Poll on Bus Scheduling

[Kellylynn322]

I will have to agree with those that said the bussing all depends on where you are staying. Having stayed at the All-Stars last October the busing was TERRIBLE. Waiting in the morning for the bus to the Magic Kingdom the CM was saying the bus would be there in a few minutes and was calling on a radio. 35 minutes later the bus arrived. But yet we watched several busses come for MGM and EPCOT and leave EMPTY. The people waiting for Animal Kingdom waited almost as long. They had no reason why we waited so long. Having stayed at the other resorts, I never had this problem.

 

[WDWManic]

Leave the buses alone! Lol

 

[Shannon_Yensid]

ya kno, it sucks with the current system when you just miss the bus, it's gonna suck if u just missed the bus on this alternative idea too...and who wants to plan their day around when to leave so you don't have to wait around for the bus!....i say, your on vacation and you shouldn't have to worry about what time it is, it's bad enough the fast passes have to involve time (but i LOVE the fast pass system)...anywho, that's my two cents....

 

[TinkerBell9988]

I like how it is running right now... :animwink:

 

[Dizneydude87]

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! It wont let me vote, I cant vote on anything, it says my, "Session is invalid"...What does that mean?

But I kinda would like to see schedualed times so I could look in the gift shops in stuff, and know exactly when its time.

 

[Dwarful]

Hey DisneyDude I couldn't vote either...maybe our opinions don't count hee hee just kidding!

I think the busses run GREAT now. We went in May/June ten day stay over the Memorial Day Weekend...at All Star Movies with five children. We never waited more than 15 minutes and that was only because some ran back for drinks so we missed the first bus. I did notice though that the majority of people complaining when waiting for lines were not used to riding public transport on a regular basis. I think that plays a MAJOR factor into the level and amounts of complaints about the busses esp. at the all stars. I also wonder are the large waits occuring at the resort sights or the park sights? Yes we did wait longer...closer to the 15 minutes (w/five kids most under 8) when we were at MK after spectro magic and fireworks....you know when the other 2,000 resort guests are trying to get on that bus too, but the wait times in the morning were completely acceptable to us. Much easier than driving ourselves, catching something at TTC and then heading to the parks. just my opinion though~

 

[kev9035]

FLEX Dispach

Tyler,

Can you explain Flex Dispatch?

I had heard of Magic on Demand and then did not see it in use at the Old Key West resort. Busses for there normally ran quick. Is there a reason they have to stay at a park for a certian time, can they not just keep moving?

I have never had any real problems with Disney Transport so Keep up the good work.

 

[Dizneydude87]

Originally posted by Dwarful
Hey DisneyDude I couldn't vote either...maybe our opinions don't count hee hee just kidding!

Lol.

 

[indigo]

I think the current system allows WDW to under-promise and over-deliver. One of the keys to good customer service.

The thing that bother's me most about the current bus system is when two busses for another destination come before a bus for your destination does.

If there was some way to let the guests know that their bus is on the way that would be good too.

 

[Tink]

Just recently, when we wanted to take a bus from the Boardwalk to Downtown Disney, we waited 30-45 minutes for a bus to come. It was like 11 p.m. or so, but I still think that is too long to wait. Now if it was posted that the bus was not coming until 11:30 p.m. or 11:45 p.m., we could go back out to the Boardwalk and people watch or grab a drink or something. I agree that when you're on vacation you don't necessarily want to worry about time, it still would be nice to know when to expect your bus so you can cram more (or less ) fun into your trip.

I have to say that overall my experience with Disney transportation hasn't been the best so most times we just rent a convertible. That way the fun never stops!

 

[bamboo7]

Re: FLEX Dispach

Originally posted by kev9035
Tyler,

Can you explain Flex Dispatch?

I had heard of Magic on Demand and then did not see it in use at the Old Key West resort. Busses for there normally ran quick. Is there a reason they have to stay at a park for a certian time, can they not just keep moving?

I have never had any real problems with Disney Transport so Keep up the good work.

Fled Dispatch is explained near the bottom of this page.
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11160&perpage=40&pagenumber=7

 

[Invero]

Originally posted by Dwarful
Hey DisneyDude I couldn't vote either...maybe our opinions don't count hee hee just kidding!

Quite on the contrary, I do value your opinions very much... that's why I posted here!

Originally posted by Dwarful
I also wonder are the large waits occuring at the resort sights or the park sights?

With the fixed routes, they'd be at the resort. What would usually happen is that say, a MK All Star Music runs every 12 minutes. (3 busses, on a 36 minute route) It only takes 30 minutes for the route, so the bus would come back 6 minutes early. Guests don't usually count the time they wait once ON a bus... So, if they had JUST missed the last bus... they wait 6 mins for the next bus, and then 6 mins sitting on the bus. So, even though they waited 12 minutes, they only think it was 6. At All Star Music, the guests wait the full 12 minutes until the bus arrives, loads, and goes. With FLEX, most times it's load and go on both ends.

Originally posted by Dwarful
Yes we did wait longer...closer to the 15 minutes (w/five kids most under 8) when we were at MK after spectro magic and fireworks....you know when the other 2,000 resort guests are trying to get on that bus too, but the wait times in the morning were completely acceptable to us. Much easier than driving ourselves, catching something at TTC and then heading to the parks. just my opinion though~

During park exits, wait times seem double what they actually are, because most everyone is tired, and it's crowded. So, your 15 minute wait probably felt like a half hour. However, 15 minutes really isn't bad when you consider how many people were trying to get back to thier resort.

 

[Invero]

Re: FLEX Dispach

Originally posted by kev9035
Can you explain Flex Dispatch?

I had heard of Magic on Demand and then did not see it in use at the Old Key West resort. Busses for there normally ran quick. Is there a reason they have to stay at a park for a certian time, can they not just keep moving?

Thanks Bamboo for providing that link to my description of Flex Dispatch. Kev, if you have any more questions, just let me know

As for MOD... Old Key West is one of the resorts that doesn't have the traffic demands for MOD. 95% of those busses are on fixed routes all day long. If a bus arrives back to the MK early... it has to wait until the dispatch time. This keeps all busses equally spaced, and on time. (Some drivers are faster/slower than others)

 

[Invero]

Originally posted by Tink
Just recently, when we wanted to take a bus from the Boardwalk to Downtown Disney, we waited 30-45 minutes for a bus to come. It was like 11 p.m. or so, but I still think that is too long to wait.

Indeed, that is far too long to wait. I'm sorry to say that the past few days, Downtown Disney has been experiencing some... "Glitches" in thier version of Flex Dispatch. Flex seems to work real well at MK... but DTD needs some tweaking.

In addition during the day (and in no relation to Flex), if Typhoon Lagoon goes "Red Flag" due to weather (ie: closes due to lightning), there is a mass exit of both cars and guests on the busses. It causes a traffic NIGHTMARE, and the other day it caused 45 minute delays in exiting out of TL.

The cause for this was poor design of the exit. In my opinion, both Typhoon Lagoon and the Disney-MGM Studios need better exits.

 

[kaos]

Busses are fine for me. I usually stay at the Boardwalk or one of the monorail resorts, and funny as it seems, I would rather walk to Epcot and MGM from the Boardwalk than take the bus or boat. The only time we took the bus earlier this month was to the MK and the AK, and MK was only once. We walked through Epcot and took the monorail.

But hey, the busses are fine, except for the 40 minute (not exaggerating) wait for the AK bus. It was mid-morning though, so we probably just missed the bus and had to wait for the next one.

 

[kev9035]

FLEX

Thanks for the link

The FLEX system seems to be a great idea.

The morning I was at OKW it must have been abnormally heavy volume, we had to wait for the 2nd bus to MK and just barely made it onto it. I was'nt unhappy about it, OKW is a nice place to be stuck!

 

[MKCustodial]

I voted for the fixed times. It's how it works at Vista Way, and it was great because I could plan my whole day and usually not wait around for a bus, I'd just get there on time.

 

[TURKEY]

Originally posted by MKCustodial
I voted for the fixed times. It's how it works at Vista Way, and it was great because I could plan my whole day and usually not wait around for a bus, I'd just get there on time.

I follow what you are saying and your thinking, but there is not really anyway to compare college program busing to WDW busing.

1. When compared to WDW, College Program (CP) transports only a fraction of the number of people WDW does.

2. Most CPs are on a set schedule and have to be at certain places at certain times. No matter what the weather is like or how they feel. WDW guests are mostly free to do what they want, when they want based on numerous factors.


I don't think the CP busing would be very effective if based on set times and much larger numbers to transport.

 

[FanofDinsey1981]

I don't even look at the times. If I get there right after a bus, I can't go running after it anyway, thus, I wait for the next. they really don't have to post exact times, they are always going to be a few minutes off. the current system is just fine, but the time isnt necessary.

 

[Pioneer Hall]

I like the busses the way they are, especially with Flex Dispatching. The way it works is fine and I never wait long.

I do have one suggestion though that maybe could help out the flow of traffic. When I was waiting for the busses I would notice that sometimes 3 or 4 AKL busses would come but no Port Orleans busses would show up. I think that there should be a dispatcher there to maybe change where a bus will go. This way they can have busses going to all the resorts on a more regular basis.