Is BWV Bus Transportation Really That Bad?

[goofy4tink]

I think it was a great night for a party (OK, it got rather chilly)!! Yes, we had a great time. I'm glad you did too, and I'm sorry we didn't get to say "hi!"
We left just before the second parade, which was probably why we got a seat on the bus, just before it pulled away. How did you fare after the party?
Bobbi

Not badly at all. We left about 11ish, after the second parade. I wanted to stay but my friend was pooped. For a change, the BW bus was pretty quick and not a lot of folks waiting for it. I was happy to be in my Malificent costume with that chill in the air. Dd was quite happy that I had brought a pink turtleneck to go under her Aurora costume. By about 8:00 she was freezing!!!

As far as the bus woes go....if you stay at GF, Polynesian, or the CR, you may ending up stopping at those other resorts. I know that when I stayed at the CR and the Polynesian, we stopped at all three. So, not any better than BW's system. If you stay at POR or FQ, you have multiple stops within the resort before you head off to the designated park. Same thing with CSR and CBR...multiple internal stops. Same with OKW.
I do find that the BW buses don't often stop at YC/BC first thing in the morning. They do combine the resorts mid-day though. The best bus service I have had??? POP...go figure. It stops nowhere else, makes just the one stop at the resort. Sure there are a lot of people but the buses run accordingly.

I really don't let the bus situation bother me too much. My understanding is that the S/D pay a pretty hefty fee to have park shuttle buses. I wish they would put the Swan with BW and have the Dolphin go with BC/YC, but I don't think that's ever going to fly. It's not the people boarding that bothers me so much, it's the winding driving that it entails to get from BW to the Swan to the Dolphin. YOu would think they were 10 miles apart by the amount of driving it takes to pick those folks up!!

 

[crisi]

Not gonna argue with any of that. But it does nothing to address the topic of the thread: "Is BWV Bus Transportation Really That Bad?"

I'm sure there are many BWV guests who don't spend 2/3 of their trip at just two theme parks. Magic Kingdom...Animal Kingdom...Downtown Disney...Typhoon Lagoon...Blizzard Beach...that's an awful lot of destinations you can't reach on foot.

And for those guests, there may be better resorts or better choices.

If someone said "I am taking my children - all under five - we are spending most of our time in the MK" I'd recommend a monorail resort (or - a distant second VWL if you had to stay DVC). The monorail resorts are so convienent with little kids and a lot of MK stays.

If someone said "I'm going to do lots of dining at resort restaurants and resort hopping, I want to spend some time at DTD - this really isn't a park trip" - rent or drive a car! Don't use Disney transportation. And SSR or OKW or CBR will be good choices with convienent parking.

So I guess it kind of depends on what you need.

Our last trip to BWV had the best-bus-service evah!1!!1!!! It was really amazing. Every time we wanted a bus, one appeared within minutes. Every time we got on the bus, there were endless seats. We were never sitting in seats with other people's back ends in our faces, because there were so few standers. We had the Y&BC out of the loop - so we only ever stopped at the Swan and Dolphin. I've never seen Disney buses work so well (and I've been impressed before) - but I think we were just getting lucky all week long - and since the buses weren't packed, I suspect that sort of level of capacity wasn't maintained because its expensive. Plus, the few painful (DTD, waterparks) or urgent trips we took, we grabbed cabs right away, so there wasn't any stress with the buses.

 

[diznyfanatic]

And for those guests, there may be better resorts or better choices...

... Plus, the few painful (DTD, waterparks) or urgent trips we took, we grabbed cabs right away, so there wasn't any stress with the buses.

I agree with most of the fundementals in your post pertaining to choosing a resort that meets most of your needs. That's exactly why we purchased DVC where we did as most of our time is spent at Epcot, & MK.

In fact, we do have a car and probably will always have one with us so I can always rely on that to avoid some of this if need be.

As a result, the great BWV Bus Debate really isn't going to cause us much hardship in the end no matter what we experience because we have a cheap alternative available.

Having said that however, there are plenty of people who don't want to make a 2000 mile roundtrip drive like we do and will fly. If I were one of those people without a car who were trying to decide whether or not to spend the extra dollars to stay onsite at a Disney resort, the supposed convenience of Disney transportation would definitely be a huge factor to get me to spend the extra to stay onsite at Disney.

The fact is there are far cheaper offsite accomodations available. The tradeoff or argument that I always hear is that staying onsite is more magical and so much more convenient. I do know first hand how woeful the transportation is at many of the off site resorts so agree with those critics who say it can be very inconvenient.

I also definitely agree with the onsite magical part, but after hearing so many people reporting transportation issues at Deluxe Disney resorts, I'm not so sure anymore about the convenient part of staying onsite...at least at some of the Deluxes.

Although the only real transportation issue we ever encountered was at POR and haven't had any trouble at CSR, OKW, WL or AKL either, I'm just kind of stunned to learn that when we stayed at CSR and as someone else said here, POP, we might have been getting better bus service than someone staying at the much higher priced BW, BC & YC.

If I have to add cab fares to an already more expensive onsite trip, what really is the incentive? Just because people can afford to stay at a Deluxe Disney resort and can afford additional cab fares, that shoudn't mean they should rationalize an expense away that doesn't make sense and is marketed exactly opposite to get you onsite in the first place.

We love Disney and are always trying to bring family and friends into our Disney mania. That's exactly why I don't want to see them lose site of what made them stand apart from so many other big companies and get mired down in corporate red tape and forget about what might be best for their guests.

 

[Mississippian]

If I have to add cab fares to an already more expensive onsite trip, what really is the incentive? Just because people can afford to stay at a Deluxe Disney resort and can afford additional cab fares, that shoudn't mean they should rationalize an expense away that doesn't make sense and is marketed exactly opposite to get you onsite in the first place.

I usually take a cab only on mornings when we want to get to the Magic Kingdom in a hurry, so usually two during the entire trip. Other days I just walk to the almost-on-site monorail, which is a highly pleasant experience versus the intensely unpleasant bus ordeal.

I had a secretary who would walk out the front door of my office to her car and drive to the post office, which was all of 300 feet away. The banks were 400 or 500 feet away, and she drove there, too. She often walked 150 feet going back and forth to her car. I've found that a lot of people are like this, and they cannot be reasoned with. The same goes for those who are upset over multiple stops at the Swan, Dolphin, Yacht Club and Boardwalk. Unless you are cripple, one stop is just as good as another, give or take 600 feet. So when the bus makes its first stop, "Welcome Home!"

I'm reminded of the story of the little boy who was carried into the doctor's office by a servant. After a while the doctor ran out and said, "Madam, your son can WALK!" The wealthy woman sniffed: "Yes, but thank God he doesn't have to."

If you really want door-to-door bus service and aren't willing to just get off the bus at the first stop, then the Boardwalk resorts are a poor choice. With that said, I've found the bus service to be outstanding in meeting my needs, although my feet usually do a better job.

 

[byoung]

Our trip there the 22th thru the 27th we haqd no problems with the buses.