Does SSR Need Security from DD??

[sean-1966]

I keep reading that people are parking at DD and then taking the SSR buses. This usually causes the buses to be over-filled. Would a security gate at either end of SSR on the sidewalk stop this? One of the big complaints about SSR is the bus service. Is this one way to help the problem?

 

[Tarheel Tink]

I really wish they would. People are actually told to do this by CMs and bus drivers. I really don't see a way around it since a ticket entitles you to bus transportation unless they would reword it "to Disney parks and resorts you have a room key to or a dinner reservation". Even then it would prevent people from visiting friends at other resorts or simply shopping or checking out a different resort. I just wish people would take the DTD bus.

 

[Buckeye Fan]

I really don't see a way around it since a ticket entitles you to bus transportation unless they would reword it "to Disney parks and resorts you have a room key to or a dinner reservation".

I'm not 100% sure if the bus service is supposed to be for resort guests and/or park guests, but if it truly is for WDW resort guests only, I think using your room key for transportation is a wonderful idea. If you're not staying at a WDW resort, you should (theoretically) already have your own transportation (either your own car or a shuttle/bus from another resort). This would take care of the issue on many levels with very little effort from Disney. People wouldn't be happy, but it would solve the issue.

Honestly, though, I don't think anything will change until complaints considerably increase. If Disney is running the bus, they don't care who gets on until their resort guests can't board on a frequent basis. Let's face it, every single person on that bus is spending money at the parks, restaurants, and DTD whether they are staying at a WDW resort or not. In the meantime, if we continue to get bumped because there are too many people, it's important to call.

 

[Deb & Bill]

DVC pays for the buses at SSR since there isn't any non-DVC lodging located there. Seems to me that DVC should have some say over the use of the buses to transport guests walking to and from DTD to SSR. From what I have read in the last few months, the buses tend to be more crowded picking up at Congress Park these days. If guests of the resort can't get on the buses because too many non-resort guests are riding, DVC really needs to do something about it. Just installing a gate that opens with your resort ID might work wonders (as long as people didn't block it open or hold it open for others all the time).

 

[Chuck S]

Many years ago, you had to show room ID to use park to resort busses.

That seems to have changed when multi-day tickets permitted "use of the WDW Transportation System." If the park tickets allow use of that full system, I don't thnk they can restrict use easily. What would solve some of the problem, and parking problems at DtD, would be to charge for parking just like at the theme parks. Only you could get 3 hours free with a purchase from a DtD shop, or free parking if you are a Disney resort guest. That would curtail all day parking for theme park access. It still wouldn't cut down on those that walk to DtD and take a bus from nearby non-Disney resorts, but it is a start.

 

[luna99]

I just wish people would take the DTD bus.

I don't understand why they aren't just taking the DTD bus then? I mean, if you park at DTD.. isn't it a long walk to the SSR bus areas?

 

[CarolA]

Where are they catching the bus?

Where do these stories come from?

I was there last week. Resort was FULL. Parking lots were not full. Never saw more then one or two families at ANY bus stop..... Buses were crowded, but since a LOT of poeple on them were wearing DVC apparel or carrying thier member tote I doubt they hiked over from DTD. My room was near the path to DTD.... I didn't see these people hiking around. Heck the one time I have taken the path i was the ONLY person on it!

 

[Chuck S]

I don't understand why they aren't just taking the DTD bus then? I mean, if you park at DTD.. isn't it a long walk to the SSR bus areas?

There is no direct bus service between DtD and theme parks.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I don't understand why they aren't just taking the DTD bus then? I mean, if you park at DTD.. isn't it a long walk to the SSR bus areas?

The buses at DTD don't go directly to the theme parks. Disney stopped this route since people staying off property were parking at DTD, and taking the bus to the theme parks. That way, they avoided paying the parking fee to park at the theme parks. Yet now that SSR is close by, it really irks me that Disney is actually encouraging people to do this. It's an extra cost for the DVC members because we pay for the transportation in our dues. Yet, since it doesn't cost Disney anymore, they don't seem to care. It's more than slightly upsetting.

 

[TisBit]

Where are they catching the bus?

Where do these stories come from?

I was there last week. Resort was FULL. Parking lots were not full. Never saw more then one or two families at ANY bus stop..... Buses were crowded, but since a LOT of poeple on them were wearing DVC apparel or carrying thier member tote I doubt they hiked over from DTD. My room was near the path to DTD.... I didn't see these people hiking around. Heck the one time I have taken the path i was the ONLY person on it!

I think that there is a lot of talk about this and speculation that it is happening a lot, but there doesn't seem to be any direct evidence that it is happening on regular basis or in any large quantities.

Although, some have said that the problem is actually worse because of the other DtD hotels....but again, that could have been overblown.

The buses at DTD don't go directly to the theme parks. Disney stopped this route since people staying off property were parking at DTD, and taking the bus to the theme parks. That way, they avoided paying the parking fee to park at the theme parks. Yet now that SSR is close by, it really irks me that Disney is actually encouraging people to do this. It's an extra cost for the DVC members because we pay for the transportation in our dues. Yet, since it doesn't cost Disney anymore, they don't seem to care. It's more than slightly upsetting.

I also wonder about how accurate this is, are CM's really telling people to park and ride from SSR? Doesn't seem to fit the model of nomal CM advice. I could see it happening when people ask about going to DtD and than to a park and CM's say that they could take a resort bus to DtD and than catch a bus from SSR back to MK for fireworks or something.

 

[Deb & Bill]

...I also wonder about how accurate this is, are CM's really telling people to park and ride from SSR? Doesn't seem to fit the model of nomal CM advice. I could see it happening when people ask about going to DtD and than to a park and CM's say that they could take a resort bus to DtD and than catch a bus from SSR back to MK for fireworks or something.

Yep, that's accurate. We've heard a bus driver and the CM at the bus loading areas at the theme parks tell guests to do this.

 

[Sammie]

DVC pays for the buses at SSR since there isn't any non-DVC lodging located there

but there is, there is always a percentage of nonDVC rooms available to Disney reservations, so I would think Disney resorts covers some of the transportation.

 

[sean-1966]

Many years ago, you had to show room ID to use park to resort busses.

.

I think Chuck has a winner. If they don't have room keys they can't get from the parks to the resorts and it'd be a one way ticket. Maybe the SSR buses need to implement this.

Thoughts???

 

[Tarheel Tink]

Yep, that's accurate. We've heard a bus driver and the CM at the bus loading areas at the theme parks tell guests to do this.

We had a bad bus experience while staying at SSR several Decembers ago. We had friends staying with us on their first visit to WDW- the wife is a school bus driver so is extremely safety conscious. She was very impressed with the bus system until the fateful night of "The Incident".
The driver allowed a woman to stand in front of the line beside him talking the entire drive despite multiple open seats. Most of us on the bus starting looking at each other puzzled and then worried when he started going over curbs on the turns and was looking at her and not the road. A few people moved to the back of the bus and filled us in -"They are discussing trading pins! Can you believe?!".
A few people called out "Watch the road!" etc. We breathed a sigh of relief when we got to SSR and then we overheard the driver tell the woman "I'll drop you off closer so you don't have to walk as far to your car". Sure enough he stopped the bus (not at a bus stop) and let her off where she walked towards DTD.
My friend had some choice words for the driver as we exited and then she used the phone at the bus stop to report him and his bus number/route. I followed it up with a letter to Disney Transportation (never heard back); I guess I should have contacted DVC about it?

 

[dvc_john]

What would solve some of the problem, and parking problems at DtD, would be to charge for parking just like at the theme parks. Only you could get 3 hours free with a purchase from a DtD shop, or free parking if you are a Disney resort guest. That would curtail all day parking for theme park access.

That's more or less how they do it at DTD in California. There you get 3 hours free parking at DTD. If you validate at a DTD restaurant or movie theater, you get an additional 2 hours free. If you go over the free time allowed, the minimum charge is more than if you had parked at the theme park parking area.

 

[lisaviolet]

Where are they catching the bus?

Where do these stories come from?

I was there last week. Resort was FULL. Parking lots were not full. Never saw more then one or two families at ANY bus stop..... Buses were crowded, but since a LOT of poeple on them were wearing DVC apparel or carrying thier member tote I doubt they hiked over from DTD. My room was near the path to DTD.... I didn't see these people hiking around. Heck the one time I have taken the path i was the ONLY person on it!

Where do these stories come from?

From people who have experienced it.

__________________________________________________

It does happen. It doesn't bother me. And I do own at SSR. But I understand that it does others. And I understand why - crowding on buses most have stated.

Last trip, not a busy week by the way, we went over to SSR to see the AKV models. Four sets of couples/families minimum were not staying at SSR and were going over to DD. How did I know that for sure? It started with one couple asking me where the DD stop was. And then the conversation started between all of them about where they were staying and how they were told to get on this bus to get to DD. They were all confused on where to get off and where to walk.

 

[toocherie]

Many years ago, you had to show room ID to use park to resort busses.

That seems to have changed when multi-day tickets permitted "use of the WDW Transportation System." If the park tickets allow use of that full system, I don't thnk they can restrict use easily. What would solve some of the problem, and parking problems at DtD, would be to charge for parking just like at the theme parks. Only you could get 3 hours free with a purchase from a DtD shop, or free parking if you are a Disney resort guest. That would curtail all day parking for theme park access. It still wouldn't cut down on those that walk to DtD and take a bus from nearby non-Disney resorts, but it is a start.

At DTD in Disneyland Resort, you get three hours free parking and can get an extra two hours (for five total) if you eat a table service meal in DTD or go to the movies. I don't see why they don't do something similar in Florida.

 

[toocherie]

That's more or less how they do it at DTD in California. There you get 3 hours free parking at DTD. If you validate at a DTD restaurant or movie theater, you get an additional 2 hours free. If you go over the free time allowed, the minimum charge is more than if you had parked at the theme park parking area.

The last sentence is not true--if you go over the free time allotted the charge is $6 per hour (in 20-minute increments). So if you go more than two hours over the "free" time (either 3 or 5) your charge will end up being more than the $11 it would cost to park in the theme park parking lots.

 

[Starr W.]

I own at SSR also and have seen people ride the SSR bus from a theme park to get to DTD. I have also given them directions, but last Thanksgiving I noticed a few were told to get off at the Grandstand and wait for the DTD bus. Gave them the look and told them they be better off to get off at CP and walk.
Now if they had parked there in the morning I don't think they would have forgotten how to get back?

I think the "problem" is getting on the buses in the morning. I stay at CP for my SSR stays and some of the buses are crowded when they get to our stop. So maybe they are savvy enough to take the ferry over and walk to the Grandstand stop.

I've stayed over 2 Thanksgivings, but we bug out the day after Thanksgiving and usually stop going to the parks Wed. pm. I think the new dispatch system has something to do with the overcrowding, I don't think it's really working as intended, we noticed it at VWL last May. 2-3 buses in a row for one park?

 

[SuzanneSLO]

Last trip, not a busy week by the way, we went over to SSR to see the AKV models. Four sets of couples/families minimum were not staying at SSR and were going over to DD. How did I know that for sure? It started with one couple asking me where the DD stop was. And then the conversation started between all of them about where they were staying and how they were told to get on this bus to get to DD. They were all confused on where to get off and where to walk.

Of course, it is not likely that those 4 families were people who parked at DD to avoid the parking fee, because if they had already made that trek, at least one of them would have probably known their way back. They probably wanted to go to DD to shop or eat, which is exactly what Disney wants them to do. So, yes, there are probably CMs at theme parks telling people to use the SSR bus to go "directly" to DD, just as the Cont bus is sometimes used to go "directly" to the MK from DD.

None of this should be a significant problem, as long as those scheduling the buses are aware of this kind of incremental use. If that is the case, then prohibiting such use would only mean that the # of scheduled buses should be reduced. A reduced number of buses would mean that the crowding on the buses would stay the same, the wait between buses woudl be longer, but SSR owners would save a $0.01 or so per point (just a guess) on your dues.

-- Suzanne