Disney buses, good or bad?

[mickeymatt]

Sounds like you had some bad luck. I thought the Beach Club was the last stop on the loop and then right to DTD which is only a couple minute ride.

I have my share of waits in the past and one horrible bus driver who was edging on some drunk people in the back of the bus. We were leving Epcot and were heading back to SSR and these kids were looking to go to DTD to finish their night. The drivers was calling herself Hot Mama Mickey over the loud speakers on the bus and getting them whooping and hollering. Myh then 6 Y/O DD was petrified and crying. Still we like Disney Transport.

Therefore goodbye Pleasure Island!

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

That was my question. I always drive down because I live close enough to where it is cheaper to drive rather than flying. Yes, even with gas prices today! I was thinking that I will just drive my car to the parks for free and not hassell with waiting for the busses. However, I remember last time waiting for a tram for a while and I might as well wait for a bus where I won't have to drive especially after, as another poster pointed out, imbibing one or three drinks.

The benefit of having a car is you can choose to use it or not. Especially if a wee visit to World Showcase is planned.

 

[lavazza]

We found the bus wait at the parks to the resorts a little long, but the last 2 trips we rented a car and we'll be doing it again our next trip.

 

[DisneyGigi]

I prefer driving, it is just easier for us to hop in the car and go where we want to go rather than wait on a bus or worry about the stops that it makes. It lets us maximize our time plus it is more comfortable. I don't mind the parking either, it always moves quick and if you are staying onsite you don't have to pay anyway.
If we are planning on hopping to MK from EPCOT or vice versa we use the monorail other wise we drive parking at the park we plan on ending the day with.

 

[disneydiva72]

I have used the bus system in the past and I personally hate it. I rent a van from Dollar ever year and I have never paid more than 120.00....its really nice to walk past that HUUUUUUGE line for the bus and get in my van and drive away...I am in my room in my Jammies, and there are still people on that same line waiting for a bus at the end of the day.

 

[RonAnnArbor]

I couldn't imagine wanting or using a car at WDW -- I think the bus system there is fabulous -- and there is nothing like sitting back and letting someone else do the driving. There is NOTHING compelling about driving a car at the World...I don't even like driving my car at home, but have no choice. I am certainly never going to drive a car when I go off on vacation.

 

[cymbaldiva]

To each their own. I find absolutely nothing compelling about waiting in long bus lines in September heat - the rental car is air condidtioned!

 

[ssidiouss@mac.c]

I love the Disney Bus system so far and think that it got even better this year. I used to hang in the parks real late after the parks closed to let the lines at the bus stop die out but it seems you don't have to do that anymore because they send 2-3 busses at a time to clear out the big lines. I usually only go in Dec or March though so heat isnt a problem.

 

[LoriMistress]

On a scale between 1 (being absolute crap) and 10 (greatest thing ever) on Disney Transportation I would say it's on a scale of 7. Sure, at times you may be waiting for an hour to get on the bus, but there's been times where we rarely waited and there was two or three extra buses to pick up everyone at Pop Century. You just have to know the system. And if people really hate the bus transportation, then they should consider renting a vehicle.

 

[MouseFan4Life]

We never rush while at WDW. So the bus works fine for us. Yes it may get a little crowded when the parks close, oh well. I like not having to worry about driving while on vacation. Would a car come in handy sometimes when we're there, sure. But being on the bus adds to the Disney immersion, in a weird way.

I agree. To us the busrides actually do add to the day, especially in the evening watching the little ones asleep on a parents shoulder clutching their prized souvenir. We've had our share of longer waits, but the convenience far outweighs the occasional delays.

 

[Thunder Kz]

I've been going to WDW for as long as I can remember, and I am disappointed with the bus system this year. The voice-over soundtracks and themed music are WAY too loud, in my opinion--especially at midnight, when you're on your way back to a resort. Frankly, it's too loud for any time of the day (and same goes for the boats). I understand they do it for uniformity and because many bus drivers are difficult to understand, but in my opinion the transportation is a key factor for Disney guest service.
As far as wait times, I agree with the others. The effectiveness is very sporadic. Sometimes great service (5-10minutes). Other times, I've waited 35 minutes, while 2 or 3 buses go to Allstars/Pop or to GF, with no one waiting. The trams have been fantastic all year round, though! Just one guy's opinions.

 

[the-reason14]

If the question is which do you prefer. I prefer to ride the bus. I know it is alittle time consuming, but if Im staying on site at pop half century Id rather use the bus transpo then our car. We always drive down to FLA, so to me the bus is just fine.

 

[LuisT]

I prefer using the car. I just believe its just much faster. I like to go at my own pace as well. Also, the car is way less crowded then the buses

-Luis

 

[wvdisneyfamily]

We rely 100% on the buses while at WDW. We drive down so we have a car there, but my husband would rather ride the bus and not deal with the traffic, parking, stopping for gas, the tram, the TTC, hopping from park to park and dealing with getting back to your car, etc... I'm also fond of some of the music and spiels on the bus. Occasionally you get some fabulous drivers, too.
This last year was the first time we had any real problems other than one time when the bus between MGM and POR was incredibly slow. We politely complained about the problem after two days of unacceptable service and we never had another problem. I guess the other guests of the WL that we talked to that were unhappy with the bus service also complained and the problem was fixed.
Considereing all of the buses Disney has to keep going in all of the different places, they do pretty well. I can't imagine how they keep all of them staffed, clean, operating, etc...

 

[Tater48]

We also rely on the Disney bus transportation. It is not perfect, not by a long shot, but for the volume of people that they move every single day, I think they do a pretty good job. I also can't see flying into Orlando and renting a car, when all we do is the parks. I mean I'm on vacation, so where do I have to be right then? I'm not on any real time schedule, and everything will still be there when I get there, no matter where I'm going. Just my .02.

 

[Hammer1310]

We can't do without a car. Maybe it's growing up without decent public transportation but we have to have our rental (don't have enough vacation to drive from home anymore). We usually eat dinner at different resorts 3-4 times a trip and spend a couple of days at Universal and both are a waste of money and time without a car. The bus ride from AKL to Downtown Disney and back to All-Star was about enough for me and I don't even want to imagine a taxi ride to Universal. I don't mind the parking or tram, though in the interest of full disclosure we normally go in off-peak January when you're not parked that far away anyway. Then there was our trip to DHS this year......ahem.

We got stuck in a downpour on the way out after leaving the tram. Fantasmic ended, we left the park and hopped a tram, and by the time it hit the loop at the far side of the parking lot it had started to sprinkle. By the time we got back to the area where we had parked it became a downpour. Positive we would be back at our car in no time, we stepped off the tram and headed out.

It turns out that was the one time we didn't pay much attention to where our car was parked (and the last time) . As many of you know, in the dark of an Disney parking lot, one rental Chrysler looks just like another. We wandered for a minute or so, laughing about it, then a few minutes more, laughing less. I tried the key-less entry panic alarm trick but half the people getting off the trams were doing it too. I tried in vain to tell my better half that the car was "here! down this way I think!", but she was unmoved so we walked the opposite way. For what it's worth I was right but it mattered little. In ten minutes we had wandered, laughed, jogged, argued, been laughed at and gained 20 pounds in wet clothing. Oh, and my Sony mini-dv camcorder was ruined. I'm quite sure we walked within a few parking spaces of our car a few times before we found it and I cursed ever being given a black car for the rest of the trip.

In retrospect that would have been a fabulous day for a bus, but the clothes dried (thanks to the All-Star coin-op laundry), we replaced the camcorder (the video from the day was fine) and apologized to each other for getting mad and not paying attention.

Still had fun, still drive myself. :hammer:

 

[LeeLee D]

I, too, prefer to use my car. I don't want to have to wait at the end of a long, hot day for a bus - even one that runs every 15/20 minutes. Also, I want to know that I have a seat with the A/C blasting!

I don't want to seem delusional, but I am pretty sure I caught a bus at the TTC last year. :shrug: It was when they had lithographs from each park for AP holders. I went for the day just to park hop and get them. Maybe the heat got to me and I imagined it???

 

[luckyeye13]

as for the buses themselves, sorry I think they are junk, there are far better vehicles available and in use here.

I, for one, have no problems with the types of buses used at WDW. The RTS (older buses with steps) have certainly been very well taken care of and have continued to work well. The only reason why the RTS is now very rarely bought is that the wheelchair lift on it is quite expensive to maintain, so most transit agencies (including Disney Transport) now only buy low-floor buses. And the NovaBUS LFS (older low-floor buses with a rounded front and a window in the back) were actually brought to Rutgers University, in part, after I wrote a letter to Parking & Transportation Services suggesting that kind of bus for future replacements, as well as some other ideas that could be adapted from Disney Transport. (That letter actually got me a job offer as a bus spy, a job that I held until I graduated.) So far, the LFS has been very well received on campus and now makes up the largest proportion of the fleet.

The only unfavorable part I feel is how many people they cram into them when the parks close, it borders on the insane.

The Disney buses all have a Disney-imposed capacity of 72 Guests. In reality, those buses can safely, though certainly not comfortably, hold more than 72. At Rutgers, the RTS buses have an official capacity of at least 80 (the exact number escapes me), but it was not uncommon to find around 90 to 100 passengers in the bus as everyone wanted to get to class on time. (I am not sure about the LFS as it was brought in the semester after I finished, so I have never heard what the official numbers are.) The key is that no passengers may be forward of the white or yellow standee line at the front of the bus. That is a big federal no-no and, at Rutgers, that was one of the things that I had to report if I witnessed it.

The voice-over soundtracks and themed music are WAY too loud, in my opinion--especially at midnight, when you're on your way back to a resort. Frankly, it's too loud for any time of the day (and same goes for the boats).

And there have also been many people, myself included, who find the music on the buses to be too quiet much of the time. I had a discussion back in May with a Cast Member who was heavily involved in testing out the Magic in Motion system for spiels and music and he said that the drivers actually must have both audible or they can be reported.

 

[GymLeaderPhil]

And there have also been many people, myself included, who find the music on the buses to be too quiet much of the time. I had a discussion back in May with a Cast Member who was heavily involved in testing out the Magic in Motion system for spiels and music and he said that the drivers actually must have both audible or they can be reported.

I'm all for drowning out the old timers who feel the need to add their own Jungle Cruise spiel to their bus, BUT it's quite hard for the drivers to clearly hear their radio for information. Especially when the dispatcher's first language isn't English. I would much rather have a safer and more productive working bus system than a highly themed one.

 

[luckyeye13]

I figure that since public transportation is something that I am very passionate about, I might as well throw my opinion into the ring. For starters, I am someone who takes a train and then connects to a light rail or bus to another bus in order to get to work. Now, New Jersey Transit generally does a good job of keeping their rail and light rail trains running on time. (About the only rough time right now is some weekends due to the fact that major track work is often scheduled during summer weekends, when there is likely to be the least usage of certain parts of the system.) Unfortunately, the buses are a whole different story. The buses are on a set schedule, however, it is quite common that they will not stick to it. Sometimes, it might only be a delay of 3 minutes or so, but on several occassions, there may not have been a bus for at least 40 minutes, if not even longer. Unlike at WDW, where I agree that Guests often tend to exaggerate their wait times (I posted examples that I had witnessed as a Guest and Cast Member on another thread on the topic of buses a few months back.), it is very easy to gauge just how late a regular transit bus is because daily use causes you to memorize of all of the times that the buses on your route should have been at your stop. Then, when the bus finally does arrive, it will take forever and a half to get to where you need to go because it will stop every two blocks or so and it will take three years for everyone to board because there is always at least one passenger at each stop who will pay in cash and can't count out $1.35. (I really wish they would use the system in London and many other cities of proof-of-payment, where you buy a ticket before you board or face a good-sized fine if you get caught without one during a random inspection. It speeds things up a lot and is already used for NJ Transit light rail.) Several times, as I could see my connecting bus waiting to turn at a traffic light, I have actually gotten off the bus during one of those long stops and ran the three or so blocks to where I needed to catch my next bus. When you are an hourly worker and you work in an industry where anything less than total punctuality brings about bad things, missing that bus is not an option (especially as you never know if the next one will be on time).

Of course, this is even more fun in reverse as I have an even shorter window in which to get from the airport to catch my train back home. Very often, when I notice that there is absolutely no sign of any of the buses that I need (which is really sad as three lines fulfill that purpose), I will actually walk about 15 minutes from where I wait to catch the bus to the train station. Now, 15 minutes is not that bad, but this is not in the nicest area of the planet. For those who are fortunate enough to not be familiar with Newark, NJ, I will enlighten you. Basically, it is a crime-infested and drug-ridden dump that smells worse than any third-world city I have ever lived in or traveled to. In that case, a brisk 15 minute walk in the dark doesn't seem all that nice, does it? Sure I could keep waiting for a bus (as it is just a bit safer in that transfer area), but if it causes me to miss my train, I now have to wait up to a whole hour for the next one, as the trains are much less frequent during the late evening. That means that I get to have beggars approaching me for money and I have the choice of "Should I give them money knowing that they will probably buy drugs with it?" or "If I don't give them money, will they pull out a gun or knife and use it on me?"

Given what I know about bus systems in general (especially after having worked for the one at Rutgers University, the second-largest campus bus system in the country), the Disney Transport system runs pretty darn well, even with the periodic glitches that it experiences.