When we did it, we had bought the tours as part of the package. But my guess is that the first bus is free. The first bus goes to all area hotels and picks up everyone going on a tour that day. It takes you to the ticket center, where you either have a prepurchased ticket, or you buy a ticket. Then you get on the appropriate bus to your destination. Once you're on the bus, your tour guide will get on, introduce him/herself, take tickets and you're off. I'd guess that there is at least an hour/ hour and a half between getting picked up and getting off to your destination. When you're on the bus, the tour guide will explain the procedure, etc. For example, when we did Sea World/Tijuana, we were told when to be back at the bus, given tips for when to see the shows and told to make sure we ate at Sea World as we probably wouldn't want to eat in Tijuana due to the uncertainty of food quality. Our trips were over 10 years ago, but from what I've read, the procedures seem to be much the same. We were young and didn't have children and the two tours we chose worked well for us. Would I do them with children? Probably not, due to the lack of control over departure and return.
