Troubles getting from parks on Disney Transportation?

[dcedwards]

I am posting a thread on the transportation board but know some don't get to that board so wanted to let all of you know.....

The Director of Transportation at WDW called me today about an email that I sent him. I told him that I was reading of problems with the buses getting between parks and hotels. He wants to talk with me more and wanted information on the web site he could go to so he could read about others experiences.

Now is your chance....let him know what you think. You can either post it here or go to the transportation board. There will be a thread there. I will give him this address tomorrow and wanted to make sure everyone had a chance to leave a message, if you want to do that.

 

[dcedwards]

bumping this up again ... just incase

 

[Humpbacks1962]

The only trouble I found is that there did not seem to be enough buses for the AS hotels. They can get so darn crowded during busy seasons!

I was happy with everything else: the quality of the ride, the time it took to take us to and from the parks, polite drivers, etc.

Wanda

 

[LAWalz23]

When we we at WDW earlier this month, my party felt the the bus transportation was uneven at best. We rode two very crowded (bus was packed so it could hold no more) buses back and forth from the Polynesian to Animal Kingdom. In addition we usually waited at least 15 minutes up to 30 minutes for a bus. On the plus side there were plenty of busses the night we saw Fantasmic (5/16) to get people back to the hotels.
In addition, quite a few times during our 8 day stay (about 8x) we encountered monorail traffic, being held up waiting for clearance as the drivers put it. One time it was for over 15 minutes and made us late for a Priority Seating. This was mostly on the EPCOT line but also happened several times on the resort line.

 

[webmomom]

What I have found is since we stay always at the Boardwalk since we are DVC members, the bus for Boardwalk is always the last to be loaded. When you are on the bus coming back to the hotels, they go to the Swan, Dolphin, Yacht and Beach Club and then Boardwalk. Many Many times there was no one on the bus for any of those hotels, but we had to take the long trip anyway. I will say 95% of the time it happened. We also, watched at the bus stops at the parks. Most of the other hotels had buses coming, two of three right after each other and none for the Boardwalk area. I am sure with all the information that Disney gathers, they could see when the busiest times are at these hotels and send enough buses, or have then only go to the hotels of the people who are on the bus. Many times when we were waiting at the bus stop at the Boardwalk, we had to let the bus go and wait for another bus, since the one that had come was full. Then hope and pray that the next bus that comes in not that full of people.

 

[valeriekc]

I posted a comment about our problem with busing at Boardwalk and here is the link on the Disney Vacation club board http://64.225.125.24/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=36605

To summarize I think it is a very poor business practise to JAM CRAM & SHOVE ALL THE PEOPLE from the Swan resort, Dolphin resort, Yacht club resort, Beach club resort, The Boardwalk Inn, and the Boardwalk villas all on to one bus. SIX RESORTS ON ONLY ONE BUS!!!
Obviously I am a vacation club member and resent this poor treatment (heck WDW already has my money), but I am amazed that the guests that are paying expensive cash room rates are not screaming mad about having to put up with this.
It's not like Disney is asking the other resorts to share buses, most all of them have only there one stop.
Many people are watching there valuable vacation time slip away as they watch bus after bus pass them by at Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, Or worse yet having the bus finally show up and the line had grown so long the there is not even room to board so they have to wait even longer for another bus. And of course I'm must be crazy to think I might get to sit on my trip to MK & AK because the bus is too full after stopping at 5 other resorts first!!
One might think that since they are forcing all these people into these cattle cars that they might GET THE BRIGHT IDEA to add a few more to the route, Well nope, they even have fewer available than other resorts.

Two areas that we can't complain is to Epcot & MGM because we don't have to utilize any of the WDW Transportation, BECAUSE WE WALK!!!

I hope everyone that is subjected to this treatment complains and then maybe, just maybe WDW TRANSPORTATION can see the light.

 

[LMHB]

I have always had concerns with the safety of Disney buses. Whenever we ride them, they feel as if they will TIP OVER! I have emailed with people about this same opinion, so I know it is not mjust me! Perhaps more seats, or slower drivers who take corners at a slower pace are needed, but they feel dangerous to me. I would be interested to see the track record of safety for these buses.

Lynn

 

[joe.hurley]

Well, this is great! Finally, a chance to voice my bus problems to someone with the ability to do something!

OK, Here are the problems I've had recently:

1. May, 1999. I was using a scooter rented from care medical due to back problems and medical problems with heat. I was secured in having gotten on at All Star Sports. As the bus took the turn from W. Buena Vista Drive onto World Drive, the centrifugal force (ask Tom Morrow about it! Joke based on recent "Imagineer That" special on this topic) caused the scooter (and me) to almost topple over. Several riders pushed the other way helping prevent this,. I don't know if he was driving too fast or the scooter location was poorly designed, but it was SCARY!

2. May 1999. One night following Illuminations I went out to the bus for the bus back to All Star Sports. Now, the park has just closed following the show, so there are at least severla hundred or maybe 1000 people waiting to go back (1,760 rooms x 3 resorts = 5,280 rooms x avg. 2.5 people per room = about 13,000 people if full, figure 10% at Epcot that night). What shows up, one, count it O-N-E bus marked for Music, Movies and Sports. I asked when the next bus would be, was told "Sorry, don't know, probably 20 to 30 mins. We're really busy right now." Indeed it was 35 minutes. Waiting in the dark at a rapidly emptying bus station.

3. I think Disney would be better off having more logical route systems. Some of them just make no sense. Like using Downtown Disney as the main "transfer point" once the parks have closed. Its name notwithstanding, it is NOT centrally located, but is on the far northeastern corner of Disney property. I think it would be much more efficient, if there is to be a transportation hub, to use the TTC. That is, after all, why it was built == to be a hub. so let it be one. From there, there is monorail to EPCOT and the monorail resorts, monorail & boat to Magic Kingdom. Also, if you look at a map of WDW, it's about the same distance by bus from all other major resort areas (e.g., Downtown Disney, Animal Kingdom & MGM Studios). It simply makes no sense to tell someone trying to go from, say, the Contemporary to All Star Resorts, ride this bus 10 miles east, and then another one 10 miles west -- why not have one going due southfrom TTC.

4. On the positive side, I must say some of the bus drivers are wonderful. I'll never forget one night going from Downtown Disney to All Stars, the driver announced that we were on the "Twilight Zone Bus of Terror," sang the Twilight Zone music and flicked the interior lights off and on rapidly. It was a hoot. I think more of that should be encouraged, as it makes it much more pleasant.

5. How about more benches in the bus waiting areas -- and benches in those places that don't have them yet? There are currently way too few.

6. Better signs are needed everywhere as to where to et busses. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten literally lost at EPCOT and MK trying to find the right bus stop.

Those are the tops on my list of concerns. I honestly think, as a long-term strategy, it would be smart for Disney to think about light rail. It's relatively inexpensive to build (comparatively) and can be built pretty quickly, requiring not so much infrastructure. (See how quickly it was built in Baltimore or St. Louis.) A route could be constructed connecting TTC, MGM, Epcot, Downtown Disney, and Animal Kingdom. (Start at Animal Kingdom, run northeast to TTC, then southeast to MGM, then east to Epcot and Downtown Disney.) Then people wanting to go toher places would connect to buses from those points.

This would have two benefits: one, it would make the whole system much simpler conceptually. Two, buses woudl then be freed up to serve teh "feeder routes" to these stations.

Example: Everyone at All Stars, Animal Kingdom Lodge, or Coronado Springs would take a bus to the Animal Kingdom station, where they would board light rail. If going to MK or Epcot, get off at TTC & switch to monorail.

Everyone at the Epcot resorts would go to the Epcot light rail station.

Everyone at the monorail resorts could take the monorail to the light rail.

You would then only need buses to connect locations to the nearest light rail station. People could then take light rail and/or monorail to their destination.

As I said, the elimination of long-haul bus routes (e.g., All Stars to Downtown Disney would free up those buses and their drivers to run shorter feeder routes like, From Animal Kingdom to Animal Kingdom Lodge, Coronado Springs, and then the All Star resorts. This trip would take a total of 30 minutes round trip, the same time it takes to go to Downtown Disney one way.

I think this would be a much more efficient system. (I have a bit of experience in this regard, having worked summers in high school for a town's transportation department, helping design school bus routes for the coming year based on student locations.) I also think it would be much more environmentally friendly (light rail running on electricity rather than diesel-burning buses), something Disney likes to be.

I hope you find my comments helpful.

Regards,

Joe Hurley

 

[Laz]

1) Waiting in Long Lines in the Hot sun for long periods of time only to have buses fill up at other resorts and pass up my stop. This is what I paid thousands of dollars for?

2) Getting on an overcrowded, undercooled bus filled with stinky people for long periods of time. This is what I paid thousands of dollars for?

3) It is faster to take a car to the parks than the transportation system. Again, Thousands of dollars for this?

4) Lastly, the largest theme park area in the world that includes the Experimental Prototype Community of Tommorrow is still using a transportation system that was invented in the previous century! Take a tip from Las Vegas and join the modern world. Even the Airports are using trams.

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

I vote for Joe to be the new DW transportation director. I agree with him fully.

On a lighter note - do you think that drivers are given insturctions to drive faster when there are standing passengers? LOL

Slightly Goofy

 

[belleandthebeast]

Just wanted to throw in my 2 cents.....

The "ONLY" problem I had with my last trip to WDW was the buses from the ASMo.
How safe can it possibly be to jam 40 people on a bus?
There were children falling asleep standing up and older folks who could barely stand, in the aisle because we couldn't move to get out of our seats for them.

Above all, I think safety should be our main concern. They don't let children stand in the aisle on the way to school so why should they be made to stand on the way to the parks?

I have heard they think they fixed the problem but that has yet to be seen. They should be "ALOT" more buses into service than we wouldn't have to be stuffed onto a bus like pigs going to the slaughter house.

 

[dcedwards]

Just wanted to let you know that I connected today with the Director of WDW Transportation. We had a very good conversation.

I gave him this website and he was very appreciative. He said he would definitely take a look at all the comments and continue to monitor the site. So that is great -- someone will "read" your opinion. We will see what they do with it.

In general, he said that yes they had heard "horror" stories of bus problems when they instituted the new system on March 25th. It was a basically a disaster. He told me the technology did exactly what they designed it to do...they just designed it to do the wrong thing.

He said that they have redesigned it and are now, hopefully, having much better luck with it. They recognize that there have been a lot of empty buses running around at the same time some are overcrowded. This system is suppose to try to cure that. He also told me that their standard is that no guest should have to wait more than 20 minutes for a bus...except at closing. If they do, then they aren't doing something right.

He also assured me that by the time I go in November that they should have worked all the kinks out of this new system. It should be running wonderfully by then.

Overall, I was pleased with the conversation. He seemed to listen to the suggestions that I had about the PO-FQ and PO-Riverside. At least he was interested. He was also genuinely excited to be able to get the address for these boards. He promised he would read them. I gave them the specific threads to read. They could learn tons....about everything.

So, I guess, this is one happy ending to an email sent to guest relations. They received it. Gave me an immediate response. Were genuinely interested in my opinions and wanted to learn more. That is all you can ask.

Now we will see if the bus situation gets better for those who have had horrible experiences. All I can say is that if you aren't happy you need to let them know. Hard to fix something if you don't hear that it is broke.

 

[Buzz2001]

During the past 3 years, we never experienced any major issues with any of the WDW transportations modes. We have only had experiences where CM's went above and beyond the call of duty.

Keep up the good work Disney Transport.

 

[dcedwards]

Just wanted to bump this up again so it was easy to find for anyone who is looking to find it.

 

[smook2]

I agree with valeriekc. The buses to the Swan area resorts could be improved quite a bit by having separate bus for each resort.

In April we never had to wait for too long to get on a bus but our trip to MK was lengthy! We were the first pickup so the bus then went to the Dolphin, YC, BC, BWI, etc. before heading to MK. It took 30 minutes for us to make the loop from the Swan hotel back to the entrance of the Swan (it made a loop), before then heading toward MK due to the large # of pickup stops. This was ridiculous! Separate buses for each resort would solve this problem.

Other than that, we had no problems with the transportation system.