Disney Buses: the good, the bad, and the ugly?

[joelkfla]

I don’t believe anyone deserves to get a verbal beat down in front of 50 people. It was embarrassing and humiliating.

I agree there.

Over a ride to DS. He actually called commercial cabs to transport us, not Disney employees.

OK. When you said vans, I though you meant the white company vans.

Also, I realize upon rereading that you were talking about a hotel manager. I originally thought it was a bus manager, who should have been on top of the situation. So the hotel manager did good.

 

[peteykirch]

The people who complain about "traffic" at Disney must be coming from a place where there are less than 200 people.

Coming from NJ, to see/hear about this "awful traffic" at Disney and the Orlando area is a complete joke.

Disney roads are laid out and labeled very well, and their signs make it nearly impossible to get lost.

Yes the new "parking fees" might be a drag, but I'd much rather have a 5 minute walk to my car than stand in a line for a bus for 30 minutes at the end of the day.

 

[BLLB]

I agree there.

OK. When you said vans, I though you meant the white company vans.

Also, I realize upon rereading that you were talking about a hotel manager. I originally thought it was a bus manager, who should have been on top of the situation. So the hotel manager did good.

No problem, the manager was the resort manager. I did not communicate very clearly. Sorry about that.

 

[snappy]

The people who complain about "traffic" at Disney must be coming from a place where there are less than 200 people.

Coming from NJ, to see/hear about this "awful traffic" at Disney and the Orlando area is a complete joke.

Disney roads are laid out and labeled very well, and their signs make it nearly impossible to get lost.

Yes the new "parking fees" might be a drag, but I'd much rather have a 5 minute walk to my car than stand in a line for a bus for 30 minutes at the end of the day.

I agree! I come from an area where public transport is almost non-existent. I am used to way more surface road traffic here than there is at Disney. We enjoy renting a car at Disney and drive easily to nice restaurants at other resorts. A car means quick and easy access to many good dining choices. It works well for us.

 

[sndral]

We fly in and do not rent a car - so we rely entirely on WDW transport. I love vacation destinations where I don’t have to deal w/ a car (Venice, anyone?)
The most irritating waits IME are leaving at or near park closing - watching other resort’s buses come and go while your waiting line grows longer and longer. And I’m not a fan of having to stand on those rides.
I do like the arrival time boards you can watch as you wait at your resort as it helps pass the time as you watch the estimated time change and get later and later
The secret is to not cut things too close, that way if you are having an extra long wait for the bus to arrive you aren’t stressed by fears you’ll miss that FP or ADR or whatever.
Disney is all about waits and lines, it starts with the line to board DME and then the wait for the bus to leave, it continues once you arrive with the lines to ride rides, get QS food or the wait to be seated for your ADR, the waits/lines for the buses are just part of the deal.

 

[AngiTN]

The people who complain about "traffic" at Disney must be coming from a place where there are less than 200 people.

Coming from NJ, to see/hear about this "awful traffic" at Disney and the Orlando area is a complete joke.

Disney roads are laid out and labeled very well, and their signs make it nearly impossible to get lost.

Yes the new "parking fees" might be a drag, but I'd much rather have a 5 minute walk to my car than stand in a line for a bus for 30 minutes at the end of the day.

We have neither 200 people nor awful traffic. And it's really, really, REALLY possible to get really, really REALLY lost. Even some of our Uber drivers have, and they live there, LOL

As to your 5 min walk to your car, you must have have way more luck than we did when we did drive (before we discovered how cheap it was to fly) because we always had to use a tram and waited more than 5 min for those and had a much longer than 5 min walk to the car from the tram stop. And don't get me started on how big a PITA it is to wander around the parking lot without a clue where your car is in the sea of cars
But we've also had better luck then you must have had because only rarely do we wait 30 min for a bus, can likely count on 1 hand the number of waits that long
So it's just matter of how you look at it. Give me waiting on a bus and letting someone else drive so I can drink. It's worth any wait.
Greatest thing of all? There's a way for everyone to get around.
Don't want to use the buses, don't. No one makes you. Drive your own car, rent one, use car service.
Don't want to drive, don't. No one makes you. Use the bus, use a car service/taxi.
All methods work. None of them wrong

 

[snappy]

Yep, it was pretty bad.

He was sitting there, with about 8 people on the bus. A couple were sitting where the scooter would go. He was pretty comfortable, obviously waiting.

But when I pulled up, he jumped up, said, sorry those places are already full, closed the door and almost peeled wheels.

There was a security guy nearby and asked what happened. He knew which bus driver it was, and reported it. It was pretty clear, to everyone, that he just didn't want to load the scooter.

It was about a 15 minute wait for the next bus. He pulled up and was about as jovial as Santa, calling me a princess and needing to get my chariot loaded. He is either a great cast member, or someone told him about what happened. Either way, it made me feel better.

I know that loading them is a pain. I know it slows everyone down. And I really try to be as gracious as I can be. And I wait if I know others have been waiting longer than I have.

But stuff like that hurts.

Hurts in more ways than most think.

My sister who lives with a painful physical disability experienced the same attitude from bus drivers multiple times a few years ago when she and her DH traded their time share points to stay at a 1 bedroom at what was WLV. She was already self conscious about slowing up the bus boarding process. Several of the bus drivers she encountered made it clear she was inconveniencing them. Unfortunately I wasn’t with her or something would have been addressed up the line. Saying anything to the bus drivers is wasting breath.

She’ll never ride a Disney bus again. Left a very sour taste in her mouth. Done with Disney.​

 

[seashoreCM]

Would it help bringing bad experiences to Guest Relations?

However, I have asked myself (while riding the bus and subway back near home), could buses be designed so the driver himself does not have to get down and get his hands dirty during the boarding process?

 

[snappy]

Would it help bringing bad experiences to Guest Relations?

However, I have asked myself (while riding the bus and subway back near home), could buses be designed so the driver himself does not have to get down and get his hands dirty during the boarding process?

My sister didn’t address while she was at Disney and did not disclose it for a long time. Seems good to address while there?

It would be great if the busses were automated like some lifts in cars. A good friend who weighed less than 100 pounds had one on her van for her son with profound cerebral palsy. It was the only way she could have taken him anywhere after her husband passed away.

Not sure how the mobie’s could be latched in automatically in Disney busses though. It would need to be a thoroughly safe process for the guest with a disability as well as other riders.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We don't rent a car and have used Disney transportation 100%. When we have driven to WDW in the past we park our car and don't touch it until it's time to leave.

I live in an area with a lot of public transportation so I may be a bit more tolerant of the buses. I've really never had more than a 5-15 minute wait except for once at the BC going to MK. We've done two stays at CBR, Poly and BC and never had any other issues with the buses. For me waiting up to 20 minutes for a bus isn't a huge deal. But we also are usually never in a rush. I hate being late so I always give myself extra time to get places. Packed buses can be annoying but again not a huge deal to me. Waiting for a bus at the end of a long night can be annoying but I know what I'm expecting.

With that said we've been lucky but I've read report of people waiting 50 or more minutes for a bus. Luckily for us we've never dealt with those issues.

Next trip is at POFQ/BWV. We love the walk to Epcot and the boat to DHS. We will do buses to AK and MK. We have never walked to DHS and are fine waiting for the boat which we did during our stay at BC.

We will probably use Uber or Lyft next trip. Probably to go from POFQ to HDDR and we may transfer our own bags from POFQ to BWV.

 

[joelkfla]

Would it help bringing bad experiences to Guest Relations?

However, I have asked myself (while riding the bus and subway back near home), could buses be designed so the driver himself does not have to get down and get his hands dirty during the boarding process?

Yes, there is a fully automated no-hands securement on the market. It grips the side of the mobility device with rubber arms instead of the traditional hooks. Given the nature of scooter users at WDW (many having no prior experience and limited driving skills), the driver would still have to help Guests drive up the ramp and position themselves in the securement, but the actual securement is hands-free.

The system is made by the same company that makes the currently installed Q-pod securements.

 

[snappy]

Hope you have good success with the busses on your next trip. Handling your bags via Uber is a great idea.

We do use either our car or a rental when we fly to pick up groceries and alcohol for our villa. Often have 10-12 day stay so we need a lot of bottled water, beer, wine. But the best use of our car has been to be able to drive directly to eat at our favorite resort restaurants like Sanaa, California grill, Jiko, and many others since there’s no direct resort to resort busses. Saves time which equals saving money at Disney. Not opposed to taking busses though when some in our party are on different schedules. That’s when the busses help, but honestly at BWV we walk or take the boats. A boat from OKW or POFQ to DS would work too. We mostly avoid DS but maybe that will change in future.

 

[neoDonald]

We do use either our car or a rental when we fly to pick up groceries and alcohol for our villa.

This is one of the main advantages for us. Drinks, snacks, a few meals outside of the park saves so much money, the rental more than pays for itself. Not to mention door to door, about 1/2 hour to pretty much any park (actual drive time to any park from SSR is 10-15 minutes).

 

[snappy]

We ordered food from amazon prime now or whatever it’s called last year. Fresh fruit wasn’t good and no alcohol available. I think alcohol is available now in Orlando.

May order some things from them again but a need a grocery run for some good low carb stuff to balance the meals we eat out.

 

[Mikey15]

The people who complain about "traffic" at Disney must be coming from a place where there are less than 200 people.

Coming from NJ, to see/hear about this "awful traffic" at Disney and the Orlando area is a complete joke.

Disney roads are laid out and labeled very well, and their signs make it nearly impossible to get lost.

Yes the new "parking fees" might be a drag, but I'd much rather have a 5 minute walk to my car than stand in a line for a bus for 30 minutes at the end of the day.

I generally agree. Driving and parking goes pretty smoothly.

But I did had one experience last year that made me "get" what others could be experiencing. This had never really happened to us before, maybe because our group usually sticks around longer for shopping at the front of parks, but leaving Hollywood Studios one night last year after Fantasmic and Star Wars fireworks, the car line leaving the parking lot was taking forever. The path of least resistance for us was a right turn onto Buena Vista drive instead of waiting to turn left to head towards World Dr. (we stay in the "Four Corners" area: west 192). Looking at the map now I should have cut down past AoA to Osceola Parkway, but being unfamiliar with that option, I went past that and got on Epcot Center Drive to get on I-4W for 192W. The DHS traffic combined with traffic from Epcot and MK filled every lane. It was flowing quickly enough, but it was too solid for me to get into the lanes for I-4, so that left me going straight on World Center Drive. (Further hilarity ensued as I ended up on Osceola Parkway, trying to hop on I-4 for one exit to 192, but the on-ramp for I-4 at that point doesn't let you access the 192 exit, so I ended up detouring down even more to Celebration... argh... all because of traffic leaving the park.)

I have better familiarity now, but I can see it frustrating less-experienced people trying to drive out at park close just as badly as waiting for a bus.

 

[lambdabeta]

I have not used the Disney buses in a while. Are they really slow or are they ok? I like the idea of being dropped off at MK without having to go to the ticket and transportation center. I will have a rental car, so if they are super inefficient I can drive. Specifically I am thinking about to and from a Halloween party in October and evening EMH at MK. Maybe staying at one of the All Star resorts if that makes a difference. TIA

I think the most honest answer you got was from @Br'er Rabbit is the Best. I love the others who say they never have a problem but then caveat it with but... I don't go during peak times, I don't mind waiting, I give myself plenty of time to get where I am going, waiting is part of the package or I Uber/Lyft when I need to. So I would take it all with a grain of salt. I think you have the right idea. I would try the bus and see what it is like and if you have a bad experience then use your car. I understand why you want to try it but I don't think things are any different than they were a few years ago. The parks and parties are more crowded now which equates to more crowded buses at the end of the day with longer waits. It is still ultimately up to you. I personally wouldn't try it.

 

[JPTexan82]

Please don’t be upset me, but what frustrates me is the people that run towards the bus as your pulling away from the stop. You look at them and see only two people, then come to find out there is 3or 4 more that are walking taking their time.

Also when a bus is somewhat already full, and then a scooter wants to load on to the bus. That slows down the process too. Going out on a limb here, 30% of those people should/could walk.

 

[lambdabeta]

Please don’t be upset me, but what frustrates me is the people that run towards the bus as your pulling away from the stop. You look at them and see only two people, then come to find out there is 3or 4 more that are walking taking their time.

Also when a bus is somewhat already full, and then a scooter wants to load on to the bus. That slows down the process too. Going out on a limb here, 30% of those people should/could walk.

I know it can be frustrating to wait for a ECV to be loaded on a bus but as far as 30% of these people should/could walk is a bit judgy on your part. I know it is a very small number of people who use them because being on an ECV at WDW is a BIG pain. There are several comments on the first page that address the issues the ECV drivers can have with the buses. I suggest you read them. There are other issues such as, they are difficult to maneuver around the resorts, to load and unload on all the transportation and are almost impossible to use in the parks sometimes. I think what has you confused is that many people who use them can walk short to moderate distances but cannot do the distances required at WDW. They may be able to walk 1000 feet independently without pain but make them walk 5 miles in a day even with rest breaks and they will be in serious pain. That is the main reason people who don't "look" like they need them do. You see the same thing with children. I see 5-9 year olds in strollers. If they went to the mall they would walk. Their parents would never put them in a stroller. At WDW they can't tolerate the long distances needed to walk. Ever notice the rental strollers at WDW are huge. The real reason parents put kids in strollers and people use ECV's is so the whole family can enjoy WDW and no one has to miss out or suffer. So next time think before you judge someone on a scooter because that someone may be you someday.

 

[serenitynow]

I know it can be frustrating to wait for a ECV to be loaded on a bus but as far as 30% of these people should/could walk is a bit judgy on your part. I know it is a very small number of people who use them because being on an ECV at WDW is a BIG pain. There are several comments on the first page that address the issues the ECV drivers can have with the buses. I suggest you read them. There are other issues such as, they are difficult to maneuver around the resorts, to load and unload on all the transportation and are almost impossible to use in the parks sometimes. I think what has you confused is that many people who use them can walk short to moderate distances but cannot do the distances required at WDW. They may be able to walk 1000 feet independently without pain but make them walk 5 miles in a day even with rest breaks and they will be in serious pain. That is the main reason people who don't "look" like they need them do. You see the same thing with children. I see 5-9 year olds in strollers. If they went to the mall they would walk. Their parents would never put them in a stroller. At WDW they can't tolerate the long distances needed to walk. Ever notice the rental strollers at WDW are huge. The real reason parents put kids in strollers and people use ECV's is so the whole family can enjoy WDW and no one has to miss out or suffer. So next time think before you judge someone on a scooter because that someone may be you someday.

Bless you.

 

[JPTexan82]

I know it can be frustrating to wait for a ECV to be loaded on a bus but as far as 30% of these people should/could walk is a bit judgy on your part. I know it is a very small number of people who use them because being on an ECV at WDW is a BIG pain. There are several comments on the first page that address the issues the ECV drivers can have with the buses. I suggest you read them. There are other issues such as, they are difficult to maneuver around the resorts, to load and unload on all the transportation and are almost impossible to use in the parks sometimes. I think what has you confused is that many people who use them can walk short to moderate distances but cannot do the distances required at WDW. They may be able to walk 1000 feet independently without pain but make them walk 5 miles in a day even with rest breaks and they will be in serious pain. That is the main reason people who don't "look" like they need them do. You see the same thing with children. I see 5-9 year olds in strollers. If they went to the mall they would walk. Their parents would never put them in a stroller. At WDW they can't tolerate the long distances needed to walk. Ever notice the rental strollers at WDW are huge. The real reason parents put kids in strollers and people use ECV's is so the whole family can enjoy WDW and no one has to miss out or suffer. So next time think before you judge someone on a scooter because that someone may be you someday.

I’m not judging, I’m just saying. Also if you don’t want people to make observations, then don’t go out in public. I completely understand that’s there is a need for assistance, there is some that abuse the system. Not all, but that 30%.