wow actually had a horrible time at disney world

[wedway71]

I have gone in the hottest days in Florida history.
I have waited in lines as long as 3 hours.
I have gone sicker than a dog.
I have been in line next to the rudest nastiest people on this planet.
I have waited for long times for buses.

But one thing I have NEVER done was have a Horrible time.

TO ME, a bad day at WDW is better than a GREAT day anywhere else.

 

[Emerald Rose]

I have always found the Disney buses to be prompt, clean and efficient. There may have been a few rare instances where the bus didn't come right away but it didn't hamper our fun one bit. We just figured that the buses were swamped (as would be expected in the summer) and took the few extra minutes to sit and relax. (Which sometimes is a rarity with so much walking in the parks) I do agree with posters who mentioned renting a car as a possible solution to this issue.

 

[RebeccaMA]

Sorry to hear you had a bad time. We also just had a horrible trip to WDW. We were at POFQ on 8/14. My father in law died the day we checked in so we had to come right home. Since I had just suffered a miscarriage 5 weeks ago, we were really looking forward to the trip. Obviously, our trip didn't turn out as planned. Hopefully you'll have a better time on your next visit.

I'm glad to see you've already scheduled a trip for November though.

Very sorry of your losses. My big fear is that someone will pass away as soon, or during our vacation also. I'm not going to let it affect my plans, but since I have grandmothers who are in their 90s I know that anything could happen anytime.

 

[jt04]

We drive so we can come 'n go as we please...when we fly, we rent. Cant imagine waiting for those busses.:brick:

Best thing people can do for themselves is rent a car unless you are on a strict budget. They are fairly inexpensive and open up so many opportunities that you don't have relying on busses.

 

[sarabi]

Sorry to hear you had a bad time. We also just had a horrible trip to WDW. We were at POFQ on 8/14. My father in law died the day we checked in so we had to come right home. Since I had just suffered a miscarriage 5 weeks ago, we were really looking forward to the trip. Obviously, our trip didn't turn out as planned. Hopefully you'll have a better time on your next visit.

Ugh! so sorry! You really deserved a vacation. It sucks when the Universe doesn't give you what you need!

That said, this comment kinda makes the OP look petty. Of course, there may be more to the story than heat and bad transportation. There is, right?

... Right?

 

[tirian]

I don't see why people are being so defensive of the resort in this post. When you go to a resort complex like this you have every right to expect adequate transportation while on site. Sure, the buses are free, but only because they exist to get you from one opportunity to spend money to the next. When a transportation problem like this arises it's in nobody's interest and only the resort is to blame.

Bailey, an hour's wait to and from your resort is completely unacceptable, and you have every reason to be unsatisfied. If you have the time contact guest relations and voice your concerns. Next time, document if possible with pictures or video how long the lines and waits are and share them here.

Well said. My parents recently came down to visit me, stayed at the Grand Floridian, and ALSO had to wait up to an hour for buses at DAK and the Studios. Two of my friends stayed at AK Lodge and experienced problems, too. Disney seems to be having staffing issues lately.

I agree with others that long bus waits shouldn't make somebody hate their entire vacation, BUT a world-class resort should have better control of its transportation.

 

[Dwarful]

The one thing I have noticed through out this thread is :
People who have been to WDW recently were more likely to be the ones who have experienced bad bus situations. I know we did when we were there 07-26 to 08-09. It didn't ruin our trip, but it certainly wasn't as magical as all of our previous posts either. I wrote a letter about our specific issue because I felt it was a legit. complaint. Perhaps WDW has had issues with staffing, or perhaps they had made cutbacks to conserve fuel. I don't know. We drove to WDW and had our own vehicle at our disposal but we only used it once to go off property. The rest of the time we left the driving to Disney.

 

[Cane27]

Even when we do stay on property we still drive to the parks. On the average it is much quicker.

 

[ArielLover]

OK all, I think my original thought was on the fly and need to offer some context. Yes I made the comments that the buses are FREE. And yes I agree that in some way I am sure they are factored either into the ticket or the resort price so FREE may not be accurate.

What set me off with the OP was the comment that it ruined there whole vacation.

Yes, even if I take everything the OP said as gospel, do you not think that saying waiting for the buses ruined the whole vacation a bit of a stretch. People have a tendency to over exaggerate items like this.

An annoyance-probably, something Disney could do better with-most likely, an issue to claim that it ruined a complete vacation-priceless..:shrug:

 

[JimboJones123]

We refuse to rely on Diseny Transportation. We've also waited 30 minutes for a boat at the Beach Club to get to MGM. On several occasions. The boat ride is another 20 minutes. At 50 minutes, we would have been much better off walking.

 

[JimboJones123]

OK all, I think my original thought was on the fly and need to offer some context. Yes I made the comments that the buses are FREE. And yes I agree that in some way I am sure they are factored either into the ticket or the resort price so FREE may not be accurate.

What set me off with the OP was the comment that it ruined there whole vacation.

Yes, even if I take everything the OP said as gospel, do you not think that saying waiting for the buses ruined the whole vacation a bit of a stretch. People have a tendency to over exaggerate items like this.

An annoyance-probably, something Disney could do better with-most likely, an issue to claim that it ruined a complete vacation-priceless..:shrug:

Well, if you add in an average wait of 25 minutes including a park hop each day, that's over an hour wasted EACH DAY above and beyond the time spent on the busses. For a week, that's 8-9 hours wasted waiting. That's an entire day at the park. It can ruin a trip if you waste an entire day waiting and waiting and waiting for busses that aren't on time. If they are supposed to be every 20 minutes, the average time of waiting would be 10 minutes.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Q - What's the difference between standing in line for Soarin' for 2+ hours and waiting for a Disney bus ?

A - When you joined the line at Soarin' you had a rough idea of how long you'd be stood there.

Like I said earlier - there needs to be better communication between Disney and guests.

If the London Underground can have electronic boards telling you that the next train at the platform will be there in 2 miutes, why can't Disney do the same at the Resort bus stops ??

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Q - What's the difference between standing in line for Soarin' for 2+ hours and waiting for a Disney bus ?

A - When you joined the line at Soarin' you had a rough idea of how long you'd be stood there.

Like I said earlier - there needs to be better communication between Disney and guests.

If the London Underground can have electronic boards telling you that the next train at the platform will be there in 2 miutes, why can't Disney do the same at the Resort bus stops ??

Shareholders to placate? Its all about the folding stuff, seems that theyve learned little from the Eisner twilight era.

 

[sknydave]

Were we at the same place??? I was at FQ 12-20 and never had this happen. We thought the buses were excellent. Th most we waited was 15 minutes and that was in the mornings going to the parks. In the afternoons and night I don't think we ever waited 10 minutes, even in the pouring rain. We had 3 toddlers, 3 sisters and boyfriend (20's) inlaws (30's) and my parents (late 50's) and we all commented about how great the transportation was for us. We had DS "wish this is our bus" for every bus we saw to keep him a bit occupied and maybe all his wishing really paid off. We had a wonderful time and would absolutely stay there again.

It's always funny to see people have complete opposite reactions like this. I'm not saying it applies to this person (the op) in particular, but a lot of people simply are not happy unless they are unhappy (and complaining)

 

[cblodg]

lucky we went before our previous trip. We went the week of aug 11 and stayed for 7 days at port orleans french quarter. The busses were supposed to come every 20 minutes but they did not. it was more like every hour. SERIOUSLY. There was a HUGE line at just about every park for our resort.. we'd see Pop Century and all the other resorts get about 3-4 bus loads before our bus actually came. I just could not believe it. Some of the drivers even ignored people in the wheel chairs at times claiming to "come back soon" and when we went it was dead heat. The only reason I'm complaining is because there were always a lot of toddlers and older people in the heat like that. I was shocked to see how poorly the buses ran during our trip. I hope they fix their issues before someone gets ill waiting in the heat.. if so they'd have an hours wait like we did.

Were there any other problems or just the buses? The buses have been a problem for a little while now. Was the rest of your trip good?

 

[fosse76]

I find it annoying that people are responding with "why are you complaining, it's free?" That is not an acceptable response, and actually, as has been pointed out, not true. While it's true that you don't have to buy a "bus pass" or "pay as you go" that does not make the service free. Its operational budget comes from room costs and park admissions. Second, even if it were "free," that doesn't mean Disney (or any Company for that matter) should provide substandard service. Disney advertises a certain wait time between busses and it is incumbent upon them to meet those times.

 

[DivineMadness7]

Disney advertises a certain wait time between busses and it is incumbent upon them to meet those times.

Show me a Disney advertisement that lists bus wait times. I'll be waiting.

And people aren't saying "don't complain, it's free" people are saying "why did you let that ruin your vacation?" Well, at least I was.

 

[Senderella]

If the London Underground can have electronic boards telling you that the next train at the platform will be there in 2 miutes, why can't Disney do the same at the Resort bus stops ??

My dh & I have always thought they should have a little dispatch podium at the bus stops (resorts and parks) with someone there to let busses know what bus is needed where. Not to mention, it'd probably help with gas. I've seen busses pull up somewhere, wait a few minutes, nobody boards and they leave.

 

[luckyeye13]

My dh & I have always thought they should have a little dispatch podium at the bus stops (resorts and parks) with someone there to let busses know what bus is needed where. Not to mention, it'd probably help with gas. I've seen busses pull up somewhere, wait a few minutes, nobody boards and they leave.

Actually, that previously existed at all four parks and Downtown Disney. It may not have been visible to the average Guest, but there was a dispatch area at each of the five bus hubs. Now, there are only three hubs-at the Magic Kingdom, Epcot (which covers Disney's Hollywood Studios), and Downtown Disney (which covers Disney's Animal Kingdom). A driver is assigned to one hub on a particular day and will generally stay there for the entire shift, though they may be given the option of going home early (unpaid) or finishing their shift at another hub if they were assigned somewhere with an early close. At the start of a shift, the driver will be given a trip, which is usually made up of several legs. For example, a driver might start at DTD, go to the Epcot Resorts, continue to DAK, go to Saratoga Springs, then return to DTD for a new assignment. (I do not know if that is actually one of the trips that may be assigned, but the concept is the same.) Just like the previous five-hub system, the buses are supposed to be assigned based on maintaining the 20-minute interval and on the demand for a particular destination. In the future, it is expected that, instead of using the radio, the next trip will be assigned to the driver wirelessly by a computer via the box that sits to the right of the driver on each bus (the same box the driver uses to change the destination signs, among other things). The jury seems to still be out on whether or not this new multi-leg trip system is working, but that is the intention.

As for seeing buses being sent to and leaving from empty load zones, remember that even though there may be no one waiting for the bus to the Epcot Resorts at DTD, there are likely to be Guests waiting at those stops for the bus back to DTD (under the old system) or onwards to DAK (under the new multi-leg system). Until empty buses can bypass empty stops and be transported by lasers to ones where Guests are waiting, this method will have to be used.

 

[davinakb]

Transportation info on WDW site. We drive WDW, have been for years; cost of car/gas totally worth it to us for convenience and speed. YMMV.