new bus dispatch system - think I'll rent a car

[sdewan]

We just returned from WDW last week, and we learned the hard way that WDW is testing a new automated bus dispatching system. Often a bus would come within 5-15 minutes, but on several occasions we had to wait 40-45 minutes. On one occasion we were leaving Animal Kingdom around 7PM (not closing time) and we waited 45 minutes for the EPCOT Resorts bus to arrive. During that time 5 EPCOT buses, 5 All-Star buses, and 4 Coronado Springs buses came and went, but not a single Contemporary, Grand Floridian, Wilderness Lodge or EPCOT Resorts bus. So obviously there was no shortage of buses, they were just being dispatched improperly. After complaining to the front desk we learned that Blizzard Beach was being evacuated due to lightning, so some buses were diverted to pick up people from there, but that does not explain why so many other buses came and went while we waited.

We also learned from the front desk that due to complaints, WDW has increased the frequency of inter-theme park buses to every 10 minutes. So in our case it would have been faster to take an EPCOT bus and walk through EPCOT to the Beach Club.

We used to always rent a car when going to WDW to get to and from the airport, visiting other resorts, and to do grocery shopping. But ever since Magical Express was introduced, we have not rented a car and relied entirely on WDW transportation. Now I'm seriously considering going back to a rental car for our next trip in January.

Prior to this experience, I've noticed that the bus service at the All-Star resorts is awesome. When we stayed there, we never waited more than 5 minutes for a bus. For other resorts (like Beach Club, Boardwalk, Saratoga Springs), we're used to wait times up to 20 minutes. Why do the "cheap" resorts offer superior bus service over the resorts that charge a pretty penny to stay in?

So I'll be watching this board over the next few months to see if WDW has improved the bus system. If not, I'll just rent a car.

[DDuck66]

As far as the "cheaper" resorts getting better bus service, I believe that the value resorts have more people staying at them so they often get more buses. The only problem, I have had recently was waiting at the TTC for a bus to DTD. It was about a 45 min wait. Hope they get it sorted out as a lot of times we drive to one of the parks, and bus everywhere else that we want to go.

[Jasper]

How many and how often buses run to the different resorts is most definitely determined by how many guests are staying at any given resort. As for waiting for 45 minutes at Animal Kingdom for a bus we have had two other experiences similar to yours at AK in the past and both of them were to go to one of the All Star resorts so don't feel to bad if it happened because they were testing a new system.

[disneymom15]

We always stay at the Value resorts. We were there Aug 13-17 and had a long wait for an Epcot bus. Pretty much all of our trips we experience a long wait at one point or another, but the good service out weighs the slow service by far.

[tink2006]

On one occasion we were leaving Animal Kingdom around 7PM (not closing time) and we waited 45 minutes

This happened to us in July. After 45 minutes, I ended up knocking on the door to the little dark glass building (at the far end of the bus stops). There was a castmember inside. I asked for a bus to POR. It arrived within 10 minutes. This was the only time it happened. I just assumed it was a problem with the Animal Kingdom. A couple of days later we ate at Boma and took the bus from POR to AK to AKL. I was very concerned that we would have to wait a LONG time for a bus at AK. I was pleasantly surprised when we had a 5 minute wait.

[kakn7294]

We were just there Aug 9 - 17 and the only longer-than-expected wait (we generally plan for about 20 min and are usually rewarded with a shorter wait) that we experienced was a wait for a bus to MK from CSR one morning (25 min). Otherwise, this was one of the better trips for transportation - we hardly waited at all in most cases!

[jans2kids]

We just returned from a stay spit between the All Stars and the Beach Club. The bus service at the All Stars was fine, most waits 5-10 minutes going to parks and maybe 5-15 returning. I thought the service to the BEach Club was worse. Sometimes the All Stars stopped at on of the other All Stars if the bus was not full, but the Beach Club also stopped at the Yacht Club, Boardwalk and sometimes the Swan and Dolphin.

[jonahbear2006]

This is scary. We reserved Beach Club for one reason being that we don't want to have the service we did last time. We were in FW and every time we wanted a bus it took an hour. We complained, hence the 6 day 2 hopper passes. I called and was in tears about how horrible the trip was. 1am in Feb is not a good time to wait an hour for a bus. The whole bus was yelling back and forth at each other about their horrible time getting a ride. Now, for the first time we are flying and we were hoping deluxe got better treatment cause in Feb, the resort buses for the deluxe always showed up every 10-15 min. We saw three GF busses while waiting for ours. It made us livid. We thought, wow, shouldve taken that bus, then the boat to MK, then the boat back to FW. WOuldve been faster, and THAT is ridiculous.

We plan on getting to epcot and hollywood walking, and when we want to go to MK, casually getting through international gateway, and taking the monorail. I will walk to avoid disney buses, so only times we need to take a bus is going to be for our reservation at chef mickeys and boma and to get to AK, if we go to AK. We aren't too fond of that park.

[Jen C.]

We rent a car every time we go, for reasons such as these. It does add a few hundred dollars to the trip, but to me, it is worth it.

[sdewan]

We plan on getting to epcot and hollywood walking, and when we want to go to MK, casually getting through international gateway, and taking the monorail.

That's precisely the reason we like the EPCOT Resorts - you have non-bus options for getting to 3 of the 4 parks. There's always the option of taking a cab to get from one resort to another, or if you can plan all your resort visits into one or two days, you can rent a car at the Dolphin for about $65 a day.

[pink]

This kind of scares me. In June of 07 we waited literally over an hour for a bus from AK to All-Star.

[disneygeek84]

I really don't think it has to do with what resort you're staying at. AK is so far away from everything else, it takes awhile to get a bus out there. When we were there in March of '07 we waited an hour for a bus from AK to the TTC. It was awful. And nobody's bus was coming. My sister and her friend were going to head to the GF to look around and then head over to MK and waited almost as long as we did (they were getting on right as our bus was pulling up).

So I don't think that it's specific to resorts. It's just the bus system in general, and I'm glad to see they're trying to improve it somewhat.

[KayDee]

I do believe Disney does the best job possible with its bus system. Its likely that Disney provides this service out of necessity. Could you imagine if every party on property had their own vehicle they used to travel to and from the parks? What a nightmare that would be! It is no doubt they want to make this as efficient and cost effective as possible.

[Belster]

I would like to thank DisneyDudet for her very well put response. I found the cheap comment a bit harsh.