Report on bus transportation at AKL Jambo - Sept 20-24 trip

[madelyn]

My 10 year old son and my 2 sisters just returned from a 4 night trip. They stayed in a value studio at AKLV Jambo. This was their first stay at Jambo House even though they have stayed at Kidani on past trips. My son complained about the bus transportation. He said it was slow. My sister said it was OK but she didn't like that Jambo House was the 2nd stop after Kidani for pick-ups and often the bus was full. They were trying to get to Animal Kingdom on Sunday Sept 23 and there was a big line to get on the bus at the resort to get to the park in the morning! My 10 year old son might be spoiled from this summer's trip where we stayed at BWV and BLT. He now says that he favorite resort is BWV since he can walk to 2 parks from there. But on that trip he complained that we didn't get to ride many buses and he liked the buses! I guess everyone is different. My older son (14 years old) says his favorite resorts are Old Key West and Saratoga Springs because they are "nice". I am not sure how much he remembers though since we haven't been at Saratoga since 2009 and I think Old Key West was in 2005?

 

[dianeschlicht]

We have always had very good bus transportation from AKV (both Jambo and Kidani), but I can understand the frustration of Jambo buses already being full after coming from Kidani. Time of day makes a big difference as well. You will see more frequent buses in the AM than you will in the midday time period.

 

[madelyn]

I was also wondering if maybe the frequency of buses changes during "off season"? We typically travel when school is out so maybe there are more buses then? They also wanted to go to Downtown Disney to/from AKL the morning before their Magical Express pick up and we typically have a car and drive to Downtown Disney. So it was probably stressful to depend on a bus to get you back in time for your Magical Express pick-up. They mentioned having to stop at Typhoon Lagoon, etc.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I was also wondering if maybe the frequency of buses changes during "off season"? We typically travel when school is out so maybe there are more buses then? They also wanted to go to Downtown Disney to/from AKL the morning before their Magical Express pick up and we typically have a car and drive to Downtown Disney. So it was probably stressful to depend on a bus to get you back in time for your Magical Express pick-up. They mentioned having to stop at Typhoon Lagoon, etc.

We are always there during the "off" season. I agree that it would be more stressful if you had to always take the bus. We too usually drive to DTD from AKL.

 

[madelyn]

Come to think of it, the first morning they had to get to Epcot at 8:45a for a Y.E.S. class for my son, the second morning they had to get to Magic Kingdom for a 10:15 Fast Pass plus time slot and the third morning they had to get to Animal Kingdom for Donald's breakfast for a 10:00a reservation. The last morning was the quick trip down to Downtown Disney before their Magical Express pick up. So maybe bus transportation was no slower than usual but they perceived it to be slower and more stressful since each morning of this shorter stay, they had to get some place each morning at a certain time. I typically make dinner reservations so we don't have to be at a park at a set time in the morning and don't mind being at the mercy of the bus schedule.

 

[MouseMomx2]

We were also at Jambo House recently (9/15-20) and had absolutely no issues with the bus transportation. We never waited more than 5 minutes for a bus and were always able to get a seat. We left the resort just before park opening time each day so it was prime bus time, yet there were no issues. Each morning there was a CM at the bus stop, keeping track of who was headed where and announcing each bus as it arrived.

 

[lilpooh108]

Each morning there was a CM at the bus stop, keeping track of who was headed where and announcing each bus as it arrived.

Is this new? I've never seen this before at AKV.

 

[rznhal]

Is this new? I've never seen this before at AKV.

They did it when we were there in February!

 

[MouseMomx2]

They were doing it at SSR and the Boardwalk in February as well.

 

[nvrenoughdisney]

They were doing it at BLT in March too. We were there for 10 days and it was almost always the same guy. I joked with him about never having any time off.

 

[Silver Queen]

We stayed at both Jambo and Kidani last week (3 nights in each). Transportation was fine at both resorts and we did see a CM with a computer at Jambo several times. Maximum wait was between 10 and 15 minutes. No complaints here!