Bus Transportation Slow Downs

[Hakunamatata]

Just an FYI for anyone headed to WDW soon. You will want to add a little more time in your planning to get from resorts to parks, or resorts to resorts. This is purely rumor, however, I have heard this from a few different people (Disney resort staff, transporation people, etc) that due to fuel costs, Disney Transportation has cut back on the number of buses running. We are staying at SSR and its been pretty steady 30-40 minute wait for buses vs the 20-30 that we have seen in the past. I have heard reports from other guests of a couple of hour long waits for the bus, especially if you are trying to get on at the last stop in the resort (the bus has a better chance of being full and driving by the last stop).

Guest relations has been fielding a very large number of complaints and tonight coming back from Epcot they had a transportation manager manning the Saratoga bus stop at Epcot.

Just a heads up for those that like to plan down to the minute, give yourself some extra time in those plans.

 

[wdwmagic]

Thanks for the info.

 

[Hakunamatata]

Thanks for the info.

My pleasure.

 

[wvdisneyfamily]

Wow! That will make a difference in my resort choices! Staying at a resort with only one stop or with boat/monorail access will be the more popular choice in my house.

 

[Iknewagirlnamed]

Holy crap. That is horrible. Thanks for letting us know

 

[withasmile]

A lady who works with my mom went in March and stayed at the Yacht Club and they waited for over an hour for their bus to go back to the hotel from one of the parks.

 

[dxwwf3]

For the prices they are charging for their resorts right now, high fuel costs are no excuse for cutting back on busses during the busy summer season. Sometimes you have to put guest satisfaction ahead of a monetary bottom line. This isn't complaining over losing a classic attraction or something like that. There really is no excuse for this, other than having a driver shortage.

 

[EpcotServo]

This has to be true! Today at MGM I was waiting for a bus to Epcot for about twenty minutes (and the people there had already been waiting another half-hour on top of it.

So I said if the next FIVE buses aren't it, I'd go. (That's more than reasonable based on my past bus trips.)

Well, NINE buses zoomed by, so I said fugedaboutit and walked back into Studios. (Even after getting past Security, I looked back and STILL NO BUS!)

So long story short, no Epcot in the upcoming Update.

 

[yankspy]

This has to be true! Today at MGM I was waiting for a bus to Epcot for about twenty minutes (and the people there had already been waiting another half-hour on top of it.

So I said if the next FIVE buses aren't it, I'd go. (That's more than reasonable based on my past bus trips.)

Well, NINE buses zoomed by, so I said fugedaboutit and walked back into Studios. (Even after getting past Security, I looked back and STILL NO BUS!)

So long story short, no Epcot in the upcoming Update.

Why not walk it or take the boat?

 

[EpcotServo]

Why not walk it or take the boat?

The line for the boat was really long and by that time I had wasted nearly an hour, so figuring in how long it'd take to get back the Studios (I had to be back at a certain time) it just made more sense to walk back in and do some more Star Wars Weekends stuff.

And do you know how far that walk is? I'm not made of feet you know!
:lol:

:wave:

 

[brkgnews]

I'll buy it. It took me an hour to get from AKL to AK one day back in April! I literally could have walked faster.

 

[yankspy]

The line for the boat was really long and by that time I had wasted nearly an hour, so figuring in how long it'd take to get back the Studios (I had to be back at a certain time) it just made more sense to walk back in and do some more Star Wars Weekends stuff.

And do you know how far that walk is? I'm not made of feet you know!
:lol:

:wave:

I hear you. Unfortunately, in this case, I am married to a marathon runner and she always makes me take that walk since we often stay at BCV. When she says "a short walk" she means three miles.:lol:

 

[kristalovesWDW]

I went to Disneyworld with my Mom and sister two weeks ago and I can't tell you how thankful we were that we rented a car. I totally recommend it. We felt so bad for the crowds of people outside of our hotel waiting for a bus in the dreadful heat, while we drove by in our air conditioned car. HIGHLY recommend you rent a car! It just makes life that much easier down in Disneyworld. And if you do any shopping and have a lot of bags, you can take the bags out to your car instead of having to drag them onto a crowded bus. We've used the buses the last three times we went to WDW, and I can't tell you how many times we would get on the wrong bus and be really late to a dinner reservation or something. And at the end of the night, our bus stop would be all the way at the end of the wait area. That was kind of annoying.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

I can see that during the slower times - but what about peak periods ??? Thats going to cause chaos and a whole lot more complaints if things don't change

 

[uklad79]

I was at WDW for 3 weeks in May and noticed this allot. Previously I have only had a max wait of 20 Min's but this time we had many waits of up to 40 Min's for buses. I also noticed how badly the buses are cleaned inside now. At one time they were spotless but now behind seats, the roof and air con vents are all filthy.

 

[NOVAtraveler]

Since I'm taking AutoTrain, I'll spend this weekend revising all my plans and will drive to each park. I'm an early morning soul (5-6 a.m.), so I'll drive from SSR to a park, use Mickey's transportation if I feel like visiting another resort, bus back to original park and drive back to SSR. Make sense?

 

[Disney05]

Staying at BCV this October. Hope this gets better by then. At least I have two parks we can walk to.

 

[drew81]

If the waits are this long at the deluxe resorts I wonder how long they will be at the value's? Pop Century can have long waits as is.

 

[lscott933]

well i can see them trying to have more wait time in the slower periods of the day. they know the trends of people waiting for a buses at given times so why not wait for another few minutes to have more people there. we all know that soon or later they are going to have to charge a fuel charge to our cost. like everyone else doing it to make up lost revenue.

 

[jt04]

Disney is just trying to reduce it's "carbon footprint". Thanks for nothing Al Gore!