Disney Buses

[jd99]

We are here now. Finishing up an 8 day trip at 3 different resorts (POR, AKV Kidani Village, and AKV Jambo Concierge. I will likely post a detailed trip report upon return but I couldn't wait any longer to post that something has happened with the Disney buses and it isn't good. This is probably our 20th trip (or more) to WDW and in the early days I always rented a car because I'm not a fan of "waiting" for public transportation. Over the past couple of years, I've found the buses to work well for our needs and so we haven't been renting cars for probably 2-3 years. While I initially wanted to rent a car this time, I talked myself out of it. BIG mistake.


We have never waited 20 mintues or less for a bus. This morning when a MK bus pulled out as my daughter was running toward it waving her arms, we had the shortest wait ever at 26 minutes (I only know the exact time because WDW had someone there timing all buses). I guess they've had lots of complaints as of late.

On the day when our daughter was dancing at downtown disney, we chose to take a bus from POR because the boat would take "too long." We waited for more than one full hour for a bus and nearly missed the performance. I'd have taken a cab if I knew for sure it would pick us up in time, but we waited too long to make the decision.

On various occasions we stood at resorts or parks for between 45 and 60 minutes.

Never again will I depend on Disney bus transportation.

I suggest that WDW invest in a better transportation system before it builds any more resorts, drawing even more guests whom their buses can't service.

Thanks for letting me rant here. I wish I thought my words would make an impact at WDW because there is some serious fixin' that needs to be done.

 

[kydisneyfans]

Our last wait for a Disney bus was over an hour and 15 minutes. Notice the sentence said our last wait, we have driven since.

 

[maxiesmom]

I'm hoping that both of you complained while you were at Disney World. Because while it might make you feel better to come here and complain, it won't change anything. But if enough people complain during their trips, Disney will be more liable to take notice.

 

[jd99]

I'm hoping that both of you complained while you were at Disney World. Because while it might make you feel better to come here and complain, it won't change anything. But if enough people complain during their trips, Disney will be more liable to take notice.

I will be writing a letter but I did try to complain today and was rebuffed which is why I needed to vent. There was a team of four people "logging" times for buses. I went to one of them and asked (and I quote) "Are you interested in some feedback?" She looked at me strangely and said "huh?" so I started with: We have been to Disney more than 20 times and I've never seen such a problem with the bus service....We have waited..." at this point she cut me off and said (again, I quote) "I don't do that." I was stunned and told her so. I do remember the name, time and place so I'll be mentioning that in my letter. She came over and tried to apologize profusely but only because I made a note of saying her name out loud as in "Ok. Robin from Rochester New York, I can see you aren't interested in feedback." And indeed she wasn't. Even after apologizing I started to ask her again if there was a change in the queing system...and she cut me off again. Amazing. So now I'm stuck with writing the proverbial letter to member services (DVC) and WDW communications...

 

[Jestocost]

It's just so strange that experiences vary so widely. We stayed at AKL (Jambo House) at the end of May/beginning of June and never waited more than 10 minutes for a bus at the resort or at a park. In fact, 10 minutes was the exception at AKL as we waited five minutes or less in most cases.

So, while I think it's impossible to judge the state of the transportation system (good or bad) on individual guest experiences or even the collective guest experiences on these boards--all of which amount to anecdotal evidence--it's pretty clear that the system is at best wildly inconsistent at this point in time. That means that even if someone could produce statistical evidence that the system is working well (and only Disney would have this information), there likely would be enough data points outside of the acceptable norms that one could aver that the system is broke or at the very least in need of some significant improvements.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Thanks for posting that review about their bus system and I am sorry to read you were having problems with it.

 

[jd99]

Thanks for posting that review about their bus system and I am sorry to read you were having problems with it.

well we own three DVC home resorts now - BCV, BLT and AKV. I think I may be looking to unload the AKV points and buying more BLT since I think part of the problem was that this was the first trip in a while where we have depended on buses 100 percent with no other options (boat, monorail, etc). Regardless, it was truly one bad experience after another and we talked with so many others who said "it's never been this bad before" that clearly there was something wrong this week.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

well we own three DVC home resorts now - BCV, BLT and AKV. I think I may be looking to unload the AKV points and buying more BLT since I think part of the problem was that this was the first trip in a while where we have depended on buses 100 percent with no other options (boat, monorail, etc). Regardless, it was truly one bad experience after another and we talked with so many others who said "it's never been this bad before" that clearly there was something wrong this week.

Well don't forget the Contemporary/Bay Lake Tower still has buses for Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom/Blizzard Beach and Downtown Disney/Typhoon Lagoon, so you will still need bus service when going to those locations if you decide to visit those places. Plus in the mornings they share bus service with either the Polynesian or Wilderness Lodge, then in the afternoons they always share with the Polynesian and Grand Floridian. Although if you rent a car on your next vacation then you don't need to worry about the buses.

 

[jd99]

Well don't forget the Contemporary/Bay Lake Tower still has buses for Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom/Blizzard Beach and Downtown Disney/Typhoon Lagoon, so you will still need bus service when going to those locations if you decide to visit those places. Plus in the mornings they share bus service with either the Polynesian or Wilderness Lodge, then in the afternoons they always share with the Polynesian and Grand Floridian. Although if you rent a car on your next vacation then you don't need to worry about the buses.

I know that which is why I mentioned the problem being 100 percent dependent on buses. Buses sometimes I can bear. All the time is the problem for me but the bigger problem is the system itself which needs to be fixed.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

All the time is the problem for me but the bigger problem is the system itself which needs to be fixed.

Agreed 100%.