New bus route to Blizzard Beach testing later this month

[unkadug]

Is this actually true? While I don't care much one way or the other, I thought that the bus system is supposed to be just for guests staying at the resort. Day guests are expected to have their own transportation (i.e. a car) to get around the World.

Yes it is. The Disney Transportation System is for anyone that is visiting any of the Disney Properties.

 

[LucyK]

Is this actually true? While I don't care much one way or the other, I thought that the bus system is supposed to be just for guests staying at the resort. Day guests are expected to have their own transportation (i.e. a car) to get around the World.

Disney encourage all guests to use Disney transportation. How would a offsite guest fall in love with Animal Kingdom Lodge or Caribbean Beach and want to stay there if they not visit them?

 

[DznyGrlSD]

Reason #1 why I rent a car. I don't have the patience to wait for the buses as it is.

 

[Prince-1]

I understand that you'd like to get from where you are to where you want to be via a direct route. Unfortunately, that just isn't how busses work. Sometimes you have to transfer. It is just part of taking the bus.



If people really need to go directly to Blizzard Beach, get from DTD to a park or go from one hotel to another, a car rental (or cab ride) may be a better idea.

The busses aren't just for hotel guests. They are for day guests, too. Their use has nothing to do with how much you paid for your hotel, really.

I do understand that taking the bus is not all sunshine and lollipops. I really do. But we all have to make the decision about what we'd rather do - pay for cars/cabs or deal with the drawbacks of cheap (free at Disney!) transportation on the bus.

I really think the shuttle from AK to BB will run often.

Thanks for the bus lesson but I know how they work. Like others have said, people usually go to the water parks loaded with stuff and it is much harder to switch busses. Also I don't think that they are going to increase shuttle amounts at all.

I don't think that this will become a permanent addition but for as long as they do it, it kind of sucks for those who take the bus. To many people are going to complain about having to switch busses with all their park paraphernalia. Now I drive so it doesn't affect me at all. Yea cars!!

 

[unkadug]

Thanks for the bus lesson but I know how they work. Like others have said, people usually go to the water parks loaded with stuff and it is much harder to switch busses. Also I don't think that they are going to increase shuttle amounts at all.

I don't think that this will become a permanent addition but for as long as they do it, it kind of sucks for those who take the bus. To many people are going to complain about having to switch busses with all their park paraphernalia. Now I drive so it doesn't affect me at all. Yea cars!!

Perhaps they are doing this to try to slow down the amount of people who take the kitchen sink with them when visiting the water parks.

The more stuff people take with them, the less stuff they are forced to purchase at the parks.

I see this as a good thing as I tire of having to dodge people's encampments.

 

[djlaosc]

Perhaps they are doing this to try to slow down the amount of people who take the kitchen sink with them when visiting the water parks.

The more stuff people take with them, the less stuff they are forced to purchase at the parks.

I see this as a good thing as I tire of having to dodge people's encampments.

The issue with that is, apart from food and drink, anything else that you didn't take to the water park with you, and instead bought there, you're going to have to take with you when you leave, and that means that you're still going to have to take everything on a bus from BB to DAK, then off the bus, then on a bus back to your hotel.

The only way to not take anything with you, and not bring anything back, is to use a MagicBand, rent a towel while you're there, and be prepared to go back to your hotel in your swimming costume.

Do some people need to take in as much as they do? No, but most people will have to take more with them to a water park than a theme park.

 

[CDavid]

Not really a fan of this idea, couldn't they just group a bunch of resorts together into a single route?

They could, and probably should, but then instead of griping about the transfer guests would be complaining about having to ride through a half dozen other resorts before they get to Blizzard Beach. I don't know which option would produce fewer complaints, but in my experience people want a one-seat ride to their destination. The most guest friendly approach would be a direct bus from each resort just like to the theme parks, but that's also an expensive proposition for Disney (there would be a lot of buses running around with 4 or 5 passengers onboard). The AK buses from all resort destinations run near Blizzard Beach anyway, but it adds time to each trip even when there is no one to be picked up (the BB bus facility could have been designed (roadside) to get buses in and out faster; Typhoon Lagoon is worse).

 

[unkadug]

The issue with that is, apart from food and drink, anything else that you didn't take to the water park with you, and instead bought there, you're going to have to take with you when you leave, and that means that you're still going to have to take everything on a bus from BB to DAK, then off the bus, then on a bus back to your hotel.

The only way to not take anything with you, and not bring anything back, is to use a MagicBand, rent a towel while you're there, and be prepared to go back to your hotel in your swimming costume.

True..but some people don't NEED to have all that stuff with them to begin with!

Swimming costume....that made me laugh!

 

[doctornick]

I don't know which option would produce fewer complaints, but in my experience people want a one-seat ride to their destination.

This. My experience is that people want direct place to place transportation. I think a BB bus that goes to 2-4 resorts would be more popular for guests than having to go to DAK and switch to a BB bus (both ways) even if the time were the same.

 

[djlaosc]

True..but some people don't NEED to have all that stuff with them to begin with!

Swimming costume....that made me laugh!

Yeah, I agree with you - there's no need for coolers and things like that, but people will probably have a bag with them that has towels and a change of clothes in.

As for Swimming Costume - that's what we call them in the UK when you're not talking about what a specific gender would wear.

 

[djlaosc]

This. My experience is that people want direct place to place transportation. I think a BB bus that goes to 2-4 resorts would be more popular for guests than having to go to DAK and switch to a BB bus (both ways) even if the time were the same.

It would have to be...

SSR/OKW/POFQ/POR
CBR/POP/AOA
BW/BC/YC/S&D
WL/FW
GF/POLY/CONTEMPORARY/BLT
/ASM/ASMu
AKL/CSR

...or some form of combining or separating them further...

People would rather be on the move and feel that they were getting closer to where they wanted to be, rather than be stood still waiting for a bus.

 

[awhit066]

People would rather be on the move and feel that they were getting closer to where they wanted to be, rather than be stood still waiting for a bus.

Agreed completely! Sitting on a nice air conditioned bus (even if it makes several stops) beats standing outside in the elements while waiting for transfers!

 

[jcldtrek]

its gonna really suck for people at contemporary , poly, and grand floridian, who take the bus and it goes past BB to animal kingdom, then gotta change buses to back track. it makes no sense. its a waste of time. lets see how long this test goes before they switch it back

 

[luv]

I don't know what all people are hauling on one bus that would make two busses much more difficult. I'm guessing coolers of stuff. I really hadn't thought of that. I just take a towel and a tiny bag for my scrunchie, comb, lip balm and gum.

I hope you all like this more than you think you will or that Disney switches it back for you.

Good luck,

Is this actually true? While I don't care much one way or the other, I thought that the bus system is supposed to be just for guests staying at the resort. Day guests are expected to have their own transportation (i.e. a car) to get around the World.

Its really true. Transportation is for all guests of the WDW resort, including day guests. Basically, the only people they don't want on the busses are homeless people and crackheads. That is another plus of Disney busses over regular city busses (other than being free.). They're also cleaner and cuter.

 

[flynnibus]

Why are people about this?

If you don't like Disney's plan for your FREE transportation then rent a car.

Doesn't matter if it's paid or free - it's a reduction in the quality of the product offered to it's guests.

All these shared routes, no direct stuff.. it's all been a long slide in the experience of the buses at Disney. They used to be great.. now it's just more and more of a cluster.

 

[Darth Sidious]

I remember a while back when we were kicking around why Monorail expansion doesn't make sense and one reason proffered was because it would take longer because the Monorail would use a hub and spoke system instead of point-to-point. We should have realized back then that Disney would have figured out a way to take away the advantage of the bus system to lower the guest experience even further. Dear Disney -- expand the monorail to hit major hub points, use the bus the as the spokes. This idea just plain sucks.

They should just make a few TTC like hubs with smaller lines that go to the parks. It would be similar to the subway system in NYC, which works fairly well. I think one loop could spur off Epcot to DHS and the boardwalk. EPCOT would be the central hub sending off that loop, an express loop to AK and BB, and an express line to DTD. Purely just a primative and not fully thought out idea though. I definitely think it could work though.

 

[mickeysbrother]

Well i know going to dtd from the allstar resorts you are stopping at typhoon in the morning and its reversed in the afternoon. Why cant they just do the same instead of a transfer?

 

[Master Yoda]

That's why DME was created. Too many guests were renting cars and escaping the [monetary] bubble WDW wanted to create. It's much more profitable giving guests "free" (really included in the price of the room) bus rides than having those dollars spent elsewhere.

It's also much more convenient for guests. They don't have to worry about transportation. You still can rent a care if you want to but Disney gives you a great reason not to.

DME really was a "win-win" system for everyone.

Disney realizes one of the most common complaints is transportation. Perhaps the new bus system for BB will be an improvement but, at this time, I just don't know.

It will be an improvement for those going to AK. For those going to BB it will be a serious down grade. Since Disney has the hard numbers of how many guests the buses ferry to each location everyday I am assuming that they think it is worth it to make the AK guests happier at the expense of the BB guests.

 

[dreamfinder]

Not having taken a bus to either water park in several years, I don't see this as being a terrible change. I think once when our bus has stopped at either water park has a guest actually got on or off. Every other time it has been a sit around and wait.

Not really a fan of this idea, couldn't they just group a bunch of resorts together into a single route?

Assuming the BB->AK->BB bus just does continual loops, wouldn't stopping at 2 or more resorts potentially end up resulting in a longer travel time? Especially when you consider having to do the loop around something like PORS?

 

[ToTBellHop]

In general, I have problem with this. It doesn't affect anyone going to BB since I'm sure most are there well before noon, so it's just the trip home that is affected and, obviously, most of us are going to DAK much more often than BB, so this will be nice for those DAK trips. The only thing I wonder is--how will this look at BB in the afternoon? Since effectively all of the resort bus stops will not be used, will there just be one mammoth line for the one bus going to DAK (presumably with frequent departures)? Should result in lots of scantily-clad people at DAK...not necessarily a good thing.