what is going on with disney busses???????

[Mirax]

A bus driver once told me to look for the red phone at each bus stop. If you have been waiting long pick up the phone and talk to the garrage. I would call them specifically if you got dropped off at a resort when you were to be dropped off at a park. I would certainly have the drive call in about being dropped off at the wrong resort. We already pay for the bus system when we stay at a resort, so if they decide to charge for busses, I will probably stay off site.


Mirax

 

[Robo]

A bus driver once told me to look for the red phone at each bus stop.

You'd be looking for that red phone for a LONG time at most bus stops.

 

[ArielRae]

We had something like this happen to us two years ago. DO complain to your resort if something like this happens to you. We ended up waiting 3 hours to get to an ADR because of bus problems. Of course we were way late for our dinner lucky they still took us in but said they wouldn't have but since it was a bus problem they did. When we got back to our resort we explained things to them and they took a night off of each room we had. It doesn't help to talk to the garage or main bus office. We still waited over an hour after talking with them.


We have learned that for every bus, boat, or monorail you have to take to get to where you need to go you add an hour.
This allows time waiting for the transportation to show up and travel time.

For Example if you plan to go to the poly for dinner from pop (we do this)

Bus from pop to MK - add 1 hour
Monorail from MK to Poly - add 1 hour
Total travel time allowed - 2 hours

 

[nativetexan]

Wow! Looking more and more like getting a rental car is a good idea.

 

[Kayka]

The past two trips we relied solely on WDW transportation. We were not impressed. Getting to and from the parks was okay, no excessive delays, though waiting 20-minutes twice a day (more if you hop or take a break) does add up. SRO on an overcrowded bus was not part the magic in my book.
The worst part was moving between resorts to access restaurants. Allowing an hour to get from place-to-place as 'suggested' was cutting it close at times. We ended up in a cab more than once because it was just so much easier.

This summer we're renting a car!

 

[DisneyNDecember]

my daughter and i just returned from a very magical stay in the kingdom where we enjoyed ourselves very much. that is except for the bus transports to the parks. one day we waited for the animal kingdom/ blizzard beach bus at our resort, por, which we boarded with some other blizzard beach goers only to be told when we arrived at the animal kingdom that we had to get off and take a bus heading for pop centery. we then asked three busses heading to pop centery if they would be stopping at blizzard beach , every answer was no. very frustrating. we explained to each driver that our orginal driver told us that the pop centry bus was the final leg on the journey. my question is then, why did the first bus that pulled into por resort have the sign on that said he was in fact going to blizzard beach??????? we spent the next hour and a half trying to get to blizzard beach, again very frustrating when we're there to relax. then the next day we went to typhoon lagoon and spent some time there. we waited 40 mins. for a bus to arrive that said it was going to port orleans. we got as far as the french quarter when the driver asked if we were heading to the riverside, which is the usual next stop for a bus heading to port orleans unless it specifies its only going to one or the other, we said yes and he said we had to get off and take a bus to the magic kingdom but to ask first if it was going by way of por. very, very frustrating. we waited for three busses and no luck. we tried to take the boat transport but for some reason it was going to be delayed for an undertermined amount of time. we had dinner ressies and time was ticking. since my daughter has asthma and it was very hot and humid our only choice was to take a cab one resort over because disney busses have no clue as to where they're suppossed to be. i did complain to the bus time keeper at our por stop and she said she had never heard of this happening before and i made mention of it to the castmembers working the check in area. all in all our trip was very nice but my daughter and i have fears of getting on a disney bus and wondering where we'll end up being stranded.

You really need to go the disneyworld.com website & copy/paste all of this information into their contact/compliants link, they really need to know about this, that is terrible !!!!! That is the main reason I stay onsite is because I don't want to have to rent a car or take a taxi & since this happened more than once, you really need to send a notice to disneyworld.com. I hope you get a prompt reply.

 

[philmagic]

Sometimes we use the bus system and other times we drive our car. I have enjoyed the bus system for the most part. However, I found on our last trip that the AC was almost non-existant. Has anyone else noticed this problem lately? I really overheat at the parks and look forward to sitting in the AC on the way back to my resort!

If they charged for the busses, I would probably stay offsite. I think they are an important perk. However, I agree that it is difficult to get to resort restaurants using the bus system. We are planning on using the bus system for out next trip - so hope the AC is on!

 

[disneydaycare]

We also drive down, but leave the driving to Disney once we enter the World. It's usually easier than trying to navigate around the different parks. Now I'm not so sure. I guess we will see how it goes and if we have less than wonderful luck we can drive.

 

[make.it.blue]

Sometimes we use the bus system and other times we drive our car. I have enjoyed the bus system for the most part. However, I found on our last trip that the AC was almost non-existant. Has anyone else noticed this problem lately? I really overheat at the parks and look forward to sitting in the AC on the way back to my resort!

If they charged for the busses, I would probably stay offsite. I think they are an important perk. However, I agree that it is difficult to get to resort restaurants using the bus system. We are planning on using the bus system for out next trip - so hope the AC is on!

Wow, I always FREEZE on the buses Hope they're cold enough for your next trip!

 

[summermac]

Just got back on Saturday from our trip and I felt the busses were mostly fantastic. There were a few times that I shook my head later in the week, like when TWO Epcot busses went by (back to back) followed by TWO DHS busses back to back on the same day as we continued to wait for a MK bus. You'd think they'd be able to use some GPS or something to look for that kind of stuff happening.

But overall, we were very satisfied with the bus system!

 

[summermac]

I can definitely confirm the AC was ON. Freezing!

 

[CoffeeCup]

I can definitely confirm the AC was ON. Freezing!

I often think it is freezing on the buses if the bus is uncrowded, but when it becomes standing-room only with people packed everywhere, I've never been too cool. Body heat from so many people will warm up the bus fast, and I imagine they set the temperature to compensate for that. We were on a bus a few weeks ago with only a few people, and it was very warm. The driver apologized as we got on and said he'd just picked up the bus from the parking lot where it had been sitting in the sun all afternoon. Just as he promised, the bus was very cool within a matter of minutes. If he had sat in the bus lot waiting for the bus to cool off, there would have been people waiting for a bus who would have been complaining that there should be more buses. All things considered, I think they do a good job with the bus service even though I'm as annoyed as much as anyone when bus service isn't the way I want it.

I do think the OP has a valid complaint, and I've never been in that situation. The OP definitely should make WDW aware of the problem.

 

[jayandstacey]

Just got back on Saturday from our trip and I felt the busses were mostly fantastic. There were a few times that I shook my head later in the week, like when TWO Epcot busses went by (back to back) followed by TWO DHS busses back to back on the same day as we continued to wait for a MK bus. You'd think they'd be able to use some GPS or something to look for that kind of stuff happening.

But overall, we were very satisfied with the bus system!

Bus scheduling is extremely challenging and full of trade-offs - and those trade-offs go way up as the complexity of the service increases. Trade offs are things like:
Do we deliver this one family to their final destination or drop them here and go get a fuller load?
Do we send the driver back in for shift change or see if he'll hit one more run for these crowds?

Disney could use a little more technology to improve the system. For instance, they could have a board at each bus stop that gives information, simply:
For each "loop" - an estimate of when the next bus will arrive. So as you stand at the Dolphin busstop, the sign tells you when the next MK bus is, when the next AK bus is, etc.

and that also takes information:
At each bus stop, have each person 'clock in' for their bus and indicate their final stop. That way, Disney would know, in real time, how many people are waiting for an MK bus and how long they've been waiting. Use a finger scan and there's no (or little) chance that people sign in 50 times as if to show a massive crowd waiting for a bus.

And note that you don't NEED to sign in, it just helps signal Disney that you are there and waiting. You could still walk up as a bus is loading and hop aboard. The bus itself might also have a sign-in, where as you board you indicate the stop you want. This is coordinated with data from stops down the line and some stops may be skipped if not needed.

 

[summermac]

I agree with you jayandstacey - you'd think with all the technology there is in the world they'd utilize it some for the bus system.

Again, though as I said, the busses were mostly great.

 

[skater]

the trade-off of leaving a family "stranded" would be ridiculous IMO. If a family gets on a bus that is stating it is going somewhere, that is a committment by Disney to get that family to their destination. There's no way around that.

On a side note, we have had mostly good bus experiences, except for DTD. There's not usually a problem getting there (except for one really long really weird trip from CSR in Feb.). But try getting out of there at night. Its really not worth going down there wtihout a car.

 

[nicknamy1996]

We have learned that for every bus, boat, or monorail you have to take to get to where you need to go you add an hour.
This allows time waiting for the transportation to show up and travel time.

For Example if you plan to go to the poly for dinner from pop (we do this)

Bus from pop to MK - add 1 hour
Monorail from MK to Poly - add 1 hour
Total travel time allowed - 2 hours

That alone would force me to rent a car. Driving from POP to Poly is about 10 minutes. That's 1 hour and 50 mins of my vacation/park time wasted and that's just one day going to on meal! That doesn't factor in any parks that day or returning to the resort after dinner. AND what if you had already been to a park that day, do you have to factor in an hour to the park and an hour back to POP before dinner if you are taking a break or changing clothes?

 

[summermac]

Originally Posted by ArielRae

We have learned that for every bus, boat, or monorail you have to take to get to where you need to go you add an hour.
This allows time waiting for the transportation to show up and travel time.

For Example if you plan to go to the poly for dinner from pop (we do this)

Bus from pop to MK - add 1 hour
Monorail from MK to Poly - add 1 hour
Total travel time allowed - 2 hours


In my experience last week, we allotted 45 minutes for our dinners (three of which were at resorts) and made it to all but one on time and that was one in a theme park, LOL. The one we were late for was due to a bus driver who I seriously do not think knew were he was going - I honestly think it was his first day. LOL!

 

[Mouseaholic!!!]

Has anyone considered the fact that WDW has had two rounds of staff reductions in 2009. One (10% Disney-worldwide) in early January and 1900 specifically in March (including apx. 500 open positions which were not filled).

You can't possibly think this will happen with no impact on our guest experience.

DH and I have never been fond of the disney bus system and we are fortunate enough to rent cars for nearly free with Priority Club Ponts from Holiday Inn Hotel stays (I travel a great deal for business). (last trip - 10 days = $48). Our travel throughout WDW is far faster, unrestricted and simply....more fun for us.

The only Disney hotel stay we would consider NOT renting a car is our next....Disney's Grand Californian in DL. Otherwise....HELLO HERTZ! Of course, this is our personal opinion.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

First off, you will NOT be stranded anywhere. There is always service and cast members there to assist you.

I am sorry that you had some trouble. However, when something like this happens it is better to talk to a manager at your resort rather than post it here on a message board. This is the only way the problem can be corrected. Now that it is after the fact, I'd still email or write to guest relations about your experience. Again, it is the only way things can get fixed.

I have used WDW buses for over 16 trips since the early 1990s. We have very rarely had problems. As of lately, the only delays I have noticed were for buses going from Downtown Disney back to the resort. Otherwise, we have always found the buses to be efficient. Sure, after park closing it can be difficult and you usually have to stand (which should NOT be allowed IMHO), but we tend to walk slowly and let the crowds rush through first.

 

[kakiegirl]

I feel so bad for the OP's problems that is really bad practice to drop a family off at one place when they are trying to get to another. I think I would send an e-mail or written coplaint to Disney.

We drive to Disney but also like to park our car once we get there and use the buses. I know everyone has different experiences but we just made our 11th trip and we have never had any major problems. One time staying at POP we waited 45 minutes for a bus to MK and one time at DTD it took us along time to get back to the resort. The most frusturating is when you leave the parks at closing but even in that situation it seems Disney does the best they can with such large volume of people.