New bus procedure at resorts???

[camac517]

DH's co-worker just got back from DW. He told DH that they have changed the bus system and now they have cameras on the lines at the resorts and the buses won't pick up guests until the lines are full. He said his parents had to wait 1 1/2 hours on 2 occasions. I told DH I didn't believe it and he said his co-worker told him that the bus drivers are telling guests that it is something knew they are trying. Has anyone else heard this?

 

[goofy4tink]

I find that hard to believe. Why? Because at the vast majority of resorts, there is no way to tell who is going to what park via the buses. For instance...if at BW, everyone just mills around at the bus stop and then when the appropriate bus comes along, they move to the street to board the bus. So, there would be no way, even using cameras, to judge how many people were going to, say, MK.

If someone had to wait 90 mins for a bus to a park, there was some kind of huge issue. I'm not calling anyone a liar, but it's hard to believe. In over 30 trips to WDW, I have never waited more than 40 mins for a bus...and that was at park closing at MK when staying at Pop!! From a resort to a park I had my longest wait at AKL-Jambo House...it was about 30 mins from the time I got to the bus stop to the time I boarded a bus. And that time we arrived just as the DHS bus (the one we wanted) was pulling away.

If Disney were to install camera's at resort bus stops, and not dispatch buses until the stops were full, there would be a huge number of people renting cars...and Disney doesn't want that.

 

[Jestocost]

DH's co-worker just got back from DW. He told DH that they have changed the bus system and now they have cameras on the lines at the resorts and the buses won't pick up guests until the lines are full. He said his parents had to wait 1 1/2 hours on 2 occasions. I told DH I didn't believe it and he said his co-worker told him that the bus drivers are telling guests that it is something knew they are trying. Has anyone else heard this?

Just back last week and saw no evidence of any of this. We were at BWI and buses to and from MK and AK were running frequently. We never waited more than 10-15 minutes for any bus and the longest wait we had was when the bus we saw an earlier bus to where we were going pull out as we were walking to the bus stop.

It's also hard to imagine that Disney would completely revamp their bus dispatch system after already having done so within the last couple of years when they went to the computerized system. Not to say that it's impossible that they would, but I deem it unlikely.

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

I don't see how waiting 'til the lines are full would work - seems they'd also have to somehow hold back the buses coming INTO the resort from the parks (don't they usually drop off and reload?) and it doesn't seem like that's something they would/could do.

ETA: I suppose they could just drop off and leave but that seems like it could make for some mad guests ; - )

 

[camac517]

Everything you guys are saying is exactly why I didn't believe it. I just don't see how it would work. DH's co-worker must have gotten his signals crossed somewhere. Jestocost, It makes me happy to hear that you were there last week too and didn't witness this change. I don't know why he would say a bus driver told him that they were making a change though. I am going to have DH try to get more info. I know they were staying at the cabins at Fort Wilderness...maybe they were just testing it out there? Who knows. I am going to get to the bottom of this!

 

[bumbershoot]

At the resorts? I do'nt know.

At the parks? That is what we were told by *everyone* in December. When my husband and aunt waited for the OKW bus at DHS for over an hour, with hubby calling some number he found around there and being told that they flat out would not dispatch another bus until there were more people there... Finally a SSR bus took pity on them and picked them up. 2 hours from getting in line to getting back to OKW...

We'd had a grand experiment that evening, with most of us taking our cars back to OKW (we'd driven in that morning) but aunt and hubby (who I think were both in a bit of a mood) decided to try the bus...didn't help their moods!

But at the resorts? No idea.

 

[Jestocost]

At the resorts? I do'nt know.

At the parks? That is what we were told by *everyone* in December. When my husband and aunt waited for the OKW bus at DHS for over an hour, with hubby calling some number he found around there and being told that they flat out would not dispatch another bus until there were more people there... Finally a SSR bus took pity on them and picked them up. 2 hours from getting in line to getting back to OKW...

We'd had a grand experiment that evening, with most of us taking our cars back to OKW (we'd driven in that morning) but aunt and hubby (who I think were both in a bit of a mood) decided to try the bus...didn't help their moods!

But at the resorts? No idea.

Didn't see it at the parks last week either. Left MK immediately after the 10 p.m. fireworks. We got in line for the BWI bus and one arrived within a few minutes, loaded and left. Friends staying at POFQ left at the same time and caught a bus immediately too. At AK, we arrived at the AKL loading zone and there were very few people waiting, but a bus still came within 10-15 minutes.

 

[gigi1313]

i'm wondering if perhaps this was at a non-disney resort and they are referring to the hotel shuttles that bring people to disney parks?

 

[LilyWDW]

Everything you guys are saying is exactly why I didn't believe it. I just don't see how it would work. DH's co-worker must have gotten his signals crossed somewhere. Jestocost, It makes me happy to hear that you were there last week too and didn't witness this change. I don't know why he would say a bus driver told him that they were making a change though. I am going to have DH try to get more info. I know they were staying at the cabins at Fort Wilderness...maybe they were just testing it out there? Who knows. I am going to get to the bottom of this!

If this was happening, I am sure it would have been mentioned more then once. With the way we are all connected these days, it would have been reported the moment it happened if it was a real change.

I'm putting my money on intercommunication.

 

[Mama Who]

Perhaps a bus driver was having a little fun with him?

 

[Dacky619]

At the resorts? I do'nt know.

At the parks? That is what we were told by *everyone* in December. When my husband and aunt waited for the OKW bus at DHS for over an hour, with hubby calling some number he found around there and being told that they flat out would not dispatch another bus until there were more people there... Finally a SSR bus took pity on them and picked them up. 2 hours from getting in line to getting back to OKW...
We'd had a grand experiment that evening, with most of us taking our cars back to OKW (we'd driven in that morning) but aunt and hubby (who I think were both in a bit of a mood) decided to try the bus...didn't help their moods!

But at the resorts? No idea.

I don't think they are doing it at the parks either. We were at WDW 3 weeks ago and a couple of times in the afternoon there were only 4-10 people heading back to the All star Music resort with us.

 

[seashoreCM]

When my husband and aunt waited for the OKW bus at DHS for over an hour, with hubby calling some number he found around there and being told that they flat out would not dispatch another bus until there were more people there... Finally a SSR bus took pity on them and picked them up. 2 hours from getting in line to getting back to OKW.

What time of day? Often buses don't start returning to all resorts until 11 AM or so. If no one saw your family waiting, then no buses might be dispatched. Early in the morning if you need to return to your resort, you should find a CM who handles transportation down in the bus loading area to let him know you need a bus.

Buses don't always go back and forth between the same park and the same resort. Routes are somewhat complex and relatively few buses drop off and then go empty from the park to more distant resorts in the early morning. So most of the buses dropping off at Animal Kingdom may go to the All Stars or Coronado Springs to get their next load and most of the buses dropping off at Magic Kingdom will go to Fort Wilderness, Polynesian, etc. to get their next loads (for AK, Hollywood Studios).

If the bus supervisor or drivers know you are waiting at an uncrowded platform, then a hour wait is a severe aberration.

I would not be surprised if some monitoring system is put in place and if you are first to arrive at the platform, then the 20 minute normal interval between buses is begun then even if no bus had arrived at the empty platform for awhile.

OT: Occasionally I come upon a traffic light where, due to a minor malfunction, the first car arriving on a street that has a red light has to wait out the maximum time (45 seconds? 70 seconds?) for the street with the green light before the light changes.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

Dont think this makes any sense........I think the trolls are out just trying to fire up the folks!

AKK

 

[ancestry]

We were there several weeks ago and saw no signs of any of this. Everything with the buses functioned as "normal."

 

[camac517]

Dont think this makes any sense........I think the trolls are out just trying to fire up the folks!

AKK

I am not trolling. This was a legitimate question. DH and I haven't been to WDW since 2008 and we are super excited about our upcoming trip. I was worried that a change in the bus system would make things less...magical (for lack of a better word). I have no reason to believe DH's co-worker would make this story up. I just want to know if anyone else has been told about the new (test) procedure.

 

[LilyWDW]

Dont think this makes any sense........I think the trolls are out just trying to fire up the folks!

AKK

The OP has been on these boards for years. Yes, they have a low post count, but they are not new. They are not a troll.

We all need to be more careful at throwing that word around.

 

[joelkfla]

Absolutely not. Disney's service standard is that no guest should wait more than 20 minutes for a resort-to-park or park-to-resort bus. Now, that standard is not always met, but that is the target.

It is true that park-to-resort buses are dispatched "as needed" in the morning, but "as needed" means a guest is waiting, not a busload of guests.

 

[aubriee]

Absolutely not. Disney's service standard is that no guest should wait more than 20 minutes for a resort-to-park or park-to-resort bus. Now, that standard is not always met, but that is the target.

It is true that park-to-resort buses are dispatched "as needed" in the morning, but "as needed" means a guest is waiting, not a busload of guests.

I did a split stay when I was there in Dec. The morning I was transferring from CSR to YC, I dropped my bags off early at bell services to be transferred, then caught the first bus I saw, which just happened to be going to AK. I was the only person on the bus, so got to talking to the driver. I told him I was just going to AK so I could catch a bus to the YC. He told me park to resort buses don't usually run that early but he'd call and let them know. He immediately called and I heard him say he had an "upstreamer" that needed to get from AK to YC. They came back, told him to drop me off at the YC stop and they'd dispatch a bus. As we pulled into the stop at AK, a YC bus pulled up right behind us. I had my own private bus to the YC. On the way to the YC, I heard that driver call in to say he had picked up the "upstreamer". I laughed and told him I was not a fish. he laughed back and said that anyone catching a park to resort bus that early was considered an "upstreamer".

I was also at WDW the first week of May. There were several times we caught the buses early in the morning or mid day and we were the only ones on them. They still came by about every 20 minutes.

 

[goofy4tink]

At the resorts? I do'nt know.

At the parks? That is what we were told by *everyone* in December. When my husband and aunt waited for the OKW bus at DHS for over an hour, with hubby calling some number he found around there and being told that they flat out would not dispatch another bus until there were more people there... Finally a SSR bus took pity on them and picked them up. 2 hours from getting in line to getting back to OKW...

We'd had a grand experiment that evening, with most of us taking our cars back to OKW (we'd driven in that morning) but aunt and hubby (who I think were both in a bit of a mood) decided to try the bus...didn't help their moods!

But at the resorts? No idea.

No evidence of that happening on my Dec trip or my April trip.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

I am not trolling. This was a legitimate question. DH and I haven't been to WDW since 2008 and we are super excited about our upcoming trip. I was worried that a change in the bus system would make things less...magical (for lack of a better word). I have no reason to believe DH's co-worker would make this story up. I just want to know if anyone else has been told about the new (test) procedure.

I was just there May 4 to the 12TH.......we saw none of this.......sorry....its just a silly and odd idea.........all it would do is make guests upset..........AKK