Magic Bus problems

[RD-SOX]

First let me say I have been to Disney so many times I can not count, in addition I have been there during Marathon weekend before. I love Disney and never had an issue. Now enter ignorant Magic Bus employees.

Saturday evening I made my reservation to be picked up at the Contemporary for 7:50 am. I was outside early watching runners pass. I was at the Magic bus sign at 7:40 am...........8:15 am and there is still no bus, people are getting nervous and I get it "marathon weekend" I am a runner and I understand with the road closures there are delays. So I called them and the woman on the phone said that I missed the bus and I must not have been out there in time. I was soooo furious at her for saying this. I explained there were at least 5 other families waiting outside with me. Another woman was on the phone with them also. I even went over to talk to the bell men at the stand by the entrance and they told me last bus was here at 7:28, no 7:50 bus yet.

I told the woman on the phone that she is mistaken but she insisted the bus had already been there and we all missed it, it is our fault. She said the bus driver said he was already there. I told her that he was lying and even told her what the bell man said. She then said "well its really busy" yeah lady I get it but did I miss the bus or is it running late. I have no issue if the woman would have said "I apologize we are running super late, I am soo sorry it should be there soon." But for her to jump on me and tell me its my fault. I told her that her behavior towards me was unacceptable to just say it was my fault without looking into the situation.

Bus came at 8:30, so now we had double people, the 7:50 passengers and 8:20 passengers. The bus driver was nice but very frustrated with the road closures mumbling something about no knowing how to get out because of the traffic. I was in the front and I could hear dispatchers yelling at drivers, drivers yelling at the dispatchers. Again I am repeating in my head that the marathon is nothing new so why are they so mad at the road closures. The bus driver asked out the window to a volunteer as we are at a set of lights how to get to the airport. The people on the bus were so worried about missing flights, how could this bus driver be so uninformed. I spoke up and told the bus driver he needed to go left, he started to go straight... omg I almost stood up and screamed. I told him he should turn around because he is going to the Grand Floridian and could not get out that way. He waved me off. Guess what.... we got stuck at the Grand Floridian. UGH I did make my flight when we finally got to the airport but others were not so lucky.

I am so disappointed in the Magic Bus, I am such a planner and all of this could have been avoided. Disney has been doing this marathon for 20 years, why was the Magic Bus so out of it??

 

[bumbershoot]

Disney has been doing this marathon for 20 years, why was the Magic Bus so out of it??

Maybe they changed things this time?


Sorry you had such a nerve-wracking experience with Magical Express. It's nice that the bell services people were paying so much attention to when the last bus came so they could back you up.


For others reading, though, I've read repeatedly that you need to be at the bus stop by the time it's 15 minutes before your scheduled time, ready to go. They can easily show up at that time and leave, I've read.

 

[seashoreCM]

"Magical Express" is either an accurate description or a misnomer to apply to the entire system depending on how well it took care of each and every passenger on your bus and also each and every passenger on a bus ca Feb. 2011 that got hit by a tractor trailer 3 miles from the airport.

Yours is not the only bus from which guests had to run for their planes, which result is enough to justify preaching at large that it is quite desirable to ask for a bus 3-1/2 hours in advance of flight time* instead of the advertised 3 hours. (Such a request, made by the normal deadline of the morning of the day before the day you will leave, is always granted.)

* (added later) At all times, not just during the marathon.

 

[Tam1067]

I was on the same bus but caught it at Wilderness Lodge. My bus was supposed to be at 8:00. We got to the stop at 7:45. The 7:30 bus had just left (the CM told us that and said they were 10-15 minutes behind).

The CM told us that she would make sure we got on our bus. There is no way we missed it.

The CM at WL called at about 8:25 (after I expressed my concern). She was told it was at the Contemporary and would be at the WL in 5 minutes. Well, that's not what happened.

Our bus did not arrive until 8:46. The driver said he would do a "double pick up," because one of the busses never got there. This was NOT a case of anyone missing a bus. It was a case of the Magical Express people being idiots and the Disney CMs being a bit unprepared.


It was a mess. Really, it's not the responsibility of the guest to ask for an earlier time. Three hours is plenty of time. And I read the marathon weekend info from Disney. Nothing said we should ignore the scheduled pick up time and get an earlier one.

It then took us until 9:30 to leave Disney property. That's because the driver who didn't know where he was going went to the GF to turn around. Unbelievable.

Disney hosts the marathon every year. If the traffic is that bad, then we should have been given an earlier bus time. And Disney is responsible for the quality of a service it provides.

We barely made our flight. It was in final boarding when we got to the gate.

I will be contacting Disney about this tomorrow. I'm sure I will get the standard apology and pass the buck comment about Magical Express drivers not being Disney castmembers, but I'm complaining anyway.

 

[RD-SOX]

I was on the same bus but caught it at Wilderness Lodge. My bus was supposed to be at 8:00. We got to the stop at 7:45. The 7:30 bus had just left (the CM told us that and said they were 10-15 minutes behind).

The CM told us that she would make sure we got on our bus. There is no way we missed it.

The CM at WL called at about 8:25 (after I expressed my concern). She was told it was at the Contemporary and would be at the WL in 5 minutes. Well, that's not what happened.

Our bus did not arrive until 8:46. The driver said he would do a "double pick up," because one of the busses never got there. This was NOT a case of anyone missing a bus. It was a case of the Magical Express people being idiots and the Disney CMs being a bit unprepared.


It was a mess. Really, it's not the responsibility of the guest to ask for an earlier time. Three hours is plenty of time. And I read the marathon weekend info from Disney. Nothing said we should ignore the scheduled pick up time and get an earlier one.

It then took us until 9:30 to leave Disney property. That's because the driver who didn't know where he was going went to the GF to turn around. Unbelievable.

Disney hosts the marathon every year. If the traffic is that bad, then we should have been given an earlier bus time. And Disney is responsible for the quality of a service it provides.

We barely made our flight. It was in final boarding when we got to the gate.

I will be contacting Disney about this tomorrow. I'm sure I will get the standard apology and pass the buck comment about Magical Express drivers not being Disney castmembers, but I'm complaining anyway.

Well said!!

 

[joelkfla]

IIt then took us until 9:30 to leave Disney property. That's because the driver who didn't know where he was going went to the GF to turn around. Unbelievable.

I completely agree that Disney & Mears dropped the ball, in failing to communicate & coordinate.

But please don't blame the driver. The usual route out of the MK area was closed. Apparently the driver asked someone on site which way to go, and was misdirected. It was Mears' management responsibilty to ensure that their drivers had the information on road closures and alternate routes.

 

[Tam1067]

RD-SOX, I emailed Disney today, and I believe another family who were on that bus and on our same flight are doing so too. I hope you do as well because the more people who do, the more likely we are to be taken seriously.

 

[RD-SOX]

RD-SOX, I emailed Disney today, and I believe another family who were on that bus and on our same flight are doing so too. I hope you do as well because the more people who do, the more likely we are to be taken seriously.

Thank you, I will be getting something together tonight and I will send it off!!

 

[IlovePiglet]

I completely agree that Disney & Mears dropped the ball, in failing to communicate & coordinate.

But please don't blame the driver. The usual route out of the MK area was closed. Apparently the driver asked someone on site which way to go, and was misdirected. It was Mears' management responsibilty to ensure that their drivers had the information on road closures and alternate routes.

It isn't isolated just to Mears and DME. Several years back when I drove DME buses I also got caught up in the traffic from the marathon in the MK resort area. I knew the road was closed, I knew I was going to have great difficulty getting through. I also knew I had guests at GF.
I was assured I would have no trouble getting through, just tell the volunteer helping with traffic I was a DME bus (I was driving one of the wrapped buses). I informed the volunteer I was a DME airport bus and he still routed me the way the marathon buses were going. This led to a nightmare. I finally got through and actually caught up to the bus that was 30 minutes ahead of me!
He was already on his way to GF so I was able to head directly to the airport.
All of my guests made it on time, thank goodness. I'm not so sure about the guests on the other bus.
I agree it is frustrating for all involved.

 

[seashoreCM]

Magical Express hot line number: toll free 866-599-0951

If someone else knows a better number to call for problems of this kind, please chime in.

After you get back to the airport, you should of course try to resolve problems on your own. But if you think that it might be desirable to (you foresee you might want to) contact Disney at any time thereafter then you should do so immediately.

One situation requires a split second decision so I'll make the decision for you. If the next flight is boarding and you can simply hand in your tickets and stand by, then do that even if you can't contact Disney right away. But if it is more complicated than simply handing in your tickets then contact Disney first even if that flight also leaves without you.

If you are outside security you might go to the DME welcoming area for help.

 

[Tormania]

Is this a problem limited to when the Marathon is done or does this sort of thing happen on a more regular basis?? We are going in early Dec (so no marathon issues for us) but plan to us ME for the first time and these stories do NOT give me warm fuzzies.

What other options would there be for a family traveling with a 3 yr old and won't have a car seat with us so taxis and normal transportation is out?

 

[NJRRK]

The situation described in these posts are HIGHLY unusual.

Normally DME runs on time, or a tiny bit ahead of time, and gets you to the airport in plenty of time for your flight. There are exceptions, but they are just that, EXCEPTIONS. Things that Disney, Mears, our anyone else have no control over. Among these are accidents, road closures, thing like that.

 

[goofy4tink]

Is this a problem limited to when the Marathon is done or does this sort of thing happen on a more regular basis?? We are going in early Dec (so no marathon issues for us) but plan to us ME for the first time and these stories do NOT give me warm fuzzies.

What other options would there be for a family traveling with a 3 yr old and won't have a car seat with us so taxis and normal transportation is out?

This is NOT a normal occurrence. Yes, traffic is nuts during Marathon times....there is lots of rerouting, which can be an issue for buses/drivers that don't normally get rerouted.
At normal times of year, it isn't an issue at all. I have been using DME for years, many times several times a year...haven't had an issue like that, ever.

 

[seashoreCM]

What other options would there be for a family traveling with a 3 yr old and won't have a car seat with us so taxis and normal transportation is out?

Now that you (having read this entire thread) know all about it, a good answer is to give yourself more time including proactively reserving an earlier bus (yes, that's an option).

This is particularly useful for those who:

1. Tend to get anxious if things are running just a little late,
2. Paid extra to reserve preferred boarding or seating on the plane,
3. Absolutely positively have to get back home on time, for example for jury duty or to meet your troopship after R&R.

This is NOT a normal occurrence. Yes, traffic is nuts during Marathon times ...

May I beg to differ? Disney organizes and schedules this marathon like clockwork annually. So extra planning for traffic should be a procedure gotten down pat.