Buses

[travellerman]

I've been hearing different things about the bus system ad Disney, that they've been getting new buses. I'm going to be staying at Sarasota Springs and either Pop Century or one of the All Star resorts this fall and have heard varying things about the regularity of buses to some of them. Is whatever is going on with the buses (new buses) going to affect their regularlity and improve it? I've not had any problems in any previous visits, altho i've never stayed at any of these hotels yet. I won't have a car, and will depend on Disney's transport. Thanks.

 

[Master Yoda]

If you have used Disney buses in the last year or two any changes in the bus system should be an improvement over what you are use to. If the last time you got on a bus was in 2002 +/- then you will more than likely see a downgrade in quality. This is not due to the bus system being worse, it is just due to the increase in guests and the bus system not being able to keep pace.

 

[RedDad]

The main complaint about the bus service at AS resorts has to do with the fact that they share buses between the 3 resorts during all but the busiest times of year, while Pop has a dedicated system. For this reason I would pretty much always choose Pop over the AS resorts.

 

[Mr.Skunkape]

It never changes the buses never to be at your bus stop when YOU get there.

 

[RonAnnArbor]

As a heads up, the busses to Saratoga springs will always be lesser than the other resorts -- because its a DVC resort and most people there have cars, they run the busses about 1/3 less frequency -- that is, instead of arriving every 20 minutes, they run on a 30 minute schedule to all destinations. PC busses are better than AS busses for exactly the reason mentioned above.

 

[bethymouse]

As a heads up, the busses to Saratoga springs will always be lesser than the other resorts -- because its a DVC resort and most people there have cars, they run the busses about 1/3 less frequency -- that is, instead of arriving every 20 minutes, they run on a 30 minute schedule to all destinations. PC busses are better than AS busses for exactly the reason mentioned above.

Oh dear! We're staying there in 11 days! I guess we can deal w/ it.

 

[Computer Magic]

If it's the same stuff I've heard, it's not that accurate.



You'll be fine.
IMO the bus service is better now than it has been during the past five years.
Why do I say that? The bus fleet is much larger, even factoring in the additional resorts, and newer than it has been over that period of time.
You do have to use it wisely if you want to avoid the packed buses.

The increase in Strollers and Scooters has slowed down the bus system. With the new buses that also means less seats.

 

[englanddg]

Correct on both points.
An efficient driver can load a scooter in about 7 minutes, so it will add that much time to your trip.
As the US ages, there will be even more scooters to deal with. On the bright side, the new hold down system that the buses are being converted to shortens the time it takes to strap down a scooter somewhat. But the hummer size strollers are just out of control.
Disney has to accommodate both and they should enforce the max size policy, which they don't.
The low floor buses do have fewer seats, but the emphasis is on moving as many people as possible and not having a seat for everyone. The rides are short and it's a transit bus system not a tour bus system. If you're in line waiting for a bus and you're the 33 person to board, you're standing.

Interesting you bring up tour busses...

Several times on our last trip the bus back to Pop from Epcot was a Mears tour bus...

 

[englanddg]

During the busier holidays and Spring Break, outside buses are brought in to handle the extra load.
Mears and a number of other companies are used.
They mostly go back and forth to the value resorts during the day and at closing time, sometimes will get in the rotation with the Disney buses.
Some of that will disappear with the recent addition of new Disney buses plus the articulated buses will be entering the fleet shortly.

Interesting to know. I thought it may be something like that.

This sounds odd, because they were very comfortable, and at least once the driver turned on Disney music that I can recall...but, getting on an unthemed tour bus after a day at the Parks just didn't "feel" right.

 

[englanddg]

I don't know if you've noticed, but the Disney park specific music only plays on the the way to the parks. On route to the resort there is resort specific music. That is unless the driver turns it off because they haven't changed it in over five years and are sick of listening to it, but I digress.

I have noticed.

 

[Disneykidder]

Last year we rented a car and it was the first time ever having a car in Disney. I must say that I really didn't miss the bus at all. We didn't have to worry about finding a seat, got to the parks quicker, didn't wait at the end for a bus with a sleeping child in arms, didn't wait at a stop and didn't have to load/unload the stroller or even store the stroller in our resort room. When we had a reservation for dinner, we were there quickly.

With that, we always looked at the buses and thought how many we'd have to wait for at the end of the night. When we looked at SS and the deluxe resorts, there was never a wait to return so I don't think there would be your problem. If anything I think it will be when you are at Pop or AS at the end of the evening.

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

Last October when I went with my Dad and younger siblings, we rented a car. We went to Longhorn Steakhouse on Vineland Ave for dinner one night and made a trip to WalMart. My Dad and siblings spent part of one day at Universal while I had some alone time at Downtown Disney. Having a rental car came in handy. My brother stayed at Magic Kingdom that night they were open until 3 AM and took the bus back to our hotel. I'll ask him how his experience was.

 

[Computer Magic]

Correct on both points.
An efficient driver can load a scooter in about 7 minutes, so it will add that much time to your trip.
As the US ages, there will be even more scooters to deal with. On the bright side, the new hold down system that the buses are being converted to shortens the time it takes to strap down a scooter somewhat. But the hummer size strollers are just out of control.
Disney has to accommodate both and they should enforce the max size policy, which they don't.
The low floor buses do have fewer seats, but the emphasis is on moving as many people as possible and not having a seat for everyone. The rides are short and it's a transit bus system not a tour bus system. If you're in line waiting for a bus and you're the 33 person to board, you're standing.

You seem very knowledgeable about buses. You sound like one of the bus drivers at Disney and I like hearing your viewpoint. I also give you a lot of credit as that is not an easy job and probably underappreciated by many guest. I like to acknowledge the driver with a pleasant high and thank you win I leave. Okay enough kissing up now from a guest perspective who has used only Disney transportation since 1995.

I agree there should be a standard scooter allowed. This would make loading and unloading faster. Just like my job where I standardized on one computer model. That way my tech team can quickly help the customer.

The problem with standing is the frequent stops allowing people out at the resort. This may not be a problem at AKL or similar one stop unload everyone. But when the person in the far back needs to get off at the first stop, it is a domino affect of people having to move. Now toss in that person having a stroller.

After a long day at the park, who wants to stand the entire ride back to the resort?

Bus drivers should be required to ride a packed bus standing hanging onto one of those handles. Those turns and quick stops tosses you around alike a tossed salad.

This doesn't sound like safety courtesy show efficiency.

 

[FireChiefGoofy]

It actually is an easy job and is nothing like the common perception. 99.999999% of the people are nice. And most, like yourself, do say thank you, and I think most appreciate the service. But it wouldn't matter if that wasn't the case, drivers get paid to do a job. Thanks for kissing up though.

Now for your other points, I agree with you fully, however Disney managers, not the lowly drivers, decided what type of bus to use and the sitting to standing ratio on those buses. They also established the loading and boarding procedures that you experienced. And the resorts decide what level of service they want to contract WDW Transportation to provide.

As for a rough ride, it could be due to the no frills, lowest bidder buses, and possibly a driver that is not all that they could be.

The scooter abuse situation is just as annoying to the driver as it is to you.

I have ridden as guest on a packed bus a number of times, and like you, wasn't all that impressed with the ride some of the times.

All I can say is that "it is what it is" and most drivers, not all, try to make the best of what they have to work with.

Don't know if that's a satisfactory response, but that's all I got.

Well said fellow driver!

PS: I love your screen name. J-code

 

[englanddg]

Well said fellow driver!

PS: I love your screen name. J-code

And now I have learned what MIM and a J-Code is.

Learn something every day.

 

[Sparkle81]

We'll be staying at SSR for our trip in December, and I've heard mixed things about the bus service. I think that at least if I know it may not be perfect, then I won't have high expectations and get too frustrated Plus, we can always walk over to DTD and catch a bus from there instead, if we get really stuck

 

[DVCOwner]

I hate the buses and I love the buses. First off I always drive to Walt Disney World, so I have a car with me at all times. I like to park the car and not have to worry about it till it is time to go home. I love to be able to go to the Magic Kingdom ride the monorail to one of the resorts. Relax have a couple of drinks and not have to worry about diving when drinking. I hate waiting a my bus stop to see two empty EPCOT buses go by before the first Animal Kingdom bus arrives to pick me up. There is one easy thing I think Walt Disney World could do that I think would improve the whole bus system and that is install estimated wait time displays at all bus stops. All the buses have GPS so this would be easy to do.

 

[jkl2000]

Here's a total NOOB question RE: the buses: do you have to show your resort room key (or whatever it is you use - is it one card that also has your park passes on it?) to board the buses? You must have to show something, right, otherwise people who aren't staying at a WDW resort could use the buses and chaos would ensue.

 

[DisneyJoe]

Here's a total NOOB question RE: the buses: do you have to show your resort room key (or whatever it is you use - is it one card that also has your park passes on it?) to board the buses? You must have to show something, right, otherwise people who aren't staying at a WDW resort could use the buses and chaos would ensue.

No, no need.

It does not cause chaos.

 

[Polydweller]

Here's a total NOOB question RE: the buses: do you have to show your resort room key (or whatever it is you use - is it one card that also has your park passes on it?) to board the buses? You must have to show something, right, otherwise people who aren't staying at a WDW resort could use the buses and chaos would ensue.

The buses are for everyone, not just resort guests thus no purpose or need for id. It would be possible for people without park tickets or resort reservations to use the bus system, and monorail too for that matter. It doesn't cause chaos.