Bus transportation issues

[McGoofy]

Has anybody else experienced this? Last week I had a late reservation at the Coral Reef Restaurant in Epcot. When our party was finished with dinner, Epcot was closed. We went into a few shops and worked our way to the bus stops. It was about 10pm or so when we made it to the bus stop, and we were looking to catch the bus to Coronado Springs. Crowds had died down, and there was a CM standing at the bus stop sign. By the way he was dressed, he appeared to be in management. He was directing guests where to go because his directions were different than what was written on the signs. His very words to us were "Coronado Springs and All Stars are combined." We assumed that this was common practice after the park has been closed a while. Per his instructions, everybody from CS and All Stars started forming one bus line. There were still quite a bit of people that were making a long line since it was for CS plus all 3 All Star hotels. The assumption was that one bus was making 2 stops. Meanwhile, a group of about 20 high school students cut in the front part of the line. My DH told them that if they were going to cut, that they needed to stand on the bus and let the moms with small children in their arms who had been waiting in line have the seats. The teenagers decided that cutting in line wasn't the best idea and went to the back of the line. (That was a side story. It really didn't have anything to do with the real topic at hand. It just played a factor into the tensions that were rising.) Anyway, finally a bus pulled up. All that it said for destination was "Epcot." The driver never changed the sign. Again, now the line is still assuming that CS and All Stars are still one. A guest boarding the bus double checked to see where the driver was going. Turns out, he was only going to All Stars. All of us who were going to CS had to get off of the bus. Because all of the confusion took so much time, he ended up driving away with empty seats on the bus. (The teens who tried to cut and were at the end of the line didn't even get on the All Stars because it pulled away so fast.) It was mass confusion. What I don't understand is this--if two different buses were coming anyway, why didn't they just separate us by hotels? There are no CM's at the bus stops, so it wasn't like they had to pay an extra CM to be there. The whole situation was really odd. I'm thinking about sending an e-mail, but I wanted to know if there was a good reason behind this method before I send a complaint???

[Quasimodo]

Sounds like some miscommunication was going on with the CM that told everyone to get on the same bus. I've been to WDW more times than I can remember, and have never had that happen. The bus stop signs are almost always right. On the other hand, I don't particularly care for the buses that much and tend to drive my own vehicle from the resorts to the parks.

[jpH/keD]

We went in Nov 07 and stayed at Movies and most of the late busses were always crowded, always did we have to wait for long times between busses and never did any bus have empty seats! They were sooooo full! The movies resort was totally booked so I am assuming all the all stars were too. That is just way too many folks for the bus system.

We were very frustrated by this the entire week we were there. Our next trip we will stay somewhere there is a monorail stop! I quit! I am giving in and going the deluxe route!

I am sorry your situation was so frustrating too. That sounds like complete communication breakdown to me! I would write! Maybe they will learn from this. It's worth a shot! Hang in there!

[ºoºalyssaluvsmickeyºoº]

Well I never had that happen but just last week we went to epcot for the fireworks.They were over by 9:30.We did a little shopping and decided to take the monorail to the magic kingdom to catch a bus or boat back to WL.not knowing the park closed at 8:00pm that night we missed the last bus and boat because it was 10:30.So instead of going all the way to downtown disney and back we caught a cab from the contp.$5.00 bucks and we were home

[PetefromRI]

Last month we stayed at the Pop and on the first night we had dinner at the Cape May.Instead of walking all the way through Epcot to get back to the busses,we just took a cab from Cape May to the Pop.It was by far the best 10.00 we ever spent in our lives.We saved about an hour and a half and about a mile or so of walking.I'm depending on cabs for now on unless I'm not in any hurry.The busses are getting to be to stressful for my vacations and spending a hundred or so on cabs is cheaper than a rental without the stress of driving for the week.

[DisneyGiant]

We've been putting my parents in cabs when we use resort dining (Whispering Canyon at Wilderness Lodge, Chef Mickey's, CA Grill). Its worth the extra $$ for the less worry.

Mom has to use a scooter in the parks, and she hates getting the darn thing on the bus, and the sometimes stares that go along with it.

[Young@Heart]

It sounds like very bad miscommunication on their end. I would probably write a letter. Sorry you had such a bad bus experience.

We didn't care for the bus sharing between POFQ and POR when we went in 2000. Loved POFQ and the boat to DTD, but it was a nightmare to leave the parks at night. We now drive down so we have a car available to us. The resort parking isn't bad, and the AAA parking makes it great at the parks. If DH and I return to flying down when our DC are older, we'll probably rent a car. I just don't have patience for crowded buses.

[buzz2001]

Sorry about your situation. You know how it is when management gets involved and they haven't been up to that point.

I'm on may way to CSR tonight! Watch for reports!

[BelleCiavo]

If the buses were constantly being mishandled then I would write, but for one incident? No, I wouldn't write. It was one time, after hours and someone goofed. I would be annoyed, no doubt, but I would extend grace to them.

[McGoofy]

If the buses were constantly being mishandled then I would write, but for one incident? No, I wouldn't write. It was one time, after hours and someone goofed. I would be annoyed, no doubt, but I would extend grace to them.

Yeah, that's how I feel too. That's why I was trying to find out if this is a common situation when the park reaches a certain time or if it was just that one night. I've heard a lot about taxi's and discontentment with the bus system, but I haven't really heard if anybody else has come across this situation, so I am still confused.

[brogan54]

we had a similar problem when we came out of the poly luau a cm had no idea where we had to go to get back to the resort. she asked someone else and we were given bad directions. it took us over an hour and half to get back to the resort. when we got home we sent an email to disney and someone contacted us they said that if there is any problem to let them know so they can try to remedy the problem, i would contact them.

[DisFan01]

We don't use busses for that reason...

Sorry you had trouble!

[jpH/keD]

I think contacting them and telling your story is of some value. You don't have to send a nasty gram but any info they can get might help in resolving frustrations for other guests!

[McGoofy]

I think contacting them and telling your story is of some value. You don't have to send a nasty gram but any info they can get might help in resolving frustrations for other guests!

Oh yeah...I know...I would never send a nasty gram. I know that you "catch flies with honey!" I'm leaning toward sending the e-mail just because I think that they would want to know. I even heard one guest behind me comment, "Apparently whichever employee decided to do this has never actually stood in this line to catch the bus back to the resort." I think I will send the e-mail (a polite one) to let them know what a guest's perspective of that night was. It was so confusing that night!! Hopefully if they hear guest's comments, they may realize that particular method isn't working well.

[Darbylew]

We have never had a problem with the buses.
We always ride them. We enjoy talking and
meeting other people on the buses. It can be
quite interesting. Sorry about your problem.
We drive to WDW as we live in Florida but we
never use our car there. WDW transportation
is fine for us.

[McGoofy]

We have never had a problem with the buses.
We always ride them. We enjoy talking and
meeting other people on the buses. It can be
quite interesting. Sorry about your problem.
We drive to WDW as we live in Florida but we
never use our car there. WDW transportation
is fine for us.

I've ridden the buses many times too and have rarely had a problem. However, I have never been in a park that late after closing, so I was just wondering if this was standard practice once the park reaches a certain time past closing.

[DreamFinder2]

We've nearly ALWAYS relied on bus transportation at WDW and, although it can be time-consuming, it's pretty reliable. When you sit back and look at the HUGE task WDW has in moving hundreds of thousands of people around on any given day...one mistake is really pretty good!

We're staying at ASMo for one night at the beginning of our stay next month and I'm already dreading the bus lines...but then, it's on to the monorail.

[BelleLovesTheBeast]

I haven't had a bus issue like that. When we stayed at CB we had issues with not enough buses for the resort. We waited an hour for a bus one day and never less than 30 mins every day. The buses were always so full that not everyone could get on the bus. I couldn't imagine staying at this resort when it's busy. Never a problem with CS though. It's one of our favorites because the transportation is so smooth.

[#1donaldfan]

We've done EMH many times and never had any real problems like this....maybe a little crowded, maybe wait a little longer for a bus, but nothing like this....I would just let this one go and chalk it up to a bad night, rookie CM, something....I'm sure it's not the norm at least from what we've seen.....

[Aurora]

What if this happens every two weeks and no one ever writes? Disney will never know and therefore can't fix a possible problem. All of us on these boards make up a TINY fraction of the number of visitors Disney gets, and it's very possible that this happens occasionally but not to any of us.

I definitely would let them know. Just think, you could be helping the next visitor!!