News Disney Springs Bus Service to Resorts Now Requires Reservation Verification

[Br0ckford]

I didn't know they blocked the parking on block out days, too! Wow. Sorry if I seemed snarky.

All good

 

[FunatDisney]

So is Disney scrounging for pennies or turning away revenue?

Parking at Disney Springs and the Resorts are free - so what you are saying makes no sense! The reason is to have enough open parking for those people just to Disney Springs and not travel around elsewhere within WDW.

 

[Basil of Baker Street]

We stay off site occasionally. On non park days we have parked at Springs or a Park(free AP parking) to just resort hop for the day. I can understand limiting it on the busiest of busy weeks but it would be foolish to if they ever decided to make it permanent. We spend money resort hopping.

 

[JD80]

I don't see what the big deal is. There is a finite number of buses and the resort is at peak occupancy. Onsite guests are first and this isn't even universal, it's just at one bus stop.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

So is Disney scrounging for pennies or turning away revenue?

The like guaranteed bank…not potential…

I see two angles here:
1. Parking fees…which are mostly profit or to defray the cost of bus fleet
2. Yet another way of trying to entice on property rooms sales or dvc contracts - both heavily overpriced - by giving the illusion of “value”

 

[Aschwenker]

Last fall my wife and I were staying at Caribbean Beach in mid-November. We met my brother and his fiancée at Disney Springs for lunch. We had tickets for that evening's Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. We got in line for the bus to the Contemporary because, as several people have said, there are no buses from Disney Springs to any park and it would be a waste of time to go back to Caribbean Beach just to immediately get on a bus to Magic Kingdom when we could just walk from the Contemporary/Grand Floridian/Polynesian.

While in line for the bus to the Contemporary a persnickety Transportation cast member came up to the line to say, "This bus is for guests staying at the Contemporary or who have a dining reservation for the Contemporary. The driver will be checking Magic Bands upon entry. If you are trying to get to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party and you are not guests at the Contemporary you either need to park at the Magic Kingdom or take a bus back to your resort and take the bus to Magic Kingdom from there." About 1/3 of the people in line got out of line. We did not because taking the bus back to Caribbean Beach just to immediately get on the bus to Magic Kingdom is ridiculous. FWIW, the driver did not check anyone's Magic Band.

So, are there people who park at Disney Springs with the intention of taking a bus to Contemporary/Yacht/Beach/Boardwalk just to walk to a Disney park? Absolutely.

Do I think people should be parking at Disney Springs and jumping through hoops to avoid paying for parking? No.

Do I begrudge people who have already forked over hundreds of dollars just to get into a Disney park trying to game the system to avoid paying to park? No. After all, they're probably losing $40 worth of value in lost time anyway since, as many people have pointed out, Disney Transportation bus service (in general) is slow.

Do I think Disney should charge for parking at Disney Springs? No.

Do I think I, as a resort guest, should've been called out for taking the bus to Contemporary instead of Caribbean Beach just to get to Magic Kingdom? No.

Do I think Disney should care about people attempting to avoid paying for parking? No, but, as a conglomerate who feels the need to nickel and dime its guests to protect its precious quarterly bottom line, this is what they're left with. Universal doesn't face this problem mostly because, as far as I know, you cannot park for free at CityWalk except under limited circumstances.

Do I think Disney should be limiting who can get on a "publicly" available bus? No. I realize this is where all the apologists are going to come at me to say Disney Transportation isn't truly "publicly available" and I admit Disney can place whatever restrictions they want on their system.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I don't see what the big deal is. There is a finite number of buses and the resort is at peak occupancy. Onsite guests are first and this isn't even universal, it's just at one bus stop.

Well you have an idea of parameters to Have a clue…

As evidenced by “the resort is at peak capacity”…ya don’t

Someone to tell him to ease back his dust dosage today, please?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Last fall my wife and I were staying at Caribbean Beach in mid-November. We met my brother and his fiancée at Disney Springs for lunch. We had tickets for that evening's Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. We got in line for the bus to the Contemporary because, as several people have said, there are no buses from Disney Springs to any park and it would be a waste of time to go back to Caribbean Beach just to immediately get on a bus to Magic Kingdom when we could just walk from the Contemporary/Grand Floridian/Polynesian.

While in line for the bus to the Contemporary a persnickety Transportation cast member came up to the line to say, "This bus is for guests staying at the Contemporary or who have a dining reservation for the Contemporary. The driver will be checking Magic Bands upon entry. If you are trying to get to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party and you are not guests at the Contemporary you either need to park at the Magic Kingdom or take a bus back to your resort and take the bus to Magic Kingdom from there." About 1/3 of the people in line got out of line. We did not because taking the bus back to Caribbean Beach just to immediately get on the bus to Magic Kingdom is ridiculous. FWIW, the driver did not check anyone's Magic Band.

So, are there people who park at Disney Springs with the intention of taking a bus to Contemporary/Yacht/Beach/Boardwalk just to walk to a Disney park? Absolutely.

Do I think people should be parking at Disney Springs and jumping through hoops to avoid paying for parking? No.

Do I begrudge people who have already forked over hundreds of dollars just to get into a Disney park trying to game the system to avoid paying to park? No. After all, they're probably losing $40 worth of value in lost time anyway since, as many people have pointed out, Disney Transportation bus service (in general) is slow.

Do I think Disney should charge for parking at Disney Springs? No.

Do I think I, as a resort guest, should've been called out for taking the bus to Contemporary instead of Caribbean Beach just to get to Magic Kingdom? No.

Do I think Disney should care about people attempting to avoid paying for parking? No, but, as a conglomerate who feels the need to nickel and dime its guests to protect its precious quarterly bottom line, this is what they're left with. Universal doesn't face this problem mostly because, as far as I know, you cannot park for free at CityWalk except under limited circumstances.

Do I think Disney should be limiting who can get on a "publicly" available bus? No. I realize this is where all the apologists are going to come at me to say Disney Transportation isn't truly "publicly available" and I admit Disney can place whatever restrictions they want on their system.

In practical terms: the hassle of parking…coming in through security…then hoping at springs - which is the worst station on property - as opposed to parking at a lot…is not even worth it.

Remember you gotta go back later too

 

[LSLS]

Reddit right now is full of people complaining that they can't just park at DS and then spend a day resort hopping to look at lobbies.


Hey I'm not a customer but during the most busy time of the year I'd love to further bog down your transportation system for the people who are customers. Won't you please accommodate me.

I'd say your premise is wrong. Most are customers. Very few are going to run around the busses to all the resorts and not buy food/snacks/drinks/gift shop stuff. Sure, people do it, and I'm sure there are dozens on Reddit complaining. But for this to be a true issue, the busses would need to be so full they can't accommodate those extra people and it puts a large inconvenience on the people staying at the resorts. I can truthfully say I have NEVER had that issue with Disney Springs. Not during Christmas nor New Years Eve trips. Absolutely on the busses to the parks, but never for Springs/Downtown Disney. So, has it changed where they have a lot less busses?

 

[nickys]

You can get to any resort.

I heard differently, that you could only go to a resort you are staying at or have an ADR for.

I hope your answer is the correct one.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

At a certain point a business would be willing to forgo a cupcake sale if that cupcake impacted the visit of the guests who are paying for the full experience.

Thanks, radio shack…this is a 55 year practice operational model that they can’t seem to stop messing with…not a theoretical Econ model, hedge fund, or the price of corn on the commodities market.

If revenue is revenue then why not sell a dining only Epcot pass for people to come in and visit WS and the festival booths but not get on any rides. That's "revenue they wouldn't have otherwise" right? Oh because that would overcrowd the park and make the visit miserable for the people who paid to come in and experience everything.

They had that…they canned it. Not enough prepaid cash in the coffers…apparently the assumption that people will overpay ALOT for food and drink when they get there- proven fact - wasn’t good enough for palpatine in his throne room…

Parks are not overcrowded at all and haven’t been for 7 years in the “booming” economy…you do the math as to why?

Paying customers should always be given priority when a system is stressed.

This isn’t priority…it’s vanity…as all on property rooms are. They dumped actual tangible perks of value for impressions and illusions. Because the latter cost nothing

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

It suggests that to avoid taking an Uber from MCO to your Disney resort, you take the $2 Lynx bus to Disney Springs and get on your resort bus there.

I tried that once - it’s not worth the $2 vs. Mears. I actually walked the long way around to Saratoga, boat to marketplace, and then walked to the Wyndham.

I'm guessing this is contributing to the recent change, though I'm not sure what "active" in "active reservation" means. Like, do you have to be checked in to board the bus?

If you have a reservation at a hotel including checking in or out that day, it counts as a reservation. That’s the same policy for parking in the hotel lot as well. Bands/keys will still work on checkout day until midnight I think?

I wish they would do this check all the time, if it meant better service.

It doesn’t improve service. The bus will still come at the same time.

I'd think the majority who do it are going to that resort to eat or shop, not park hop.

Often it’s a mix. If I go to the wilderness lodge on the way to MK I’m going to stop at the gift shop, grab a snack if I’m hungry etc.

 

[wdwmagic]

I heard differently, that you could only go to a resort you are staying at or have an ADR for.

I hope your answer is the correct one.

It may vary depending on the CM doing the screening, but according to CMs there, it does not have to be for the specific resort.

 

[Basil of Baker Street]

I'd say your premise is wrong. Most are customers. Very few are going to run around the busses to all the resorts and not buy food/snacks/drinks/gift shop stuff. Sure, people do it, and I'm sure there are dozens on Reddit complaining. But for this to be a true issue, the busses would need to be so full they can't accommodate those extra people and it puts a large inconvenience on the people staying at the resorts. I can truthfully say I have NEVER had that issue with Disney Springs. Not during Christmas nor New Years Eve trips. Absolutely on the busses to the parks, but never for Springs/Downtown Disney. So, has it changed where they have a lot less busses?

Yeah. I'd like to see how "full" these busses are.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I heard differently, that you could only go to a resort you are staying at or have an ADR for.

I hope your answer is the correct one.

That’s Been the “unofficial/offical” policy for 20 years…since the damn dining plan and the elimination of the best crowd management system they ever had that lead to more revenue…

But it also isn’t universally enforced and leaves one thing out: if I want to go to captain cooks to get Tonga toast…am I restricted from doing so? Absolutely not. No such rule exists. They’d have to post otherwise and they wouldn’t dare.

It was a bit needed…infact…because people abused contemporary, beach club, and boardwalk specifically to get free convenience. Prolly a lot of that on the skyline now too…

So while necessary…these decrees are still ham fisted from people who don’t understand the Park business much at all.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Yeah. I'd like to see how "full" these busses are.

They definitely fill up…but that brings up the other elephant in the room: not enough buses to save costs.

 

[Purduevian]

Welp... it's officially the Magic is truly and forever got from Disney World.

 

[Movielover]

Ah, I see this is this year's "Dogs At The Resorts" thread...

Remember how the resorts were going to be overrun by hordes of wild untamed packs of dogs?

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

This is the bigger point I’ll make - Disney world is twice the size of manhattan and many guests visiting do not have a car with them.

Disney has a wonderfully impressive, complex transportation system.

If Disney wants to limit transportation to those who are “paying guests” ok…. But that should mean as long as you have a valid ticket, AP, hotel or dining reservation. Don’t tell me which bus I can or can’t get on, especially at Disney Springs where they have created the park hop to resort issue themselves.

It’s the same issue when they tried the “mobile order only” locations - which thankfully have mostly gone away in Florida. Don’t tell me how to be a customer, provide for the customer the best way.

 

[Chi84]

I’m curious why you rarely share your opinion but just question others?

Do you think Disney Springs parking should be free? Why or why not?

I think they should charge for parking so they can connect Disney Springs with the parks and make transportation better for all guests.

It’s a discussion board so I frequently share my opinion and sometimes ask questions.

I do not think Disney should charge for parking at Disney Springs. It would be bad for the businesses and the people going there to see the entertainment, go shopping and dine at the restaurants.

A much less desirable option would be to charge only non-resort guests. If there are too many people to accommodate, resort guests should have priority.

Limiting people with reasons to visit the resorts seems like a good compromise.