Just back with transportation opinions

[messick4]

We just got back from a week split between AKL and BI, and I wanted to share our transporation experiences with others.

We used Tiffany Towncars for travel to and from the airport and absolutely LOVED them! We had different drivers, and both were very polite, professional, and best of all, on time! It was nice to arrive in Orlando to the driver with my name on the sign. And our car was 15 minutes early for the return trip. I would definitely use them again.

I disliked the Disney bus system and wished I had rented a car. AKL is very remote--you even need a bus to get to AK! The wait times are unpredictable. There was one time we waited 20 minutes for a bus to get to Epcot. Then the bus driver took us to AK, because it had just closed and the huddled masses were waiting. So, they crammed as many as they could onto our bus (I gave my seat to a mother with infant), and then we went to Epcot. The total wait/travel time was over 50 minutes.

When we switched to BI, I thought transportation would be better. Wrong. Waited through one bus loading at MK before the second bus came and got us. At this point, I'd like to offer a suggestion to Disney. Just a little tip. When the queues are packed with people waiting for buses, it may be helpful to hide the six buses not in use in the median with engines running (one would assume the drivers are on break?). Standing for 30 minutes waiting for a bus while six sit unused is especially demoralizing! Finally the bus got us, and we sat through several bus stops. I was surprised that the Yacht, Beach Club, Swan, Dolphin, and Boardwalk all share one bus. Again, another 50 minutes of low class travel.

We didn't even bother trying to catch buses after cirque du soleil and illuminations but took cabs instead.

I know that some have reported satisfaction with the bus system, and there are disadvantages and costs associated with renting a car. Nevertheless, I found the bus system poorly managed, under-funded, and no less frustrating than dealing with parking lots and traffic.

My two cents.
Tom

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Originally posted by messick4
The total wait/travel time was over 50 minutes.

I don't understand how it could be 50 minutes... It's only a 10 minute ride from the AK area to Epcot. During the AK exit, Epcot sends AKL/AKP busses every 5-10 minutes. I drove that route a few times last week from Epcot, I kept on running into the bus in front of me, and the bus behind me.

Originally posted by messick4
Standing for 30 minutes waiting for a bus while six sit unused is especially demoralizing! Finally the bus got us, and we sat through several bus stops. I was surprised that the Yacht, Beach Club, Swan, Dolphin, and Boardwalk all share one bus. Again, another 50 minutes of low class travel.

Judging by your description of the crowds, I'm guessing it was after a parade, fireworks, or exit... during those times, there is no way that the dispatcher would let 30mins go by without sending a bus.

Originally posted by messick4
Nevertheless, I found the bus system poorly managed, under-funded

As an internal person... I cannot disagree with under-funded. But then again, I think you'll find that with almost every department in almost every company. However, our system is very well managed, and if you were to spend two hours watching the internals, I think you'd agree. There's a lot that goes into our mass transit system, more than what anyone would think.

 

[dgaston]

Tyler:
I know you're proud of how well the transpo system can work, but there are times that guests experience long waits. It does happen. It's especially likely if you try something like Typhoon Lagoon to DD.

 

[messick4]

Tyler, thanks very much for providing the "inside" perspective. I'm only sharing my experiences and perception.

RE: your disbelief in my reported times: Let me help to add credence to the reported time. Relatives staying off site left MK at the same time-- traveled by monorail to the parking lot, drove to their off-site hotel, changed clothes, had a snack, and arrived at Boardwalk to meet us 15 minutes before we got there.

A parade had ended recently, but who cares? We waited through two buses, and surely, if Disney knows this, it can be mitigated. Buses were being dispatched, but the capacity was insufficient. My conclusion that it's mis-managed was mostly due to the unused buses. Maybe you can help us understand. Why would the buses sit there not in use, if as you say, this would be a peak time? If it's staff breaks, then there are scheduling and management techniques with labor that could be used to maintain the buses at capacity, but that's outside the scope of this discussion.

The aforementioned relatives were also the ones waiting for us at Epcot after the AKL-AK-Epcot trip that took a long time. We left our hotel room at AKL at 4:15 to meet them at Epcot at 5:00. They called us at 5:00 by cell phone wanting to know where we were. We were 5 minutes late, and that's how I concluded the wait/travel time again was 50 minutes.

I also can assure you that we were not the only customers disappointed with the bus times. There was lots of grumbling in our bus line. And our relatives were grateful that they had off site hotels with their own cars.

However, I was very impressed with the professionalism and courtesy of the bus drivers. One was funny asking us trivia questions and making the trip a lot of fun (there were several bus trips that were brief and pleasant).


Thanks,
Tom

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Originally posted by dgaston
Tyler:
I know you're proud of how well the transpo system can work, but there are times that guests experience long waits. It does happen. It's especially likely if you try something like Typhoon Lagoon to DD.

I understand that there are flukes that do happen every so often... I personally saw some guests waiting 45+ mins for an Epcot bus at Blizzard Beach. If I hadn't been on a pre-assigned route, I would have taken them myself... My guess is that the drivers of Coronado forgot that they had to swing in BB as well. Things like this happen, however, they should not be happening on a regular basis.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Originally posted by messick4
Tyler, thanks very much for providing the "inside" perspective. I'm only sharing my experiences and perception.

RE: your disbelief in my reported times: Let me help to add credence to the reported time.

It's not that I disbeleive you waited those long times... please don't think that... Coming from an internal perspective, where I see these dispatchers sending out busses left and right, I just don't see how it happened that way. Not saying it didn't.... I just don't see how. It's times like this that I wish I had taken up that Dispatching position... I decided not to only because I love to drive... and didn't want to give up the guest contact.

Originally posted by messick4
My conclusion that it's mis-managed was mostly due to the unused buses. Maybe you can help us understand. Why would the buses sit there not in use, if as you say, this would be a peak time? If it's staff breaks, then there are scheduling and management techniques with labor that could be used to maintain the buses at capacity, but that's outside the scope of this discussion.

They do put up extra busses on route for the Parade exit to help alleviate the crowds. However, unless you see the allocation roster, you cant really tell. The busses you saw were one of two things. First, they could have been downed busses... taken out of service for various issues. In order to minimize down time, we often times have spare busses at the location, so that when one bus goes down, we can replace it right away. This saves the time of having to go all the way out to bus maintenance to switch it out. At the end of the night, for the park exit, these busses are swapped out for good ones (if downed) and then put up for the park exit. Yes, I agree that it's bad show to have them sit there... but there's really not a lot that can be done about it.

Originally posted by messick4
However, I was very impressed with the professionalism and courtesy of the bus drivers. One was funny asking us trivia questions and making the trip a lot of fun (there were several bus trips that were brief and pleasant).

A lot of us drivers to try to add that extra Disney magic to the ride... The vast majority of our drivers are hard workers, and will do whatever they can to help guests out.

 

[hallie]

I'm sorry you had a couple problems our stays was the somplete opposite!

We stayed at the AKL in April for 2 weeks and never waited more then 10 minutes for a bus! I think the Disney transportation is wonderful, the busses are clean, the drivers friendly and it's fun talking to other people while you ride. It's also great being able to ditch the car we just spent 18 hours riding in to get there. We drove to the parks for the 2 days before we checked into AKL and I didn't like it by the time we drove there, parked, took the tram, I couldn't wait to check in so we could take the busses. I think in the our last 7 trips(5 of which were for 2 weeks) to WDW, we've had maybe 3 problems with the transportation, that's really good, I think.

Call me crazy but they're just part of the Disney fun and
magic for us!

 

[Luv2Roam]

The bus system seems to work wonderful or be bad. No in between.
But from my experiences, the CM's at the resort make all the difference in the world.
If they keep it organized and are top of it, it runs very smooth.

The only bad bus service I can say we had was at CSR coming from DTD back to the resort. But that's when buses still drove the DTD West Side route.
Then, 99.9% of the POR bus service rated extremely Poor from our experience. We would never stay at POR again just because of that alone.
I know what you mean by waiting a good half hour or more, and still be crammed on a bus, with still another 100+ guests waiting to board -- and leave and there are buses with their motors running waiting for some place to go right there in the parking lot! (POR) Those people in that transportaion area from the manager to the CM's should have been canned. They were worthless at any kind of bus organization. Sorry to say, but they were. They were merely window dressing -- smiles with clipboards.

And sometimes boarding a bus is just luck of the draw.

I have had nothing but good experience with WDW transportation, except the May trip. We just seemed to had a dark cloud Disney tranportation hanging over our heads that trip. Even the monorail screwed up for us.

 

[tinofan]

We were there last Sept and this Oct. Both times at the Polynesian. Both times only used Disney Transportation. Pleased both times. Only once were we left hanging. Trying to leave BB, my DD and I waited at least 30 minutes. Finally a bus marked "special" came and got us. Other than that, nothing but good things to say about the transportation.

 

[DeeP]

I am on Disney buses approx 50-60 days per year and I think they do a wonderful job. Considering how many thousands of people they move from point A to point B in the course of a day, it is amazing what a good job they do.