Tranportation overhall needed!

[dburg30]

Last week of October we spent 4 nights at Kidani village. Some friends of ours were at the same resort but in a different unit. Over that time I don't think we actually rode a bus together with our friends--we either met-up at the resort pool or one of the theme parks.

During our stay I thought the bus service was lacking. 80% of the time we found ourselves waiting 10-20 minutes (or more) for a bus to arrive. Occasionally we would get one right away but the vast majority of the time we stood waiting.

Meanwhile our friends later reported that they thought bus service was great. The majority of the time they had waits of under 10 minutes coming and going.

That pretty much summarizes Disney transportation. Two groups, same resort, same dates with vastly different experiences.

OK, well what % was waiting MORE then 20 minutes, since 20 is what is advertised..

 

[tjkraz]

OK, well what % was waiting MORE then 20 minutes, since 20 is what is advertised..

Rarely. I wasn't running a stopwatch but I can only think of two times where the wait seemed extraordinarily long. But we also had several immediate pickups (the other 20% not mentioned in my post) with most waits being in that 10-20 minute range.

That said, my true intent was to try and illustrate how much bus conditions can change not only from one day to the next but one moment to the next. Here we had two families staying at the same resort for the same days who had noticeably different experiences with the Disney buses. I've always known this to be true and it's what makes me chuckle when I read threads about how "the bus service at ____ was really bad last week!!!"

The four theme park buses + water park buses + Downtown Disney make dozens (perhaps hundreds) of trips per day to each Disney resort. One person's experiences are wholly inadequate for making any true commentary on the entire bus system. I have no doubt that there are glitches or other unforeseen circumstances which occasionally lead to waits of 45-60 minutes. Fortunately those are few and far between.

Still that's the main reason why we tend to rent a car. I HAVE waited nearly an hour for a bus and had other trips which took 60 minutes or more due to multiple stops or unexpected delays. We've also had instances where we left our room 90 minutes in advance of an ADR due to uncertainties involved in using Disney transportation--and that's to reach a destination 15 minutes away by car. There are occasions where we chose not to venture out simply because we didn't want to suffer through another Disney bus trip (AKV to DTD is a perfect example.) Add up all of those factors and it's well worth a couple hundred dollars to rent rather than dealing with a week's worth of uncertainty and lost time.

 

[hakepb]

Looking at my proposed 2010 budget, SSR owners will pay $6.31 million for transportation or $.4506/point

If the average points for a 1BR/week is 200 then that is $90 spent on transportation that week.. IF an average group of (4) takes (2) round trips/day * 7 days = 56 trips = $1.60/per person/per leg or $3.20 for a round trip, sounds high for a commercial public transportation....

Wonder how those costs compare to other resorts? And do those other resorts have more or less riders (public transportation is cheaper/person the more travellers)


I do not think the problem was ever ," could they do better given the vairables (traffic, crowds...)" I know they have the information on their GPS enabled busses to do better, the answer comes down to, "at what cost?"

 

[Starr W.]

We've been stuck waiting for buses for over an hour 3 separate times--all of them at SSR. My inlaws have stories like that also. I agree that you can just get a cab, but at SSR it's much harder and slower to get a cab. If we're wating at BCV and feel like we might miss a reservation we just jump in a cab at the front desk. Not so easy at SSR.

We like SSR, but won't stay there unless we can rent a car.

We just got back from our 4th visit to SSR for Thanksgiving and not once waited an hour for a bus, 30 minutes tops. I noticed they were running a few back to back MK buses in the morning. Transporation guy was stationed at the Springs stop every am.

It was very easy to get a cab at SSR, as we used one to get to BWI and GF 2 nights for dinner. Call bell services and tell them you need a cab to pick you up outside your building. 5 min wait tops.

I find with staying on site, I would rather use the money that would go to a car rental for a few good meals at the Signature restaurants.

Longest bus waits I've encountered, 1st weekend in May 45 min ish wait for a DHS bus(just after a late afternoon thunderstorm).

50 min wait, BCV for an AK bus Sunday of MLK weekend. I've never waited that long for a bus over our Thanksgiving trips.

 

[famsen]

Just one more comment about our SSR stay. We were in a Paddock building that was several buildings away from the nearest bus stop. That walk to the bus stop took about 8 minutes at a normal walking pace. Last Friday, we took a bus to MK in the morning. We waited 25 minutes for a bus and the ride there was at least 30 minutes after the rest of the stops at SSR. I had to leave the park early because I was not feeling well and the rain was giving me chills. My friend stayed at MK alone and was ok with that. I went to the MK bus terminal and had just missed a bus. I stood there 25 minutes before the next one came. After resting and warming up, I left once again to go back to MK. I stood at the stop more than 35 minutes until a bus came. This time is was a 30 minute ride to MK.
At the end of the night we waited about 20 minutes for an MK bus and another 25 minutes back to our SSR stop and 8 minute walk(at this point it was more like a 10 minute walk because we were so beat).
So by my calculations I spent about 4 hours of that Disney vacation day just in bus travel.
And by the way, on different day when another group of people were waiting at a bus stop for a Disney Hollywood Studios bus asked our driver when he thought their bus would arrive, his response was "every 20 to 30 minutes".
Another point; When using a bus stop phone trying to figure out why there weren't any buses coming, the CM told me that whenever I wait more than 25 minutes, I was to call to get a message to dispatch.
So maybe they are no longer promising average wait times for SSR buses of 20 minutes but rather 25 to 30 minutes?

 

[shortkathleen]

We are staying at SSR starting on Dec. 20th. We are driving this time so we will have our car. This is just our second trip so not a lot of experience here with transportation. We had a good experience last time but we went at much less busy time. I hadn't even thought of driving to the parks each day but after reading this thread I am thinking maybe we should. What are your thoughts. Is it free to park there? And where can I find a map to help me get around. Thanks!

 

[hakepb]

I drive down and prefer leaving my car parked. I might drive to another resort for an ADR (instead of 2 hops), but that's about it.
Yes, any guest staying at a WDW resort has free parking at the parks as long as you have your parking pass on your dash.
However, you need to think about the time spent parking at a park (waiting through the parking tool booths due to the paying customers), then taking a tram from your parking spot to the park. (Which is why I always take the bus)
In the case of MK from SSR, I think driving takes longer 99% of the time. The SSR-MK busses take a "back way" to the MK area resorts that avoids the MK parking lot (and toll booth). Once you get to the MK parking lot, you then wait for the next tram, take a tram...to the TTC, you still need to wait, then take a 15 minute boat or monorail to get you to the front gate.. If you take the bus, they take you straight to the front gate.
EPCOT has many parking spots closer than the (rediculously far away) bus stops.. I think DHS and AKV might be 50/50 on bus or car being faster on average..

 

[lundve]

When we were at SSR last week one of the times we were waiting at the Springs. There was a cast member there with a walkie that was recording wait times and calling for buses to be brought for groups of people who had been waiting say longer than ten minutes. He seemed to be collecting research so that would suggest they are trying to fix said problem.

We also had some incredible long waits last week but other members in our party had short ones. (Some of these had to do with waiting for THV buses too). My favorite was the one where my DH and I split off so I could take younger DS home from MVMCP early. My older DS and my DH stayed a little over 30 minutes longer and arrived back to our treehouse 2 minutes after us. GRRRR.....

 

[LindaBabe]

For a person on an ecv, waits can be even longer since they are now using some buses and boats that are not accessable. It took me two hours to get from WL to FW for Hoopdedoo by boat. I could have ridden the ecv over the walking path faster than that, had I thought of it.

In January, I'll be alone, which means totally dependant on the buses, since I can't put the ecv into the car by myself. Add to that being at Jambo house, the second stop at AKV, and you might guess, I have a lot of anxiety around the trip.