repeated BUS ABUSE ON OUR TRIP THIS PAST WEEK

[Sherri]

So it seems like people put themselves through an awful lot to save an $8.00 parking fee. I don't get it. After all the money they would spend on passes and food and such, what is another $8.00?
Personally I feel that in order to board the bus at Saratoga Springs, you should have to show your room key from the resort. This would discourage people from packing up and coming over for a free ride.

 

[DrTomorrow]

So it seems like people put themselves through an awful lot to save an $8.00 parking fee. I don't get it. After all the money they would spend on passes and food and such, what is another $8.00?[...]

Check out the DIS Budget forum to see the lengths to which some folks will go to save some cash.

Sad to see this thread ressurected - someone please drive a stake through it. As an SSR owner, I don't see this as an issue of any consequence; and I'm certain that Disney doesn't see it as one, either. Regarding the old "Ask for ID" comment - wake up and smell the Mickey-brand coffee, folks, it ain't gonna happen. First of all, there are many valid forms of "ID" that qualify someone for Disney bus usage: room keys, MYW tickets, older tickets, AP, FL passes, etc. The time it would take for a driver to qualify 30 or 40 people getting on the bus, as they fumble through purses / wallets / pockets to find their ID would be maddening - ever seen how clueless most folks are at the ticket turnstyles? Plus, imagine the horrible PR - both word-of-mouth and more official - generated by Disney refusing to take an elderly man, or a woman with 3 children, or a EV rider, home to his/her resort because they didn't have their park ticket....

I'm a believer in picking my battles, and this just ain't worth the trouble....

IMHO - YMMV

 

[cavecricket]

Check out the DIS Budget forum to see the lengths to which some folks will go to save some cash.

Sad to see this thread ressurected - someone please drive a stake through it. As an SSR owner, I don't see this as an issue of any consequence; and I'm certain that Disney doesn't see it as one, either. Regarding the old "Ask for ID" comment - wake up and smell the Mickey-brand coffee, folks, it ain't gonna happen. First of all, there are many valid forms of "ID" that qualify someone for Disney bus usage: room keys, MYW tickets, older tickets, AP, FL passes, etc. The time it would take for a driver to qualify 30 or 40 people getting on the bus, as they fumble through purses / wallets / pockets to find their ID would be maddening - ever seen how clueless most folks are at the ticket turnstyles? Plus, imagine the horrible PR - both word-of-mouth and more official - generated by Disney refusing to take an elderly man, or a woman with 3 children, or a EV rider, home to his/her resort because they didn't have their park ticket....

I'm a believer in picking my battles, and this just ain't worth the trouble....

IMHO - YMMV

I have often complained about wanting them to check ID's again....

Your post really put it into perspective for me, I dont think I will consider the ID thing again.....seems like you would have a longer wait anyway what with people scurrying for their ID!!!


Thanks

 

[manning]

So it seems like people put themselves through an awful lot to save an $8.00 parking fee. I don't get it. After all the money they would spend on passes and food and such, what is another $8.00?
Personally I feel that in order to board the bus at Saratoga Springs, you should have to show your room key from the resort. This would discourage people from packing up and coming over for a free ride.

It may be the "I beat the system" attitude.

 

[manning]

Card reader like city buses now use?

 

[jade1]

Sorry I did not read this entire thread so forgive me if this has been hashed over already.

We "cheated" and took the SSR bus from EM evening at AK 3 weeks ago (we were at BWV) to DTD. My son around 9:00 suddenly decides he wants to look for a "fitted black POC hat with the movie logo on it" and had not found the "exact" one yet. Anyway there was no bus to DTD so we took the SSR bus and planned to walk over. Didn't even think twice about it, so sorry if it was wrong. The bus was pretty empty and a few folks on there were very helpful on what direction/bridge etc to use.

 

[DrTomorrow]

Card reader like city buses now use?

To be fair, this would probably work - unless there were problems with finding a bus-based reader that would accept every valid form of "ID" that allows bus usage. IMHO, it isn't the technology, it's the people - Disney's guests. I think that this would tick off a lot more people than it would please - a net negative for Disney (and even more negative as bad PR seems to spread much faster than good PR). Try this:

Spouse1 and Spouse2 (the Dr. is trying to be gender neutral, here) and three Offspring are at DAK. As is typical in many groups, once everyone is in the parks, Spouse1 gathers up all the park tickets (this family is staying at POFQ, and so has MYW on the room key). Later in the day (this is in July) Spouse1 isn't feeling well and decides to head back to the room early. Hours pass, now Spouse2 and the Offspring are ready to hop on the bus to POFQ to cool off in the pool, but OH NO! - none of them have their park ID! It's a long walk from DAK to POFQ - unless the bus driver makes an exception, WHICH DEFEATS THE PURPOSE THIS MADNESS WAS IMPLEMENTED FOR IN THE FIRST PLACE!

Coming up with additional scenarios is left as an exercise to the student.

IMHO - YMMV

 

[Sammie]

So it seems like people put themselves through an awful lot to save an $8.00 parking fee. I don't get it. After all the money they would spend on passes and food and such, what is another $8.00?
Personally I feel that in order to board the bus at Saratoga Springs, you should have to show your room key from the resort. This would discourage people from packing up and coming over for a free ride.

Same mentality as the mug problem. Some people will do anything to save a buck. Parking at Downtown Disney, walking to SSR and walking back is so not worth the trouble to me, but then hauling an old mug back isn't either.

If my vacation has to be all about scrimping at every turn I would just as soon stay home.

 

[rogerram]

So it seems like people put themselves through an awful lot to save an $8.00 parking fee. I don't get it. After all the money they would spend on passes and food and such, what is another $8.00?
Personally I feel that in order to board the bus at Saratoga Springs, you should have to show your room key from the resort. This would discourage people from packing up and coming over for a free ride.

the other problem with this is they might want to go to SSR for a tour of the resort as a possible future DVC member. It also might have current DVC members going to look at the resort as a possible future destination for their next vacation.

 

[OneMoreTry]

The DTD issue is what really affects us and therefore ticks me off. It's always hard to find parking there. I've had to fight for parking. There are all those one way roads and barricades preventing you from turning where you need to go.

Now I just let DW park the car.

I always wondered what all the cars were doing there when DTD didn't appear to be so busy. Now I'll be even more ticked off. I guess that's another real perk for us at OKW -- take the bus. Even better for the SSR people who like DD.

I'd be willing to go back and put money in a meter every 3 or 4 hours to prevent this problem. We're usually not there longer than that anyway.

 

[mello]

I didn't read all of the pages, but it sounds like not all of this is a "bus" issue. It sounds like a DD parking issue. Perhaps they should consider putting in some type of parking metering system there. Let the people get a ticket when they go in to park and allow them 4 hours free, then charge $1 per hour thereafter up to $8. How many folks really stay at DD for 5 or 6 hours (except the folks that go for dinner and PI, and PI could maybe validate tickets for parking). The whole point of that would be to keep people from parking there and commuting to the parks just to save $8. If the metering was done, they wouldn't be saving anything AND they would have the issues associated with getting back to DD from the parks.

That sounds like a reasonable solution. I've often wondered why they don't have transportation from the parks to DTD. If the reason really is to keep people from parking there, then charging for parking after so many hours should solve that problem. I suspect the reason has more to do with the cost of busses, drivers, and gas though. I think it's great that everyone has access to the whole Disney transportation system, BUT, if the members of SSR are paying dues for all these other folks to have bus service to DTD, thus making us stand for an hour at midnight just waiting to get home, I think that's something that Disney/DVC should address. Perhaps bus service from the parks to DTD just in the evening hours would help take the burden off the SSR busses/members.

 

[Safari Queen]

I don't believe that people staying off-property should be using the buses to get back to their hotels. I know the BW guards challenge people to keep down the number of "parkers". However, I do think a park-hopper entitles people to use the transportation system and I expect to be able to use the bus if I need to get to another resort for any reason. We visit other hotels all the time to eat, shop, and just enjoy the atmosphere. If bus drivers start asking for ID, buses that are already slow to come at times will ALWAYS be slower, or we'll be paying for more buses. Sometimes we just need to take a deep breath and let it go.

 

[cruisinpan55]

Check out the DIS Budget forum to see the lengths to which some folks will go to save some cash.

Sad to see this thread ressurected - someone please drive a stake through it. As an SSR owner, I don't see this as an issue of any consequence; and I'm certain that Disney doesn't see it as one, either. Regarding the old "Ask for ID" comment - wake up and smell the Mickey-brand coffee, folks, it ain't gonna happen. First of all, there are many valid forms of "ID" that qualify someone for Disney bus usage: room keys, MYW tickets, older tickets, AP, FL passes, etc. The time it would take for a driver to qualify 30 or 40 people getting on the bus, as they fumble through purses / wallets / pockets to find their ID would be maddening - ever seen how clueless most folks are at the ticket turnstyles? Plus, imagine the horrible PR - both word-of-mouth and more official - generated by Disney refusing to take an elderly man, or a woman with 3 children, or a EV rider, home to his/her resort because they didn't have their park ticket....

I'm a believer in picking my battles, and this just ain't worth the trouble....

IMHO - YMMV

BRAVO!!!!!!

 

[molly2004]

I've read a number of posts on this thread indicating that SSR guests should have exclusive rights to the buses that run to/from there. Am I missing something? Is it not okay to use the resort buses to visit other resorts (including surrounding areas) whether you're a guest or not? For example, can't you use the bus to/from the Poly to visit that resort, or OKW, or BCV, etc? Isn't it the same thing? Why should SSR guests be given exclusivity to those buses? I understand the situation of folks using the buses to dodge the parking fee. I don't think that was the point raised. It was one of exclusivity.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Am I missing something? Is it not okay to use the resort buses to visit other resorts (including surrounding areas) whether you're a guest or not?

Nobody should object to non-SSR guests using the SSR bus to visit SSR for a spa appointment, or to visit the models, or to have dinner, or to pool hop (within the DVC rules). That's no different than using the AKL bus to get to Boma for dinner.

The legitimate concern is if a significant number of people use the Congress Park bus stop at DDR as the bus stop for Hotel Plaza or Downtown Disney. If SSR guests can't get seats because of bus passengers who have no reason to be at SSR, then there's a legitimate problem. If a significant number of off-site familes park their cars at Downtown Disney in the morning (to save the theme park parking fee) and catch the SSR bus at the Congress Park stop, then that's abuse of the SSR bus.

There's no good way to fix the problem by requiring IDs. However, having gated pedestrian access into SSR near Downtown Disney could help. SSR guests would swipe their cards. There would also need to be a phone and a camera so that guests could be "buzzed in" if necessary.

 

[fishermouse]

Sorry I did not read this entire thread so forgive me if this has been hashed over already.

We "cheated" and took the SSR bus from EM evening at AK 3 weeks ago (we were at BWV) to DTD. My son around 9:00 suddenly decides he wants to look for a "fitted black POC hat with the movie logo on it" and had not found the "exact" one yet. Anyway there was no bus to DTD so we took the SSR bus and planned to walk over. Didn't even think twice about it, so sorry if it was wrong. The bus was pretty empty and a few folks on there were very helpful on what direction/bridge etc to use.

I own at SSR and if anyone asks you are welcome to use "MY" buws any time you please.. Hope you found your son a hat.

 

[nowellsl]

I own at SSR and if anyone asks you are welcome to use "MY" buws any time you please.. Hope you found your son a hat.

 

[Sammie]

There's no good way to fix the problem by requiring IDs. However, having gated pedestrian access into SSR near Downtown Disney could help. SSR guests would swipe their cards. There would also need to be a phone and a camera so that guests could be "buzzed in" if necessary.

This would only work if the entire property was fenced, and I doubt Disney is going to do that.

 

[LIFERBABE]

You know this is what I always say..........

Mi busa is su busa

I don't want to live in Fort Knox just to stop a few people from using a bus. We use other busses all the time and that is just how Disney has it set up. I for one don't want to wait for everyone to show ID or the mark of the beast to use a bus!

Most will find the inconvenience as deterrent enough. The others are like roaches, not even a nuclear bomb can stop em! If they are that determined to save the parking fee, there will always be a way.

 

[spiceycat]

don't tell but you can legally park at FW and get on the bus.....

oh my last visit okay a year ago - but hey this thread is more than a year old...

there was only one elderly couple that was trying to find DD and I showed (I hope) how to get there....but I really, really believe that they were lost.... they just looked confused...

I was on the outlook for DD hotels trying to get on and other than one couple didn't see anyone....

on this one couple was funny - they got on the bus at MK and expected the bus driver to take them to the Hilton.... he told them to get off at Congress House and walk or go back with him to MK.... they elected to walk.

this is not a big issue any longer. I really think that Disney has stopped the DD hotels from telling their guest to use SSR bus system.