Changes to bus transportation for the water parks begins this weekend

[Disone]

GoofGoof. ^^^^^^^^^ Totally agreed. Its kind of were I was going earlier with the discussion about direct resort transportation at closing. Disney transportation is not rated by individual routes, its rated by overall resort transportation. For those that have ever taking a resort stay survey you can that the question is geared holistically, "Was your transportation experience great" or something to that effect. Sometimes followed if something like "if not tell us why?" Now just on forum here and others, I have read many many bus complaints and by in large its too and from the parks. Combined with personal observation that the water park bus stations just do not have that many guests utilizing them. Redirecting all those underutilized busses to where their complaints are coming from...... It kind of makes sense. again more sense is just bite the bullet and spend more. But honestly if on-line forums ran Disney, they stock would be in the plunger.

 

[GoofGoof]

GoofGoof. ^^^^^^^^^ Totally agreed. Its kind of were I was going earlier with the discussion about direct resort transportation at closing. Disney transportation is not rated by individual routes, its rated by overall resort transportation. For those that have ever taking a resort stay survey you can that the question is geared holistically, "Was your transportation experience great" or something to that effect. Sometimes followed if something like "if not tell us why?" Now just on forum here and others, I have read many many bus complaints and by in large its too and from the parks. Combined with personal observation that the water park bus stations just do not have that many guests utilizing them. Redirecting all those underutilized busses to where their complaints are coming from...... It kind of makes sense. again more sense is just bite the bullet and spend more. But honestly if on-line forums ran Disney, they stock would be in the plunger.

They definitely could have just left the system as is. I'm all for making changes to attempt to get better or more efficient. There are times where cutbacks make sense if a service is really underutilized. Contrary to popular belief their isn't an endless pile of money for TWDC to spend at WDW. However, this change will be a major inconvenience to guests visiting the waterparks. It's not good business. I'm sure they will monitor the situation and if it becomes a point of contention and customer complaints it will get changed back. If anyone is going to be at WDW and plans to visit the water parks make sure you let someone know you are not happy about the transfer process. The only way this will change is if they get overwhelming negative feedback.

 

[unkadug]

They definitely could have just left the system as is. I'm all for making changes to attempt to get better or more efficient. There are times where cutbacks make sense if a service is really underutilized. Contrary to popular belief their isn't an endless pile of money for TWDC to spend at WDW. However, this change will be a major inconvenience to guests visiting the waterparks. It's not good business. I'm sure they will monitor the situation and if it becomes a point of contention and customer complaints it will get changed back. If anyone is going to be at WDW and plans to visit the water parks make sure you let someone know you are not happy about the transfer process. The only way this will change is if they get overwhelming negative feedback.

This is not a major deal. Most guests will just accept that since they are going to a non-major theme park that a transfer will be necessary.

This is not the end of the world as we know it. This is a minor inconvenience and, as anyone who has taken a bus in a major city will attest, is sometimes unavoidable.

 

[ToTBellHop]

This is not a major deal. Most guests will just accept that since they are going to a non-major theme park that a transfer will be necessary.

This is not the end of the world as we know it. This is a minor inconvenience and, as anyone who has taken a bus in a major city will attest, is sometimes unavoidable.

We are holding WDW transportation to the same standards as NYC? Are pick-pockets at the TTC acceptable? How about urine on the floor of the buses? It smells like it is already on the floor of the monorail!

 

[Disone]

I agree it's not a major inconvenience, but I also agree it's not as good as the previous system for the benefit of the guests, perceived or otherwise. In some respects it's the same way as an airline discontinuing a direct flight in favor of a connecting flight, or even no flight, so that they can use the aircraft and Personnel for more higher demanded routes.

And at the same time Walt Disney World transit Is Not a city bus system... hopefully they are striving for a slightly better experience than that. GoofGoof is right, if there is enough voice of complaint, they will revisit the idea and respond to those voiced concerns. However if not and especially if they get a bump in their transportation scores, then they made the right decision to focus on where the demand is.

 

[IMFearless]

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.

So with this in mind, transfer connection buses are going to have to be extremely frequent to handle the number of guests who need to use them, so in lots of ways a connecting service may work better for lots of guests, the alternative is a much more infrequent direct service.

 

[unkadug]

We are holding WDW transportation to the same standards as NYC? Are pick-pockets at the TTC acceptable? How about urine on the floor of the buses? It smells like it is already on the floor of the monorail!

No one said anything about New York City...but you go with that analogy if that what keeps your dander up.

 

[Disone]

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.

I think the daily attendance is a little higher than that. The annual attendance for Typhoon Lagoon is almost 2.3 million visits. Typhoon Lagoon is closed for two or three months of the year. So if it operates for 275 days out of the Year its average daily attendance is roughly 8.3 thousand. Using the same sort of scenario for Blizzard Beach that comes in at about 7.6 daily. So we're looking at almost 16,000 guess going to the water parks daily. If half of those used Transportation that's 8000 guess using the buses.

In similar fashion, the Magic Kingdom alone has a daily attendance of just over 56,000 guests. All four Parks combined for 146000 daily. (wow!) If half of those use Resort transportation that is 73000 guests. And yes the number might be a little high because the Magic Kingdom resort guests will use the monorail and some Epcot Resort guest will use the friendships. But it's a good starting point for comparison to the theme parks and of note : it does not include Transportation guest to Disney Springs.

Those are some fun numbers to look at. So I guess the question is how many of the 8000 guess going to the water park will perceive diminished transportation service versus how many of the.... 65000-ish guest would benefit from better transportation to and from the theme parks?

speculation only. I'm not advocating the diminished service to any population of guests is okay. But if someone said there really isn't an endless pot of money for Disney to utilize, some fun speculation as to how they got to where they are at today in regards to transportation.

 

[flynnibus]

This doesn't concern me as I have my own vehicle and have never felt the need to waste my valuable time waiting on some bus that may or may not be on time and having to sit next to some washed or unwashed redneck with 3.5 children and one more in the oven.

And here is exhibit 'a' for why Americans look down on buses as transportation...

 

[flynnibus]

Transfers wouldn't be so bad if Disney ran on fixed schedules... But they don't

Or if there were hundreds of different stops... But there isn't

 

[GoofGoof]

Transfers wouldn't be so bad if Disney ran on fixed schedules... But they don't

Or if there were hundreds of different stops... But there isn't

A fixed schedule would be great.

At a minimum they should run continuous buses from DS to TL and AK to BB for the busy morning hours and returning in the afternoon/evening. The transfer wouldn't be as bad if they had a continuous flow of buses through. Waiting 15 or 20 mins for an AK bus then waiting another 15 or 20 mins for the BB bus would be a real drag. Maybe that is how it will work. We will have to wait and see once they get all the kinks worked out.

This is not a major deal. Most guests will just accept that since they are going to a non-major theme park that a transfer will be necessary.

This is not the end of the world as we know it. This is a minor inconvenience and, as anyone who has taken a bus in a major city will attest, is sometimes unavoidable.

I don't think anyone said it was the end of the world or even a major deal. It's an inconvenience and a step back from the current system if you are headed to a waterpark. If Disney gets a lot of negative feedback on this I wouldn't be surprised if it changed back, but like you said most guests will just accept it.

 

[jaklgreen]

They should probably just have a separate bus to go to the water parks. But make them on a schedule like in the morning one comes every half hour, or set a specific time. There have been so many times that I have been on the bus to AK and we stop at BB with no one getting off or on. It seems like a waste of time and gas. I think that they can easily just keep a bus at the water parks to transport people when they want to leave(and even go to more then one resort) during the non-peak, mid day time. Instead of having empty buses coming and going empty all day.

 

[jaklgreen]

The inconvenience and poor reliability of Disney transportation, is what led us to start renting cars in the first place. It's also what led us to going to Universal for part of our trip.

You and I see things differently. One of the reasons that WDW is so great is because it is all inclusive, in the fact that I do not have to worry about anything. They pick me up at the airport, bus me to and from the parks and basically have everything I need right there. I have been going annually, and sometimes twice a year, for the last 20 years. Except for less then a handful of times where the bus was a bit late, we have never had any issue with them. For as many times as I have been on the buses, I can say that all in all, they do an amazing job. Especially with the amount of people they transport. I do not see them as an inconvenience, I see them as a bonus. I do not have to rent a car and deal with driving in a strange city with all of the other tourists that have no idea where they are going. A vacation should be no worries and relaxing. Waiting a few minutes for a bus is not inconvenient for us.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Transfers wouldn't be so bad if Disney ran on fixed schedules... But they don't

Or if there were hundreds of different stops... But there isn't

Yeah I've never understood why they cannot hit a steady schedule. Huge cities do it. Comparatively, WDW's bus network isn't THAT complex since most routes function as shuttles.

 

[GoofGoof]

Yeah I've never understood why they cannot hit a steady schedule. Huge cities do it. Comparatively, WDW's bus network isn't THAT complex since most routes function as shuttles.

The scooters/wheelchairs add some uncertainty to the timing. Other than that it should be a straight shoot. There's no real traffic or unscheduled construction since it's all part of a closed system of roads run by Disney.

 

[HRHPrincessAriel]

Lovely prospect in 92 degrees with a bag full of beach stuff.

I thought this was a world-class luxury resort destination, not Gatorland.

Coronado is world class luxury?

 

[unkadug]

Lovely prospect in 92 degrees with a bag full of beach stuff.

I thought this was a world-class luxury resort destination, not Gatorland.

World-class resorts do not load people onto buses like sardines.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Coronado is world class luxury?

Walt Disney World used to bill itself thusly. It still values itself thusly judging by room, ticket, and cupcake party rates.

 

[ToTBellHop]

The scooters/wheelchairs add some uncertainty to the timing. Other than that it should be a straight shoot. There's no real traffic or unscheduled construction since it's all part of a closed system of roads run by Disney.

Yes. That doesn't explain the sporadic times when it takes 40 minutes for a bus to come.

How are the monorails, at a minimum, not on a schedule?

 

[ford91exploder]

Yes. That doesn't explain the sporadic times when it takes 40 minutes for a bus to come.

How are the monorails, at a minimum, not on a schedule?

The 40 minute buses lets face it are not so sporadic especially at the so called deluxe resorts