Yankeeplex
New Member
Doesn't surprise me...I gotta believe that they are working on some type of hybrid or electric buses at this time.
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Bus Transportation Slow Downs
- Thread starter Hakunamatata
- Start date
Iknewagirlnamed
New Member
LOL I remember RUNNING from MGM to Epcot for a dinner reservation and had about a half an hour to do it! I would run (mind you, in early July with high humidity after having already walked all day) as much as I could, then walk fast when I was out of breath. I thought I could beat the boat. Hahaha. Silly me
Iknewagirlnamed
New Member
I agree. I mean, I was there in January and people got very upset that they had to wait more than 10 minutes. It was annoying. And when it's NOT hot, they have yet to be in the park and they're complaining on having to wait less than 20 minutes, who knows how some will react with the even longer waits in the summer
wvdisneyfamily
Well-Known Member
Last year I saw long wait times during the middle of the day. I don't like that, but I expected it with the rising already rising cost of fuel. It's also just good common sense, too. People are less likely to be using the bus in the middle of the day. However, what concerns me is the opening and closing situation. They aren't cutting back on those, are they? 
I'm really thankful right now that we stimulated the WDW economy by upgrading to the WL. We can at least boat to MK and monorail to Epcot from the Contemporary. I don't know how much longer monorailing via the Contemporary will take, but the bus situation makes me think it will have to be better.
I'm really thankful right now that we stimulated the WDW economy by upgrading to the WL. We can at least boat to MK and monorail to Epcot from the Contemporary. I don't know how much longer monorailing via the Contemporary will take, but the bus situation makes me think it will have to be better.
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
At the middle of the day, this makes complete sense. I have been on buses in the past where it was just us at the middle of the day, so cutting back would help save money to make sure the bus is full. They can't just leave the bus there until it's full, because that doesn't really solve anything--you are paying the driver to sit there and the bus still has to be on and using fuel if they want the A/C to be on so the bus isn't a sauna. Thus, you send the bus less often. However, during opening and closing, such a system would actually cost Disney money--regardless of when the buses arrive, the same number of guests need to get from their resort to the park and vice-versa, so the faster you get the guests to their destination, the less time you must be paying CMs to drive the buses, staff gift shops/guest relations at the exits to the parks, etc. I'm not entirely convinced much has changed, though. In years past, I have waited nearly an hour for transportation at mid-day, even in August. That said, I would not be at all surprised if they build in a fuel surcharge for the 2009 packages.
jt04
Well-Known Member
Last year I saw long wait times during the middle of the day. I don't like that, but I expected it with the rising already rising cost of fuel. It's also just good common sense, too. People are less likely to be using the bus in the middle of the day. However, what concerns me is the opening and closing situation. They aren't cutting back on those, are they?
I'm really thankful right now that we stimulated the WDW economy by upgrading to the WL. We can at least boat to MK and monorail to Epcot from the Contemporary. I don't know how much longer monorailing via the Contemporary will take, but the bus situation makes me think it will have to be better.
I am waiting for the day they provide an elevated walkway to the TTC from WL. An even better idea though would be enclosed ski gondolas to the Contemorary or TTC. It fits the theme and would require NO wait times and would be cheaper and less polluting than busses.
fizzle75
New Member
I just said the same thing to my wife. Disney is all about innovation and staying on the cutting edge of technology, surely they are already working on some type of alternative to alleviate this problem.
Having said that, I really hope things are running smoother when we visit in December. We're staying at SSR, although Boardwalk was our first choice, and even before this the waits for busses could be rather lengthy. We will have family with us and one of them is a first timer so I hope this doesn't put too much of a damper on our plans. We'll just have to plan accordingly and hope for the best.
Maybe we'll just steal...er, I mean, procure... a few Segways while we're there.:lookaroun :animwink:
kadesha
New Member
This sucks! I just don't think there's any excuse for it. I am really getting upset at some of the stuff Disney is doing. Cutting down on the buses, jacking up the stroller prices, it's ridiculious!
Thankfully we drive down. We usually use the buses once we get there, but this year, if the waits are still terrible when we go down, we'll absolutely drive!
Thankfully we drive down. We usually use the buses once we get there, but this year, if the waits are still terrible when we go down, we'll absolutely drive!
jmvd20
Well-Known Member
Very interesting...
But there is a question one must ask, and that question is simply:
Who has been in charge for the last 8 years?
I'm not sure that this is entirely true. Yes on certain occasions the buses can take a little longer, however we were there last week and did not wait more than 20 mins for a bus anywhere to and from the POFQ. I did notice that the buses are reassigned a new destination once they get to the MK for example. If you notice there is a van that sits by the bus entrance and every time the bus comes in it stops and the people in the van give it a new assignment. I assume this is so they can run a few less buses but still determine what resort needs the bus soonest so they are as close to 20 mins as possible.
JerseySkiddie
New Member
we got a car for the first time on my last trip. my travel buddy and i always were always to cheap to get one, but decided to give it a whirl in april. i cannot explain how fabulous it was. 10-15 minutes from room to front gate was awesome and not standing around forever was equally awesome. it was also nice to be able to go to adrs and resort restaurants without it taking forever and a day with transfering at parks.
if you decide to get a car sign up for whatever company you use's preferred customer club. its free and you get to go to the front of the line at the airport and we've found that you often get an upgrade.
good luck battling the buses every body!
if you decide to get a car sign up for whatever company you use's preferred customer club. its free and you get to go to the front of the line at the airport and we've found that you often get an upgrade.
good luck battling the buses every body!
jt04
Well-Known Member
Yes and you can find very good rates in the off season. Driving on property does not use a lot of gas either. People should definitely look into it. Makes everthing so much more convienent!
luckyeye13
New Member
Honestly, I have not noticed much of a slowdown. Since I am a huge transportation freak, I took some additional trips and, at times, even waited for a few buses to a destination to make sure that I got the exact type of bus that I wanted to video tape. Plus, there were all of the regular bus trips that I had to make to get from place to place (since I park my car just once for the day and use Disney Transport to get around). At no point were the waits more than 20 minutes and, in many cases, they were closer to 10-15 minutes. This was just recently during the month of May.
I have also noticed from both playing and working at WDW that many people tend to exagerate the waits for the buses (or anything else, for that matter) since it does tend to feel as if you had waited longer than you actually have. For example, I was waiting at the Contemporary for a Downtown Disney bus and, as the bus came, one couple was complaining about how they had waited for the bus for almost an hour. That couldn't be true, though, since I saw the Downtown Disney bus leaving as the monorail I was on was climbing the hill to the Contemporary. Since I am a quick walker, I know it didn't take me 50 minutes to get down from the platform to the bus stop. As I had looked at my watch when I saw the other bus to see when the next one might come, I know that the wait was only 20 minutes. (Of course, maybe they were specifically waiting to ride an RTS, the old type of bus! After all, I waited around some more to film a ride on a NovaBUS. :lol I have also worked shifts as a Transportation Greeter at three of the resorts (including two value ones) and have had people come up to me and complain about the 40-minute wait. Since my job was to write down the bus numbers and the times that they arrived for each destination, I was able to look up when the previous bus left. In most cases, it was 10-15 minutes ago, rather than 40.
Of course, the Disney bus system is not perfect and does mess up at times, but it tends to be the exception rather than the rule. (Though it does stink if you tend to be caught on the exceptions.) During my Transportation Greeter shifts, I have logged some rare waits of 35-40 minutes and I have occassionaly waited 40 minutes myself. Honestly, I think this is due in large part to some system hiccups more than to saving fuel. Keep in mind that the Magic in Motion system is getting its first summer test after being implemented to some extent at all four parks and Downtown Disney and that this has resulted in a new way of dispatching buses. Like anything else, it has not been immune from teething troubles and I am certain that there are still plenty of issues to be worked out. Once the dust has settled, though, I would imagine that WDW will have an even more reliable bus system.
I have also noticed from both playing and working at WDW that many people tend to exagerate the waits for the buses (or anything else, for that matter) since it does tend to feel as if you had waited longer than you actually have. For example, I was waiting at the Contemporary for a Downtown Disney bus and, as the bus came, one couple was complaining about how they had waited for the bus for almost an hour. That couldn't be true, though, since I saw the Downtown Disney bus leaving as the monorail I was on was climbing the hill to the Contemporary. Since I am a quick walker, I know it didn't take me 50 minutes to get down from the platform to the bus stop. As I had looked at my watch when I saw the other bus to see when the next one might come, I know that the wait was only 20 minutes. (Of course, maybe they were specifically waiting to ride an RTS, the old type of bus! After all, I waited around some more to film a ride on a NovaBUS. :lol
I have also worked shifts as a Transportation Greeter at three of the resorts (including two value ones) and have had people come up to me and complain about the 40-minute wait. Since my job was to write down the bus numbers and the times that they arrived for each destination, I was able to look up when the previous bus left. In most cases, it was 10-15 minutes ago, rather than 40.Of course, the Disney bus system is not perfect and does mess up at times, but it tends to be the exception rather than the rule. (Though it does stink if you tend to be caught on the exceptions.) During my Transportation Greeter shifts, I have logged some rare waits of 35-40 minutes and I have occassionaly waited 40 minutes myself. Honestly, I think this is due in large part to some system hiccups more than to saving fuel. Keep in mind that the Magic in Motion system is getting its first summer test after being implemented to some extent at all four parks and Downtown Disney and that this has resulted in a new way of dispatching buses. Like anything else, it has not been immune from teething troubles and I am certain that there are still plenty of issues to be worked out. Once the dust has settled, though, I would imagine that WDW will have an even more reliable bus system.
A few years ago when we visited WDW, in the good old days prior to the automated bus speils - our driver was quoting several facts on our journey back to the resort.
Most of them I had heard before and knew were correct, but he stated that the whole WDW resort used 100,000 gallons of gas per day (all busses, ferrys, the Tomorrowland Speedway and every other type of transportation available)
Don't know if that is true but if it is, the cost of fuel for WDW must be astronomical now!
(Don't flame me for quoting a bus driver! :lookaroun)
Most of them I had heard before and knew were correct, but he stated that the whole WDW resort used 100,000 gallons of gas per day (all busses, ferrys, the Tomorrowland Speedway and every other type of transportation available)
Don't know if that is true but if it is, the cost of fuel for WDW must be astronomical now!
(Don't flame me for quoting a bus driver! :lookaroun)
GymLeaderPhil
Well-Known Member
From what I've heard this is around the time when transportation gets to bid on (or when those bids take effect) what kind of shifts they wish to have based on seniority. So there might be some fresh faces taking earlier or later shifts.
wherewhy
Member
Just as long as the two ladies from the teacups aren't there...:lookaroun...:lol:
WI DISNEY FAN
Member
What about Magical Express have the waits increased from the airport to the world?
wvdisneyfamily
Well-Known Member
WDWmom64055
New Member
I can believe it...the night we were at Epcot there
were huge lines waiting for the value resorts and they were taking busses off-line instead of rerouting them!
Another time a kind driver took all the value resort folks on one bus because we'd all been standing there when he left the first time...and were still standing waiting when he was ready to leave the next time!
Another transportation issue: Nobody knows anything. We got horrific advice from Guest Relations at both Epcot and AK, and even worse info from a TTC driver and an Epcot driver. You need to know where you are going before you leave your resort each day because the concierge's are the only CMs given any sort of training about this topic!!!
We did exactly what we were told by the AK Guest Relations folks and ended up spending 2 hours riding busses in a futile attempt to get to minigolf.
were huge lines waiting for the value resorts and they were taking busses off-line instead of rerouting them!
Another time a kind driver took all the value resort folks on one bus because we'd all been standing there when he left the first time...and were still standing waiting when he was ready to leave the next time!
Another transportation issue: Nobody knows anything. We got horrific advice from Guest Relations at both Epcot and AK, and even worse info from a TTC driver and an Epcot driver. You need to know where you are going before you leave your resort each day because the concierge's are the only CMs given any sort of training about this topic!!!
We did exactly what we were told by the AK Guest Relations folks and ended up spending 2 hours riding busses in a futile attempt to get to minigolf.