Changes to bus transportation for the water parks begins this weekend

[Disone]

Theyre gonna save so much money though! Disney is apparently a business, as pointed out by some of our more astute members.

Likely not really the cost savings as they are not reducing the amount of buses they are using, just reallocating them to routes that have much higher demand. I know it does not fit the narrative of the on-line communities, but not everything WDW does is cost savings. No doubt this is a step down in service for thoses going to a water park, but for the masses going to the theme parks, which at any moment is time is a significantly higher population, this might be a good move.

Though the best move would be to buy more buses and hire more drivers, but with the amount of resorts they have that solution is not a switch that can be turned on tomorrow.

 

[TyrantBoss]

And how is this change any different than before????

No...you're right....Disney does nothing wrong. I was wrong to question them. I apologize to the forum members for daring to question Disney.

I should never have implied otherwise.

 

[COProgressFan]

Likely not really the cost savings as they are not reducing the amount of buses they are using, just reallocating them to routes that have much higher demand. I know it does not fit the narrative of the on-line communities, but not everything WDW does is cost savings. No doubt this is a step down in service for thoses going to a water park, but for the masses going to the theme parks, which at any moment is time is a significantly higher population, this might be a good move.

Though the best move would be to buy more buses and hire more drivers, but with the amount of resorts they have that solution is not a switch that can be turned on tomorrow.

But why have a step down in service at all for the thousands of resort guests who visit the water parks every day? More people do go to the big 4 parks, but that really has nothing to do with the need for appropriate bus service to the water parks. The resort prices didn't go down. The advertised amenities didn't go down. All that went down was the quality of experience. Having had experienced the effects of water park bus reductions last year, I can tell you it is a miserable experience for guests.

You suggest that there is a bus shortage and a shortage of drivers. If that were the case, it would be a problem entirely due to Disney's actions, a and could be resolved very quickly by Disney if they chose to. Disney could have dozens of charters on property tomorrow if they wanted to. Hint: They don't want to.

 

[MonkeyHead]

Record attendance. Record profit.

There is absolutely zero reason not to bring MORE busses online with direct routes.

But sure, keep defending all these cuts as prices rise and attractions disappear. There is some serious mental illness going on in these parts.

 

[ford91exploder]

Then have the busses pass up the water parks before 9:30ish? Or have dedicated water park busses?

A huge part of the on-site resorts is the "easy transportation". I don't stay at on-site hotels so that I can "give myself some extra time" to get to the parks. No one does. It's literally the opposite. Walk out my room, bus takes me to park. Done.



BUT NOTHING. "This is an inconvenience", so it shouldn't be happening. No ifs, ands, or buts. A Disney vacation is enough of an undertaking and making anything more complicated is a bad job on their part. That's how they keep people on-site.
Disney resorts = they handle the hard stuff for you. Show up and have fun.

At least thats what they tell me when I hand over hundreds of dollars a night...

Still not convinced?
What's that written beneath each resort on the main resort page??? The very first thing they tell you is how easy it is to get from your prospective resort to the parks.

IF you have a CAR, If using Disney buses well....

 

[Disone]

But why have a step down in service at all for the thousands of resort guests who visit the water parks every day? More people do go to the big 4 parks, but that really has nothing to do with the need for appropriate bus service to the water parks. The resort prices didn't go down. The advertised amenities didn't go down. All that went down was the quality of experience. Having had experienced the effects of water park bus reductions last year, I can tell you it is a miserable experience for guests.

You suggest that there is a bus shortage and a shortage of drivers. If that were the case, it would be a problem entirely due to Disney's actions, a and could be resolved very quickly by Disney if they chose to. Disney could have dozens of charters on property tomorrow if they wanted to. Hint: They don't want to.

I dislike the hostility of your post. I did not suggest it was a bus shortage just that it was more operationally efficient for them to focus the buses on the theme park routes which litterally host 10's of thousands more guests daily. You can talk about the number of guests going to the water parks all you want, but the fact is the number of a guests using the transportation to go to the theme parks dwarfs that number significantly.

I have not made a suggestion that they are short on buses only that they are reallocating the resources they currently have to focus more on the routes where demand is highest. And while there is no sin in doing that, I do go on to clearly State the best option would just be buy more buses and hire more drivers. But again for as manyresorts that they have that is not a switch that can be turned on tomorrow.

So my point, that seems to have been lost, was that yes... they could have a much better solution to the problem than this. That said this was not a budget cut. It was a reallocation of resources they're already using.

 

[wdisney9000]

That said this was not a budget cut. It was a reallocation of resources they're already using.

All they have to do is limit the number of buses going to DS and then limit the number of buses shuttling from AK and DS to water parks. If they eliminate 2 buses from each resort route and from DS in order to have a more full bus for each trip, they will save a few bucks. Companies as big as Dis dont look at dollar signs, they look at percentages. Some yahoo in accounting came up with the idea that if hey"reallocate" and eliminate a few buses here and there they will lower the amount by 0.07% annually, which is probly a a few hundred thousand annually.

But when your reporting record profits, why not make it better for you guests instead of just making it better for the company? Or at the least, keep it the same. Most people bring a larger bag for the water parks so having to bus jump and most likely wait longer with the xtra baggage will be a huge inconvenience. Throw in a sleeping toddler or two and youve got a nightmare situation for that parent(s).

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

. That said this was not a budget cut. It was a reallocation of resources they're already using.

I dont like sprouts, but thats not the issue.

But to put it another way, failed to resource sufficiently over an extended period of time, or invest to meet the operational requirements for the number of guests on site and the locations being served.
Its not a cut its just being careful with money, like Yeti repair.

 

[ford91exploder]

All they have to do is limit the number of buses going to DS and then limit the number of buses shuttling from AK and DS to water parks. If they eliminate 2 buses from each resort route and from DS in order to have a more full bus for each trip, they will save a few bucks. Companies as big as Dis dont look at dollar signs, they look at percentages. Some yahoo in accounting came up with the idea that if hey"reallocate" and eliminate a few buses here and there they will lower the amount by 0.07% annually, which is probly a a few hundred thousand annually.

But when your reporting record profits, why not make it better for you guests instead of just making it better for the company? Or at the least, keep it the same. Most people bring a larger bag for the water parks so having to bus jump and most likely wait longer with the xtra baggage will be a huge inconvenience. Throw in a sleeping toddler or two and youve got a nightmare situation for that parent(s).

Because when you have record profits you have the tiger by the tail as wall st will demand even BIGGER profits next quarter so you need to cut or as other posters have mentioned 'reallocate resources' (to stock repurchases).

 

[G00fyDad]

That or just plan to leave your resort a little bit earlier to make up for the extra time. I'd imagine that the buses going from resorts to the water parks were pretty empty; multiply that by all of the resorts and you end up with a lot of empty buses running to the water parks. This makes sense to me, but I also drive my own car to WDW so won't really be affected by this lol.

A "little earlier" ? Now that is funny.

This is just one of the reasons we rent a car when we get to Florida. As if the bus rides were not long enough already. Now you have to take another 20 minute trip AND wait for the NEXT available bus to get to the waterparks (which may not arrive for another 15+ minutes). And that is only if you get to get on that next arriving bus at Disney Springs or AK. You may have to wait for the next bus after that. Good job Disney!

 

[IMFearless]

If this means a faster service to AK and Disney Springs without the stop at BB/TL I would be all for it, provided:

There is a near constant shuttle between AK and BB as well as between DS and TL.

If there is one bus loading and another ready to take it's place almost immediately after, this could be an improvement over a much less frequent but direct service, when you add in the large percentage of guests who will also all get a slightly faster trip to AK or DS.

It really depends on whether they are going to have a 20 minute wait on the water park connection, which would be a complete pain. If the water park connection buses are transporting guests from all resorts they will need to run one after the other at peak times to keep up with demand.

Depending on the frequency of the connection we will soon get an idea whether this is cost cutting reduction or a genuine attempt to realign the routes potentially making it slightly more efficient.

 

[ford91exploder]

If this means a faster service to AK and Disney Springs without the stop at BB/TL I would be all for it, provided:

There is a near constant shuttle between AK and BB as well as between DS and TL.

If there is one bus loading and another ready to take it's place almost immediately after, this could be an improvement over a much less frequent but direct service, when you add in the large percentage of guests who will also all get a slightly faster trip to AK or DS.

It really depends on whether they are going to have a 20 minute wait on the water park connection, which would be a complete pain. If the water park connection buses are transporting guests from all resorts they will need to run one after the other at peak times to keep up with demand.

Depending on the frequency of the connection we will soon get an idea whether this is cost cutting reduction or a genuine attempt to realign the routes potentially making it slightly more efficient.

We already know it's a cost cut. If Disney really wanted to improve bus service they would change to GPS dispatch where the closest empty bus would be sent to pick up passengers at any stop. We've all been there when multiple ECV's are loaded and the bus drives off with maybe 20 people or so that usually can take 2-3 buses to get all the pax from the bus stop. We use a car these days as bus service since 2011 or so is beyond awful

 

[wdisney9000]

If this means a faster service to AK and Disney Springs without the stop at BB/TL I would be all for it, provided:

There is a near constant shuttle between AK and BB as well as between DS and TL.

If there is one bus loading and another ready to take it's place almost immediately after, this could be an improvement over a much less frequent but direct service, when you add in the large percentage of guests who will also all get a slightly faster trip to AK or DS.

It really depends on whether they are going to have a 20 minute wait on the water park connection, which would be a complete pain. If the water park connection buses are transporting guests from all resorts they will need to run one after the other at peak times to keep up with demand.

Depending on the frequency of the connection we will soon get an idea whether this is cost cutting reduction or a genuine attempt to realign the routes potentially making it slightly more efficient.

That would be nice, but what do we have as any evidence that they will have constant shuttle service, or even a shuttle every ten minutes? Look at the Monorail resorts as an example. GF, CR, and Poly all share a bus and those are the highest paying resort guests and they dont even have a constant bus feed for them. For all the money they shell out they dont even get a dedicated bus, let alone expedited service. Why would would Disney even consider upping the speed of bus arrival for a simple shuttle to BB or TL? And if they did, they run the risk of guests complaining that if they can have a constant stream of buses for the water parks, then they should have them for the resorts as well.

Its cost cutting, plain and simple. The only thing that surprises me is that they did not make the bus ride a $65 cupcake party per guest.

 

[IMFearless]

That would be nice, but what do we have as any evidence that they will have constant shuttle service, or even a shuttle every ten minutes? Look at the Monorail resorts as an example. GF, CR, and Poly all share a bus and those are the highest paying resort guests and they dont even have a constant bus feed for them. For all the money they shell out they dont even get a dedicated bus, let alone expedited service. Why would would Disney even consider upping the speed of bus arrival for a simple shuttle to BB or TL? And if they did, they run the risk of guests complaining that if they can have a constant stream of buses for the water parks, then they should have them for the resorts as well.

Its cost cutting, plain and simple. The only thing that surprises me is that they did not make the bus ride a $65 cupcake party per guest.

The volume of guests arriving may be the reason to increase the connecting bus frequency.

Does anyone know the capacity of the water Parks? I would assume it is somewhere north of 12,000 guests. I've just made that figure up, but...

Even if you said you had 500-600 arriving per hour via buses that is 10 buses an hour.

Obviously some are coming via car or taxi etc.

 

[Disone]

I dont like sprouts, but thats not the issue.

But to put it another way, failed to resource sufficiently over an extended period of time, or invest to meet the operational requirements for the number of guests on site and the locations being served.
Its not a cut its just being careful with money, like Yeti repair.

I love sprouts... they are Delicious with ranch dressing And yes, agreed they failed to expand the system appropriately to meet the demands of their growth.

 

[IMFearless]

It's a really difficult one, as once the resort got to be a certain size they Really had two options:

Expand using buses going from every destination to every other destination direct. (this leads to people thinking it is boring, too many buses, plus it creates bottlenecks and capacity issues at peak times, or empty buses when it is quieter)

The alternative is a hub system with transfer points, meaning that guests must transfer from one mode of transport to another. (The issue is this becomes inefficient with transfer times and missed connections, as well as guest confusion).

I think with ADA compliance and the sheer size of the resort the system of direct bus routes is probably the lesser of two evils at this point. The problem is it is inefficient with the little used routes, like 20 hotels all having a bus with 8 guests on driving direct to Typhoon Lagoon 2 or 3 times an hour. The issue is adding the transfer is likely to confuse many guests.

 

[danv3]

Another solid reason not to bother with the water parks.

 

[ToTBellHop]

The volume of guests arriving may be the reason to increase the connecting bus frequency.

Does anyone know the capacity of the water Parks? I would assume it is somewhere north of 12,000 guests. I've just made that figure up, but...

Even if you said you had 500-600 arriving per hour via buses that is 10 buses an hour.

Obviously some are coming via car or taxi etc.

I don't know capacity, but each water park averages about 7500 guests per day. That's over 100 bus loads arriving by noon most days. If half drive, that's still 50 buses from 9-12 noon. 1 bus every 3-4 minutes.

 

[skimbob]

you are prob just better off grabbing a taxi or Uber. you can get on right from the resort bell desk and it will be there in 5 minutes tops. cost will prob be under $15.

We use taxis more and more b/c of the unpredictability of the disney transports.

It depends on the resort. From WL it will be $25-30 for the taxi.

 

[surfsupdon]

I don't like the transfers....can be such a hassle.

Nothing was worse than leaving Typhoon and getting dropped at Epcot lol