Dont waste your points at saratoga

[Goofy DVC]

We are the opposite of most, I guess, in that we always rented a car for years and then about 6 years ago we stopped renting a car. We did this for 3 reasons:
1.) Our long history with Disney Transportation has been very good. Even when we had a car we always took the bus to MK.
2.) The price of a car rental can be outrageous at times. It's not worth it unless I'm using some loyalty points for a freebie.
3.) We enjoy meeting and talking to people at the stops and on the bus. We've met a lot of great people. It actually can be fun. Have we had some not so fun waits in the rain? Sure, but we didn't melt and the bus did come.

As for SSR we just stayed there in February and had no bus issues. It is not our home resort so we don't stay there much but we had a great time.
Our worst bus experience BWV.

 

[loyal2mouse]

Enjoyed SSR. Never had problems with the bus wait.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

Perhaps the buses don't run as often to downtown from SSR?

For the theme parks, the buses are dynamically dispatched. When a bus gets to one of the four parks, the dispatcher tells the driver which stop to go to, and that determines the route and resort they'll go to next. (That's why you're usually never dropped off at the stop for the resort you're coming from.) Their computer system helps them dispatch buses to each resort to try to maintain their service goal of every 20 minutes.

For Downtown Disney, at SSR anyway, there's usually a single bus that does a continuous circle of the route. If you just miss it, it can be one of the longer waits. Same for the THV route. It's a single bus that does the circuit.

 

[Andrew015]

I was just responding to your Disney bus frustration that you stated that you understood about and making sure you also knew that you were probably getting the level you were paying for.

You may want to re-read the thread a little more carefully. I never voiced any frustration re: Disney Bus Service. Rather, I have been sticking up for it throughout...........

 

[TheDalys]

Home resort for us,,, a nice 5-10minute walk could get you to the front of the resort where a fresh bus comes to... Got to remember if things bug you, it will be a long day, Disney is too busy of a place to sweat the small things like free transportation.

 

[gdrj]

Of course we pay for it one way or another. Just like cash guests "pay for it" when staying at a non-DVC resort. It's still considered to be "complimentary" transportation. The only difference between a cash guest and a DVC guest is that we get an annual, comprehensive cost-breakdown of where our funds are going. Believe it or not, you also pay for the toilet paper, too, but I don't believe the annual report goes into that level of detail

Agreed. Made me laugh about the TP. You mean that the complimentary boats, the life guards, the housekeeping, the flowers the grass, the security guard, the wifi, the complimentary entertainment on the boardwalk, none of it is free...wow....lol. I always find it humorous when someone mentions an item is free or complimentary that someone has to "correct" the poster and brand Disney as the evil empire

 

[Andrew015]

Agreed. Made me laugh about the TP. You mean that the complimentary boats, the life guards, the housekeeping, the flowers the grass, the security guard, the wifi, the complimentary entertainment on the boardwalk, none of it is free...wow....lol. I always find it humorous when someone mentions an item is free or complimentary that someone has to "correct" the poster and brand Disney as the evil empire

 

[Murron]

After our last OKW stay, we are done with the bus too. Renting a car from now on. It has taken us years to get to this point, but we are ready to stop wasting our time. We'd rather be in control and even if we have to wait once more at MK, it's far less than the overall wait to and from all the parks. Do love Epcot resorts for this very reason. We can walk to 2 parks. Love that.

Big ditto. The bus service (or lack thereof) is not unique to SSR. It's hit and miss at best for all resorts. Some a bit worse than others. If it's in your budget and affordable, I always recommend getting a compact rental. It's a such a freedom from vehicles out of your control and gives you the ability to eat or shop off site Disney. Since 2000, I have now always budgeted a rental into my Disney vacation plans.

 

[crisi]

Big ditto. The bus service (or lack thereof) is not unique to SSR. It's hit and miss at best for all resorts. Some a bit worse than others. If it's in your budget and affordable, I always recommend getting a compact rental. It's a such a freedom from vehicles out of your control and gives you the ability to eat or shop off site Disney. Since 2000, I have now always budgeted a rental into my Disney vacation plans.

We budget cabs rather than a rental. For 80% of our trips at Disney, the bus service or transportation does fine - and the rental would sit in the lot (we are BWV owners - so we are only busing to MK (we take the monorail back usually) and AK.) I've had the worst luck with Orlando rentals (makes up for my good bus karma).

 

[Murron]

We budget cabs rather than a rental. For 80% of our trips at Disney, the bus service or transportation does fine - and the rental would sit in the lot (we are BWV owners - so we are only busing to MK (we take the monorail back usually) and AK.) I've had the worst luck with Orlando rentals (makes up for my good bus karma).

We are old time DVC and primarily stay at BWV also. And for everyone the scenario is always a bit different. We will dine off site, go to the shopping outlets, etc. So not spending each day exclusively in a Disney theme park is not our mode of operation ergo the rental car. I guess it's because we've been visiting WDW since it's opening in '71 (yes we are that old)....and do not feel the need to visit the theme parks every day. I remember thinking how much I loved the Disney buses. The drivers were all animated characters, with stories, Disney news, trivia games on the bus...etc. My children loved those rides. Those drivers are almost non existent these days. Sad but true. Combine that with the line bustling, supposed bus etiquette experts and overtired children....rental car is well worth my budget.

 

[loveswdw]

We just rent a car. I hate depending on WDW transport no matter at which resort I'm staying. Stayed last week at AKVK, waited 30 minutes for an MK bus after seeing 3 Epcot, 3 AK, 2 DHS and 1 DTD (at 7:30 in the morning). We drove everywhere the rest of our trip. No waiting for buses.

 

[daisydog2]

We just came back from SSR during Spring break. Never had an issue with the bus's. We stayed in the treehouse villas and just walked over to the Grandstand or Springs to catch a bus.
We did go to the Boardwalk, as we do every trip, and waited over 45 minuts to catch a bus from the Beach club...
The bus system is never going to be perfect for everyone, but I'm not about to let it ruin my vacation...

 

[darkwing818]

We just came back from SSR during Spring break. Never had an issue with the bus's. We stayed in the treehouse villas and just walked over to the Grandstand or Springs to catch a bus.
We did go to the Boardwalk, as we do every trip, and waited over 45 minuts to catch a bus from the Beach club...
The bus system is never going to be perfect for everyone, but I'm not about to let it ruin my vacation...

We've been DVC for over 20 years & can honestly say the only Bus issue we've encountered was at Boardwalk also, a couple of years back, it was well over 45 minutes . It was extremely frustrating as there were numerous buses that stopped but none for DTD. We've stayed at OKW, BC, Boardwalk, SSR, POR, & the Tree Houses & have never used our car to hit the parks. The only time we use our is to go off property. Guess we've just been lucky.