Kind of Shocked! Well maybe just suprised.

[maya44]

In planning our trip and ADR's I asked a CM the best way to get from our hotel, the POLY, to dinner at BOMA on Thanksgiving.


CM told me that the best way was to take a bus to DTD and then transfer to AKL. I guess I am naive, cuz I beleived they would give good info.


Well, this weekend we had dinner with some friends and a relative of theirs was there who works for Disney's movie division. His family had just taken a trip to WDW themselves and stayed at the POLY and had alot of inside scoop.

He told me that his good friend who works in Disney Marketing and Planning informed them that though Disney tells you to transfer through DTD, that is done to get you to shop there! That this is a VERY inefficient way to go! Much better to go through the MK, so long at it is open.

He said Disney knows this but give the DTD route as a "marketing tool" to bring guests to DTD!!!!

UGH! What else can't I trust????

 

[safetymom]

That is what is great about the DIS. They can give you ideas to make your vacation better.

 

[CarolA]

Actually I don't know that it's that much more effiecent to go to a park as to DTD. Any way you do it is pretty inefficeint. For the Poly you have to bus to MK and then hike to the monorail, wait on the monorail etc.... (I personally find the monorail to be pretty slow)

At least with DTD the buses are right next to each other.

What I would do is take the first bus to a park or DTD that comes along and then change at whereever.

 

[dizplanner]

I think they give the DTD route as it is "safe". Switching at a park is dependent on whether the park is open or not. DTD is open late. The shopping thing only makes minimal sense, since on the way to the restaurant you probably do not have time to shop and will just be getting off one bus and onto another, without ever putting a step inside DTD. On the way home, I can see some people deciding they are not ready for bed and deciding to shop.

For Poly, the easiest is to take the monorail to MK, if it is open, and then catch a bus to AKL. Coming home, do the reverse if MK is open. If it is not, then any park or DTD would work and I would probably just take the first one to come and not worry about which has the shorter route.

 

[bicker]

That's really it -- people don't always reveal all the particulars of the question they're asking, a la, "What is the best way to get from here to AKL, right now," versus, "later tonight," so it is a lot safer to always give the DTD advice.

 

[maya44]

Well the former WDW planning and marketing guy told my friend that WDW has timed it and absolutely did this as a way of getting guests into DTD even though its timing tests shows that this is defintitely less efficient and that 90 percent of times guests travelling between hotels are travelling at a time when the MK is open, or at least busses and monorail are still open.

 

[safetymom]

That may be true but everyone is free to travel around WDW however they wish. It's a business, they are there to make money.

 

[AllyBri]

In planning our trip and ADR's I asked a CM the best way to get from our hotel, the POLY, to dinner at BOMA on Thanksgiving.


CM told me that the best way was to take a bus to DTD and then transfer to AKL. I guess I am naive, cuz I beleived they would give good info.


Well, this weekend we had dinner with some friends and a relative of theirs was there who works for Disney's movie division. His family had just taken a trip to WDW themselves and stayed at the POLY and had alot of inside scoop.

He told me that his good friend who works in Disney Marketing and Planning informed them that though Disney tells you to transfer through DTD, that is done to get you to shop there! That this is a VERY inefficient way to go! Much better to go through the MK, so long at it is open.

He said Disney knows this but give the DTD route as a "marketing tool" to bring guests to DTD!!!!

UGH! What else can't I trust????

Trust

I have a unique idea, you decide for yourself, if you want to shop or not.

If you are concerned about Disney and their marketing tools, believe me you are going to the wrong place for a vacation.

BTW.......DTD is the best route.

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

i agree DTD being the best route. If you don't want to shop don't there are not guards there that drag you into the Marketplace area once you get off the bus. Usually if you have ressies you are in a hurry to hop off one bus and get on the next. We do it all the time for our ADRs.

 

[disneyldwjr]

Well the former WDW planning and marketing guy told my friend that WDW has timed it and absolutely did this as a way of getting guests into DTD even though its timing tests shows that this is defintitely less efficient and that 90 percent of times guests travelling between hotels are travelling at a time when the MK is open, or at least busses and monorail are still open.

I think the operative words here are " former WDW planning and marketing guy". The biggest one being FORMER. Lots of former Disney CMs have a lot to say and a lot of it is sour grapes.
The advice you were given is for your safety and ease of movement.

 

[Chuck S]

Well the former WDW planning and marketing guy told my friend that WDW has timed it and absolutely did this as a way of getting guests into DTD even though its timing tests shows that this is defintitely less efficient and that 90 percent of times guests travelling between hotels are travelling at a time when the MK is open, or at least busses and monorail are still open.

Less efficient perhaps for the resort to resort traveler (that certainly depends on many factors, including time of day), but perhaps they also advise the DtD route to cut down on bus overcrowding between parks and resorts at peak times. I mean, there are certainly times, like at or shortly after park closing, you may have to wait for two busses to your destination. Overall, DtD is probably the least congested and easiest route...it works for ALL resorts, and is easy to remember. For instance,

guest: How do I get from Resort A to resort B?
CM: Take a bus and transfer at DtD.

-or-

guest: How do I get from Resort A to Resort B?
CM: What time of day are your going?
Guest: Oh, we have a dining ressie at 5:30
CM: Well, you could transfer at DtD or Take a monorail and tranfer at MK or take a bus and transfer at MGM or take a bus and transfer at EPCOT or take a bus and transfer at AK, of course,we have no way of knowing which will get you there the fastest...busses may be running late, the monorail could lose power or go down because of a lightning storm. A bus could break down or be near capacity and you'd have to wait...so generally we recommend transferring at DtD most times of day.

What time will you be finished with dinner?

Guest: Well, I'm not sure, maybe 7:30 or so, depends on if we want to look around the resort and shops.
CM: Well, MK closes at 7:00, EPCOT closes at 9:00, so both of those may be busy at you transfer time, MGM may be closed by then...etc etc.

Why take 20 minutes to explain the obvious? DtD is the easiest place for most folks to remember and is usually the least crowded transfer point. As a previous poster pointed out, folks on their way to another resort for a dining ressie aren't likely to take any time to shop at DtD, but they may be in the mood after dinner...if not, no one forces them.

 

[PCFriar80]

I think the operative words here are " former WDW planning and marketing guy". The biggest one being FORMER. Lots of former Disney CMs have a lot to say and a lot of it is sour grapes.
The advice you were given is for your safety and ease of movement.

You took the words right out of my mouth! It was also the 1st post for the OP.
Well put Disneyldwjr....must be a CT thing!

Sorry, make that 2nd! I rounded wrong!

 

[mrslur]

Or you could take a taxi.

 

[disneyldwjr]

You took the words right out of my mouth! It was also the 1st post for the OP.
Well put Disneyldwjr....must be a CT thing!

Sorry, make that 2nd! I rounded wrong!

Thank you, I think it is also a DVC thing.

 

[crazywig]

If you don't want to shop don't there are not guards there that drag you into the Marketplace area once you get off the bus.

shhhh! don't tell my dh that, i've been using that excuse for years!

 

[kylara]

I agree that the MK might be quicker at most time, however, you did state you were asking about Thanksgiving, one of the most popular days for the parks with MK being the most popular park. Given this, I am sure that they gave DTD as the best bet for that day.

 

[CarolynNC]

He said Disney knows this but give the DTD route as a "marketing tool" to bring guests to DTD!!!!

Hi Maya44 and welcome to the DIS. This is a great forum and wonderful place to find information. Read everyone's opinions, don't be afraid to ask lots of questions, and then form your own plan of attack.

After many trips to WDW I too think transferring through Downtown Disney is the easiest route. It may or may not be a marketing tool but it's really no different than those used by most major department stores. If you'll look around next time you're out shopping you'll notice there are few direct routes through the stores.

If you make three calls to WDW with the same question you might just get three different answers. I believe it's because the CM's personal opinions creep in, policy changes frequently and it takes a while to get that info out there, and some CM's have more experience than others. Post here and you are able to tap into information from folks who probably spend more time in the parks than the folks on the phone.

Have a great trip.

 

[gigi1313]

i'm not a former anything... i've got no sour grapes... i have experienced buses from parks and resorts and dtd and dtd is the ONE place that our family has historically been left waiting the longest *every time!*

once after a shopping spree (self-imposed! LOL!) we waited over an HOUR for a bus to the campground, making us late for HDDR... what we thought was "plenty of time" was not because when a bus finally showed, it was not sched'd to go to the area we needed to go to and it had to make stops at blizzard beach (typhon lagoon? one of the water parks) enroute... it was a NIGHTMARE!

the worst part was, when we loaded the bus the driver pointed out the white wdw van w/the dispatched sitting in it... it had been there the *entire* time (1+ hours) we were sitting in the sweltering heat waiting for a bus!!!

although i am sure it is very efficient after the parks close, during park hours, dtd experiences poor bus service... ergo, dtd is our least fave place to "catch a bus!"

 

[helenk]

I'm not sure why taking the bus via DTD increases shopping. It's a pretty good walk from the bus stop to the stores. If you were using that as a pick up point to go to another resort to eat or visit, it not like you'd hop off your bus and then run to the stores for a quick shopping trip until the bus for the resort you want to go to comes along,
When the parks close early DTD is the best route because it is open later, this way you do not have to worry about being stranded.

 

[AnnetteF]

I agree that going by way of DTD is the surest way of getting where you need to without worrying about park closing times, however, I have to agree with gigi1313. More than once we have been stuck waiting at DTD for buses that never seem to come. The last time we did this, we waited so long that we wound up changing our plans for the rest of the day all together and just got on the first bus that came, no matter where it was going. We wound up taking a bus to the Contemporary, going to the Magic Kingdom for a while and then taking the bus from MK back to OKW. Of course, this wouldn't have been an option if it had been later at night.