Saratoga Springs - They still can't get the bus situation right

[HUFF590]

Just a couple of weeks ago on another thread everyone was saying how wonderfull the buses are at SSR, how quickly we change.

 

[ksoehrlein]

Are the buses from MK still packed with people using the SSR bus to get to DtD after MK closes? We encountered that during our first stay (Feb. 05) at SSR.

We'll definitely stay at SSR again, just now we consider ourselves forewarned and forearmed and will probably drive to the parks most of the time.

 

[Sammie]

We stayed in July and August and had no problems at all with buses at SSR, so I don't think it is a consistent problem.

We were very pleased with our stay, everyone we met was friendly and helpful. One day in the parking lot we had been shopping off property and had lots of bags to carry in. We dropped one and one of the housekeeping staff, came over and offered to help carry the packages to our rooms. It was obvious from the bags we had not even been shopping at Disney. She was also on her way to get off work, but stopped to help.

This was the kind of help we got the entire time we were there.

 

[LIFERBABE]

We stayed in July and August and had no problems at all with buses at SSR, so I don't think it is a consistent problem.

We were very pleased with our stay, everyone we met was friendly and helpful. One day in the parking lot we had been shopping off property and had lots of bags to carry in. We dropped one and one of the housekeeping staff, came over and offered to help carry the packages to our rooms. It was obvious from the bags we had not even been shopping at Disney. She was also on her way to get off work, but stopped to help.

This was the kind of help we got the entire time we were there.

I agree about the staff, and we never had a problem with the busses either. We had a vehicle, but we preferred using the SSR busses because they were direct and dropped us in front of the parks instead of having to ferry over to MK or Tram into the others.

The busses were not packed and we always had a seat. On MK EMH night the bus was full (after 1am) but everyone on the bus (especially the men) made sure that every child had a seat, which I thought was really wonderful.

Twice we were walking down the main street and CM's in Golf Carts offered us rides. We declined, as we enjoy walking together as a family (my Ds's say the funniest things!).

I also had a CM (from Mousekeeping) help me with my bags (on 2 separate occasions) that I was taking out of the car.

We will definitely stay there again and will continue to use the busses.

 

[Fredonia85]

While the problems you describe are inexcusable, transportation issues throughout WDW are not exactly unheard of. Routes change. Quality of service changes. To imply that these problems will continue indefinitely is ridiculous.

Any ideas when it will end? How long is long enough? How many busses that say Port Orleans make a stop at Blizzard Beach while the 1 that says Saratoga Springs justs drives by. Is 2 too many? How about 4, is that ridiculous?
Let's talk fuel and human error. Is it time Disney replace their busses and human drivers with an electronic train system run by a computer? I'm sure they have the technology.
I'm ready for it.

 

[tjkraz]

Any ideas when it will end?

Probably never.

How many busses that say Port Orleans make a stop at Blizzard Beach while the 1 that says Saratoga Springs justs drives by. Is 2 too many? How about 4, is that ridiculous?

As I said in my original post, your experiences were inexcusable. But you are mistaken if you believe that such occurrences are limited to Saratoga Springs busses as was implied in the subject and body of the post.

Let's talk fuel and human error. Is it time Disney replace their busses and human drivers with an electronic train system run by a computer? I'm sure they have the technology.
I'm ready for it.

That's all well and good, but it's not a realistic solution.

(I could also point out that Disney technology is often far from flawless. In fact, it probably contributed to your excessive wait. Disney busses don't run fixed schedules--they are dispatched via a computerized demand system. So, assuming that your wait after the driver missed you was still excessively long, the computers are to blame for determining that mid-day demand at Blizzard Beach wasn't sufficient to increase transportation frequency.)

The best solution for those frustrated by Disney transportation is simply to drive. If it isn't worth the money to you to pay for a rental car, then you're stuck with Disney's system. In most cases we've found WDW transportation to be adequate, but it will never be spectactular.

Bus / boat transportation is "free" to theme park ticket holders. And, as the old saying goes, you get what you pay for.

 

[Fredonia85]

I now understand why you have 5,618 posts.
Have a great evening!

 

[bicker]

Any ideas when it will end?

Every day is a new day, and one unshakeable truth is that today will be different from yesterday. There is every reason to believe that every day, every company works to make itself more attractive to customers, so that they can firmly establish a stronger long-term revenue stream.

How long is long enough?

How long of what?

How many busses that say Port Orleans make a stop at Blizzard Beach while the 1 that says Saratoga Springs justs drives by. Is 2 too many?

Surely not. A few semesters of queuing theory in grad school taught me that random chance could easily account for 2, 3 or even 4.

Is it time Disney replace their busses and human drivers with an electronic train system run by a computer? I'm sure they have the technology.
I'm ready for it.

Are you really ready to pay so much higher prices for admission and hotels to justify the cost of development, manufacture, and installation? If so, you are very unique. Most American vacationers are looking for a good financial deal -- looking to get the most for the least -- and don't place a high-enough value on automated electronic trains to substantiate its cost of acquisition.

I now understand why you have 5,618 posts.

That's utterly uncalled-for. Your message has been reported.

 

[Vacationeer]

We've vacationed at Saratoga numerous times and found adequate bus service.We arrive at Saratoga tonite and I plan to post a bus service report upon my return.

 

[TnRobin]

Ladies and Gentlemen, I must remind you to not make this personal.

We can disagree and still act civil.

Lets return to the discussion at hand.

 

[jennyl772003]

Were at SSR Aug 20-27. We stayed at Pop for 2 days before, so our ME experience was to Pop. No problems what so ever though.

Buses. There were some long waits, but I looked at it this way...

How many rooms does Pop have? POR? etc? How many OPEN rooms does SSR have at this time? I think as SSR expands and there are more riders associated with this resort that the bus service will improve.

It wasn't a deal breaker for me. Maybe it was because I stayed for 10 days and am not a commando tourist. I didn't mind getting there when I got there. And it didn't happen ALL the time.

 

[Paul G in the UK]

I stayed at SSR last year, not overly long after it opened, and was very pleasantly surprised at the bus situation. Way more than I thought given the small number of people staying there at the time. I thought that there would be less buses at the time as there were less people there, so I thought less demand for them.

I would think everyone has had probs from time to time. Before I got into DVC, I stayed at All Star Sports, always the last stop, most of the time a shared bus for all of the All Star Resorts. Packed out or what, especially at busy times.

The buses on my stay at SSR, frequent enough and quiet, were a breeze compared to that.

I'm going back next year, with lots more buildings open, so I look forward to seeing how the bus situation is then. More people, more demand, more buses? Or am I just being naive!!

 

[crisi]

We always decide how much we are willing to wait for a bus, if none arrive, we aren't against taking a cab. We've found cabs to be particularly useful at waterparks and resort to resort transportation. Also occationally park opening and closing. Its expensive, but for us preferable to driving a car (neither of us enjoy driving - particularly roads we don't know well). About half the time we take buses, and about half the time cabs.

 

[aero99]

I'm at SSR right now and we have not experienced any problems. Our longest wait was 20 minutes (and I am pretty sure that we just missed the bus at the Congress Park bus stop). When we left Epcot last night (prior to illuminations) the people in front of us gave the OKW driver a hard time about 2 OKW buses and no SSR bus. He QUICKLY called and there was an SSR bus almost immediately. So my advice is not to be too stressed out about the buses and if you have been waiting for a while (>20 minutes) let the next bus driver know (nicely please).

Melissa

 

[Pluto 2]

they figure you can always take a bus to the marketplace and walk from there or than take the boat. i always rent a car i tried disney transportation one time just to try it out never again. i go to one of the places you name your own price and get a great rate. not have to take disney transportation=priceless