Does anyone else think the busses suck?

[prairiesarah]

I think the WDW bus system is fantastic and very efficient for the amount of people who they have to move around. That said, on our last trip, I HATED riding it. I found the buses so packed all the time and we were there at a supposedly slow week of the year. I really like the idea of public transit but never use it in my day to day life as we life 25 minutes out of town in a rural area, so no buses here. We are going to WDW at Christmas and this will be the first trip I have rented a car in Florida. I swore after the last trip I would never go again without renting one - as someone pointed out above the trip to DTD is the worst. Parks were great, but the 50 min trip to DTD from AKL was excessive.

 

[Disneylover99]

I love the buses at Disney.....especially Pop!

 

[Rosebud123]

I've never taken them because we always rent a car, but I've read enough TR's that describe people waiting for 30 minutes and missing RD to make me realize I never want to try them!

 

[goofy4tink]

Are the WDW buses perfect? Nope. Then again, having your own car isn't perfect either!! You can get hung up waiting for the monorail or ferry. You can get stuck in massive traffic leaving the parking lots. Trams can be over crowded. Nothing is 'perfect'.
BUT....for the number of guests that these buses move, around a large area, I think they do a pretty darn good job. Yes, there is limited seating. Why? You can fit more people in standing vs sitting. So, lets put more seating in each bus, to make some happy. Now? We have the same number of buses running, with fewer guests on them...means longer wait times at both the resort and parks. The buses of old had a lot more seating on them....and there weren't as many people riding them. The resorts are usually close to capacity in the past few years....more people riding buses. So, Disney has provided newer buses, with less 'seating'. If you feel you have to have a seat, or you don't want to be smooshed up against a stranger, then perhaps a rental car is the best option for you. Me? I would rather be the one standing vs the one seated on a full bus. I hate having someone's backside shoved in my face, or to get continually hammered by a backpack that keeps banging into me.....man, I wish people would realize how much more space they need with a backpack on. They move as if there wasn't anything on their back!!!

 

[cranbiz]

The best thing about driving the bus? I always had a seat and I met a lot of wonderful people.

 

[Goofy'slady]

Outside of me feeling like I'm sitting in an ice box when I get on them we LOVE them!!!

But if you don't like them simply stop using them - Disney doesn't have to provide you with transportation, it's a guest courtesy (or perk). No one forces you to use their buses.

 

[Ismo]

They're the only buses I even like taking!

 

[DOOM1001]

Outside of Disney I'll only take a bus to a special event or something,taking a bus to work would drive me insane.At Disney I love taking their buses,if you have no patience then the bus at Disney may not be for you,but even driving around Disney won't be fast,so I rather have somebody else do it.My favorite buses to take at Disney are the special Run Disney motorcoaches during the Run Disney events.Somebody that needs to step up their game in the bus department is Universal,while staying at Cabana Bay you can either walk to the parks which is almost a 30 minute walk or take the buses since the boats that go to the other resorts don't reach Cabana Bay,of the 6 bus trips I took between Cabana Bay and Citywalk 3 of the buses had broken AC's.In almost 20 years of taking Disney buses I only remember at max 2-3 buses with messed up AC's.I have to imagine Disney has a major garage to fix these issues asap with the amount of buses they have that Universal just doesn't have since the Cabana Bay route is the only real bus route they have,but even then you can't have guests getting on hot buses.Disney has great buses.

 

[charmed59]

I've ridden on faster, cleaner, and more efficient bus systems, most recently in Madrid, but the unique aspect of the Disney bus system is the huge number of wheelchair and ECV guests they transport. On one visit, while staying at a bus only resort and doing some resort hopping we did not ride one bus on our entire trip that didn't need to load wheelchairs or ECVs. I don't think there is a bus system out there that can handle that frequency of loading and unloading wheeled vehicles anywhere near as well. If I were using a wheelchair or ECV I'd definitely prefer the buses. There is no way someone could load a car or van as fast.

 

[North of Mouse]

Seriously...

Nope! We love the buses and think they do a great job moving so many people in such a timely manner. Are there glitches?? Absolutely! That's just life and the way most things are.

I can say that if there was less 'me'ism' things would run smoother, but, alas, that's also just life and there will always be that class of people anywhere that feel entitled.

We 'always' use the Disney transportation (only) and have for the past 40 years and have had few issues - you only hear about the ones that get blown out of proportion - not the many times that everything runs on time and just great!

 

[joannjoe]

Nope! Love it

 

[hsmamato2]

no..... but then I am not in a rush at WDW..... I don;t mind the rides... I don;t think we usually wait too long, once in a great while,maybe. I prefer not having to think about driving,parking,etc. If I need to be somewhere by a certain time, I plan for that time- it's never been an issue. And I avoid park closing crowds. I usually leave earlier,or later than the masses to avoid that line. I'd rather be wandering through the parks with a snack,or just resting my feet than standing in a long bus line.

 

[pigletliz]

Love the busses. Hate the air conditioning. We usually drive to DTD because we will combine it with an AK or off site shopping day.

 

[Accident]

I find it humorous how much standing in line and waiting people do in the parks but ask them to wait a few minutes for a bus and it's the worst thing at disney to them. I have very few complaints about the buses and I've seen them improve over the last year especially when it comes to a resort with a disproportionate amount of guest leaving at the end of the night. I live in taxis, buses, subways, ubers, etc every day. It's a pleasure to use the free bus service at WDW and will do it every time. I'm on vacation it's ok to take a few extra minutes and let me be lazy. I just walked 100 miles uphill at all times to enjoy 2 rides, fireworks and a parade, drive me home!

With that said, if your doing a lot of before park opens breakfast reservations or tours, the car is almost always the better choice, the buses do run that early, but not that often. You have to start your day so much earlier and wait hoping it arrives its just not worth it.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

My husband won't use the buses or DME. We always get a rental car. We stay at the WL and use the boats to get to MK. But for all other parks, use the car. I do admit to my husband that having the car to get to ADR's is so much easier than the buses and that after a very long day in a park, it's nice to just get in and go.

 

[Ladygoldenhair]

Years ago we road and parked the rental car, now, I never use them. They are too packed, lines get too long leaving, freezing at night, butts in my face if seated, toss about if I stand.
I really like having a car on my time. The only thing I miss is on quieter buses chatting with first time visitors and the kids so excited.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

No problem with the buses!

AKK

 

[Dan Murphy]

I think they are great.

 

[gwb]

Totally agree they are not good. Crowded, yelling kids, kids kicking the back of your seat, at park close people who are tired and act bad, the time it takes vs a car and I feel so bad for people with ecv's or wheelchairs due to the hassel they have to board and the attitude other riders have to them. At busy times you will ve past up a number of times till a bus comes by that has seats available No thanks!

 

[jahber]

Buses are fine for us when we don't have small children. Add in a stroller and a 1-year-old (plus the 8 and 11yos) at closing...with a 30 minute wait for a chance to stand while holding the one year old in one arm and the stroller with the other. Yeah. We drive. But we are locals, so we always have a car. I can beat the buses every time after park close by driving, except after Wishes if they aren't running enough monorails. We walk to the car (because the tram with a baby is worse than the bus!) and wave at the people in the eternal tram lines.
Of course, if we didn't have a choice, that would be different. We would make it work. It would just require patience.