Bus Mayhem at Magic Kingdom on Christmas Day!

[RiversideBunny]

I have never really understood how Disney manages the bus needs. They seem to just assign a certain number of buses to each route and then turn them loose.
It would be better if each bus had a radio and the drivers were trained to report unusually long lines so that buses could be redirected to where they are needed. Airport shuttle bus drivers do that regularly.
I have heard that they are installing GPS devices on the buses for better tracking of their locations. Also they are to have cameras in the bus waiting areas to monitor the lines.
All that would, of course, still require good judgement, and concern for the guests, on the part of those supervising the bus operations. I think that once a month the people responsible for scheduling the buses should be required to go stand in a line and wait for one.
In the Army, the parachute packers are required to periodically select a parachute at random and then jump with it.

 

[Hakunamatata]

I have never really understood how Disney manages the bus needs. They seem to just assign a certain number of buses to each route and then turn them loose.
It would be better if each bus had a radio and the drivers were trained to report unusually long lines so that buses could be redirected to where they are needed. Airport shuttle bus drivers do that regularly.
I have heard that they are installing GPS devices on the buses for better tracking of their locations. Also they are to have cameras in the bus waiting areas to monitor the lines.
All that would, of course, still require good judgement, and concern for the guests, on the part of those supervising the bus operations. I think that once a month the people responsible for scheduling the buses should be required to go stand in a line and wait for one.
In the Army, the parachute packers are required to periodically select a parachute at random and then jump with it.

All the buses do have a radio. Before each drop off, the driver radios dispatch and gets his next assignment. Now during peak times, I am sure the drivers have repeat routes, but during non peak hours the same driver make make a number different routes in shift.

 

[disneykid23]

All the buses do have a radio. Before each drop off, the driver radios dispatch and gets his next assignment. Now during peak times, I am sure the drivers have repeat routes, but during non peak hours the same driver make make a number different routes in shift.

The driver gets schuduled to a certain Bus Hub ( MK, DTD, AK, EP, ST, Fort) from there they check in at that hub with the coordinator and they get a bus number for the bus they will be driving for a while. Everytime the bus comes back to a hub they call for a dispatch at a certain point at each hub. The dispatch looks at the computer dispatch program which tells the dispatcher when to dispatch a bus to a resort load zone at the hub depending on how often the resort wants the bus to come(i.e. every 15 min. every 20 min.). The driver gets a different route every time thsy come back to the hub but sometimes they have to repeat the route just depends which resort is next on the list.

Any other questions about buses PM me.

 

[makonyy15]

One congestion problem is also the Boardwalk, Swan, and Dolphin all on one bus. It's usually not a problem but those buses got very crowded on Christmas. That's what I never got, although the resorts are close, each resort can sometimes fill its own bus with people. Other than that no transportation problems for me, no real waiting at all.

 

[VoiceGuy07]

Reason #1 WHY I rent a car!!

Right there with you! The buses work great when things are rather quiet but love to have the car around. We're from VA and usually rent a car and drive down to FL. Have the car the whole week! Comes in handy!!!!

 

[kiawahman]

and you were at disney world during Christmas why??

 

[mkt]

Rob's solution:

You've already spent $5,000 on your WDW vacation, the $15 cab fare isn't gonna break the bank.

 

[v_misses_epcot]

Rob's solution:

You've already spent $5,000 on your WDW vacation, the $15 cab fare isn't gonna break the bank.

Amen, I mean, what did you seriously expect? It's xmas.

You should've seen the line from Epcot going towards I-94! It was hectic and it lasted a good one hour to get home!

 

[tink rules]

I rent... I don't do lines... I do Monorails and they do have lines occasionally, then I do boats... and when they are backed up and the park is still open... I go back inside and have more fun....

If it was raining... no wonder everyone wanted to get out of there and head back...and it was BAD weather on Xmas day too....

 

[v_misses_epcot]

I rent... I don't do lines... I do Monorails and they do have lines occasionally, then I do boats... and when they are backed up and the park is still open... I go back inside and have more fun....

If it was raining... no wonder everyone wanted to get out of there and head back...and it was BAD weather on Xmas day too....

The area next to spaceship earth was so flooded that guest relations started escorting guest through out backstage! People wanted to take several pictures of our backstage but we stopped them promptly! A few guest even wanted to drink from our water fountain and our water cooler just to stay back there a little longer. :fork: Some of them even tried to squeeze back in after they were out. 9_9 oH MAN!! It was horrible on xmas

 

[mkt]

Amen, I mean, what did you seriously expect? It's xmas.

You should've seen the line from Epcot going towards I-94! It was hectic and it lasted a good one hour to get home!

I-94 huh? I didn't realize WDW was anywhere near Bilings, MT or Sarnia, ON

 

[Tiggerfanatic]

We had a similar problem the Monday morning after Thanksgiving. It was our last day, we made one last quick trip to Epcot, and had to be back to our room for luggage pickup @ 11AM. Went to the bus stop @ 10, we were the only two in line; at 10:45 I called CBR asking them to send a bus to get us so we wouldn't miss the ME bus to the airport.

 

[Hakunamatata]

... and had to be back to our room for luggage pickup @ 11AM. Went to the bus stop @ 10,..

Wow, thats cutting it close....

 

[frazierle]

On night at MGM after fantasmic we went to the PO line and could not believe how long it was. We waited 20 minutes and no bus showed up. We then boarded a bus to the TTC, took the ferry to MK, was able to get on the bus there and beat the members of party who thought we lost our minds back to FQ. Since then we almost always drive to MGM and we've also decided if we have any type of time constraint we'll drive.

 

[darthjohnny]

I did not have the bus problem last year on Christmas day. (Maybe it was because they actually had seperate buses for French Quarter and Riverside. )

 

[tink rules]

Well those two resorts have always been famous for bus problems since they share busses...

Maybe Disney should give them their own bus lines?????

& try going at a slower time of the year...

 

[maelstrom]

This happened last Christmas as well, except they had split up POR and POFQ. The busses for every other resort were coming regularly and the lines were not long, except for POR. The line filled POR's corral, the corral across from it, and was winding down the middle walkway back towards the MK. But they did bring in two busses at once and double parked them to try and get some of the crowd down. But I still think it was a little ridiculous. Bus service is the reason I won't stay at either PO resort again.