Yesterday afternoon we were at MK getting the ds a hair cut, ready to leave.. well a storm rolled in like I haven't seen down here before (maybe I've just had my eyes closed)... the park began clearing and we stayed in the barber shop for about an hour before deciding to get out of dodge.
As we made our way (running like heck from one covering to another, hoping like heck the lightening wouldn't get us
) we heard they stopped both the tram and the boats.. the only thing getting out was the buses..
OMG was that an experience. First SSR bus service is always something you are going to wait for.. anyhow.. we get in the line and watch buses come and go to both sides of us.. at least 4x for other places..
Rain still hadn't let up.. and goose bumps were on the rise.. so a bus finally arrives and everyone piles in (wasn't as pretty as that sounds, because people were jumping line and people were already upset.. no magic here).. so here is my problem..>>>> 1/2 the people on the bus were not going to SSR.. but were trying to figure a way to get back to the ticket center.. so all that fuss and the bus being standing room only.. 1/2 were discussing where to get off and back on.. to get back to their car.
I have to say that one, I think Disney should have provided a better way for people not on site to get to their vehicles, but there were plenty of people left standing.. my thought is if they were staying at SSR, wouldn't they be peeved they were not allowed on because of someone who wasn't even staying here?? and beyond that.. in that kinds of storm, why weren't their buses out there getting people to where they want to be..
Anyway woke to bright blue skies and that all behind us.. just putting it out there for anyone who gets stuck in the same situation.. perhaps stay at the park, shop and wait it out?
Why would people board a SSR bus to get to their cars, unless they were parked at DtD to avoid the parking fees? This is a reason why I think DtD need to institute paid parking similar to the parks, with only 2 or 3 hours free (longer with a valildated movie pass, Cirque or $25 in DtD purchase receipts). Also free for onsite and AP holders, like the parks.
I understand the boats and monorails not running to the TTC because of lightning, but surely they had a shuttle bus for that as a back-up plan.
Please write to Member Satisfaction and tell them of your experience, unless enough people complain, it will not chage.
Agreed that Disney should have had busses to the TTC in cases like this. CMs out front directing traffic (yelling) to those leaving that they have a Bus and it is THIS way.
Other than that, location location location. We haven't stayed at SSR or OKW yet. We look very much forward to it but plan to have proper transportation expectations. I woudn't have had expectations for this though but the expectations would be lower than say BLT or VWL.
Obviously if she was at TTC and on a bus to SSR! A bus to the Poly would have dropped her walking distance to the TTC.
I woudl guess you are right, that WDW just doesn't have the extra resources to add signigicantly to the bus routes on short notice. While a storm lasting an hour and a half seems like a long time (and feels like it if you are wet and wanting to get home), it is no time at all if you need to call in off duty employees to drive the buses. -- Suzanne
As a former bus driver, and as someone that still frequents Disney and still has a lot fo friends in DTransport,let me see if I can shed some light on what goes on and what used to go on.
In years past, prior to the new MAgic On Demad System, each park, had a certain number of busses assigned to it with a coordinator, to handle the guest flow for that particular day.Certain parks at night, such as the MK and Epcot, would get extra busses, from AK and MGM(At the time it was still MGM)to handle the rush after the firworks etc.When something like yesterday happens, and tranportation shuts down, say the boats for arguments sake, its for the SAFETY of the guests as well as the cast members. Putting a CM at the end of a line saying this is this way and that is shut down, is an unsafe practice.
With the new Magic on Demand, there is a reduced number of busses available, and in situations like yesterday when all of transportation shuts down except for the busses, the extra busses and more importantly the drivers are not available.Its one of the issues with this new system.There is no safety factor anymore.
Im fairly certain there is no mk bus lead anymore, though Id have to ask. I havent thought about it until now. I know the TTC lead is gone.
When you have a mass exodus like yesterday, and no signs, no cm,and really no common sense from a lot of Disney guests lately, things go bad fast.All they know is that a bus is supposed to go to TTC. They dont stop and read the Marguee on the bus,or the sings over the bus that say where its going.So, instead of asking where do we go, or more importantly is a situation like that staying put where its safe and dry, they run and get on the first bus they see. The Mouse House busses as they were called, that run to TTC from the MK in certain circumstances, were on the South Loop.If Im not mistaken the SSR bus is on the North.
To effectivley pick up the slack from the monorails and boats, youd need at least 6-7 busses for the monorail resort loops,that loop alone is 45 minutes,
plus at least another 10 to move the people going strictly to the TTC.Thats 17 busses that are not available unless the pull them from somewhere else on property.Id be willing to bet Epcot had some similar issues with boats to the Epcot resorts and DHS.And from DHS.
Just a tip -- for the next big storm, if you need to leave the park and want to get out of the sotrm, take the first bus to a monorail resort if your bus isn't around.
When it stops raining - taake the monorail back to the MK and back to your bus-- yes a pain, but it will keep you out of some severe storms.
Unless its set up inadvance, there are no busses from the MK to the monorail resorts. There has been only 2 times thatI can think of in the 8 years I worked in Disney Busses, that we had to run busses for the Resorts.1 time was for a special event that I was a lead for that required the shutdown of the entire monorail system for an hour, and when there was serious breakdown on the resort monorail side that required extended waits for maintance to clear the train from the track.That was only 30 minutes or so.By the time we got the busses up, they called me to call the busses back as the monorail came back up, and the boats were holding there own.
This is my own personal advice regarding rain and storms on Disney.When it rains, or storms, and occasionally it will be for longer than an hour,stay inside.The bldgs are all lightining protected, and people arent.It isnt worth the risk to run in the rain and lightning.As soon as the rain leaves, most others will leave also.Alot of rides will be come walkons.
.)...I was extremely glad we were staying at OKW and had a dryer to use! 
One of my favorite memories of WDW is the one time DH and I were sitting on metal benches for Fantasmic when a lightening thunderstorm blew up. DH grew very concerned about our chances sitting on metal. We left before the show was cancelled and made it to the Pop bus just before the mass exodus. A man walked up to the lead bus guy (with the walkie talkie) and strated screaming at him to ge the buses rolling--it was quite a scene. My hero the bus guy walked up to the gentleman (who was about a foot taller than him) pointed the walkie at the guys chest and stated in a nice authoratative voice " Sir, I am fixin to have to get 20,000 people out of this park in about 15 minutes, if you do not step back in line I will not be able to put you and your family safely on the next bus!" Mean Guy did just as he was told.....it was awesome....score one for Transportation Man. 
