the ssr bus people

[tomandrobin]

I see the porch at BW/BWV as an amenity, but it isn't restricted. Neither are the Savannah viewing areas at AKL, anyone can go to AKL and view the animals. As a BW guest, we've strolled over the the BC beach and sat in lawn chairs more than once. What is unique about SSR amenities?

I agree that parking lots should be restricted and DTD should be switched to a pay lot. The BW area "restaurant and shopping" parking lot should also be a pay lot with validation. But I don't see any reason why grounds should be restricted at any one resort, unless we are going to restrict grounds at all the resorts - and I hope they don't do that, resort touring is a favorite activity for a lot of people.

Honestly, I don't really see a problem here. The number of non-SSR guests using the bus to go to DTD is very small. In fact, most of the time not even noticable. I'm sure the non-WDW resort guests using the "free" Disney transportation is probably common event throughout WDW. Wether its the bus, monorail, or boats. I'm sure there non-resort guests use the DTD to Boardwalk Area for EPCOT too.

Now if the bus stop at Congress Park started having 60 people waiting with 2/3 of them from the DTD hotels, that would be a problem.

 

[crisi]

I understand, but what I am saying (and I guess what is "unique" in this case) is that the bridge to DTD may be (or could in the future) affect the enjoyment of SSR by the resort guests. Namely, if the SSR buses becomes too crowded because of non-resorts guest using it for Park/DTD transportation, then restricting the access from SSR to DTD to DVC guests only would be a justified restriction. Much the same reason they restrict pools to resort guests. The other option wouldbe to restrict the transportation system, but that isn't going to happen.

But that isn't unique - BW has the same issues around parking for Epcot access. And restricting resort access to solve those issues is using a cannon as a flyswatter.

 

[Sammie]

I don't understand the comments about the "bus people" not knowing how to get from the bus stops to DD, how did they get from DD to begin with.

Or are these Disney resort guests that are staying at other Disney resorts and went from their resort to a park, then after the park closed they want to go to DD, and have been instructed to take the SSR bus and walk, rather than go back to their resort and catch the DD bus from there.

If so that would explain their being confused.

It would also, as Crisi said, make it no different from someone at the MK at closing wanting to visit the BW and taking the BW bus which I am sure even SSR guests do or the BC bus to go to Beaches and Cream.

 

[UConnJack]

But that isn't unique - BW has the same issues around parking for Epcot access.

I agree, and I think they should enforce parking rules at the BW, making BW visitors use the overflow lot rather than the main lot for resort guests.

It would also, as Crisi said, make it no different from someone at the MK at closing wanting to visit the BW and taking the BW bus which I am sure even SSR guests do or the BC bus to go to Beaches and Cream.

True, although I think there is more potential for bus overcrowding to be an issue at SSR because DTD is so much bigger than the BW. I haven't experienced this as a specific problem, but if it ever became one, I would expect some kind of resolution as a BW area resort guest. But for now, the fact that BW/BWV/S&D/BC/YC/BCV all share a bus route is bad enough.

Honestly, I don't really see a problem here. The number of non-SSR guests using the bus to go to DTD is very small. In fact, most of the time not even noticeable. I'm sure the non-WDW resort guests using the "free" Disney transportation is probably common event throughout WDW. Whether its the bus, monorail, or boats. I'm sure there non-resort guests use the DTD to Boardwalk Area for EPCOT too.

Now if the bus stop at Congress Park started having 60 people waiting with 2/3 of them from the DTD hotels, that would be a problem.

If it never becomes a problem, then there isn't a big deal. And honestly, I don't really care much myself since DTD isn't high on my list and I (as you know) don't particularly care for SSR myself, so it will never affect me. Its the principle of the thing. All I'm saying is that if it does become a problem and is affecting the enjoyment of the resort by the SSR guests, and they don't discourage the use of the SSR bus to access DTD (or DTD to access the SSR busses to the parks), then I think restricting the bridge access would be reasonable.

And true, use of the bus system to move between resorts, parks, and other areas of WDW is used all the time, as it should be. But if this catches on (and it will if they keep encouraging it), DTD is too big for the SSR busses to handle or to expect SSR guests to deal with. Either make a direct bus from the parks and institute pay parking at DTD, or restrict non-guest access to SSR.

 

[crisi]

I think if its a problem they need to either add more buses, revisit the decision not to service DTD from the parks, put in paid parking, or perhaps something else I haven't thought of. I think the combination of servicing DTD from the parks and having paid parking at DTD would be adequate (paid parking at all the resorts unless you are a guest - validated with purchase from a resort restaurant or gift shop in excess of the parking).

 

[UConnJack]

I think if its a problem they need to either add more buses, revisit the decision not to service DTD from the parks, put in paid parking, or perhaps something else I haven't thought of. I think the combination of servicing DTD from the parks and having paid parking at DTD would be adequate (paid parking at all the resorts unless you are a guest - validated with purchase from a resort restaurant or gift shop in excess of the parking).

I agree, that would be more than adequate. But if were an SSR owner (excuse me a moment......) and it became a problem and Disney did not do something about it with the busses, I would be screaming for restricted access.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Just because SSR is a DVC Resort it does not make them any more special when it comes to the Disney Transport buses. WDW clearly states that any guests staying onsite or offsite can use the buses as long as they have a KEY TO THE WORLD CARD or valid MYW passes. Personally I have never seen the bus drivers check to make sure guests have these when comming on the buses, so in my opinion it's kind of a stupid rule, unless it's more enforced around the major holidays like 4th of July, Thanksgiving, Christams & New Years. Although my family & I have stayed at WDW a few times during Christmas & New Years & each time we used a Disney Transport bus or the Monorail, we were never asked to show our KEY TO THE WORLD CARDS before getting on. Anyway back to the topic of this thread. If guests who stay at SSR have such a problem with non guests using the SSR buses at DTD then you should complain about it, although I don't think WDW could do anything about that. If you want to make the argument of guests abusing Resort ammenties how about the guests who park at the Contemporary for to eat at Chef Mickey's, Concourse Steakhouse & the California Grill, then once their meal is over they leave their cars parked there & on to the Magic Kingdom for a few hours. If you ask me that is a lot worse then non SSR guests using the SSR buses because as a Contemporary guests who pays a lot to stay there per night, it can be hard to find a parking spot there. Plus it's harder to know to park there since a lot of the spaces have been closed off due to the demelition of the North Garden Wing, which is making room for the new DVC building that is going to be built there. The one good thing I noticed is the Contemporary is being more strict about the parking situation with the recent demolition, however I am sure there are guests who still leave their cars parked there after meals then head off to the Magic Kingdom.

 

[Sammie]

I personally think, and someone else suggested this, that having a designated DD bus at closing of each park is truly what they need to do.

I can see not providing DD to the parks during the day, but they could really capture a captive audience leaving the parks with a DD bus at the exit at closing time.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I personally think, and someone else suggested this, that having a designated DD bus at closing of each park is truly what they need to do.

I can see not providing DD to the parks during the day, but they could really capture a captive audience leaving the parks with a DD bus at the exit at closing time.

On paper your idea sounds good however this is what I see as being a problem. Take the Magic Kingdom as an example. If they close at 10:00 PM and have a bus to Downtown Disney and a guest wanted to only visit the Marketplace side, by the time they get there chances are they will be closing in a short period of time because from Sunday's - Thursday's Donwtown Disney Marketplace shops close at 11:00 PM, while on Friday's & Saturday's they close at 11:30 PM. Also what about evening EMH when the parks close 3 hours past the posted closing times. For the non Resort guests wanting to go to Downtown Disney how are they suppost to get there if the Downtown Disney bus only comes when the park if the park will be closing for good once EMH is over? Or would they still have the bus when the park closes for the non Resort guests?

 

[2Princes2Princesses]

Just because SSR is a DVC Resort it does not make them any more special when it comes to the Disney Transport buses. WDW clearly states that any guests staying onsite or offsite can use the buses as long as they have a KEY TO THE WORLD CARD or valid MYW passes. Personally I have never seen the bus drivers check to make sure guests have these when comming on the buses, so in my opinion it's kind of a stupid rule, unless it's more enforced around the major holidays like 4th of July, Thanksgiving, Christams & New Years. Although my family & I have stayed at WDW a few times during Christmas & New Years & each time we used a Disney Transport bus or the Monorail, we were never asked to show our KEY TO THE WORLD CARDS before getting on. Anyway back to the topic of this thread. If guests who stay at SSR have such a problem with non guests using the SSR buses at DTD then you should complain about it, although I don't think WDW could do anything about that. If you want to make the argument of guests abusing Resort ammenties how about the guests who park at the Contemporary for to eat at Chef Mickey's, Concourse Steakhouse & the California Grill, then once their meal is over they leave their cars parked there & on to the Magic Kingdom for a few hours. If you ask me that is a lot worse then non SSR guests using the SSR buses because as a Contemporary guests who pays a lot to stay there per night, it can be hard to find a parking spot there. Plus it's harder to know to park there since a lot of the spaces have been closed off due to the demelition of the North Garden Wing, which is making room for the new DVC building that is going to be built there. The one good thing I noticed is the Contemporary is being more strict about the parking situation with the recent demolition, however I am sure there are guests who still leave their cars parked there after meals then head off to the Magic Kingdom.

I completely agree with you, noone should park at the CR and go to MK or anywhere other than to dinner or whatever at CR. And Disney DOES discourage that.

But the SSR buses are going to be a problem. We were there beginning of Feb, and it was slow enough that we were occasionally one of 2 families on a bus. But a few nights, we were on an SSR bus that was standing room only. We got off at Congress Park, where our room was. So did 95% of the rest of the people. And they then headed down the path to DTD.

During busy times?? That is going to be a real pain. And if non-SSR guests want to go to DTD, why not go the way they went before SSR was built? Go to any resort and get a DTD bus.

I actually think the paid lot at DTD with validation for purchases is a great idea. Then they could restart the DTD to park buses without worrying that people will use the DTD lot to avoid parking fees. Or maybe a time limit on parking, like with the resorts?

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I actually think the paid lot at DTD with validation for purchases is a great idea. Then they could restart the DTD to park buses without worrying that people will use the DTD lot to avoid parking fees. Or maybe a time limit on parking, like with the resorts?

The only way I hope Downtown Disney would make guests pay for parking is if they only charge guests staying offsite. While that sounds unfair I don't think it is and here is why. Most of the time when I would read a post on the Transportation board or anywhere else about parking at Downtown Disney then going to one of the four parks, it's from a guest who says they are staying offsite. Since they are ones who ask about breaking this rule even if they did not know about it then they are ones who should only pay for parking at Downtown Disney. So what WDW should do is keep it free for all WDW Resort guests the way it is if we decided to drive to the parks. To me that sounds fair and here is another reason why it should be free for Resort guests. Whenever my family & I go to Downtown Disney we always take our own transportation because taking a bus from the Contemporary takes forever, so it's faster if we use our own transportation. I don't care if they would validate our parking if we plan to eat there, because parking should be free the way it always has been. So as a WDW Resort guest when we would arrive at DTD, we would show them our KEY TO THE WORLD CARD and be able to park for free if it ever comes to that.

 

[HockeyKat]

I have parked at CSR for lunch, gone into the MK on the bus, then gone back to CSR at about 5PM to pick up my car and drive back to OKW. Does that make me a criminal? I have an AP and get free park parking. I am a resort guest and DVC member and get free resort parking and free WDW transportation. I thought that meant no matter which resort or park. Maybe that is an unpopular opinion?

 

[bavaria]

I highly doubt that Disney will charge for parking at DTD. There is a large market of locals as well as convention guests and business guests in the local area who may shop there for something Disney or go for a meal, but have no intention of ever going to a park.

In fact, I take business clients to Raglan Road quite often.

While many here may only consider the leisure market when thinking of WDW, there is a very large convention market which brings in a substantial revenue for Disney. I know many people who attend conventions on site at CSR, etc and never go near a park, but do go to DTD to spend their money.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I have parked at CSR for lunch, gone into the MK on the bus, then gone back to CSR at about 5PM to pick up my car and drive back to OKW. Does that make me a criminal? I have an AP and get free park parking. I am a resort guest and DVC member and get free resort parking and free WDW transportation. I thought that meant no matter which resort or park. Maybe that is an unpopular opinion?

It does not make you a criminal however if I was staying at CSR and they were busy with a lot of other guests staying there and I my family could not find a parking spot, I would say what you did makes it unfair for guests who stay there. That is why I am against non Contemporary guests leaving their cars paked there and going to the Magic Kingdom for a few hours. It takes up one more parking space that a Contemporary guest could have used, so while I am not going to flame you for what you did at CSR it's pretty much the samething. The expection being you took a bus to the Magic Kingdom where at the Contemporary you can walk to there in 10 minutes. Also just because your a DVC member does not make it any more right, however that's just my opinion.

 

[bavaria]

Well, I'm inviting flames, but recently I parked at the CR on several occasions. The guard shouted 'welcome!' - I never showed my AP, DVC card, or room key nor did they take down my personal info. I did actually ask if I needed a 3 hour pass, and the guard just laughed.

I conducted some business and did go offsite to other resorts each time.

Feel free to call out the hounds and have me chased off this website

 

[BroganMc]

The only thing that concerns me is if SSR guests are not able to board a bus because too many DTD visitors are in line first. If Disney is going to encourage folks to use the bus as a shortcut, then they can have a separate line for those guests. Let the SSR guests board first and then give the rest of the space to DTD guests.

I don't park at the Lagoon hotels and go to the parks because they've always enforced the 3 hour rule on me. So I park at the TTC and ride the monorail to a resort for a meal and then on to a park. The last time I parked at a Lagoon resort was the Poly for the Luau, and the parking was so bad there (no handicap spaces worth noting) that I wish I had just gone to the TTC lot.

 

[newholidayx2]

Last Aug DS & I hopped on a SSR bus at AK. We then walked over to DD. We own at VWL.

 

[DisneyFreaks]

The only thing that concerns me is if SSR guests are not able to board a bus because too many DTD visitors are in line first. If Disney is going to encourage folks to use the bus as a shortcut, then they can have a separate line for those guests. Let the SSR guests board first and then give the rest of the space to DTD guests.

I don't know if this would ever happen but after having to stand on the bus with a toddler after a long tiring day at the park it sure sounds good. As 2Princes2Princesses mentioned above we were there during a very busy time also and most of the sitting patrons of the bus did get off at CP and head to the DTD path. I know they are allowed to do this but it can be a bit irritating. Especially when you are exhausted. We started taking our own car to the parks by midweek.

 

[jco_direwolf]

I have to say I've always wondered why it was so darn hard at times to find parking in that HUGE DTD lot. But now that I've heard of people going DTD->SSR->Parks it makes total sense to me.

Although not from a financial point of view. As I've said before all the bus transportation involved just to avoid paying $10/day doesn't make real sense to me. But my wife has told me before I don't think like anyone else she knows.

johno

 

[carolina_yankee]

This is an amazing conversation - someone posted that Disney is "looking the other way" with tregard to these alleged miscreants. But no one is doing anything wrong or against the rules! The bottom line is, which everyone should know if they're going to sink north of $15 grand into a DVC ownership, is that anyone with a multi-day pass or on-site guest is entitled to use Disney transportation to go anwywhere they want to go.

Personally, I can't image the numbers going through SSR to DD to be very large. It's still a bit of a hike, and I hear people complaining about the walking all the time. I would think they would gladly switch at the TTC or another resort.

Quite frankly, if I'm at the AK and want to get to Epcot, I'm hopping the the Epcot resort bus if it comes before the Epcot bus (which is likely) or if I want to go the World Showcase first. Likewise, if I'm at AK or MGM and want to to the MK, I'm hopping an MK resort bus (probably contemporary) rather than the one to the TTC. In doing so, I'm possibly 'denying' an MK resort guest a seat if the bus is crowded, but hey - I'm only following the rules.

As for gated parking, pay parking at DTD, I doubt Disney would ever do that because of the economics. They want locals using that district as well, and charging folk to park there will only encourage them to go elsewhere. Besides, an evening out at DD is likely to be longer than 3 hours if you take into account dinner, movie or show, or a club plus shopping.

And, to give someone wrong information on how to get to DD is just plain rude - especially if they're doing exactly what they were advised to do by a Disney CM or a guide book. In fact, I've even been told at resort check in that if I want to get to DD from a park to just take a bus to any resort and switch. They don't specificy resort (the logical choice would be the first bus to a resort between where you are and DD is).

I think this who scenario is a dust up about nothing . . .

Dirk