Is Disney trying to lower attendance at water parks?

OhioStateBuckeye

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http://www.wdwinfo.com/news-stories/new-bus-routes-for-walt-disney-world-water-parks/

I was considering getting water park tickets for our July trip, this news has now scrapped that plan. We won't have a car this trip.

I have no desire to take a bus to Disney Springs, then transfer to another bus just to go to a water park. Or to take a bus to AK, then take another bus to the other water park. Waiting for buses is always such a luck based experience at Disney as it is. Sometimes your bus pulls up right away, sometimes you wait half an hour. If you end up on the long end trying to get to the water parks...I could see it taking an hour or more just for a one way trip.

I think you'd also have to completely shower and change at the water parks too. In the past it wouldn't be too crazy to wear a swimsuit and cover up onto the bus, no way am I doing that if I have to switch buses at AK or DS.
 
Maybe.

Free dining people had to add on Waterpark or park hopper to take advantage of the offer this year. So maybe they anticipate more people will be using the water parks once free dining hits. Or maybe they want to encourage people to get the hoppers instead.
 
Good grief! I thought it was bad that they no longer had 9am openings for the summer, but I was not aware of the transportation situation.
 
Good grief! I thought it was bad that they no longer had 9am openings for the summer, but I was not aware of the transportation situation.

I think this was just announced in the last day or 2. The DIS just had an article about it today.

I don't normally write Disney emails, but I wrote to them to tell them they just lost ticket sales for my group for July. We were thinking of getting tickets and going around 5 and staying for the last two hours the park was opened. No way are we doing that now, the buses are just too random to risk spending that much time for a few hours.
 

We went to Typhoon Lagoon for the first time yesterday. It already took us forever to get there and back. This makes it a definite no for us to ever go again. I already was leaning toward no.
 
Everything Disney does is strategic. It would not surprise me at all if they are trying to reduce the number of water park guests coming from hotel guests. Water Parks do come in Annual Passes and I am sure there are plenty of locals that buy them. Summer time - which you assume is the most popular time for hotel guests and more important to have more transportation - is surely the most popular time for locals with school out. And they are coming in with cash, not DDP. Not providing direct buses to the parks from hotels .... not about demand, more about strategically moving guests around the property.
 
Playing devils advocate.... I never liked having to stop at the water parks when I am on the way to Animal Kingdom or Disney Springs. There were never that many people going to the water parks on any given bus and it just seemed to make the trip unnecessarily long. Maybe they are trying to streamline the busses to the most popular destinations.
 
Playing devils advocate.... I never liked having to stop at the water parks when I am on the way to Animal Kingdom or Disney Springs. There were never that many people going to the water parks on any given bus and it just seemed to make the trip unnecessarily long. Maybe they are trying to streamline the busses to the most popular destinations.
I agree. We drive to the waterparks. We don't wanna have to get in line for the showers at the WP so we just put our cover ups on, drive to our resort, and take a leisurely shower there. It's not very comfortable to get in an air conditioned bus with wet hair and all. It'll also make the bus trip to AK a lot shorter. We prefer to ride the boat to Disney Springs from OKW or SSR, but with the new garages, we may try driving one day to see how easy it would be.
 
I think some of it is anticipated uptick to AK and the springs where they wouldn't want to divert people to another place and simply get from point A to point B asap.

Then again it still doesn't add up really given that these people are still going to be on the bus. A better strategy is to make one stop at the water park, either on the way to AK/DS, instead of making a stop on both the journey to and from the main destination
 
Well that just blows the day I had planned to split between HS & BB. Thanks Disney for screwing up my touring plan on yet another day. I appreciate all the last minute changes, schedule delays, unfinalized details and now non-sensical bus routes. #gettingtiredofthiscrap
 
Maybe there weren't enough people going to the waterparks to make it worth it for the buses to stop? Still odd though. You would think they would want to encourage people to go to the waterparks to reduce crowding in the main parks.
 
Playing devils advocate.... I never liked having to stop at the water parks when I am on the way to Animal Kingdom or Disney Springs. There were never that many people going to the water parks on any given bus and it just seemed to make the trip unnecessarily long. Maybe they are trying to streamline the busses to the most popular destinations.
I agree
 
Playing devils advocate.... I never liked having to stop at the water parks when I am on the way to Animal Kingdom or Disney Springs. There were never that many people going to the water parks on any given bus and it just seemed to make the trip unnecessarily long. Maybe they are trying to streamline the busses to the most popular destinations.
I also hated getting on the buses at DS and AK after a long, hot day to find the seats wet.
 
Not sure if this helps but french quarter bus stops first at typhoon lagoon before going onwards to disney springs.
 
Playing devils advocate.... I never liked having to stop at the water parks when I am on the way to Animal Kingdom or Disney Springs. There were never that many people going to the water parks on any given bus and it just seemed to make the trip unnecessarily long. Maybe they are trying to streamline the busses to the most popular destinations.

I agree. It always seemed like a giant waste of time. I hated being on the bus that had to detour to the water park, for maybe 1 or 2 guests.
 
Playing devils advocate.... I never liked having to stop at the water parks when I am on the way to Animal Kingdom or Disney Springs. There were never that many people going to the water parks on any given bus and it just seemed to make the trip unnecessarily long. Maybe they are trying to streamline the busses to the most popular destinations.

I have to agree as well. We stopped at one of the water parks on the way to AK during our last trip. The bus was packed, and I'm not sure a single person got off there. It took a ridiculously long time to get to AK which is already a long ride from most of the resorts. It is a shame though they can't have some way to take people directly from the resorts to the water parks.
 











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