NOT impressed with the Beach Club! Just back...

[pixie08]

The YC and BC have exclusively shared a bus to the MK and AK when I have stayed at the Swan - at least for park openings and closings. The MK has separate bus stops for the YC/BC as well as the BW/S/D.

No this is not the case. As of this month, for all parks, all times, even at 12 am- five resorts stops on the buses. trust me it is not fun. waiting 25 mins at 12 am for a bus at mk and not getting on it and having to wait for the next one 15 mins later.

I know deluxes share buses I know GF, WL Poly etc. Many busses make multiple in-resort stops and that makes sense but this was pretty bad. Like I said I have stayed at BWV & BWI a few times before and this was pretty the worst. Wait times were long and it took so long to get to the parks. Not bashing the resorts, I love the EPCOT resorts, they are my favorite, but they need to improve this.

 

[TDC Nala]

The last time I took the bus to BC from DTD, the bus got to the Yacht Club (4th stop) before the driver realized there was a group standing in the stairwell with an unfolded stroller and a kid inside the stroller. He said they had to take the kid out and fold the stroller. They refused. The driver called a dispatcher and asked what to do. They told him not to move the bus until the kid was out of the stroller and the stroller folded. The group still refused.

At that point I got off the bus and walked to BC. Which can pretty much be done from any of the Epcot resorts if need be. (hint: if you're at the Boardwalk, get off the bus at the Swan and walk over).

No this is not the case. As of this month, for all parks, all times, even at 12 am- five resorts stops on the buses.

Five stops on ALL park buses? As of this month? Because they weren't doing it in July.

 

[NancyIL]

Five stops on ALL park buses? As of this month? Because they weren't doing it in July.

They weren't doing that from the MK when I was there in late July, either! I'll be back next month, so I'll be sure to note whether all buses stop at all Epcot resorts, or just the DD and mid-day buses.

 

[GovieMom]

I'll be back next month, so I'll be sure to note whether all buses stop at all Epcot resorts, or just the DD and mid-day buses.

Please report back with your findings, as we'll be staying at the BC for the first time in October, and I'd like to know what to expect. Thanks!

 

[NancyIL]

Please report back with your findings, as we'll be staying at the BC for the first time in October, and I'd like to know what to expect. Thanks!

I will, but I won't be home until Oct. 3.

 

[oceanmarina]

For the premium Disney charges to stay on site (where "complimentary" transportation is a major selling point), guests shouldn't be forced to choose between renting a car or enduring poor bus service, especially at deluxe resorts, where the premium for staying on site is super high.

I completely agree. I also agree the worst is taking the bus service to DTD, it's always horrendus no matter where we stay. We always have to stop there as my DS is a lego fan & a stop at the lego store is a must-do.

But I must say, we stayed at the beach club august of 2012 & it was easy going to the magic kingdom (the only other stop was yacht club), so other than getting to/from downtown disney, we had no issues with the bus service at the beach club.

I also agree with the OP, the quick service is not great, Captain Cooke's at the Poly was way better for us.

I enjoyed the beach club, but the hotel's paper thin walls mixed with yong adults staying next door who would loudly party every night from midnight to about 3AM, ruined our stay for us. I would have to call security about 4 or 5 times to get them to come over, finally they would knock on their door around 3AM and break it up. Every morning we would see empty beer cans in the hall in front of their door, definately not what we would expect from a deluxe resort...sigh...

 

[WeCantWait]

Hi
First off let me say we travel to Disney twice a year from Boston. We have stayed at almost all the resorts except for Grand Floridian and Poly.

Here's some of my complaints:*remember this is a top $ resort
-BUS SERVICE-why on earth when leaving Animal Kingdom and Typhoon Lagoon is there 1 bus for 5 resorts? (Beach Club, YC,BW,Swan, Dolphin)
-BEES-there were a ton of bees around the pool area-getting a drink from the soda fountains was a challenge
-Speaking of soda fountains-the marketplace is a joke-1 set of soda fountains? 1 toaster that has only 2 spots?-horribly slow service, too small for such a big resort-never mind basically NO seating???
-Beaches and Cream-great little restaurant if you want a 90 minute wait every time! We stopped 4 separate times on vaca, all different times of day and we always got the standard response 90 minutes-even though there are empty tables inside. And why in the world can't you order a No Way Jose (my favorite sundea-lol) in the to go line? Only certain icecream things are available
-Pool side service-1 waiter for the whole pool area??? This is Deluxe service???
-Life guards, attidues! They closed the pool mulitple times while we were there for thunder and lighting which is understanble and they wait 30 minutes before opening-ok get that but why after the 30 minutes do then the lifeguard staff go in and re-set the chairs, and clean the pool deck-people are sweltering and waiting in line to use the pool-let us in!!!!
Sorry had to vent-I thought we would of had a much better experience.

I hear you, especially on the bus situation. We wont stay there again because of those busses. Loads of park time was wasted on transportation.

 

[pixie08]

They weren't doing that from the MK when I was there in late July, either! I'll be back next month, so I'll be sure to note whether all buses stop at all Epcot resorts, or just the DD and mid-day buses.

They don't do it in July, it's a peak holiday month, august is "slower" season.I have stayed at BWV & BWI many times and can assure they do this depending on the month.

We do walk from the Swan, it's not the point at $400 a night you shouldn't have to that after long day. Older people and people with young kids can not be expected to do that. I am a Disney fanatic, DVC owner, I was married at the Boardwalk... Trust me I love The EPCOT area but I can not defend the slipping Transportation service. I usually do not complain but it was that bad.

 

[Boski]

No this is not the case. As of this month, for all parks, all times, even at 12 am- five resorts stops on the buses. trust me it is not fun. waiting 25 mins at 12 am for a bus at mk and not getting on it and having to wait for the next one 15 mins later.

If I'm reading this correctly this statement is false. I was just there (August 6-12) and all buses I rode from MK to BC only stopped at YC/BC. Granted I wasn't at MK at 12am, I think the latest was 9:30pm, but we went straight to YC/BC

Now coming back from AK (which we only did 1 day) yes the bus stopped at all 5.

 

[NancyIL]

They don't do it in July, it's a peak holiday month, august is "slower" season.I have stayed at BWV & BWI many times and can assure they do this depending on the month.

We do walk from the Swan, it's not the point at $400 a night you shouldn't have to that after long day. Older people and people with young kids can not be expected to do that. I am a Disney fanatic, DVC owner, I was married at the Boardwalk... Trust me I love The EPCOT area but I can not defend the slipping Transportation service. I usually do not complain but it was that bad.

I rarely go to WDW in the summer, and most of my visits are in the fall, early December, and late April. My bus experience from the Swan was as I reported above: Swan/Dolphin/Boardwalk (no Yacht or Beach Club) sharing a bus to the theme parks, and all 5 sharing a bus to DD. If that has changed and all 5 Epcot resorts regularly share the bus to AK and MK - I'll report differently after my next trip in late September.

I LIKE to walk between the Swan and Epcot, and I will sometimes walk from the Studios to the Swan. I could certainly take the boat, but walking is faster and I need the exercise - as do most adults!

 

[NancyIL]

If I'm reading this correctly this statement is false. I was just there (August 6-12) and all buses I rode from MK to BC only stopped at YC/BC. Granted I wasn't at MK at 12am, I think the latest was 9:30pm, but we went straight to YC/BC

Now coming back from AK (which we only did 1 day) yes the bus stopped at all 5.

The MK has separate bus stops to go to the YC/BC and to the BW/S/D. I could understand one bus going to all the resorts at midnight, but that is not the norm from the MK.

As I think about the AK, I usually go there in the morning and then transfer to another park. It's been a long time since I went from AK to the Swan, so you all must be right about the bus stopping at all 5 resorts on the return. I don't recall it stopping at the YC/BC when it went to the AK.

 

[DisneyLover75]

There's not too much Disney can do about the bees. Disney rarely will kill any living creature and I'll bet there were bees at every single resort at Disney World. Not too long ago, lots of people were concerned because bees were mysteriously dying and no one knew why. If we don't have bees, there are a lot of things we won't have around anymore. Maybe you didn't see It's Tough to be a Bug and hear the song about how they are pollinators.

Sorry you didn't have the time you thought you would.

I don't like to assume, because obviously I wasn't there, but I'm taking a wild guess and saying that the "bees" the OP was speaking of were not bees in the strict sense of the word, but YELLOW JACKET WASPS, which are very aggressive and do not serve any positive purpose. They sting multiple times without dying and they are always buzzing around food and drinks, especially in late summer and autumn. I hate them.

I seriously hope they're not around when I go in November. I'm terrified of them.

That would put me off too.

I thought Disney sprayed for that stuff? I rarely if ever see any insects in the parks. I had heard it was because they sprayed.

I know this was at the resort, so that's obviously another story. I suppose where there's sugary stuff (soda) there'll be "bees".

 

[Megsie1000]

Stayed at BC in June and for the most part had a very good experience. The one exception was the bus situation. I was almost separated from the rest of my family by extremely aggressive guests trying to squeeze themselves into the sardine can of a bus. People with babies and elderly were standing. Lots of people were left on the sidewalk without a way to get where they were going and no way of knowing when the next bus was coming.

I realize Disney cannot do anything about rude guests, but the problem was that we had been waiting for a very long time for a bus and it was very obvious not everybody was going to get on the bus that came. This happened more than once and was very disappointing. Nobody wants to start off their day that way (or end it).

I don't understand people who say "that's the way it is, stop complaining" when Disney is touting their wonderful internal transportation as one of the reasons you should pay a premium to stay at Disney. There are enough people who have bad experiences that they ought to fix it. It cannot be that hard to fix and they absolutely have the means to do it.

And if they are going to be so stingy on the buses they ought to at least put queue lines for the buses at BC to prevent the angry mobs from pushing past other people who have been waiting longer.

 

[gwynne]

Stayed at BC in June and for the most part had a very good experience. The one exception was the bus situation. I was almost separated from the rest of my family by extremely aggressive guests trying to squeeze themselves into the sardine can of a bus. People with babies and elderly were standing. Lots of people were left on the sidewalk without a way to get where they were going and no way of knowing when the next bus was coming.

I realize Disney cannot do anything about rude guests, but the problem was that we had been waiting for a very long time for a bus and it was very obvious not everybody was going to get on the bus that came. This happened more than once and was very disappointing. Nobody wants to start off their day that way (or end it).

I don't understand people who say "that's the way it is, stop complaining" when Disney is touting their wonderful internal transportation as one of the reasons you should pay a premium to stay at Disney. There are enough people who have bad experiences that they ought to fix it. It cannot be that hard to fix and they absolutely have the means to do it.

And if they are going to be so stingy on the buses they ought to at least put queues lines for the buses at BC to prevent the angry mobs from pushing past other people who have been waiting longer.

That must have been frustrating. I'm kinda thinking we might need a bus stories thread. From reading at the DIS, guests at many of the various resorts have talked about similar experiences on occasion.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

We've stayed at BC, YC, the Polynesian and the GF.
The bus situation to DTD was bad at all three!
Now we just take a taxi to DTD.

You can walk or take a water taxi to DHS and EPCOT. For MK we've only seen BC and YC buses - not Swan/Dolphin and the boardwalk.

Sometimes the AK bus would share all five - sometimes just BC and YC.

I think there is even a sticky about cs in the EPCOT resorts. If you are looking for a food court like the mods and values you won't find one at any of the EPCOT resorts.

Bees happen, just like love bugs.

Now I will tell you that BC is our favorite resort. We've never encountered any less than friendly cms. Some of the friendliest cms anywhere have been at BC.

We usually go to BC for lunch when it opens at 11 so we won't have to wait. Of courses Beaches and Cream doesn't take ADRs so you never know how busy it will be. That being said we had a 6:30 ADR for Kona and didn't get seated until 7:30, it happens.

 

[TDC Nala]

Please report back with your findings, as we'll be staying at the BC for the first time in October, and I'd like to know what to expect. Thanks!

You can't know exactly what to expect. Everything is not the same from time to time. If the bus dispatchers think they need extra buses on the Epcot resort line they MIGHT dispatch extra buses to pick up at certain resorts. You can never predict bus service exactly from any resort.

 

[Masonmj84]

As to the lack of CS options, what about the Boardwalk Bakery? (I've heard there's a lot of yummy stuff there)

 

[Tink-aholic]

I'm the poster who said that the buses "are what they are, everyone knows that" and that we rent a car when we stay, even at monorail resorts. My point with all of that is that complaining, while it seems to be great fun to some and even the newest Great American Pastime for others, isn't going to make a ounce of difference in whether a bus is going to drop you off any faster from DTD. It doesn't matter if it isn't right or fair or moral or justified or (insert your word here). The bus is going to come when the bus is going to come and it will drop off at as many stops as Disney tells it to.

One of my favorite sayings is:

"In a storm, the pessimist complains about the wind, the optimist expects it to change, but the realist adjusts his sails."

When in the World, I adjust my sails.

I am aware that WDW Management checks in on the DIS to see what people are saying from time to time, but this has been complained about for years and nothing has been changed. Besides, operating those buses is one ENORMOUS expense for Disney, so I am sure that in these times, they are looking to decrease routes, not add. If they do decide to add more routes...you can bet it will come with an appropriate price increase.

 

[*Fantasia*]

As to the lack of CS options, what about the Boardwalk Bakery? (I've heard there's a lot of yummy stuff there)

What kind of yummy stuff? Do they have sandwiches, fries, chicken nuggets, salads, pop... etc? Are there places to get those bites nearby? I'm thinking of a food court anywhere nearby.

 

[Eponine1]

One thing that always makes me hesitate to book deluxe is that I repeatedly hear that the bus service is bad.

It seems for the price Disney charges at these resorts, they should each have thier own dedicated bus.

At BC/YC, I could, perhaps, see the two resorts sharing a bus during slow times. But, for the price of these resorts, they should never have to share a bus with any of the other EP resorts.

Same goes with the Monorial resorts.

Agree 100%!!!!

Every deluxe should have a dedicated bus line, no sharing. Not with the rates that people pay to stay there.