stroller and other items. Just look at how may people were injured in the last bus crash at EPCOT.

Now just picture what would happen to a full bus that is involved in a rollover. I am willing to bet that if a bus holds say a total of 60 people and the bus is full and involved in a roll over. Then over half of those people would be seriously hurt or even killed. (there are no safety restraints for passengers)

The more strollers there are the LESS the bus will weight.

I'm with the posters that say if you don't normally ride buses its a major shock at WDW.

Some people are just not bus people.

When I worked in Downtown Pittsburgh I took a bus every day. It was cheaper and faster because I could get off right in front of my building.

I worked with someone who was from further out of the city and he would never think of taking a bus. I tried to convince him that if he parked at the park and ride lot (for free) he could take a bus into work and save about $100 a month in parking. At the time we could get a monthly pass for $32 he was paying over a 130 per month to park. He probably would have also got home quicker because the bus took the HOV lane and missed the major jam ups.

He just wouldn't do it because he wasn't raised on buses like I was.

100's of thousands of people are packed on buses with no standing room all over the country every day. I don't see any news reports of rampant deaths from over crowded buses crashing into things and rolling over.

I was only in one accident on a bus and it was a stupid driver in a car that was illegally passing the bus I was in.

 

[clkelley]

FYI, if you want to get to MK early in the morning from WL or Fort Wilderness, it is better to take the small boat to the Contemporary, then walk over to MK.

The small boat starts at 6:45 am. The OP is correct, the larger boat direct to MK does not start till 30 min before park opening.

 

[dburg30]

A rollover, wow.
How many times has that happened in the history of WDW?
I'm thinking none.

Mythbusters was doing an episode where they were TRYING to roll a bus over. They DID it but had so much weight added in such wierd places and the SPEED they had to go should prove that it's pretty much impossible, at the speeds they run at WDW, to roll a bus.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

We usually leave an hour to get anywhere by Disney Bus. It just takes awhile.

When we drive down, we used our car on our last trip to get to DHS, Epcot and AK. It was mostly a time saver. Going to DHS there was an accident so we got stuck waiting in traffic along with everyone else. We did DTD the morning of the day we were leaving so we drove there too.

When DD and I did our short trip and flew, we got tired of dealing with the crowded buses out of POP (she didn't like feeling squished) and took a taxi twice in the morning. Once to DHS and once to AK. For MK it's still faster to take the bus.

The crowded buses don't bug me much. I used to ride the bus and the metro in Atlanta all the time and those were really crowded too. Plus you had to watch out for pickpockets.
I think if you aren't used to buses, it can be disconcerting.

At least now you know you'll be happier renting a car next time.

 

[Magicbus]

I just have never seen that combo of resorts from a DTD bus, ever. I'm sure Magicbus can confirm that too. He will correct me if I'm wrong.
Hey, we're not perfect but we do try to do things logically.

Confirmed, you are correct.
Maybe it was a new driver that didn't have a clue. Or maybe an old driver.
And hey, what's this "we" stuff about not being perfect.
Don't let it out that everything is not perfect at WDW.

 

[dacky041208]

Not sure if another bus was out of service or what. All other buses the BW only shared with the Swan/Dolphin and BC/YC so I don't know what happened.

I did hear on the radio there were a couple of buses out.

Which is it? If you did hear busses were out, at least that gives you an explanation as to why you made extra stops. It does stink that you had an ADR to get to though.

 

[dsaville]

We stayed at the YC june of last year and we only shared a bus with BC. There were some more stops coming back from AK and DTD but I didn't mind. After staying at a deluxe and experiencing all the transportation options it would be hard not to stay there again, atleast with the little ones. I was soooo worried about bus transportation too. We arrived on Monday and didn't use the bus service until Wed. Yes, we were lg stroller people too. The morning buses were packed and some of the closing ones were packed, but the boat ride from DHS was full. I don't think it ever took more than hour to be transported. Maybe from the time we left our room to the time we reached the dining place its possible. At the end of the day we were on vacation and I didn't have to drive so no complaints.

 

[Magicbus]

Which is it? If you did hear busses were out, at least that gives you an explanation as to why you made extra stops. It does stink that you had an ADR to get to though.

I don't know why someone would hear that "two buses were out" over the radio. It's information that is not relevent to drivers. And two buses out of service from the total number of buses servicing the park would not be noticeable. So even if there were two buses out of service, it wouldn't impact just one resort. It would affect all the routes just a little. There are buses in and out of service all day long.
Except for some special routes, it's not the same bus running back and forth. Drivers usually do not repeat a route.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Except for some special routes, it's not the same bus running back and forth. Drivers usually do not repeat a route.

Right. Even I, a civilian, know that.

Okay, full disclosure: Even I, as a civilian who has had several conversations with Transportation Managers which have morphed into semi-unrelated topics as well as one or two bus drivers, and who avidly reads the information cranbiz, Magicbus, and other occasional 'drop-in' WDW bus drivers provide , know that the buses don't loop back and forth between two or three points. They continue on to other, predetermined destinations.

 

[seashoreCM]

Swan/Dolphin to Beach Club to Boardwalk and also to Port Orleans (one stop) and Saratoga Springs (one stop) and finally arrive at Downtown Disney

Could it be that a PO bus and an SSR bus each filled up before completing all the intra-resort stops and yours was summoned to pick up the rest?

 

[ophyllia1973]

This is why we always rent a small car to run around the World in. Not to mention the ruined tennis shoes from kids tossing their cookies after a long day at the parks.

 

[cranbiz]

Could it be that a PO bus and an SSR bus each filled up before completing all the intra-resort stops and yours was summoned to pick up the rest?

Nope. A bus with guests on it will never diverted to pick up at another resort.
If they want a bus to come in and finish a pickup at a resort, the coordinator will call out for an empty bus in the area and divert it.

The only time you will see a bus with guests onboard already stopping will be if a bus breaks down and another bus going to that hub is really near by or the time a manager stopped me and had me take the guests from a bus involved in a crash on my bus to MK (which was my destination)

 

[cranbiz]

And hey, what's this "we" stuff about not being perfect.
Don't let it out that everything is not perfect at WDW.

You don't have to be perfect to be magical