For those who complain about Disney Buses

[ValinWV]

We just got back from a trip to Philadelphia for the Fourth of July. My husband and I used the buses to get around so we wouldn't have to drive our car to the downtown area. Our hotel gave us a bus schedule for the two bus routes that would come near our hotel. As we read over the schedules we planned our activities so we could get back to bus stops as near as possible for pick ups. The don't run on schedule. Not even close. I expect that if a bus should pick up at 8:24am it will or at least within 5 to 10 min of that time. Not a hour or more later. Sure we have waited for buses at Disney. Very rarely was it longer than 20 min and never for over an hour. And of course the buses would get crowded.
On Sat we waited for and hour and a half and finally had to take a cab. Never did see a bus for our route and we were driving along the bus route to get back.
I love Disney buses!

 

[Atchley]

Sure, we all get aggravated with the buses, but it beats the heck out of driving any day!

 

[saintstickets]

Our last two visits to WDW we stayed at OKW. I cannot complain a bit about the busses (or is it buses? ). We hardly ever waited more than 5 - 10 minutes for any bus and this is with my uncle Murphy (from Murphy's law fame!) rearing his head all the time! Even when we walked up to the bus stop and the bus we wanted was pulling away (it happened multiple times - see trip report link below), another bus was coming shortly. We are doing a split stay at AKV & BWV after Thanksgiving so we'll see if the busses there are as good as at OKW.

 

[Birdman1511]

Amen, Sister

 

[kerri0616]

It's buses

Nothing like hopping on an air-conditioned bus as you head back to your resort. How hot do you think people's cars get while sitting at the TTC????? Like 350 degrees?????

Gotta love those buses!

Kerri

 

[seashoreCM]

You must have gotten an old schedule, printed before there was a cutback in service.

I have used buses in several cities without problems. Chicago, New Orleans, Seattle, San Francisco, Honolulu, Boston, Hartford to name a few. No problems.

 

[geenerbell]

Where did you stay? We've never waited more than 15 minutes at the parks or hotel. Now DTD is another story. Sorry I just realized you were in Philly.

 

[Donut23]

Sure, we all get aggravated with the buses, but it beats the heck out of driving any day!

OMGosh do I disagree.

Hot sticky bodies on a crowded bus or comfortable air conditioned car that goes exactly where you want? DON'T FORGET - hot sticky bodies cramped together remain hot and sticky-cramped together the entire ride. Cute little rental car cools down in about 30 seconds so you cold hang a side of beef - if you wanted! LOVE rental cars in the summer!!!!

Ok....let's talk about non-summer travel.

Our little rental car, without exception, has always taken us directly to where we want to go, we don't stand in line waiting for the bus to arrive...we just hop in and go.

We have the freedom to go anywhere we want - no changing busses if we want to go to another hotel for our lunch or dinner.

No crowds in our rental car.

Since an accident in 2008, I now travel with a scooter. OH BOY I don't want to be anywhere near a disney bus. It only takes one impatient or intolerant bus passenger to evaporate pixie dust for us. Also, with the handicapped plackard on the car...we have instant (no charge) vallet and handicapped parking very close to entrances.

You are welcome to ride Disney busses....I guess we just prefer fewer lines and not feeling like a sardine at the end of the day following fireworks.

Our little rental cars have completely spoiled us for any other mode of transport at WDW......except the boat ride from POR to DTD on a quiet night.....actually quiet and romantic.

 

[catne]

OMGosh do I disagree.

Hot sticky bodies on a crowded bus or comfortable air conditioned car that goes exactly where you want? DON'T FORGET - hot sticky bodies cramped together remain hot and sticky-cramped together the entire ride. Cute little rental car cools down in about 30 seconds so you cold hang a side of beef - if you wanted! LOVE rental cars in the summer!!!!

Ok....let's talk about non-summer travel.

Our little rental car, without exception, has always taken us directly to where we want to go, we don't stand in line waiting for the bus to arrive...we just hop in and go.

We have the freedom to go anywhere we want - no changing busses if we want to go to another hotel for our lunch or dinner.

No crowds in our rental car.

Since an accident in 2008, I now travel with a scooter. OH BOY I don't want to be anywhere near a disney bus. It only takes one impatient or intolerant bus passenger to evaporate pixie dust for us. Also, with the handicapped plackard on the car...we have instant (no charge) vallet and handicapped parking very close to entrances.

You are welcome to ride Disney busses....I guess we just prefer fewer lines and not feeling like a sardine at the end of the day following fireworks.

Our little rental cars have completely spoiled us for any other mode of transport at WDW......except the boat ride from POR to DTD on a quiet night.....actually quiet and romantic.

This...except we have our own car there, not a rental car. And no handicap situation. But we do park very close to entrances because we're rope drop kind of people. Or we valet park at near-to-park hotels. We're all about convenience, and willing to pay for it. Driving is great - we zip around (know the roads well) and rarely wait in lines of cars anywhere. Love it...always have a seat, and 2 minutes to get the vehicle cooled down.

Last time we depended on Disney transportation we waited at least 45 minutes for every bus...and were able to have a seat maybe twice in the entire trip. Never again.

 

[tinksgilrs251520]

we have been to Disney twice now and we have used the buses each time yes they are crowed and yes we had to wait for them but for us we love them it beats trying to get back to the resort, getting lost why do we need to confuse ourselves let somebody else do the driving .. and we have had to stand on some of them but for us it beats driving .

 

[tarrbear]

I don't mind the buses, I fond them convient. I've only had one bad experience with the buses. (We waited 45 minutes for a bus from Pop to DHS. And take in mind that we were the second group in line for a bus, on a saturday.)
But other than that, they've been fine

 

[KSDisneyDad]

Although Disney buses may be better than Philadelphia buses, it doesn't change the fact that Disney buses stress us out!! Our rental car actually makes our trip more relaxing. We like to visit DTD a couple of times, go off-site to the Character Premier store and have the knowledge that we'll each have our own seat at the end of the day.

I know some like to forfeit the freedom of driving for their vacation, but not us! On our recent trip where we sacrificed sanity to save some cash on a rental car. We stood nearly every trip on the buses. Not to mention the long waits at park closing and taking 1 1/2 hours from resort-to-resort (less than 3 miles!!) and over 45 minutes one-way to DTD both times.

Our longest waits on our last trip weren't for Toy Story Mania or Soarin' as we had fast passes for those. Our longest waits were the waits at the bus stand. Disney parking lots are a model of efficiency with the trams and easy entrance and exit. Plus, I'd rather have a seat than have to stand with a lot of smelly people. At least the smelly people in my car are family! And speaking of standing, I really hate watching people not giving up seats to parents holding sleeping children.

It seems like they Disney buses waste so much of our valuable vacation time. They may be faster on a few occasions, but I'd rather have the certainty of my own car vs the uncertainty of the buses.

This is definitely one of those topics with those who enjoy both (buses vs own car). I don't think these threads every change anyone's mind, but I do think that newbie's who think that Disney transportation is going to be great should hear both sides so they can make their own decision. I had a coworker who returned from a trip in late May/early June and her first comment to me when she returned was "I wish I had taken your advice and rented a car!"

 

[monsterkitty]

Our last two visits to WDW we stayed at OKW. I cannot complain a bit about the busses (or is it buses? ). We hardly ever waited more than 5 - 10 minutes for any bus and this is with my uncle Murphy (from Murphy's law fame!) rearing his head all the time! Even when we walked up to the bus stop and the bus we wanted was pulling away (it happened multiple times - see trip report link below), another bus was coming shortly. We are doing a split stay at AKV & BWV after Thanksgiving so we'll see if the busses there are as good as at OKW.

Either busses or buses is acceptable according to Webster.

WDW busses are second only to the buses in London. Now that is a fantastic system!

 

[jamstew]

I hate driving--hate it at home and absolutely won't do it in unfamiliar places. I also can't drive after dark, and I mostly travel solo. Disney transportation makes my trips totally stress-free. If for some reason I'm running late for an ADR or something, I can always hop a cab. Generally, though, I'm never in much of a hurry. As long as I can get to my park of choice within 20 minutes of opening, I'm good.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

I have never had any issues with WDW buses and I only go during peak season. People are going to debate this forever. For me, I don't want to have to drive while I'm vacation. I rather let them do the driving than having to worry about navigating unfamiliar roads and fighting traffic.

 

[916chipndale]

im with ya i love the disney busses and the monorails. and the boats lol i just love disney transportation.

 

[torinsmom]

Love my car, especially after a long day at the parks. Nothing worse than waiting in line with 200 other people to catch a bus back to Pop after the park closes. Well, maybe standing in line in the morning, when it is already 90 degrees outside. One night we waited over an hour, and then we had to stand! I just set my GPS to our condo and its smooth sailing to get "home". Only one time, it took me through the AK parking place, LOL. The attendant was very nice about it though. I was worried about getting out of the parking lots at closing, but it was not a problem at all. I guess the parking lots are so big, and people are leaving at different times, so there isn't a jam.

Marsha

 

[Travel Mum]

We are planning our trip for the first week of October next year. The current plan is to arrive and take the Magical Express bus to POR. I still want to do this because, after 24 hours of travelling to Orlando from New Zealand, I don't want my exhausted husband to have to start thinking about driving on the other (wrong ) side of the road yet. We will then stay 7 nights at POR using the Disney transport system to get around and during that time we do not intend to leave WDW. Then on day 8, we will check out of POR, pick up a rental car and stay offsite for another week during which we will visit Universal, Sea World, Space Centre and do shopping etc.

So, those of you that prefer cars, do you think that it would be better to have a rental car during that first week too?

Are the lines for buses busy at that time of year? Would having a car mean we'd have to get up less early to get to a park for rope drop than if we were taking a bus? If so, how much time would it save us roughly?

It's a tough call because using the Disney transportation system would presumbably be much more relaxing for my husband (the driver if we had a car) and might be more sensible since we have never been before and have no idea of how to get around yet, but then if we had to wait ages for buses, plus get up heaps earlier in order to get them, that might just make him (and us) very frustrated! Arghh, what a dilemma cause it does seem like a waste of money hiring a car for a week for it mainly to sit parked most of the time

 

[wdwnomad]

I take the bus everyday in Philly to and from work. Yes, sometimes, it can be pretty frustraighting dealing with them. However, overall, it is a pretty efficent system.

I am not going to defend the bus system on the 4th of July. There are so many people in Philly for the celebration that I would have never used the buses. On top of that there were probably numerous street closures which caused bus detours. This could have been why you never saw the bus. I wish your hotel would have pointed that out. All they had to do is go online and check.

 

[bwilcox]

We are planning our trip for the first week of October next year. The current plan is to arrive and take the Magical Express bus to POR. I still want to do this because, after 24 hours of travelling to Orlando from New Zealand, I don't want my exhausted husband to have to start thinking about driving on the other (wrong ) side of the road yet. We will then stay 7 nights at POR using the Disney transport system to get around and during that time we do not intend to leave WDW. Then on day 8, we will check out of POR, pick up a rental car and stay offsite for another week during which we will visit Universal, Sea World, Space Centre and do shopping etc.

So, those of you that prefer cars, do you think that it would be better to have a rental car during that first week too?

Are the lines for buses busy at that time of year? Would having a car mean we'd have to get up less early to get to a park for rope drop than if we were taking a bus? If so, how much time would it save us roughly?

It's a tough call because using the Disney transportation system would presumbably be much more relaxing for my husband (the driver if we had a car) and might be more sensible since we have never been before and have no idea of how to get around yet, but then if we had to wait ages for buses, plus get up heaps earlier in order to get them, that might just make him (and us) very frustrated! Arghh, what a dilemma cause it does seem like a waste of money hiring a car for a week for it mainly to sit parked most of the time

The buses run regularly at WDW. In the mornings I have never had to wait more than 10 minutes for a bus. Really the only time you would have to wait a long time is if you are leaving at closing, when everybody else is leaving.