2021/2022 Bus Crowds and Housekeeping

[tnemgif]

I am planning a multi-family vacation for the summer of 2022. We have stayed at many Disney resorts through the years, but our old standard is Port Orleans Riverside. However, the bus service during our last trip was extremely stressful. The buses were constantly packed and waits were long. We were consistently told to stand “belly to back” with strangers and “if you aren’t uncomfortable, you’re not close enough.” Some drivers were extremely rude and one made jokes about harassing women. Obviously, this didn’t make for a relaxing vacation.

Does anyone have any recent experience with buses at POR? Has the bus service improved with Covid regulations?

I’m also curious if housekeeping has improved due to Covid? Our last stay at Caribbean Beach was disgusting. We had brown goop on our walls and mildew all through the bathroom.

We are considering staying at CBR, POR, or WL. WL is a bit more expensive, but we have always had better luck with buses and cleanliness at deluxe resorts. Poly would be our top choice, but prices there have blown (way) past our budget.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Ben_since_1971]

POR is scheduled to open later this year. It's been closed since March 2020. Housekeeping is now every other day trash and tidy. Sorry you had goop and mildew. Did you report it to Housekeeping?

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Housekeeping is now every other day trash and tidy.

That is not a permanent change. That's a COVID-era hangover until they're able to fully staff housekeeping again.

@drumbum67 given your aversion to buses, go to CBR. The Skyliner rules.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Full disclosure though, those CBR rooms are in a bit of rough shape. The pools, lobby, grounds, and other common areas are looking gorgeous, but the rooms themselves are in need of a refurb.

 

[tnemgif]

Sorry you had goop and mildew. Did you report it to Housekeeping?

We only stayed two nights. We did a quick WDW trip before a cruise, so it wasn’t worth rocking the boat. We did take pics though. It was gnarly.

@drumbum67 given your aversion to buses, go to CBR. The Skyliner rules.

That’s part of our consideration. But I’m REALLY skeptical of any bus service after our last trip to POR. We have some little ones, so we’ll be spending more time at MK/AK than Epcot/DHS.

We stayed at AKL 2 years ago, and the bus service there was significantly better. So I’m waffling if that (or WL) would be worth the splurge again, or if bus service has improved at the moderates.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

We stayed at AKL 2 years ago, and the bus service there was significantly better. So I’m waffling if that (or WL) would be worth the splurge again, or if bus service has improved at the moderates.

Caribbean Beach has more convenient transportation than anything other than Yacht/Beach/Boardwalk. I'm including the monorail resorts on that list. It's not just better than Port Orleans, it's better than Wilderness Lodge, too. Your good bus service at Animal Kingdom wasn't because Deluxe buses are better than Moderate buses, it's because your DAKL trip was pre-COVID.

That said, staffing these semi-skilled positions (housekeeping, line cooks, bus drivers) has been a challenge. Chapek recently said he expects they'll be fully staffed by the end of the year, but it's certainly possible that bus driver shortages could continue to cause headaches into 2022.

 

[tnemgif]

Caribbean Beach has more convenient transportation than anything other than Yacht/Beach/Boardwalk. I'm including the monorail resorts on that list. It's not just better than Port Orleans, it's better than Wilderness Lodge, too. Your good bus service at Animal Kingdom wasn't because Deluxe buses are better than Moderate buses, it's because your DAKL trip was pre-COVID.

That said, staffing these semi-skilled positions (housekeeping, line cooks, bus drivers) has been a challenge. Chapek recently said he expects they'll be fully staffed by the end of the year, but it's certainly possible that bus driver shortages could continue to cause headaches into 2022.

Cool, thanks for the tips!

Our POR trips were pre-Covid too. POR buses always seemed crammed while deluxe hotel buses were a bit less stressful. I’m guessing that’s due to the different sizes of the resorts. We’ve stayed at the 3 monorail hotels and found transportation significantly better there - for us anyhow. It’s much easier to get back and forth to the hotels with the kiddos.

So just curious if bus service has improved at POR, due to Covid regulations, or if it’s just as bad/worse.

 

[Disone]

That is not a permanent change. That's a COVID-era hangover until they're able to fully staff housekeeping again.

@drumbum67 given your aversion to buses, go to CBR. The Skyliner rules.

Disney is still playing catch-up from some decisions that resulted in a need for a lot more housekeepers, even if 100% of the housekeepers had come back from the furlough.

I agree it was not intended to be a permanent change. However, reading some tea leaves here I think there is a high likelihood that for many of the Disney resorts this change will be permanent. If not permanent it will last few years until Staffing can catch up.

 

[tnemgif]

Disney is still playing catch-up from some decisions that resulted in a need for a lot more housekeepers, even if 100% of the housekeepers had come back from the furlough.

I agree it was not intended to be a permanent change. However, reading some tea leaves here I think there is a high likelihood that for many of the Disney resorts this change will be permanent. If not permanent it will last few years until Staffing can catch up.

Good insight, thanks!
I’m pretty ok without daily housekeeping. As long as the rooms are clean when we get there!

 

[Dayma]

We just got back a few weeks ago. The room service stuff is pretty easy to workaround. Every-other day is not horrible.

The busses were a totally different story. Our first morning at MK they arrived at 7:45 to pick people up when MK opened at 8. The line was horrendously long because they arrived so late. We stayed calm but I can't say the same for others .

 

[Beacon Joe]

Full disclosure though, those CBR rooms are in a bit of rough shape. The pools, lobby, grounds, and other common areas are looking gorgeous, but the rooms themselves are in need of a refurb.

I thought they just went through a refurb? Or was that just the "preferred" priced rooms?

Our preferred room there was nice. The bathroom though... if that was the result of recent refurb, it wasn't all that great and honestly reminded me of a motel in rural Kentucky I once stayed at. I watched the allears footage of the refurbed rooms at one of the value resorts and their bathrooms were much, much better. IIRC it was the Animation or Pop something.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I thought they just went through a refurb? Or was that just the "preferred" priced rooms?

2015, I think. The refurb cycle is roughly 7 years.

 

[Beacon Joe]

2015, I think. The refurb cycle is roughly 7 years.

Oh wow. I guess that explains it. And also drives home that I shouldn't believe everything I read on the internet since that's where I read about the "refurbed preferred rooms." (I think it was here, too ).

As for the CBR's housekeeping, OP's MMV, but while I liked the furnishings, I wasn't terribly impressed with the undusted surfaces.

Busses at the CBR were fine, but pay attention to their sequence of stops, and go to the first stop if at all possible. We saved waiting for one or two busses to cycle through one stop by moving upstream by one stop. Maybe a 2 minute walk that saved us 30-45 minutes.

 

[Ayla]

Cool, thanks for the tips!

Our POR trips were pre-Covid too. POR buses always seemed crammed while deluxe hotel buses were a bit less stressful. I’m guessing that’s due to the different sizes of the resorts. We’ve stayed at the 3 monorail hotels and found transportation significantly better there - for us anyhow. It’s much easier to get back and forth to the hotels with the kiddos.

So just curious if bus service has improved at POR, due to Covid regulations, or if it’s just as bad/worse.

POR has yet to reopen since WDW shut down in March of 2020.