DVC Resorts and Transportation...

[NewJerseyDVCMembers]

There really isn't much to complain about. "getting there is half the fun." We love spending time getting to other resorts from our DVC homes, we are on vacation and we aren't in a rush. So let the Complainers complain, but believe it or not we don't mind getting around on Disney transportation.

Besides it is another place to meet fellow DVC members and have a chance to talk.

Next time you are "grumpy" over the transportation take a deep breath and relax. Enjoy the ride.

Are we the only ones who feel this way?

 

[anniet]

Originally posted by NewJerseyDVCMembers

Are we the only ones who feel this way?

Absolutely NOT! Some of my most favorite memories and biggest belly laughs came while riding a crowded WDW bus. I do admit most of the time we take a rental car, but when family is with us we often take the bus. I don't mind it at all!!!

 

[MiaSRN62]

"getting there is half the fun."

I'm afraid I'm on the flip side of the coin on this one. I find my vacation time too precious to waste standing around at bus stops in all kinds of weather. But before someone says I'm "in a hurry" or "rushing around commando style", lol, well that's not me either. You specifically mentioned:

to other resorts from our DVC homes

and this is where I find a huge gap in guest service. One year it took us 90 minutes to get from the WL to POR (this was a one-way trip). It was similar in length of time to return to the WL. I've had a couple similar experiences in addition to this one too. This takes a huge bite out of actual fun in parks or restaurants imho. Now I know others feel differently on this, but I don't see the enjoyment in hour+ long commutes between many of the resorts. I find Disney transportation lacking terribly in this department. I feel so many people don't even bother trying different restaurants because of the hassle involved getting to and from. It's a shame Disney can't provide occassional exclusive resort-to-resort busses, particularily during the dinner time rush (4-8 pm or so). All I can say is thank goodness for our car

 

[DrTomorrow]

Add us to the "relax and enjoy the ride" column. Just during MH we did the resort-resort run to check out AKL - never been there. Once again, that's a value of SSR - we timed our departure to get to the SSR dock just in time to catch a boat to DTD, then waited about 10 minutes for the AKL bus. On the way back, did the bus to DTD, then a bus to SSR.

I guess that, if you ride the bus everyday, riding a Disney bus is no big excitement (I wonder if the Monorail drivers get excited about taking the monorail?). But for us, it's almost an attraction in itself - at least as much fun as the TTA . You meet interesting people, don't have to rush, and often get delightful bus drivers. Yes, we have a car, and if we have down.to.the.second plans, we drive. But we try not to make those kinds of plans - that's an undocumented joy of DVC: knowing that you'll be back again, and again, and again means being able to sit back and enjoy the ride.

I started to do the combinatorial mathematics but stopped because my head started to ache : to run a bus from every resort to every other resort every 15 minutes or so, even for just the 'dinner' hours of 4-8, takes an incredible amount of buses. But if they run every half hour, you could still get a travel time of 45-50 minutes - not much of an improvement to justify the cost.

 

[JimC]

We use Disney transportation and enjoy it. It is another element of the show for us!

The Disney Transportation is designed primarily as a resort to venue system. That is why it takes so long to go resort to resort. The cost and added congestion of adding extensive resort to resort service is probably not worthwhile.

There are ways to use the system in a smart manner that facilitates getting around when a theme park, water park or DD is not the final destination. One needs to understand the route systems (buses, boats and monorails) and drive/wait times.

 

[tiggerguy2000]

We hardly use the busses because of the DVC locations like BCV and BWV.I have taken the bus and one night we stayed late at MGM and the bus to our resort was no longer running and the supervisior had one bus driver that was going back to the garage for the night drop us off at our resort.Going on a over crowded bus is nothing for me because I grew up in the Bronx as a kid so it's all good.
tiggerguy2000

 

[av8tor]

We love the Disney transportion system. Yeah it's not perfect but who want to fight traffic in and out of the parking lots. We love being dropped off and picked up at or near the gates. We also enjoy the bus trips themselves (meet lots of great people, especially most of the drivers). Since I am the one who would otherwise be doing the transporting I find it very relaxing to "sit back" and let someone else worry about getting us there. I am on vacation and thats what works for me.

One of the main reasons we have stayed "on site" the last three years is to utilize the Disney transportation system. We are currently buying into DVC because we intend to come at least once a year and for little more than the cost of staying at moderate resorts we will have first rate deluxe accomodations.

 

[MiaSRN62]

to run a bus from every resort to every other resort every 15 minutes or so, even for just the 'dinner' hours of 4-8, takes an incredible amount of buses. But if they run every half hour, you could still get a travel time of 45-50 minutes - not much of an improvement to justify the cost.

I'm sure you are right---I figured the same thing. Just wishful thinking........I really do feel the amount of time from resort to resort squelches many a desire to try out a new restaurant.

We love the Disney transportion system. Yeah it's not perfect but who want to fight traffic in and out of the parking lots. We love being dropped off and picked up at or near the gates.

Just to clarify, I was voicing my opinion on Disney transportation resort-to-resort. Resort to the parks is much better. I thought the OP was discussing the resort to resort transportation when they said :

getting to other resorts from our DVC homes

I guess I misunderstood ?

 

[crisi]

We like taxi's for resort to resort travel - where Disney transportation is not adequate (I'm not transfering at DTD with preschoolers in tow after dinner at 9:00 at night. A few cabs and a towncar from the airport is still cost effective compared to a mid-sized rental

For our most frequent trips - resort to park and back - Disney transportation works fine. Although, sometimes we will take a cab there (especially last trip when we were traveling with my "always running 15 minutes behind schedule" mother in law). It isn't that I commando - but I do like to be at parks at opening (she is not a morning person). We haven't been at a park at closing in a long time (something about children with 8:30 bed times), but a drink at the Poly bar followed by a cab ride home sounds like a pleasant alternative to riding after Spectro buses.

I don't like the new SRO buses - if Disney was only going to bother to put seven seats on a bus, I wish they'd have put no seats on the bus! I understand that they fit more guests (because most of the guests are vertical).

 

[Mike Bartenhagen]

Hi Crisi,

Curious as to why you wouldn't want to be in DTD at 9:00 with preschoolers at 9:00. We will be making our first trip to WDW in OCtober. We have been on the DCL twice and our last time we were there we did stop in DTD for a while. We will be staying in SSR and thought we may take some walks in DTD in the evenings and wondering what the concern may be about having younger kids there later in the eveing.

Mike

 

[MiaSRN62]

and wondering what the concern may be about having younger kids there later in the eveing.

I think maybe Crisi was trying to say her children have a pretty set bedtime ? I know some kids run on a strict internal clock and maybe 8:30 pm is "lights out" for her kids ? She mentioned they got there at park opening also, which is a long day for young kids. We often took our three children to the parks and DD late at night when they were very young. Sometimes they hung in there and sometimes they fell asleep in their stroller, but we never felt it was inappropriate or not safe to be out that late. I think everyone knows their own kids and what their limits are.

 

[crisi]

That's pretty much it. A long bus ride with a mid trip transfer with two preschoolers who are overtired and cranky is not my idea of a good time. Delaying an 8:30 bedtime until 9:30 or 10:00 because of travel time isn't a great idea - especially since they don't sleep in at Disney).

Mine are far too old to sleep in a stoller (never got by with that after about fourteen months, when they stopped fitting comfortably in the stroller).

I am also a little overprotective of my kids. I've seen some "I don't want to explain that" behavior and attire at PI in the past ("Mommy, why is that man wearing a dog collar?") - with my luck we'd have them walking off the bus while we were trying to get on.

 

[CarolMN]

Originally posted by crisi
That's pretty much it. A long bus ride with a mid trip transfer with two preschoolers who are overtired and cranky is not my idea of a good time. Delaying an 8:30 bedtime until 9:30 or 10:00 because of travel time isn't a great idea - especially since they don't sleep in at Disney). ...(snip)...

I pretty much agree. The solution for those times is either a car or a taxi.

Time has value - the trade off for "free" Disney transportation is the extra time it takes.

JMHO. YMMV.

 

[MJTinNH]

Part of the vacation for me is not having to drive while at Disney. We usually take some time during each trip to check out other resorts. Part of the adventure is planning the transfers to other resorts using Disney Transportation. Since I travel with adults, I do not have the extra work of transporting children and their stuff.

Having said that, I have also utilized taxi's when I do not really feel like waiting for a bus or monorail or there is a reservation that needs to be met. As Crisi stated, it is still cheaper then renting a mid-size car for the week. I am also including the cost of Town Car service to and from MCO in my equation.