First Experience With the Bus Issues

[tgj]

Am I the ONLY one who has ever gotten into an auto accident inside WDW?

Wasn't my fault, but between the hours filling out forms with the rental company, the hours on the phone with insurance companies, etc etc etc etc, I could wait for a Disney bus for 45 minutes every time and still be ahead.....

 

[tgj]

Also, I heard somewhere else of a great idea to solve bus problems. Just get on whatever bus happens to come first.

Of course this won't work for everyone everytime (ADR's, very little children, something special to see or do....), but I kind of like that "let fate decide" approach. Although I won't be able to do that this next trip, maybe I will for the next one.

 

[DVCSAMNH]

Am I the ONLY one who has ever gotten into an auto accident inside WDW?

Wasn't my fault, but between the hours filling out forms with the rental company, the hours on the phone with insurance companies, etc etc etc etc, I could wait for a Disney bus for 45 minutes every time and still be ahead.....

Luckily, I have never been in an accident at WDW and I can only imagine how much of your vacation was taken up with forms and phone calls and aggravation. I think at that point I would just want to pack up and go home.

But, I also can't imagine being in even a very minor accident with one of those over stuffed busses with aisles full of small children, strollers, over-sized bags and other things I'm probably forgetting.

Neither scenario is any better than the other, is what I'm thinking.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

Well if I were to get into a car accident on WDW property then I sure would rather be in a mini-van with my son buckled in his car seat than standing on a bus trying to hold on to him when the bus crashed!

 

[allicat]

We have 20 plus trips in our past and started off as strictly bus riders-we always said we would never rent a car.That is, until we started spending large amounts of time waiting for buses at Old Key, Beach Club and SS. We drive our car to every park now except MK. Having been at SS the last two trips, there is no way I wouldn't rent a car. I almost drove the car to MK one morning because we had been out there over 40 minutes.

 

[dvc_john]

Maybe I've just been lucky, but I'm at OKW now, and in 5 bus trips so far this stay, my longest wait has been 6 minutes.

 

[itsreally4mommy]

EEEK! And here I thought DVC would allow us to stay at more hassle free locations, LOL! I'm starting to get cold feet.

 

[DVCSAMNH]

EEEK! And here I thought DVC would allow us to stay at more hassle free locations, LOL! I'm starting to get cold feet.

I've never stayed at any of the values and only stayed at one of the moderates, but I do not find any of the DVC resorts more "hassle-free" than any of the other resorts. You have to go through all the same steps to get to the parks, have a meal, etc... My buying into DVC was a strictly financial decision which I am happy with. I'm breaking even very quickly. I wouldn't get cold feet if I were you based on busses. Just my honest opinion, for what it's worth.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

EEEK! And here I thought DVC would allow us to stay at more hassle free locations, LOL! I'm starting to get cold feet.

The buses are the same no matter where you are at WDW. There are threads on the other boards about bus wait times at the values, mods and deluxe resorts too.

Don't buy DVC for a hassle free vacation - buy it for an upgraded vacation!

 

[itsreally4mommy]

It just seemed like the lines for value resorts were much longer at the depots. I understand they are just larger resorts, but it was painful to watch 1 bus pull up to each and pick up a handful for other resorts while AS and Pop lines were snaking around the depot.

 

[Starr W.]

Also, I heard somewhere else of a great idea to solve bus problems. Just get on whatever bus happens to come first.

Of course this won't work for everyone everytime (ADR's, very little children, something special to see or do....), but I kind of like that "let fate decide" approach. Although I won't be able to do that this next trip, maybe I will for the next one.

That's my DH's idea. We have older kids, don't really have "must do" ADR's. We might try it, but the soon to be 12 yr old isn't that spontaneous.

 

[tammymacb]

I will be the first one to admit. I'm spoiled.

I remember going to Disney as a young child with my parents. Staying at the Poly, The Disney Institute(?) Caribbean Beach.

Back then, if you rode a bus, it was driven by a really nice older gentleman who spouted off Disney Trivia, was cordial and you could tell that they enjoyed their job.

The bus service has gone soooooo downhill since then. Waits are longer, busses are jam packed, and the drivers ( for the most part ) just aren't nice anymore. I pretty much refuse to ride one. On our May trip this year, we walked to Epcot, took a ferry to MGM, and drove our own car. With one exception. We went with my sister and her DH to SSR to look around. We then took a ferry to DTD where we shopped for a bit. Since DH wanted to go to Virgin Records, I told them to go on. We'd catch a bus to BWV ( my sister and her DH drove to SSR ) Well, we waited for the bus, I stood without room to breath and an elbow in my ****. The busdriver didn't even TALK. Just a canned, cheerful * We are now at Disney's Swan resort, please pick up all packages, take small children by the hand...blah blah" It's really a decline in that service.

We're flying down in Oct ( something we never do since we're close but I got really cheap tickets ) and I want to rent a car. My GFs say lets just take the bus. I don't think they have any idea what they're in for...

 

[Robo-Daddy 3000]

Also, I heard somewhere else of a great idea to solve bus problems. Just get on whatever bus happens to come first.

We've used that method when we couldn't decide which water park to go to. First bus that arrives for TL or BB is the one that we get on.

 

[Anjelica]

I recently posted (on the transportation board) regarding our pretty bad wait times, etc. in terms of Disney Buses at the WL. We were there from May 1st-9th and this is the worst I have ever seen. On that thread there was some input from a Disney Bus driver and he seemed a bit "irritated" - not sure if that was due to my post or what others added. I didn't feel like anyone was necessarily attacking him as a bus driver just that the buses didn't appear to be coming at regular intervals, etc.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1822577

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

Thanks... that's a great idea. We could even get the monorail from the Contemp to the MK if we wanted to arrive "in style" (and save a few steps!).

Just remember that the monorail goes from the Contemporary, to the TTC, to the Poly, then the GF, and THEN the MK.

We drive everywhere now (unless staying at an EPCOT resort...then we walk to MGM/Epcot). We always rented a car, from our first trip in '97, but in the beginning we always took Disney transportation. Then along the way, as we had some bad experiences, we started driving more. And eventually, we started driving to the MK too. Honestly, I don't see driving to the MK as a problem at all or any longer than taking a bus, and quite honestly, pretty fast and easy. Last trip (early April), we left AKV at 7 AM on an early entry day, and were inside the gate at 7:25.

Last August, I took the bus a couple of times when I stayed back at BWV to do some laundry, and DH and the kids drove to the water parks and I met up with them later. Ugh! Never again. The wait, the stops...took forever.

The clincher for us to start driving to MK was an early entry day when we were staying at BWV. THREE AK busses came by (why have AK busses that early, when it wasn't early entry at AK??) before an MK one came along. We ended up getting to MK at 8:30...hardly worth going for early entry if you're going to miss half of it.