Disney Bus Service Poll

[boomhauer]

Just curious, after reading several threads about less than stellar bus service at Disney, what the overall feel is. We didn't use the buses on our last stay, and don't plan on using them anytime soon. I think considering how vital it is for Disney to have good transportation, a poll like this will be interesting.

 

[Lewisc]

Everyone remembers the time they had to wait 20-30 minutes for a bus, maybe to DTD or a water park. The vast majority of times the wait is maybe 10 minutes.

 

[pumpkinboy]

Sure, it would be nice if the bus came exactly when we were ready for it and took us straight to our preferred destination, but that ain't how buses work; we have to wait for all those pesky other people on different itineraries.

Seriously though, I know of few cities with bus service that can match Disney's. It is inconvenient sometimes, but for the most part it works just fine.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I voted for Hit-or-miss. Sometimes we have had 20 minute waits for bus service to MGM or AK, however last month when going to MGM we had amazing service. We waited 5 minutes at the Contemporary and 5 minutes at MGM for the bus to arrive.

However the only location in WDW my parents and I still drive to is Downtown Disney. Besides the fact that the bus service going and coming back from their is not that great, for us it's much easier to take our own car if we purchase a lot of itmes so we can put them back in the car and sometimes when we are leaving Downtown Disney we might want to go shopping at the Premium Outlet Mall, or another location which is offsite.

 

[pumpkinboy]

Good point, CR Resort Fan 4 Life. The bus service to and from Downtown Disney stinks. Unless we are staying at SSR (where you can walk) or one of there resorts where you can take a boat (OKW, POR, POFQ), we will drive to Downtown Disney. Resort to resort is touchy too, but that's only bcs you have to transfer somewhere.

Otherwise, we'll rely on the bus most times.

 

[Lilolvr]

CSR has great bus service!!

 

[grimley1968]

I voted acceptable. Good poll, by the way.

I do wish there was a better grade than acceptable, though, as I usually find the service to be good. For something that is free, has so many places to go, and needs to be timely, it works pretty well, IMHO.

 

[speakupjc]

I don't like the lack of movies as the screens to watch them are on the bus but the bus service is free so I can't complain.

 

[goofy4tink]

So far, pretty acceptable. When you consider how many people they are moving in a day, it's pretty remarkable they do as good a job as they do. Do I get perturbed when I have to wait 20 mins for a bus? Yep, but I have to keep in mind that 'technically' the bus is supposed to be running on an every 20 min schedule...so if I just miss one bus, the next could take up to 20 mins to get to my stop.
But, the bus service to DTD is abysmal. It is so bad, both coming and going, that I tend to avoid DTD unless I have a very specific reason to go there. I just don't want to spend half an hour waiting for a bus to get to my resort, then have it take close to half an hour to get there...then reverse it to get back. It's a huge pain And then you have to stop at TL to boot.
But, for the most part, the bus system is pretty decent.

 

[pepe of ohio]

We just returned from 9 nights at the WL last night and out stay was stellar, no car only Disney transportation. Our observations are it seems when were ready to bus to somewhere, it just pulled out. We actually watched the clock on some routes and we never waited more than 15 minutes to anywhere. Riding the bus is part of the vacation to us and waiting 10-15 minutes for free, carefree, super A/C'ed deliver you to the door and pick up, the best thing going on property. Others have complained, rent cars and drive all over but we feel no need while there. disney provides it all and as I stated, its free. We used the bus to transfer to other resorts so when we hit the bus station at our resort and were headed to another resort, we caught the first park bus that pulls in, there we go to that park and then just walk to the quenue of the resort of our picking, no fuss no muss, no parking, long walks, showing of resort pass and no driving on property.

 

[Tissa]

I think they do a pretty good job and have never waited over 20 minutes for a bus, most of the time only 10.

 

[boomhauer]

Odd so many people have problems with DTD buses. I never have an issue with those, at least while staying at All Stars. It seems, by the time we're going to DTD, usually late afternoon, they have a good amount of buses.
Returning could use some work though.

 

[dunbarfamily]

Beats driving!

 

[cranbiz]

I don't like the lack of movies as the screens to watch them are on the bus but the bus service is free so I can't complain.

What you are describing is the ME buses. The regular Disney Transport buses do not have screens.

For the amount of buses and routes we have, I feel that we do a very good job. Yes, there are times you may wait longer than you wish but you will find that on average that a wait for a bus is less than 10 minutes. Our service goals are 20 minutes or less but the service guarantee is 30 minutes or less.

DTD works the same way but there are more stops to service and there are less buses assigned to DTD that a theme park. A delay at TL will affect the bus service in a negative way. Until TL has something done about the access road delay's will be common.

 

[iluvradcliffe]

Just got back from POR and the service was terrible. Huge lines, long waits and shared transportation that favored POFQ.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

I think the problem within, is that perceptions are usually very different from reality. For example, one can perceive a long wait, when really, it was only 15 minutes or even less. It's amazing how environmental variables can affect how people percieve time.

Large crowds don't always mean big waits. For some reason, people think that when they walk up to a large crowd, it's been a long time for a bus. Not always the case.

People are also always astonished when there are crowds. There are hundreds of thousands of people at Disney, and chances are, some of them have the same thought as you.

When you actually look at how the system operates, the amount of buses on the roads, and the hundreds of thousands of people Disney Transport moves... it's really quite astonishing.

Just my three cents.

 

[maxiesmom]

I voted acceptable. It is a public bus service. I don't expect a bus to come by with a seat held just for me every 5 minutes. I know I may have to stand and it is no big deal. When I am on vacation at Disney I don't want the hassle of driving to the parks, and then hopping on a tram. So to me it is fine.