How are the buses back to the resorts after E-night?

[DVCindy]

DD10 and I are planning on doing E-night June 27 (Friday)... this will be our first E-night.

Just wondering how the buses are returning to the resorts after an E-night ... anyone have any experience with this ? Are they very crowded ... should we expect long lines and a long wait ?

We will be staying at BWV if this is a factor.

Thnaks for any info you can give us !

Cindy

 

[ktglads]

The crowds depend on what time it is that you are leaving the eride and how many people were there. I know that the Swan, Dolphin, YC and BC were all on the same bus. Not 100% sure on BW being on that bus too. We left about 10 minutes before 1 and walked right on to the bus (I think we got lucky there). It is possible that you would have to wait for a second bus, but that wait should be less than a half hour. If you stay to the absolute end, there may be more people, but it really all depends on how many people from your resorts are at the e-ride.
It is 1000% better than the transportation back to the WL and FW after an eride (took us 1.5 hours last summer). Those were standing room only and really not a fun time at all to be riding after 15 hours in the park.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Buses run approx every 15 mins during an e-ride, in both directions. It's never really crowded during an e-ride... the only time the crowds resurface is at the very end. And even then, we handle it quickly.

The only caveat is that less buses are being run at this time, because of the lack of crowds. This means, chances are, the Epcot Resorts will be combined.

A note for Fort Wilderness & Wilderness Lodge: For some reason, the boats do NOT run for e-rides. During this situation, most dispatchers will run a special FW/WL bus direct from the MK. However, this is NOT always the case... in which case, one would take the monorail to the TTC, and catch the WL/FW bus there.

 

[drusba]

We went June 10, were staying at BW, and left e-night right when it ended. It was awful. Bus was serving S/D, YC/BC and BW. The line to the bus was backed up all the way back to the park; there must have been over 1,000 people just waiting for that Epcot Resort bus and one came about every 20 minutes at that closing time; result was that it took almost 1 1/2 hours to get from the point you started standing in line back to your hotel. Noteworthy is it did not seem any other hotels had that problem as we constantly saw other buses continuously pulling up to other stops. In fact, anger started to arise when we saw busses pulling up for hotels where there was no one left in line and then this empty bus would just pull away and pass by all those people waiting for that Epcot resort bus.

 

[DVCindy]

Thanks for the replies.

I think we'll head out a bit early to try and avoid what happened to you and your family, Drusba. I'm sorry to hear you had such a difficult time getting back to the BW... sounds awful.

This is a little off topic, but ... I can't understand why the bus to BW/BWV always has to run in conjunction with YC/BC and Swan/Dolphin. These resorts can hold a tremendous amount of people at peak times and are deluxe / DVC resorts ... why can't they each have their own buses running when occupancy rates are high ?

I do try to go with the flow and not let it get to me while I'm on vacation. But when you think about it, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense...

Cindy

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Originally posted by drusba
We went June 10, were staying at BW, and left e-night right when it ended. It was awful. Bus was serving S/D, YC/BC and BW. The line to the bus was backed up all the way back to the park; there must have been over 1,000 people just waiting for that Epcot Resort bus and one came about every 20 minutes at that closing time; result was that it took almost 1 1/2 hours to get from the point you started standing in line back to your hotel. Noteworthy is it did not seem any other hotels had that problem as we constantly saw other buses continuously pulling up to other stops.

The line was probably more around 300 people. The e-ticket itself usually has an average of 1,800 people, and most are All-Stars. As for it taking 90 minutes, I'd venture to say that's a bit of an exaggeration as well... It usually only takes 30-45 mins to clear out an e-ride, and most of that is All-Stars.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Originally posted by DVCindy
This is a little off topic, but ... I can't understand why the bus to BW/BWV always has to run in conjunction with YC/BC and Swan/Dolphin. These resorts can hold a tremendous amount of people at peak times and are deluxe / DVC resorts ... why can't they each have their own buses running when occupancy rates are high ?

When you crunch the occupancy numbers, All-Star Sports has more guests staying at it, than Yacht/Beach/Boardwalk. It's not a matter of Deluxe... but rather, a matter of demand.

Originally posted by DVCindy
But when you think about it, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense...

On the contrary... from a transportation planners view, it does. It's all a matter of efficiency.

Here is a sample situation for afternoon/evening (11am-9pm) operation: (closing operation is a different matter)

If each resort were to have its own bus, you'd need 10 buses. (5 resorts, 2 buses on each route, running in 15 minute intervals) Based on typical ridership, 9 out of the 10 buses would leave with most seats empty. Estimated cost, $4,000 for 10 hours service.

Why run 10 buses, when 6 can handle the job just fine? 3 buses on S/D, and 3 buses on Y/B/BW, each with 12 minute intervals. Or, 6 buses on all five, with 7 minute intervals. Estimated cost for 10 hours service, $2,400.

See what I'm saying? By combining them, buses can run more frequently to be able to handle the load. Plus, guests are happier because they aren't waiting as long. And, it's 40% cheaper. Now this isn't a cutback... but rather, a more efficient way to manage things.


By the way... the resorts are the ones who pay for the service... if you want to see dedicated buses, and whatnot, the ones you'll want to speak with are the resorts. They're the ones who pay for the transportation. And if they're willing to pay for dedicated buses, I'm sure we'd do it. It's just a matter of them wanting to pay for it.

 

[DVCindy]

Chip and Dale Express -

Thanks for taking the time to reply ! I see your point ... also, I did not realize the resorts pay Disney Transportation for the buses they utilize. Interesting.

One point I'd like you to clarify if you don't mind ...

In your sample situation, you suggest that the Swan/Dolphin resorts use 3 buses and BW/BC/YC use 3. Is this in fact the way the buses usually run now ? I think I recall all of them being on the same bus last time we were there in Aug 2001.

Thanks for your insight ... maybe we'll see you on the bus next week !

Cindy

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Don't you hate it when you've written a long, well thought out, LONG post... and you're just proofreading it, when *BAM* thunder, lightning, and power outage. Oops! Let's see if I can re-create it.

We actually work a bit differently than my sample situation. Instead of having "fixed" routes, we have dynamic dispatches. Our dispatch computer automatically generates dispatch times based on current variables. Whenever a bus is about to turn into its home base (in this case, the Magic Kingdom), the driver radios the dispatcher, and gets a new assignment, based on what the dispatch computer says.

As it stands now, S/D and Y/B/BW are separated for the MK during peak times. E-Rides are not considered peak times, because they're typically only 5% of a daily crowd.

At night, Boardwalk is separated from the other 4 for Downtown Disney.

During the morning hours, buses are dispatched on a demand basis... so routing and sharing is based on that. Sometimes they will share, other times, they won't.

 

[DisneyVillain]

We were at the e-ride night on 6/7. We stayed until the end, and then stopped for ice cream at the ice cream parlor on Main Street USA on the way out. By the time we got to the bus stop, there were very few people waiting for any of the buses.

 

[ahoff]

We came out of an E-night and were returning to BW. There was a huge crowd at the BW/YC stop waiting for a bus, and hardly anyone at the S/D with a bus already there. Being an impatient NY'er we took the S/D bus back. Which works at most other times as well, it is only a short walk from the Swan (1st stop!).

 

[Tracie]

We were at E-night on June 17. We left about 15 min before the end and walked right onto a Epcot resort bus (staying at the BCV) we went to the S/D, YC, then to BCV maybe a 20-25 min trip from the time we walked out of the park.

And while I'm at it, we used Disney transportation to go everywhere during our trip and it was wonderful never waited more than 10-15 mins for a bus anywhere and did not mind the stops at the BW, S/D at all. Walking to Epcot was great and the boat to MGM was a nice ride.

Tracie