Disney should be embarrassed by All Stars transportation

[iteachlit]

I wanted to wait a while to post this; I needed some time to collect my thoughts.

My wife and I have stayed at three other Disney resorts: Caribbean Beach, Dixie Landings and the Wilderness Lodge. Each of these resorts is served mostly by bus transportation, just like the All Star resorts. Don’t think for a minute that the All Star transportation is on par with those other resorts.

Transportation to and from the All Stars is a joke!

Let’s start with transportation from the resort. Why in the world would Disney build a bus queue area without a roof? We visited other resorts during our stay: WL, GF, Poly… each had covered bus stops. “Of course,” you are thinking. “Those are deluxe resorts.” I have stayed at moderates (CB, POR) and they have covered resorts. I guess that at bargain prices Disney could not afford to extend the roof over the queue area.

People waiting in the queues were some of the most inconsiderate I have ever seen. On numerous occasions, people behind us (under the roof on the few benches behind the queue) sat in the shade until the bus came and then skipped the queue line, cutting in front of those of us following the rules.

Add to that the many smokers standing around us and the 95-degree heat / 100 percent humidity, and the experience in the queue itself was less than ideal.

How long did we wait for busses? Most were about twenty minutes. Very few were shorter; out of 20 plus bus trips, one was waiting or arrived within five minutes only twice. On our final day we went to the DTD Marketplace to pick up some souvenirs. I had allowed one hour for transport time back to ASMo. We planned on eating lunch at Earl of Sandwich. When it was too busy, we decided to go back to the ASMo food court.

We were at the DTD bus stop at 1:00; our Magical Express motor coach was to leave at 3:45. No problem, right? Two hours and forty-five minutes to make it back, eat and grab our checked bags. The bus arrived at 1:45. While we were waiting, a group of teenage girls cut in front of us; in fact, they sat on the pavement in the bus bay. RUDE!

The bus was absolutely packed. We were crammed into the bus like sardines. During the trip back to ASMo, we spoke to some people who were waiting at the stop before we arrived. They had been there 15 minutes. This means that the time between AS busses was at least one hour. At one point, I asked one of the other route drivers if there was a problem with the AS bus. He told me to be patient; one should be along soon. He wouldn’t even contact the garage to find out if there was problem. Fortunately, the bus arrived about three minutes after I spoke to the driver.

Compounding the frustration was the fact that the other resort stops had at least two busses each while we were waiting! Unbelievable!

We made it back to ASMo at approximately 2:40. We made a mad dash to the food court. Unfortunately, we didn’t get our food until about 3:15. We ate like animals to finish up in time to get our checked bags and catch the ME coach. To top it all off, the ME coach was 30 minutes late!

We shared busses with the other AS resorts at all times except for park closing. As a result, the busses were often full. Disney’s bus sharing policy for these resorts is ridiculous.

Let’s look at the numbers:

The combined All Star Resorts have 5,760 rooms. Port Orleans Riverside and French Quarter also share busses from time to time. The combined room count there? 3,056! What about deluxe resorts sharing bus service? One bus we were on stopped at WL, CR and GF en route to Animal Kingdom. That’s 2,850 rooms. Do you see a pattern?

Even though All Stars is the largest resort group, guests there are forced to share busses. Those resort loops with far fewer rooms (less than half on the deluxe loop mentioned above) have a much higher bus-to-guest room ratio. Yes, I realize that there may be MORE busses running on the AS loop, but our experience last week leads me to believe that is not the case.

In short, I think Disney needs to be aware of the transportation problems at the AS resorts. I would normally write this off to bad luck, but it seemed like a consistent problem during our stay. We never waited more that 10 minutes at the deluxes we visited. Coincidence? I think not.

 

[Rpsemont]

We had bus service like that at Dixie Landings during our first stay at WDW in 1999. I was so upset I wrote a two page letter to WDW when I got home. The most blatant problem was one morning when MK had EE (now EMH)and opened at 8AM. We were at the bus stop before 7:30. Over the next 1/2 hour, we saw busses for every other park, water park, and DTD and even saw 2-3 of the parks a second time. All these buses would pull in, pick up almost no one (after all the other parks didn't open until 9AM) and leave. At 8AM we gave up and took a cab. I dont' know when bus finally arrived. THe other thing that struck me is that they don't have queus at the resort. On this trip DD was 4. Her ability to stand at the curb was limited to about 15 minutes. Since then we have always rented a car. We sometimes will still use the busses, but it's nice to know we don't have to relay on them when time is an issue

 

[dahirsh]

I've stayed at the All Stars 4 times since Dec. '99 and in all of that time I've only been truly dissapointed with the bus service once. Last month we waited about 45 minutes in the morning for a bus to AK. All of the other park's busses showed up, some more than once. We watched several AK busses go straight past us to All Star Music and Movies. When our AK bus finally showed up, it had already picked up at Movies and all of the seats were taken.

Most of the time I'm pretty impressed with the All Star bus service. I've rarely waited more than 10 minutes for a bus no matter what time of day.

Deb

 

[Kaybee]

I think it all depends on the time of year you visit. If the parks are more crowded during the summer months/holidays you can expect longer bus delays and longer wait times. I don't think it is any specific resort. We have stayed during busy times at different resorts and got the same thing....long waits, crowded buses. That is why we went to renting a car. I can use the car if I want to get to the park quicker or opt to ride the bus if I don't feel like driving. This last visit in May we opted to ride the bus to MK from POR. Never again...we drove the rest of the time to the parks. The bus home was packed. I actually had to step on peoples feet so they would move back so that I could have some standing room for myself and family. We waited at MK for more then an hour to get back to POR. We were just jammed into the bus. Those who were standing wanted to stand near the front of the bus so they could be first off, and wouldn't move. I literally stepped all over their feet so I could finally get on!! The bus driver kept saying please move back but I don't know if people lost their minds or were just too tired to move after being at MK all day!!

 

[helenk]

We actually had more of an issue with the buses at the POFQ and POR than at the Allstar resorts.
I stayed at the Allstar Music in July, at the same time as large groups of teenagers from Brazil were there. I did not like the fact that you had to wait in the hot sun, but at least there was a queue line and people stayed in the line. At night while leaving the parks most of the parks had separate buses for each of the Allstars.
I stayed at the POFQ in May and the POFQ and POR. The buses stop at the POFQ first so that was fine, but a night most of the parks did not have separate buses for the POFQ and POR and the lines for the buses at night were horrid. Buses came quickly, but you stood in line for quite sometime.
At the moderate and deluxe resorts you stand under cover, but people do not stand in a line, they bunch up and as soon as a bus comes they all just surge forward
I think the open area for the bus stops at the resorts is limited to the value resorts because the POP Century was the same way.

 

[maxiesmom]

Yes, the Values do not have a roof over the queues. That is one reason my sister refuses to stay at them. But as you stated the All-Stars are Value resorts. Less amenities, less money. At Disney you pay dearly for things like covered queues and shorter transportation times. Some people (me for one) do not care if we have to stand in the sun waiting for the bus if we are paying considerably less money for a room.

As far as the inconsiderate people, you find them at every hotel level. Deluxe has them as well as Value. I'm sorry you ran into them, but honestly, what do you expect Disney to do? Hire people to stand around and make sure the guests behave?

It sounds to me like you are just not a Value hotel kind of person.

 

[ztbz]

To iteachlit, I wanted to let you know you are not the only one disappointed with the WDW Bus system, many Disney Cast Members have gotten disgusted with the Bus System as well (around 100 bus drivers), and have decided to leave or quit Disney,

Disney back in April this year decided to go to a New Computer Scheduling system which is called “GEMS”. Gems is only programmed to provide the minimum amount of Bus Service with a minimum amount of bus drivers, In the afternoon GEMS thinks that’s no one is riding the Buses so Disney shuts down between 10 to 20 buses in the afternoon for each park as well as Downtown Disney and they don’t go back up until the Closing staff comes in to work around 5 to 6 pm each day. The remaining buses are in kind of a Pool of Buses that are dispatch to each Disney resort in a order by computer, Since you had the problem at Downtown Disney, I wanted to point out that some of the bus stops are shared bus stops, so you may have thought that some resorts got better service but its likely that one route came in and pick up at stop number one (for instance) for Old Key West, then another route would be dispatch to pick up at stop one for Port Orleans. There are 4 stops at DTD that are shared stops.

Now I wanted to address what you can do to help fix the problem, one is to write letters to Disney, in fact when you write you letter I suggest that you send three copies of the letter to different places, one should go to the All Star Resort or the resort you stayed at, one should go to the Transportation Dept. and finally one should go to Walt Disney Company Headquarters in Burbank CA. Perhaps if enough letters reach the right people then positive changes will be made. Also it does not hurt when you are at Disney to ask to see the Resort Duty Manger during your stay at Disney.

 

[miss missy]

I never had that problem at POP, and I was there in Nov and over new years. That is one reason I chose POP over the other values. Oh... and I have a car just in case

 

[seashoreCM]

GEMS or MOD (magic on demand) or whatever the scheduling mechanism is called, the buses are supposed to come about as often as advertised, which has been on a 20 minute headway to most resorts all day long with extra trips added for peak times.

While it is understandable to try to stretch out the headways during slack times, buses not coming at the published intervals and also leaving people behind on the platform due to filling up is worthy of a report to Guest Relations.

From reports on these boards, I think the water parks need more attention regarding bus service.

It is not a good idea to cut things close with a sit down meal before your Magical Express trip back home (or a scheduled i.e. ADR meal upon arrival). Still, in case of bus problems, resort staff should bend over backwards when needed such as fetch your luggage for the ME bus going home without the 45 minute advance notice.

 

[tmt martins]

Well I ran into a few Drivers that were in full revolt mode the last few days of our trip.

I overheard one saying to another "It seems to be working I'm getting alot of complaints.

Many buses came into SSr with just the SSR still displayed .When asked they said they were internal but then an internal ( with it displayed would come though) and the other bus would roll out empty.

They would drop you off at the furthest gate at the parks and then tell you to return to your regular gate only to watch them wait a minute or two and go right to it .

The 2 I overheard talking were both getting out saying the gems is useless and working 50+hours a week was not what they had in mind when they signed on.They were saying they couldn't plan any family life because there times change so offened.

Even the monorails seemed to be bad. We rode up front twice and the CM would only give 1 word answers to any thing we asked.On our Oct trip they gave us info on the entire ride about what we were looking at and so forth.

I had a Van and used it to get to the Water parks in the middle of the day but I like not having to drive at 2 am after a long day in the parks but this is crazy.

 

[maxsmom]

Have you ever been dropped off at the FARTHEST point possible at EPCOT? Do you know how far out this is? It's rediculous. And this was in Aug of 2003 and we were staying at the WL. We were so not happy. This happened every where then. We've given up on using the buses at this point now that we have a little one. It would be so nice if this was fixed.

 

[ztbz]

Keep in mind the Bus Drivers have no control as to where you get drop off at, they are told to drop off at the bus stop or load zone for the pickup for the next designation route, sometimes you will get lucky and its close to the entrance to the park or sometimes its the farest away .

 

[minnie61650]

I am sorry you had problems with the buses.

As you can see from the others who have posted the buses can be a problem at the other resorts as well especially during the busy times of the year.

I have noticed the buses come much more frequently during the times the parks are opening and when they are closing.

Otherwise during the later part of the morning and during the day it is about every 20 minutes.

When the parks are closing it is usually one bus after another. As soon as one bus is pulling out another one is usually pulling in.

A WORD ABOUT BUS SHARING


**NOTE: This has been my experience.

To me Bus Sharing at the All Stars is really a non issue.

In the mornings during Park opening hours each All Star usually has a dedicated bus.
During mid day it is usually just our stop and maybe one more on the way to the parks. On the way back sometimes it is all 3 but often Sports and Music share and Movies has it's own bus back.

I guess some people who stay at POP see all 3 All Star names on the return sign of our bus stop when they head to the POP bus stop and think All Stars also has 3 stops on the way to the park.
(Even when we stop at another AS resort to load up it has not taken more than 5 minutes and we are on our way!)

 

[Harvest02]

Wow, I am sorry you had all those problems with the busses! We just got back from ASMo(we went the second week of June). We had NO problems at all with the busses, and the resort was packed with all the families getting there for summer break. We never had to wait more than 15 minutes for the busses, and we used the Disney Transportation every day.

 

[minnie61650]

......Now I wanted to address what you can do to help fix the problem, one is to write letters to Disney, in fact when you write you letter I suggest that you send three copies of the letter to different places, one should go to the All Star Resort or the resort you stayed at, one should go to the Transportation Dept. and finally one should go to Walt Disney Company Headquarters in Burbank CA. Perhaps if enough letters reach the right people then positive changes will be made. Also it does not hurt when you are at Disney to ask to see the Resort Duty Manger during your stay at Disney.

This is excellent advice.

If I had a continuos problem with bus service when staying at Disney you can rest assured that the Resort Manager would also made aware of the problem. I would address the problem when I am at Disney. Then if I was not satisfied with the results I would also send out letters when I returned home.

Just because a guest is staying at a value resort does not mean subpar service is to be expected.

Fewer amenities? Yes, subpar service NEVER!

 

[goofy4tink]

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience with the buses. I have found that no matter where you are staying, the bus service to and from DTD is horrific. I head down there very seldom now..one time for each trip to WDW, that's it.
I will say that I have had better bus service at ASMusic than I did at the Polynesian...that was miserable service.
However, people are rude no matter what level you stay at. At POP I found that even though they have put up que lanes at the bus stop, people will still cut right past those lines when they see a bus coming!! It's really incredible...I can't imagine why they think they can just walk to the bus door, bypassing the que, right in front of those in the line..what do they think we are in line for??? But, at least POP has the que lines...it would be nice if the other values had them also. It would help a bit. I also can't imagine that it would cost Disney all that much to cover those que lines...the covering wouldn't have to be that big, but it would provide some shade for those who were waiting more than 10 minutes in the hot/steamy summer months.
I really have that all the resorts have their moments of bad bus service. In fact, the best bus service, overall, that I have had, was at POP. Go figure.

 

[Pixiedust34]

I think all resorts should have some sort of roof/shelter at the bus stops. The summer sun bakes you, and a downpour is no fun. When Disney planned the All Stars and Pop, I can't imagine what they were thinking when they made open bus stops without shelter from the weather.

 

[seashoreCM]

Shelters would have to be large (much larger than those at Caribbean Beach or Port Orleans), otherwise what you see today is what several people will still experience when conditions are crowded.

During peak times each of the All Stars has its own buses to some parks but occasionally a bus after making its main pickup will go into another All Star to grab more people.

Buses don't always go back where they came from. If your Epcot bus is going back to All Stars next, it should drop off at the All Star berth which is one of the furthest from the park entrance. The driver should tell you that you should check the signs to find the proper berth for returning to your resort.

 

[minnie61650]

......But, at least POP has the que lines...it would be nice if the other values had them also. It would help a bit...... .

FYI
The All Star resorts also have roped off que lines.

It does help!

 

[goofy4tink]

FYI
The All Star resorts also have roped off que lines.

It does help!

oops, forgot they added those!!! Thanks for reminding me.