ancestry
Trees Without Roots Fall Over
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2009
- Messages
- 5,008
We just returned from our trip on Friday afternoon. We had a very good experience in regards to transportation in all regards. I wanted to post a brief recap of my experiences so others can see that postitive experiences do happen.
On this trip we were a party of four -- my adult daughter (20), my two twins (9) and myself.
JetBlue - We flew JetBlue both ways -- flew out of Boston but into Portland. Everything went smoothly at the airport and with JetBlue. I just absolutely love JetBlue! They are by far my favorite airline. The TVs are great, the minimal schedule changes are refreshing, and the customer service is always amazing.
DME - We arrived on a Sunday in the late morning. This was the longest I have ever seen the DME lines but I also know that Sunday is a busy travel day going and coming from Disney. I was pleasantly surprised when we were able to get on the second bus going to our resort and only had to wait about 10-15 minutes in line. We were at the resort in under an hour from the time we landed. Very impressive considering the amount of people in line at the DME area. Moral of the story is: if you arrive and the DME area is packed don't assume the worst. They move people through there very quickly.
Disney Buses - We had absolutely no problem with Disney transportation at all. We took the monorail, buses, and boats as we stayed at the Wilderness lodge. Everything ran effeciently. The longest wait for any bus to arrive was 10 minutes and that was even after we had just missed a bus. The drivers and operators were pleasant and helpful. Several of the boat operators were great with my kids and took the time to talk and interact with them. The only time the buses were packed was when we stayed to close out a park -- i.e. after Illuminations at Epcot but we expected that so no problem.
RAC - Again a very positive experience. The RAC employees were great. Even though I knew how the process worked they took the time to explain everything step-by-step. They introduced themselves and were very accessible. Truly a positive experience.
Bottom line was everything went smoothly. No problems!
I do think one of the key elements to having a successful trip transportation wise is to have reasonable expectations. Understand that the buses are usually full at park closing, be aware of how scooters are handled and know that loading a scooter takes a bit of time, understand that you will have to wait for a bus from time to time as buses don't magically appear just because you do, etc.
On this trip we were a party of four -- my adult daughter (20), my two twins (9) and myself.
JetBlue - We flew JetBlue both ways -- flew out of Boston but into Portland. Everything went smoothly at the airport and with JetBlue. I just absolutely love JetBlue! They are by far my favorite airline. The TVs are great, the minimal schedule changes are refreshing, and the customer service is always amazing.
DME - We arrived on a Sunday in the late morning. This was the longest I have ever seen the DME lines but I also know that Sunday is a busy travel day going and coming from Disney. I was pleasantly surprised when we were able to get on the second bus going to our resort and only had to wait about 10-15 minutes in line. We were at the resort in under an hour from the time we landed. Very impressive considering the amount of people in line at the DME area. Moral of the story is: if you arrive and the DME area is packed don't assume the worst. They move people through there very quickly.
Disney Buses - We had absolutely no problem with Disney transportation at all. We took the monorail, buses, and boats as we stayed at the Wilderness lodge. Everything ran effeciently. The longest wait for any bus to arrive was 10 minutes and that was even after we had just missed a bus. The drivers and operators were pleasant and helpful. Several of the boat operators were great with my kids and took the time to talk and interact with them. The only time the buses were packed was when we stayed to close out a park -- i.e. after Illuminations at Epcot but we expected that so no problem.
RAC - Again a very positive experience. The RAC employees were great. Even though I knew how the process worked they took the time to explain everything step-by-step. They introduced themselves and were very accessible. Truly a positive experience.
Bottom line was everything went smoothly. No problems!
I do think one of the key elements to having a successful trip transportation wise is to have reasonable expectations. Understand that the buses are usually full at park closing, be aware of how scooters are handled and know that loading a scooter takes a bit of time, understand that you will have to wait for a bus from time to time as buses don't magically appear just because you do, etc.
