Express Transportation starting Dec 7th

[GhostHost1000]

It is 100% free. If I drove to Disney Springs and then decided I wanted to eat at the Wilderness Lodge, I'd simply take a WDW bus from DS to WL. There is no cost to do so. No fare, no ticket, no pass, and no money necessary. Its Free.

You are correct that the hotel pays into transportation. But it is a cost of doing business. Chances are: that if a local, or non-resort guest takes a bus to their property, more than likely they will be eating there/drinking there/shopping there. If they want to mark up their room rates so that a percentage of the nightly fee goes into their transportation, landscaping, holiday decorations budget etc.., that is their prerogative.

Technically guest aren't supposed to do that. A park ticket is what gives you access to their transportation... not a parking space at Disney Springs.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

What if I offered you a perk for doing business with me.. say.. a free gas fill-up. It's a great perk.. one you actually go out of your way to do business with me because you are expecting that free gas. But then one day.. I say 'sorry, I'm all out'. No biggie you say.. but it keeps happening again and again.. but irregularly. Now the thing you shaped your decisions around.. keeps letting you down.

Do you say 'oh well, its just a perk'.. or do you start to lower your opinion of me because I can not consistently give you what I promised you?

It would be your right to discontinue the perk. It wouldn't lower my opinion of you. I would though explore not doing business with you if the discontinuation of the perk made the arrangement untenable. If I feel that still doing business with you continues to be in my best interest (either because of quality of product or opportunity), I adjust my business model (budget, capex, fees, etc).

If the opinion is that Disney's adding of an optional Express transfer for which they are charging fee would make someone stop visiting....well that's a different conversation altogether.

Most companies discontinue or alter perks. Your first year of NFL Sunday Ticket, Three months of heavily discounted Satellite/Cable/ Internet, Sirius Radio for the first year, on and on. Some companies are upfront in telling you the perks will end - other not so much.

 

[SorcererMC]

Most companies discontinue or alter perks. Your first year of NFL Sunday Ticket, Three months of heavily discounted Satellite/Cable/ Internet, Sirius Radio for the first year, on and on. Some companies are upfront in telling you the perks will end - other not so much.

True....and implementing this kind of park-hopping transportation service easily opens that door to charging for regular resort bus transportation.

 

[HauntedPirate]

My 15 year old son frequently gets TSA Pre-Check on his boarding passes. There is no "selection" by an agent. More blather from people that don't actually know how the system works, apparently...

I've been staying on property since 1991. Bus wait times have increased drastically over the past 10-15 years. We have regularly waited 20 to sometimes 45 minutes for a bus at various times throughout the day, not just at park open or park close, although the closer to park close you are, the longer the wait is going to be. It did not used to be like this. Because of this, and because of the flexibility is allows us, we typically rent a car when visiting WDW these days.

And by the way - I don't base my opinions expressed here on anecdotal evidence, second/third-hand information, or vague memories from years gone by while under the influence of pixie dust. We have stayed at WDW during nearly every month of the year in the past 15 years. We have timed out riding the bus vs. driving to the parks at random times for 5 years. Driving almost always wins. My wife and one of our sons stayed at Pop Century in late October/early November - certainly not a busy time of year. She told me she heard from Disney Transportation that buses run every 20 minutes, but they regularly experienced bus waits of 30 minutes or more, and frequently there was more than one bus full of people waiting at a bus stop. Have you seen what the MK bus stops are like near park close? There are people everywhere, the queues they have set up are not nearly enough to handle all the people at park close, even during lower attendance months. Sardines laugh at how crowded the buses are! And God help you if you want to leave a park 20-30 minutes before any kind of fireworks, because you are most likely looking at an extensive wait to get a bus.

So yay, you can now pay $15/day (subject to change, particularly near the end of a fiscal quarter) to bypass security lines (which we've never waited more than 3-4 minutes in) for a transportation option that runs every 30 minutes between theme parks and allows you to be "special" because you can bypass the security line (after you've already had to go thru it at least once). Forgive me if I don't jump up and down for joy and yell "PRAISE DISNEY!!!! PRAISE TDO!!!! PRAISE IGER!!!!" from the rooftops like some people around here do, because it IS a big deal. Disney COULD deal with the bus problem by running buses more frequently, but... that costs money! *gasp!!!* And why would they attempt to fix a problem when they could simply monetize it instead??

And by the way - I am exceptionally polite to cast members. They are the ones who make visiting WDW these days at least tolerable. I don't walk around the parks with a negative attitude (unless I'm looking at food prices). However, I do expect better from Disney because I've seen better from them. But given the direction that TDO and TPTB are taking things by trying to wring every possible penny they can out of guests, our visits are numbered, and we are more likely to visit DL and/or USO/IOA.

It's becoming more and more apparent that not only do some people around here frequently ingest pixie dust, but they flat out eat, sleep, and bathe in it.​

 

[flynnibus]

It would be your right to discontinue the perk. It wouldn't lower my opinion of you. I would though explore not doing business with you if the discontinuation of the perk made the arrangement untenable. If I feel that still doing business with you continues to be in my best interest (either because of quality of product or opportunity), I adjust my business model (budget, capex, fees, etc).

Ok.. i expected too much...

I'm not discontinuing the perk... I'm simply not delivering on the promise. One, you may have made commitments on expecting to get that perk.

Kind of like the person who says "I don't need a travel budget... Disney has free transport..." and then when you get there... a quarter of the time Disney failed to deliver the quality product you had been counting on and based on your plans on. Do you keep going 'oh well, its not like a paid for it' or do you say 'hey, you promised me you'd do this...'

 

[HauntedPirate]

Question: If the bus service is as good as some around here believe it is, then why does Disney tell you to plan at least 60-90 minutes to get from Point A to Point B, particularly for dining reservations? It's about a 20-22 minute drive from AKL to MK, and that's about as long of a drive as I can think of on-property.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

Ok.. i expected too much...

I'm not discontinuing the perk... I'm simply not delivering on the promise. One, you may have made commitments on expecting to get that perk.

Kind of like the person who says "I don't need a travel budget... Disney has free transport..." and then when you get there... a quarter of the time Disney failed to deliver the quality product you had been counting on and based on your plans on. Do you keep going 'oh well, its not like a paid for it' or do you say 'hey, you promised me you'd do this...'

Not delivering on the promise (if contracted) would be breach....a whole different type of conversation. So let me ask you. Let's say you gave me a "Gas Card" perk for doing business with you...and I represented what you considered an average customer (revenue)......A few months later you decide on a new Perk of an AMEX gift card worth double the value of my Gas Card, that you gave to your top 10 customers (Of which I am not one of).......Do I have a right to expect that perk?

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Next will be the free Disney Magic Express from MCO to the resorts for an added-on fee.

Oh, I wouldn't worry about DME becoming a paid service. The goal is to whisk guests from the airport to WDW so the guests don't rent cars. To make guests fully dependent on Disney transportation.

One ironic result of the upcharge buses might be that it will likely lower the frequency of the buses for the unwashed, which increases the incentive to rent a car, making guests more likely to visit Potterland and so off-setting the extra revenues from the express buses.

 

[flynnibus]

Not delivering on the promise (if contracted) would be breach....a whole different type of conversation

And what do you think all those bus topics over the last 10 years have been??

So let me ask you. Let's say you gave me a "Gas Card" perk for doing business with you...and I represented what you considered an average customer (revenue)......A few months later you decide on a new Perk of an AMEX gift card worth double the value of my Gas Card, that you gave to your top 10 customers (Of which I am not one of).......Do I have a right to expect that perk?

My god you are horrible at analogies. It's not about different tiers of service... it's about failing to deliver on tier 1, and the 'solution' is to UPSELL people to tier 2 so they don't have to deal with tier 1.... instead of fixing tier 1 to start with. Or in your world.. offering a perk, and failing to deliver on it.. and then say 'well you could just buy better service!'

 

[Creathir]

What if I offered you a perk for doing business with me.. say.. a free gas fill-up. It's a great perk.. one you actually go out of your way to do business with me because you are expecting that free gas. But then one day.. I say 'sorry, I'm all out'. No biggie you say.. but it keeps happening again and again.. but irregularly. Now the thing you shaped your decisions around.. keeps letting you down.

Do you say 'oh well, its just a perk'.. or do you start to lower your opinion of me because I can not consistently give you what I promised you?

Have you paid for any transportation on property? Are the normal buses charging fares?

Maybe you would rather have everyone's ticket go up by $5 for the few folks whom want to do interpark transfers?

I cannot believe the level of pettiness expressed in this thread...

 

[flynnibus]

Oh, I wouldn't worry about DME becoming a paid service. The goal is to whisk guests from the airport to WDW so the guests don't rent cars. To make guests fully dependent on Disney transportation.

One ironic result of the upcharge buses might be that it will likely lower the frequency of the buses for the unwashed, which increases the incentive to rent a car, making guests more likely to visit Potterland and so off-setting the extra revenues from the express buses.

But we could offer things like 'direct to your hotel for an extra $10 a person!' or how about 'early room allocation for an extra $50'. After all.. its just NEW offerings right???

 

[flynnibus]

Have you paid for any transportation on property? Are the normal buses charging fares?

Maybe you would rather have everyone's ticket go up by $5 for the few folks whom want to do interpark transfers?

I cannot believe the level of pettiness expressed in this thread...

So let me be clear... is your postulation is that since its free... there is no expectation of service or customer focus? And Disney has no obligation to meet their own standards simply because you didn't buy a ticket to get on?

Because... w t heck does paying for a ticket or not have to do with customer service?

 

[flynnibus]

But I caught an Uber or Cab right next to the bus stop, and read the sign. None of them were even a 20 min posted wait. 8 minutes was the longest one that I read.

I'm about to Uber to Fantasia Gardens. I'll take a photo of the WL bus stop on the way out.

I'm assuming you are aware that the wait times on any given day are not representative of wait times or conditions all the time right? And you are in the middle of the day?

And you are away are you are at the parks at one of the low periods of the year? Hence why you are in the next to lowest price tier...

 

[Martiyoman]

My 15 year old son frequently gets TSA Pre-Check on his boarding passes. There is no "selection" by an agent. More blather from people that don't actually know how the system works, apparently...

I've been staying on property since 1991. Bus wait times have increased drastically over the past 10-15 years. We have regularly waited 20 to sometimes 45 minutes for a bus at various times throughout the day, not just at park open or park close, although the closer to park close you are, the longer the wait is going to be. It did not used to be like this. Because of this, and because of the flexibility is allows us, we typically rent a car when visiting WDW these days.

And by the way - I don't base my opinions expressed here on anecdotal evidence, second/third-hand information, or vague memories from years gone by while under the influence of pixie dust. We have stayed at WDW during nearly every month of the year in the past 15 years. We have timed out riding the bus vs. driving to the parks at random times for 5 years. Driving almost always wins. My wife and one of our sons stayed at Pop Century in late October/early November - certainly not a busy time of year. She told me she heard from Disney Transportation that buses run every 20 minutes, but they regularly experienced bus waits of 30 minutes or more, and frequently there was more than one bus full of people waiting at a bus stop. Have you seen what the MK bus stops are like near park close? There are people everywhere, the queues they have set up are not nearly enough to handle all the people at park close, even during lower attendance months. Sardines laugh at how crowded the buses are! And God help you if you want to leave a park 20-30 minutes before any kind of fireworks, because you are most likely looking at an extensive wait to get a bus.

So yay, you can now pay $15/day (subject to change, particularly near the end of a fiscal quarter) to bypass security lines (which we've never waited more than 3-4 minutes in) for a transportation option that runs every 30 minutes between theme parks and allows you to be "special" because you can bypass the security line (after you've already had to go thru it at least once). Forgive me if I don't jump up and down for joy and yell "PRAISE DISNEY!!!! PRAISE TDO!!!! PRAISE IGER!!!!" from the rooftops like some people around here do, because it IS a big deal. Disney COULD deal with the bus problem by running buses more frequently, but... that costs money! *gasp!!!* And why would they attempt to fix a problem when they could simply monetize it instead??

And by the way - I am exceptionally polite to cast members. They are the ones who make visiting WDW these days at least tolerable. I don't walk around the parks with a negative attitude (unless I'm looking at food prices). However, I do expect better from Disney because I've seen better from them. But given the direction that TDO and TPTB are taking things by trying to wring every possible penny they can out of guests, our visits are numbered, and we are more likely to visit DL and/or USO/IOA.

It's becoming more and more apparent that not only do some people around here frequently ingest pixie dust, but they flat out eat, sleep, and bathe in it.​

But here's the thing, nobody in this thread that I've seen has praised anyone or anything for this decision; at most, they've questioned why you and others are so distraught. I know people hate this argument, but if you actually can't stand the current bus situation, and it's so bad that disney is instead offering paid transportation to those willing to pay for it, just stay home. at the very least, you already know how bad the bad things are, as it were, so rent a car, stay off property, pack your own lunch, and bring your own poncho so you don't have to deal with the terrible parts of a Disney vacation. Beyond that, for all we know disney is going to take the profits from this system to subsidize a better standard bussing experience (not that I'm betting on it, but which I think even you doom 'n gloomers would recognize as worthy of praise). There's just no point in saying yet that this will be awful terrible worst thing ever because nobody here yet knows.
Also, I don't think you know what anecdotal means, but I'll try to help; it's the kind of evidence you posted while claiming your evidence isn't anecdotal.

 

[matt9112]

On the twelfth day of Disney
my upcharge gave to me:

12 dolphins swimming
11 characters dining
10 parks a-hopping
9 preferred parkings
8 Christmas Parties
7 sleighs a-riding
6 corporate lounges
5 early hours
4 touring guides
3 club villains
2 cabanas
and a soda cart in a parking lot

is there a soda cart in parking lots?

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

And what do you think all those bus topics over the last 10 years have been??



My god you are horrible at analogies. It's not about different tiers of service... it's about failing to deliver on tier 1, and the 'solution' is to UPSELL people to tier 2 so they don't have to deal with tier 1.... instead of fixing tier 1 to start with. Or in your world.. offering a perk, and failing to deliver on it.. and then say 'well you could just buy better service!'

Disney touts complimentary resort transportation......I've never read any carriage contract where they espouse efficiency as a requisite of said contract. I get it. Disney's bus service at times leaves something to be desired. It depends on crowd level, seasonality, and other factors. But they deliver on their promise of the offer. Disney is not failing on their promise to deliver free resort transportation. It is your opinion (and at times mine as well) that they could do it a lot better.

This thread is not about Disney's Bus service being inadequate. It's about them introducing an new service for which they are charging. Disney has not had park to park service. It is completely new. Ultimately there will either be a demand for it or there will not be. The market will dictate that...not you or I.

 

[Creathir]

So let me be clear... is your postulation is that since its free... there is no expectation of service or customer focus? And Disney has no obligation to meet their own standards simply because you didn't buy a ticket to get on?

Because... w t heck does paying for a ticket or not have to do with customer service?

Your postulation was that Disney was reneging on a free perk.

(One which never existed before this announcement I may add)

If Disney started charging for transportation in general, I would say your analogy stands.
They don't.
It doesn't.

Disney offers an amazing product. One in which there is definitely a lot which could be improved upon.

This brand new service, meant to aid guests whom want to avoid the hassle of security and main gate lines, is an effort on their part to offer something new for those that wish to partake, without making everyone pay for it.

Not sure how you don't understand this.

Like I mentioned, would you rather the ticket price go up? They can go that route too.
(Gonna guess you'd complain about that too)

 

[matt9112]

How do you know they haven't added more?

The TSA security screening at the airport offers TSA PreCheck for those that want to pay for it. Why not just add more agents?

Because some people are willing to pay to avoid the line.

If you're not. That's fine. Don't. No one is making you buy it.

point is the line did not exist 15 years ago....fix the problem...dont layer on top of it.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

Technically guest aren't supposed to do that. A park ticket is what gives you access to their transportation... not a parking space at Disney Springs.

Have an AP. Technically, I can

 

[Creathir]

point is the line did not exist 15 years ago....fix the problem...dont layer on top of it.

Seriously? 15 years ago???

Just because they may have been underutilized before, does not mean they are now.

It is VERY rare for us to miss a bus once it comes...