GOOD Disney Bus Experiences

[Becky_Boop]

OK, I've been reading posts about horrible bus experiences. I want to hear some GOOD ones. We need a little pixie dust

 

[PCFriar80]

OK, I've been reading posts about horrible bus experiences. I want to hear some GOOD ones. We need a little pixie dust

12 trips to the BCVs over the last 4 years and have never had a problem!! EMH at AK, you're at the busstop 50 minutes before opening and a 15 minute wait to get in to AK. Same with MK. You need to factor in some "buffer" time to meet expectations! We usually leave AK after 2 / 2.5 hours and get a "Special" or VIP" bus back to the resort. If we're on the "dreaded" five stop Epcot resort bus (S/D/YC/BC/BW), well....we'll just get off at the Swan and have a nice walk over to the BC.

The best part......no busses to EC or MGM!! We just walk!!

 

[NHTikiBeckie]

I have always loved the busses...I don't know why people don't! I think they are so convenient and easy, and come so often!

 

[Disney Doll]

You know,
sometimes people drive me insane with their level of expectation with regard to Disney.

The bus system is fine. Yes, on occasion it will get bogged down, be a bit slow or whatever. Relax people, you are on vacation!!!! They move thousands of people on a daily basis, & generally keep to a pretty tight schedule with very few mishaps.

 

[Sunstar]

I also have never had a problem with the Disney bus system. We always stay at Coronado Springs and never have a problem getting anywhere.

 

[Becky_Boop]

I love the Disney bus system- does anyone expect to be driven around free of charge on their vacation anywhere else? No! The busses are not only convenient, but are a part of the Disney magic, IMO.

 

[Scraper]

We love the busses always enjoy talking with people and some times we get a funny bus driver. One of the funniest times though was when we were staying at a value resort ALS Sport and sometimes after the park closes those busses can get very crowded. well once the bus driver got off while people were loading he was talking to one of the guest and did not notice as people kept jamming in everyone was laughing so hard and the bus was so crowded. When the bus driver noticed he said "oh my how did you all get in here". He some how managed to get in the driver seat. I was surprised he did not make some of us get off. I wonder if he could have got in trouble for over crowding but no one was complaining to many people found it hysterical.

 

[Lancer]

To tell you the truth, in nine years, I dont think we ever had a bad experience.Here are a few highlights. All happened to be on the ride back to the resort after the parks closed.

1. During a ride back to the resort after the MK closed our driver entertained us by giving us all sorts of trivia. We also played "stump the bus driver".We couldnt! He held a captive audience as everyone on the crowded bus played along.

2. Another driver had the whole bus singing Disney songs.

3. One night there was a night launch of a satellite from Kennedy. The driver as he was pulling into the resort entrance saw it and let everyone know. He then pulled over so we all could see. Had he kept going, the trees would have blocked the view.

4.A friends daughter had left a toy on a bus after getting dropped off. We didnt realize it until we got to the room. Of course the bus was long gone by the time we went down to the bus stop. We asked the next driver going to MGM if he could radio to the other buses to try and find it. We waited for word when within maybe 20 min a bus pulled up and delivered her toy.

5. We seemed to be one of the last few stragglers after EPCOT closed. We waited for ever for our resort bus. We asked another bus driver when we could expect ours. He was actually going off duty and was there just to drop another driver off. Instead, he offered to take us to our resort on his way back to the bus shop. Not sure how much out of the way it was for him.

I know, quite a few examples, but I dont think the Bus drivers get the recognition that they deserve. Or anyone else working behind the scenes, for that matter, to keep the magic alive for us.

Lancer

 

[WaltD4Me]

I love the buses too! Who wants to drive around looking for a parking space or wait from a tram to take you to your car? I never even think about renting a car when I go to Disney....in fact it is one of the reasons I love going...I don't have to worry about a car!

Have I had some long waits for the bus? -- Yep.
Have I had some less than stellar drivers? -- Yep.
Have I been on some very noisy rides? -- Yep.
Has it been a pain sometimes to fold the stroller? -- Yep.
Have I been a bus that's a bit dirty? -- Yep.

But the good, to me, FAR outweighs the bad. The MAJORITY of my
bus experience at Disney has been good, great or excellent. The only thing that would be REALLY nice, is if they put some mister fans at the bus depots!

Don't forget people are MUCH more likely to report their negative experiences rather than the positve. That's why you read so many "horror" stories, but I really think they are few and far between.

 

[kmermaid]

Some of my best conversations with CM are with the drivers, they are great people!

 

[HopperFan]

Last May, it was a packed to the gills bus from the MK back to POP at closing. Folks standing all over. Our driver did Trivia with us. We had a blast and wow, how many dads could answer those Princess questions

That was the "fastest" ride ever, I really wouldn't have minded going a bit longer AND I was standing. It was great fun !!!

 

[inloveindisney]

We had this driver once that talked the whole trip. He had one of those "radio voices" and he told us all kinds of interesting facts about things as we passed. We really liked him.
We had another "newyorker" (love that accent) guy that told a bunch of jokes and made the whole bush yell things and sing. It was awesome. We were all dead tired at the end of the day and it was nice to have a little pick me up on the way back to the hotel.

 

[DJ Disney Kid]

I love the busses!

 

[pigletforever]

DS4 loves buses and car hardly wait to ride them. I think that may be more of a highlight than meeting Lightening McQueen for him. I personally love the idea of someone else doing the driving and I get to enjoy the ride. i better brush up on my triva before we leave.

 

[rlovew]

We have not had a bad experience with the bus system, my DH hates it if we need to take a car when we are at the resort because we find the buses so much easier (we live about 2 hours away so we drive up regularly). My best bus experience was a morning we were leaving but I wanted to go to MGM on my own and get in one last ride on RNR and TOT. I was waiting for the bus home at about 9:30 so there weren't buses coming to bring people back yet. One of the drivers was dropping people off and asked where I was going. He brought me back to the resort on a bus marked Mickey Mouse (he was going off duty and didn't want people at the bus stop getting on). On the ride we talked and he told me all about how the bus system worked and how the buses que up for the resorts as well as the parks. I found it very interestiong and informative.

 

[mtrak17]

I love the buses! Not only is it free and convenient, but the drivers have always been friendly and upbeat (singing M-I-C-K-E-Y as OP stated). Only at park closing have we had to wait a "long" time (maybe 20-25 minutes, compared with 10 minutes or less at the best times).

Our best experience came one morning, when DH and I visited Animal Kingdom. We were there at AK park opening, ran to Kilimanjaro Safaris, "rode" one time, then exited the park to return to the hotel (early flight home). Because it was so early, there was no bus returning to the hotel (I guess they didn't expect anyone to go to the park for 20 minutes ) We waited about 15 minutes when a CM came up to us (from somewhere) and asked where we were going. I told him we were just returning to our hotel and he ordered a bus for us. The "Special" bus came within 5 minutes and drove my husband and I right back to our hotel. The bus driver was friendly and chatty and never once seemed put out that we had had to drive over to pick up two people!! The buses are great!

 

[liamandcaili]

We have always had good bus experiences too. The drivers have always been friendly, the waits not too bad, and the other riders have been helpful and pleasant. I know much ado has been made over giving up seats on the bus, but when I was pregnant, I was always offered a seat on the Disney bus, and when I was traveling alone with two young children, I was not only offered a seat, a very nice man carried my stroller on to the bus for me. I was carrying a very asleep DD in my arms, and I could have carried the stroller myself, awkwardly, but I really appreciated the assistance as it got us on to the bus faster and without bumping people. I certainly didn't expect seats, or assistance, but I was grateful for both.

 

[C-CMom]

We love the bus system! We find it to be a much nicer option than driving over to the parks. It is especially nice to sit half dead at the end of a long day, and just let them get you "home". Two visits at POP without any significant problems.

 

[BeckWhy]

I guess I wouldn't say we've had bad bus experiences or good ones. But I have no complaints about the WDW bus system.

I will say this though, I don't think it has much to do with it being a bus or not, but the drivers instead:
When my sister went and did Hoop-Dee-Doo, we left and there was all this BS behind getting back to our hotel (POP), but that's another story. Anyways, finally they say we have to take a bus from Pioneer Hall to somewhere else and get a bus to DTD. OK, no big deal there. Well we waited something like 45 min and no DTD buses. We saw them drive by, but they never stopped (we did ask the previous bus driver where to go and he said at the bus stop we were getting off at). So Epcot buses kept driving by. Finally one stopped and I went up to the driver and explained to him our situation (there was my sister and I and a few other people also). I told him we had be waiting for a bus, ya-di-ya-di-ya. And we just wanted to get back to our hotels (it was about 40 degrees and raining). So he said he had to check and he came back and said he would take us to Epcot (it was about 9:50 by then), and our hotel buses would wait for us (he asked which hotels we were all staying at). So we got to Epcot and finally got on our buses back to our hotels.

 

[PrincessJasmine08]

This March we were at the Polynesian looking around even though we were staying at Port Orleans. By the time we left the Magic Kingdom was closed so I figured we would have to get on a Downtown Disney bus and then a Port Orleans bus. When the bus arrived I asked the driver if that was the best way to get back to Port Orleans. He just said "I'll just take you back, it'll be our little secret." He took us right back to our resort, even to our very bus stop!! He definitely went out of his way to help us! It was the last night of our trip and we were very tired so it was greatly appreciated. I LOVE Disney transportation!