Downtown Disney Nightmare

[BrerVixen]

We got the bus back to POR recently too... and the bus stopped at Typhoon Lagoon.. Ahh I hear you saying "Well it's MENT TO" - not at nearly 8pm at night it's not ment to!!!!

 

[QuirkyBelle]

We have yet to have a terrible experience with the DTD busses. Once in awhile the waits are long but we have dealt with the same length of waiting at the resorts and parks. There are certainly times when the busses are crowded but they are crowded leaving the parks too.

I can't help but notice that a lot of the stories include personal melt downs, injuries, tired kids, tired adults, and vomit (yuck!)... things that will certainly make any experience seem worse and things that Disney can't control.

Oh I certainly agree that the baby getting sick was out of Disney's control. However, maybe they should have had us get off the bus and onto another one instead of staying on the bus still covered with puke. And for some reason, even when nothing out of the ordinary and bad happens, the bus rides to and from downtown always take longer than from the other parks.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

We got the bus back to POR recently too... and the bus stopped at Typhoon Lagoon.. Ahh I hear you saying "Well it's MENT TO" - not at nearly 8pm at night it's not ment to!!!!

During the hours TL is open, all buses from DTD to the Resorts stop at TL from Noon until the last Guest has left the Park; then they will skip TL.

In the mornings, all buses from the Resorts to DTD will stop at TL first.

At Guest Relations we will notify Transportation when the park is clear of Guests.

 

[BrerVixen]

During the hours TL is open, all buses from DTD to the Resorts stop at TL from Noon until the last Guest has left the Park; then they will skip TL.

In the mornings, all buses from the Resorts to DTD will stop at TL first.

At Guest Relations we will notify Transportation when the park is clear of Guests.

I'm fully aware of this. It was nearly 8pm... TL closed at 5pm. How does anyone take 3 hours to get out of TL. They don't, the place was DESERTED! Not a soul around, except our bus driver and the confused people on the bus!

 

[Planogirl]

We have been in this situation but never while in pain. Ouch, I sympathize with you.

If onsite, we always drive to Downtown Disney or we don't go. Those boats are very nice though.

 

[ChocoKat]

Oh yikes! I am so sorry. I can relate, my knee/ankles give in after a very long day and I was feeling the pain as you were relating your ordeal.

I have felt like crying many a time waiting for the bus and just toughed it up there. We have made it a policy to never take the bus to or from DTD, we are lucky enough that we always have a car, so we take that instead. Had enough bad experiences with the DTD bus cycles to know better.

 

[nkereina]

Do the POR/POFQ buses to/from DTD run less frequently because they have the boats? Just a thought.. we stay at POR and never used the bus when going to DTD. We did take a bus from DTD to WL for dinner one night. We were waiting at the WL/FW bus shelter when suddenly the whole group behind us made a bee line for the bus at the next shelter over. We were confused but then saw the bus flashing "Wilderness Lodge/Grand Floridian". I don't know why GF and WL shared a bus yet had two different shelters. Would the bus driver at the GF shelter moved up one for the WL people had we not all noticed this? It was confusing but at least we saw it.

 

[dopeydons]

I had a nightmare experience with dtd buses when I was there in May. One of the main reasons I will never stay at All Stars again! One bus every hour for about 74547893 million people sharing 3 hotels!

 

[klmall]

I rarely use the buses to get to DTD anymore but the parking can be awful there also! Sometimes we have driven around for 15 minutes looking for a parking place.

My worst time waiting for a bus from DTD was on a early Friday evening in 2007 back to TTC and it was full 1 hour!

 

[tinawv]

We stayed at POFQ this past September, and even though we enjoyed the resort it was my worse bus experience. On top of that, we only shared the bus once with PO-Riverside. It was especially bad when catching the bus around 10:00 in the morning. One particular day waiting for a bus to MK, we waited at least 45 minutes. The line was almost all the way back to the lobby entrance. Of course when the bus came, people were craming in like sardines. I wouldn't have complained if it only happened once during our trip, but it happened several days including when we left the parks. Even though I love POFQ, I am very hesitate about staying there again.

 

[Experiment_626]

Yet again, here's another thread that makes me very glad we live within reasonable driving distance and always have our own car with us. And when we do stay on-property, we still drive — even to the Magic Kingdom.

Scott

 

[*love*2*shop]

We decided to rent a Car this time for this VERY REASOn.... got a 124.00 TOTAL rate for the week...worth every penney im sure! we leave in 2 days ......

 

[2Tiggies]

We're just back from POFQ and having stayed there last year too, had similar experiences (in terms of long waits and crowded buses). In fact, based on last year's experiences, we left DTD twice, earlier than we wanted to so we could avoid waiting for the bus this year. However one night we did end up staying late and waited a good 40 minutes for a bus which was jam packed and left folk standing waiting for the next one However this led us to wonder: is it even more of a problem with buses from DTD for those resorts served by the boats? We have not had problems with waits to this extent with any of the other resorts.

 

[maxiesmom]

We're just back from POFQ and having stayed there last year too, had similar experiences (in terms of long waits and crowded buses). In fact, based on last year's experiences, we left DTD twice, earlier than we wanted to so we could avoid waiting for the bus this year. However one night we did end up staying late and waited a good 40 minutes for a bus which was jam packed and left folk standing waiting for the next one However this led us to wonder: is it even more of a problem with buses from DTD for those resorts served by the boats? We have not had problems with waits to this extent with any of the other resorts.

It isn't just the boat resorts that have bus service. I've had long waits for the DTD buses when staying at the All Star Resorts too. And the Beach Club.

 

[tina.tina]

Even though a guy who got on our bus at pleasure island puked and made our whole bus stink, I still liked the buses. But we were at Pop and didn't have far to go.

 

[2Tiggies]

It isn't just the boat resorts that have bus service. I've had long waits for the DTD buses when staying at the All Star Resorts too. And the Beach Club.

I don't dispute that at all We just found it worse with the POFQ/POR buses than with any of the others but it could just have been our timing.

Maybe it's Disney's way of weeding out the remnants of die hard misers who still park at DTD for free to try get to the parks via resort buses .... by making their lives a misery

 

[Kelblum]

What a shame! Hope your knee feels better!

 

[taraplus2]

What an awful experience for you. May 2010 we waited forever for a bus to DTD too. Does anyone know how much a cab is to the resorts?

 

[Vivianne]

Yes,

we usually drive a car and actually had one but after an early dinner with drinks at the ESPN we decided just to take the bus to DTD from the Boardwalk. Fine, we did just that. Big mistake. Coming back the bus stop was absolutely crowded to the point we regretted even thinking coming back on the bus and I couldn't understand why it took so long to get from DTD to the Swan. We'll have our drink when we get back.

Anyway, lesson learned, next time it's the car.

 

[VikingInMouseEars]

Reread the original post, that'll teach me to read and reply when I have people at work trying to talk to me lol