Wdw Transport

[jim@tradewayshi]

WE'VE JUST RETURNED FROM 14 DAYS IN ALL STAR SPORTS.
FANTASTIC!!!!
WE INTEND TO GO AGAIN NEXT YEAR (THIS IS OUR 6TH TIME AT DISNEY)

DOES ANY ONE ELSE THINK THE WDW BUSES OVERLOAD ?
ON ONE BUS THAT WE WERE TRAVELLING ON (FROM EPCOT TO THE HOTEL-AFTER THE FIREWORKS DISPLAY) EVERY SEAT WAS TAKEN AND THERE MUST HAVE BEEN AT LEAST 25/30 STANDING.
THE BUS HAD TO MAKE A SUDDEN CHANGE IN SPEED (SLOWING DOWN) AND NEARLY PUT PEOPLE ALL OVER THE BUS.
THIS COULD BE AN ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN.

YOUR COMMENTS PLEASE

[BevS97]

Hi Jim, we didn't use the buses on our most recent trip, but we have had similiar experiences in the past, particularly late at night when the parks are closing and there are 100s of people trying to get home. To be honest, we stopped using the buses after a few poor trips and just used our hire car instead as we found it much more convenient.

Glad to hear you have a good time otherwise,

bev

[Macman]

We stayed onsite for the first time on our last trip and the biggest disappointment was the Disney Buses and transportation, it could take an hour to do a fifteen minute drive. Personally as a family we preferred staying off-site.

[Boomdocker]

Have stayed on site 4 times soon to be 5. Never had a car mainly beacuase I don't drive so have relied on transport.

There is probably no disputing that having your own car allows much more freedom of choice with times, where you go and how you get there.

Yes, the buses can get full and at peak times you may have to wait for the next one and yes this can be v frustrating.

We have never had cause to complain about the buses on the whole. They are generally reliable, clean, most of the drivers are v friendly and you get to chat with other people about where they are going or what they have done.

I think there are pro's and con's for both. Busses may get full etc but balance the wait time for these with having to park, car parks are huge and generally involve a tram service and cost you $$. Cars win with the freedom of choice.

If you have never been before and are worried about the busses I would say they are more than adequate for getting around WDW.

[Big_Mark]

Stayed for 3 weeks at all star movies with no car in fwb 2001.
no trouble with buses at all even at 7:30 in the morning on early enrty days, the longest wait was about 10 mins.
The buses do get packed at park closing times or after firework shows but my advice is wait a while, do some window shopping. The drivers are very helpful and will answer any questions.
Went with virgin and you can get cheap Mears bus tickets to most popular sites outside of Disney for a few dollars, i.e seaworld, universal. the Mears coaches pick you up from outside All Star Hotels.
Going back again in a few weeks with no car car again and I can drive.

[Goofyish]

I agree with Mark. The busses can get crowded after park closing. It's not nice having to stand on a crowded bus after a very long day in the parks, especially at night when the bus interior lights are switched off.
So its much better to just hand around in the parks and watch everyone rushing to get out :)

Busses run until 1 hour after closing time and even then you will not be left behind :)

I believe that most of the WDW busses can take a max. of 72 passengers (and the drivers use the code 72 to tell the transportation coordinator when a bus is full).

[Macman]

I think the problem is one of perception. Because on all my previous visits I had seen these buses and people on the boards say nice things about them maybe I was expecting too much.

One night (October 2002) we had to wait for 90 minutes after MK closed to get a bus back to POR and with 2 very tired children, it wasn’t very pleasant.

My other bad experience was that the buses do not run between the Disney resorts and between the Disney parks only between the transportation centre at DTD and either one or the other (hope that makes sense), anyway we wanted to get from one park to another and this took over an hour (sorry I can't remember which parks but when asked I was told to take the buses), again with two tired and bored children.

I agree that if you don't have a car then these must be fantastic, but I love driving in Florida, the stress levels are so much lower than in my normal job driving around London. In my experience a car on holiday is just so much more flexible and can change the whole Florida experience by getting away from the touristy areas that the transportation is in.

As far as staying onsite goes I did enjoy it, but as a family we like having a villa or apartment because of the extra facilities, if I go back to Florida again then I would like to mix up my stay a bit and have 3-5 nights in Disney and the rest in a villa.

[janeossie]

Just back and at times the buses may seem frustrating but I don't drive while on holiday. That is part of my holiday because of the amount I do at home. Don't know about NYE though staying at BCV and the walk to Epcot isn't very far.

[bengunn]

We have stayed off-site both times and have had a car. Driving is so easy there that we would not consider Disney buses; we have, however, used the monorail between MK and Epcot (park at MK then day in Epcot, returning for Spectromagic and the fireworks).

[rogerwatson]

It may depend where you stay on site. Last year had big problems with the bus service from the Beach Club often overcrowded and unable to board.However the year before at the Coronado Springs a really good service.Having said that there is a perception of cost cutting at disney and maybe bus services have been reduced?

[todbovingdon]

We Live in a large Metropoitan area (Toronto, Canada) and take transit daily commuting to work so a crowded bus is nothing new to us! The local transit system is the Toronto Transit Commission, the acronym is T.T.C. and locals say it really stands for Trample, Thrash and Crush -or- Take The Car (but I digress). :o)

We had very good experiences with Diz busses. The drivers were invariably helpful and cheerful (one sang songs to us the whole way) and even when they were extremely crowded the passangers pulled together to offer seats to the elderly and very tired children. The adults just shrugged and stood.

I'd MUCH rather not have to worry about parking (where is that explosively hot car, anyway? Did you say 'Mickey-lot' or "Minnie-lot'? and just how long is it going to take for that dratted tram to get here anyways?) driving myself (was THAT our exit? or that one? and why does that sign say 'swamp'?) or the expense of hiring taxis or renting a car for a week or more that's just going to sit in parking lots 99% of the time (HOW much??). The bus system is INCLUDED in the resort fee so why not use it? I splurge on a limo ride to and from the resort but if you're staying on-site for all of your vacation I see no reason to get a car.

Most off-site hotels also offer shuttles to and from the parks anyway if you choose wisely and that goes for Universal and Sea World as well.

[Fantasia Sam]

Well I have a lot of praise for the Disney Transportation service. I used it on my last trip from Wilderness Lodge, CBR and Yacht Club and never had to wait more than 10 mins for a bus and yes I had to stand on a couple of occasions when busy but I didn't mind that at all.

I'm pretty sure that they don't overload the buses intentionally as it would be a legal action waiting to happen should something happen that said I'm pretty sure the drivers aren't always counting the number of people on them.

However I have had a WDW bus-driver whose driving was to be desired I was on a near empty bus and was nearly been thrown from my seat on one particular corner.

I especially like using the buses to MK as it drops you right outside the door. I don't mind driving to the parks as long as I'm parked close enough to the entrance that I don't have to get a tram as this always adds time on. It's definitely true that my journey was quicker from the Car Park back to the hotel.

We left MGM one night after spending a long time over dinner at the Hollywood Brown Derby and we came out of the park about 3/4 hour after closing. We knew that the boats had stopped running back to our resort. So we went to the little kiosk/office near where the buses pull in and said we weren't sure what bus stand to go to as we usually take the boat. We were promptly taken over to a shuttle-van and we were driven back to the Swan no waiting!! I was very impressed.

But I've heard some horror stories on WDW transport but then IMHO unless something bad happens to people on the transport they don't often report on how good the transportation is as it's taken for granted.