***EPCOT Resorts- New Bus Routes***

[pmcpmc]

Maybe wont need our own 15seater bus for my son's wedding in October

 

[pmcpmc]

good work Paul

 

[BWVDee]

Even if dues go up $0.05 per point that is only a total increase of $25.00 per year for 500 pts or $50.00 for 1,000 pts., etc.! As a BWV owner, I will gladly pay the nominal increase in dues that may or may not be a result of this action. This will make the wonderful Epcot resorts even more fantastic and more conveninet then they already are! Yahoo!!!!!!!!

 

[PKS44]

I think this is great, and if I had anything to do with helping move this apparent improvement along- great--however--and there is always a however in life isn't there-- a little part of me wonders a few things...

this will now make it impossible for us to do the sort of calculations between BCV and BWV that allowed me to see the disparity in the costs in the first place--it was only because we had access to the budget for two different resorts sharing the identical service that we were able to note a problem..this does give Disney some "cover"

Also--I still want to know how they are dividing up the costs--in the past it seemed that they were doing it equally -at least between YC/BC/BCV and BWV/BWI- and then spreading the cost between the hotels and the villas by capacity % (58% of the BW for BWV, 19% of the YC/BC/BCV for BCV)---well that was pretty ridiculous since YC and BC resorts had two bus stops to BW one stop and 1.6 more guest capacity at the YC/BC/BCV compared to the BW resort...we have no info on how S/D shared in the costs but it would not surprise me if they were charged equally to the other two -again despite having two separate stops and again 1.6 times the guest capacity of the YC/BC complex...
In other words- we know almost for certain that the BW used to share equal cost for a bus that was likely used 1.6 times more by a sister resort--now will it share equal cost with S/D which is about 2.5 times the size of the BW????

If they are really going to address thing fairly and consistently (and with timeshares' dues laws-LEGALLY) if the BW pays 58% of the costs of the bus it shares with the BWI- then the BW resort as a whole should only be assessed about 29% of the whole costs for that shared bus--otherwise the BWV are being assessed dues to subsidize non-timeshare guests/hotel transportation.
so it would be 17% of the guests using the bus are likely BWV guests so- 17% of the bus transport costs should be assigned to BWV--

if they do it the "old" way--i.e 50% cost to the BW resort, 50% to the S/D resort--BWV would be paying 29% of the whole-(covering basically the BWI portion as well) or 12% more than they should.
If they do it right--BWV dues should go down... albeit slightly.

PAUL

 

[pmcpmc]

might just not go up next year, same difference.

 

[littlestar]

We were sent a survey after our last stay at Boardwalk and I made sure to note how crowded the buses were. We had to wait for a 2nd bus after leaving Magic Kingdom one night - it was just too crowded with all 5 hotels (Swan/Dolphin/Yacht Club/Beach Cub/Boardwalk resort) waiting to board. My husband said this is nuts! The All Stars and moderates had better bus service. There were a lot of people griping about it (cash paying guests - not DVCers). So I would imagine Disney has heard plenty of complaints about this problem. Glad to hear they are listening.

Now, hopefully BWV and BCV dues will be divided up fairly when it comes to transportation costs. I'm not a BWV owner (I'd like to be, though!). We own a few points at BCV. I hope they can fix the transportation costs to where it's fair for both BWV and BCV. That's only right. They are both terrific DVC resorts - love the location and amenities of both.

 

[Lexxiefern]

This is wonderful news! It is especially nice to know that we are being heard

 

[DerbyVacationClubber]

Originally posted by BEACHCLUBVILLAS
I don't necessarily think creating new bus routes automatically means an increase in fees. The same number of buses could be just making different stops, increasing the frequency automatically by not having to make so many stops, thereby providing better service for the same price.

You can dream!

 

[RobDoc]

Originally posted by paults
Doc, why would this effect ours dues. I for one ( own at BWV )would not want to pay more dues while guests at BWI and S/D use the same bus. Sorry but I still feel this is a Disney issue and not DVC. If there is an extra cost , Disney should pay it. It's Disney job to get their guests to the parks at there cost not DVCs.
We pay enough now by buying into DVC and I think Disney is responsible for the bus transporation.

I have no information at all about how the new service will be assessed financially.

It would make sense to me that since the previous bus cost was shared by BWV, BWI, Sw, Do, YC, BC and BCV that this route will cost about the same, but only be shared by BWI, BWV, Sw and Do. The wait times will be less for riders and fewer stops will shorten the trip on both ends, but there is still a cost for each bus that arrives at the resort and if that cost is shared by fewer entities it could raise associated fees.

Bus transportation costs have been a part of DVC maintenance fees since the beginning- I don't see any change in that regard in the future. "Disney" has never picked up that expense- it has always been paid for by the resort using any form of transportation provided by Walt Disney World Transportation Company.

We will probably not have any information about additional expense (if any) until the 2005 estimated dues come out next fall.

Stay tuned!

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

Great news indeed. Thank you to Paul for bringing this issue forward and to Doc for filling us in. Have to wonder why it wasn't mentioned at the annual meeting in December. You would think they would mention it there to see all of the happy faces. Of course maybe they wanted to avoid the eventual "what will this do to the dues" question.

HBC

 

[tripletvan]

Yipee! We will be looking foward to a quicker trip home!

 

[DebbieB]

Originally posted by Happy Birthday Cat
Great news indeed. Thank you to Paul for bringing this issue forward and to Doc for filling us in. Have to wonder why it wasn't mentioned at the annual meeting in December. You would think they would mention it there to see all of the happy faces. Of course maybe they wanted to avoid the eventual "what will this do to the dues" question.

HBC

It did come up at the annual meeting. I can't remember exactly how it was phrased, it was a comment after another question. The member said something like - "I'd like to make a suggestion that Boardwalk get it's own bus." The board members just nodded, acknowledging the suggestion (the member should have put it in the form of a question to get a response). If these changes were already planned or being considered, I think they would have said something. They love to make announcements at this meeting that they think will make the members think they are working for them (which is why I think they also announced the OKW slide at the BWV meeting). It may have been a result of that suggestion, the rumblings on these boards (rumors are some cm's read them), letters like Paul's that they finally realized something had to be done. Like anything else, if they find the busses aren't filling up, they may modify it. I could see them doing the combined bus mid-day, separate busses during peak times.

 

[Doug Wolfe]

Thanks Doc! As always you are on top of the great information.

It will make my trips from BCV to MK much quicker and enjoyable.

 

[ZachnElli]

Wahoo!! Just in time for me!! Thanks for the info Doc!!

 

[GrimGhost]

Great news!!!.....Hopefully!

 

[PKS44]

FWIW-
During my conversations with DVC management over the last couple of weeks over this transportation issue they did assure me that one of their concerns was the service, not just the cost-and said they were talking to transportation to figure out a better way--



this should really help--especially at the YC/BC/BCV which will now have their own bus...(which is nice for us since that is where we will be staying next...!!!)

This reminds me of the bus service at the monorail resorts- where the WL used to share the GF.Poly, Contemp and then they got smart and changed the WL to share with FW...

If I ran things at Crescent Lake,I probably would do it this way-
one bus for the BW and the Dolphin
one bus for the YC/BC/BCV and the Swan
That would give each route a balance in the potential numbers of guest rooms to serve --2409 vs 2255

From WDWTroy's calculations:

Rooms (equivalent hotel rooms)
BWV 522
BWI 378
Total 900

BCV 284
YC 630
BC 583
Total 1497

Swan 758
Dolphin 1509
Total 2267

of course we have no info on the relative occupancy at the resorts..S/D may run half empty much of the year while BW runs near capacity...thus making them essentially equal.

I think I will keep in touch with DVC and hope we get more reports here about how the new system is working

Paul

 

[crisi]

Keep in mind that the S/D are convention hotels - and as such do a lot of business with people who spend five days at the hotel and one or two in the parks....there is probably somewhat less bus traffic per room than Disney's tourist hotels. (BW is also a convention hotel, but I don't know how much convention business it actually does in comparision to the S/D. I get a lot of materials for conventions being held at the S/D.

Also, if dues go up next year, keep in mind that there are other factors than merely buses. Service could stay the same and transportation costs go up or down depending on gas prices, insurance costs, labor costs, etc. As we don't get an itemized list, it will be difficult to say "this is all because of the extra route."

 

[DebbieB]

I agree with Crisi, I don't think the busses are used as much at the S/D. Anytime I've been on the shared bus back to BW, few people got off at Swan or Dolphin. In fact, one time last month, no one got off at either on a return from MK at night (the bus was pretty full). When we returned on Saturday night, they had the S/D with their own bus, so adding BW to S/D may not be an extra bus all the time.

 

[tigger2esq]

this is good news. Although it didnt really affect our trip last week since the parks were so empty (as well as the busses) I was shocked to see that there was only one bus for all of the Epcot resorts and could see how it would pose a problem for BW visitors during busy times (you would NEVER get a seat! )

 

[IndyScott]

Forgive me if I have missed something, but it seems to me they are adding a new ROUTE. This doesn't necessarily mean new/more buses?

For example - let's assume 4 buses are running the AK-Epcot Resorts route currently. The change could simply be 2 for AK-BW/SW/DO and 2 for AK-YC/BC.

This wouldn't necessarily lead to any improvement in time to arrive at the park. Just shift wait time from riding the bus to waiting by the curb. It WOULD improve the situation of being the last stop and the bus being full, though. However, only at peak times when there are many getting on and none getting off at each stop.