People get on buses at DS keep resort guests from getting to parks

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I’m not sure I understand most of your post. However, DLR does have room to build and is actually building a new parking garage right now ;-) we do have space to add parking and could even put another garage or two where there are flat lots, which I think will happen when the Star Wars Hotel gets finished. You really can’t just park on a nearby city street and go to DTD, it may be in the middle of a city (not downtown, it is a resort district) but the city isn’t about to absorb all of those cars.

We can get validated to shop and eat at DTD. Plenty of people still come to do so, even with a parking fee. But the issue of people parking to go to the theme parks is cut down substantially by charging for parking or needing validation.

I'm saying I understand why they charge at DLR and why that same logic doesn't necessarily apply to DS at WDW. Obviously we don't agree.

 

[SL6827]

I really don't know whether Disney will ever charge to park at Disney Springs or not. I was certain the parking fees were coming to the resorts, but with Disney Springs, I just can't see either way.

 

[robinb]

Because it's a bus hub, and the driver's who report there are needed during park opening peak time. The way the bus dispatch system is designed requires drivers to start and end each trip at their assigned hub. They could redesign the morning routes and temporarily assign DS drivers to another hub in the morning, but that would cost money which they haven't chosen to spend.

Some buses need to go into DS later in the a.m. so that Guests can get to BBB, and also transfer to TL. Once those buses are there, they need to go someplace, so they are sent to a resort to pick up for DS or for a park.

Later in the AM I understand. DS being a hub I understand. What I don’t understand is why they even pick people up there. Why not post that bus service starts at 1 hour before it opens?

 

[joelkfla]

Later in the AM I understand. DS being a hub I understand. What I don’t understand is why they even pick people up there. Why not post that bus service starts at 1 hour before it opens?

It was originally done as a Guest courtesy and only after 8:30 a.m., since buses were heading to the resorts and eventually the theme parks anyway. We also carried a few cm's who had taken the county bus to work. But maybe it's time for Disney to dole out some tough love.

 

[jenniferyawn]

It was originally done as a Guest courtesy and only after 8:30 a.m., since buses were heading to the resorts and eventually the theme parks anyway. We also carried a few cm's who had taken the county bus to work. But maybe it's time for Disney to dole out some tough love.

Agree!

 

[BillFromCT]

We had a similar experience trying to take a bus from MK over to BC last year. We were at the Poly, headed over to BC one morning. No problem, we'll take the bus to HS and walk over. Two ECVs and five strollers later, there wasn't going to be room on the HS studios bus by the time it came. No problem, we'll take the monorail over to MK and get on the BC bus. When we got over to the BC bus stop in front of MK a 12 passenger van pulled up. He said buses don't pick up people in the morning from MK to go back to resorts. He drove the two of us in the van over to the BC.

 

[bumbershoot]

And I Have stayed at OKW a lot. IT's not uncommon for the buses to fill up very quickly and it was not due to freeloaders. The units are BIG, the first stop is near the food and.... it can fill up just with guests at the resort. (One of the reasons I always have a car there)

Yep. When we stay there we’ve been a party of 8. There are lots of big groups there. Just a few more groups of our size at one stop and that bus is full.

oh hmm, car may be best. Our little one likes having space,

Cars are good. Always.

Charging for parking would IMO greatly reduce the number of locals coming in to browse or have dinner

At DLR they validate for certain places.

If you read the post, I said "PRIOR" to them becoming Passholders they would routinely lie to the guard shack about eating a resort and then go to MK, Epcot, etc.

How lovely of them.

My less-close cousin once wasted around two hours of what could have been visiting time by playing the dtd game. We were at Epcot waiting and waiting while they were avoiding paying the $10 or whatever it was at the time to park at Epcot. Ugh.

 

[jenniferyawn]

We had a similar experience trying to take a bus from MK over to BC last year. We were at the Poly, headed over to BC one morning. No problem, we'll take the bus to HS and walk over. Two ECVs and five strollers later, there wasn't going to be room on the HS studios bus by the time it came. No problem, we'll take the monorail over to MK and get on the BC bus. When we got over to the BC bus stop in front of MK a 12 passenger van pulled up. He said buses don't pick up people in the morning from MK to go back to resorts. He drove the two of us in the van over to the BC.

Wow! Seems like someone was watching and sent the van so that’s awesome! That’s a kind of question I had when I watched the video at first... doesn’t Disney keep track of things if a bus stop hasn’t been picked up in over an hour? Is it possible for them to send a bus straight to the other bus stops if the first stop continually fills up?

 

[goofy4tink]

I've stayed at both SSR and OKW in the past. The only time I've had an issue with buses, to the parks, was one time at OKW, waiting for a bus to MK, at 1:00, it took close to an hour. Here's my issue with the whole vlog.....anyone getting on a bus to OKW at DS is going to go to go to the HH area. Then to Millers Rd..if I remember correctly, then make the loop. So...all those people who were getting on the bus at DS, go to the HH, then either get off the bus and wait until the park bus made a complete loop prior to getting to the HH, or stay on the bus, from DS, and go to Millers Rd. So, the vlog doesn't make sense to me. Unless all those people got off the bus and walked over to Peninsula Rd. I guess that could happen, but I have to say that when I stayed in Peninsula Rd, there were never any great number of people waiting.
I 'think' that this may have happened because of the holiday weekend. It just isn't that big of an issue. If anyone has an issue with buses being overcrowded, they should be letting the front desk know, as well as following up with an email. It is very easy for Disney to fix this issue. No buses running to any resorts, from DS, until 10am...period. There is absolutely no reason that anyone would be at DS and need to get to a resort prior to that. If they have an early ADR, then, they have a car (obviously since they've arrived at DS!), they can drive themselves to the resort. Oh, you say, maybe they took a cab or uber? Take it all the way to your desired resort. Yes, DS is a hub. And yes, people need to get to DS at an early hour....not often but it happens.
The folks in the vlog? They say they've been to WDW many times? But, they didn't seem to have a handle on how things go. Why not get on the DS bus, go to the next stop, usually Peninsula Rd, get off and wait for the MK bus there? That would have been easy, since they had the various bus routes right there.

 

[joelkfla]

Wow! Seems like someone was watching and sent the van so that’s awesome! That’s a kind of question I had when I watched the video at first... doesn’t Disney keep track of things if a bus stop hasn’t been picked up in over an hour? Is it possible for them to send a bus straight to the other bus stops if the first stop continually fills up?

Yes, they do, but how well they do it depends on which resort and who's doing the watching. At some resorts, they place CP cm's at key stops to radio the dispatchers when there's a backup. Some dispatchers are more aggressive at resolving problems than others. I don't think they position watchers at all OKW stops, just the main one.

At some larger resorts, they place a dispatcher either "on the ground" or in a van. That dispatcher has authority to redirect a bus or call for an extra bus when needed. There may also be several buses kept holding in a nearby parking lot to be called when needed, in addition to the regularly scheduled buses. This approach was used mostly at Pop, AoA, and All-Stars. I've also seen it used to a lesser extent at SSR, PO, and CBR.

At the parks, Guests going to a nearby resort in the a.m. are usually put on a bus that's deadheading there to pick up. Guests going to distant resorts will usually be taken care of as well. Sometimes they'll have one or 2 vans dedicated to that, and sometimes they'll just make a special trip in a bus.

 

[robinb]

I've stayed at both SSR and OKW in the past. The only time I've had an issue with buses, to the parks, was one time at OKW, waiting for a bus to MK, at 1:00, it took close to an hour. Here's my issue with the whole vlog.....anyone getting on a bus to OKW at DS is going to go to go to the HH area. Then to Millers Rd..if I remember correctly, then make the loop. So...all those people who were getting on the bus at DS, go to the HH, then either get off the bus and wait until the park bus made a complete loop prior to getting to the HH, or stay on the bus, from DS, and go to Millers Rd. So, the vlog doesn't make sense to me. Unless all those people got off the bus and walked over to Peninsula Rd. I guess that could happen, but I have to say that when I stayed in Peninsula Rd, there were never any great number of people waiting.

It could be that the DS bus drivers tell people to get off at HH and walk over to Peninsula Rd. Or, some got off knowing the lay of the land and others followed. Or, the DS buses are not empty when they went by the vlogers and those people eventually got off at Peninsula Rd to wait for the MK bus. In any case, all of them are still ahead of the vlogers.

I 'think' that this may have happened because of the holiday weekend. It just isn't that big of an issue. If anyone has an issue with buses being overcrowded, they should be letting the front desk know, as well as following up with an email. It is very easy for Disney to fix this issue. No buses running to any resorts, from DS, until 10am...period. There is absolutely no reason that anyone would be at DS and need to get to a resort prior to that. If they have an early ADR, then, they have a car (obviously since they've arrived at DS!), they can drive themselves to the resort. Oh, you say, maybe they took a cab or uber? Take it all the way to your desired resort. Yes, DS is a hub. And yes, people need to get to DS at an early hour....not often but it happens.

I'm sure that the holiday weekend contributed to the problem. I think there are two issues here. (1) buses are filling before they make it to certain stops and (2) people from DS are apparently taking a bus to OKW to catch another to the MK.

The folks in the vlog? They say they've been to WDW many times? But, they didn't seem to have a handle on how things go. Why not get on the DS bus, go to the next stop, usually Peninsula Rd, get off and wait for the MK bus there? That would have been easy, since they had the various bus routes right there.

Yeah, I probably would have gone to the first OKW bus stop myself but sometimes I don't always think straight when I'm stressed out and annoyed by waiting for a bus. I remember I once had the bright idea to take at Epcot bus to the monorail to the MK. Brilliant! NOT. The last time we were in the situation of waiting forever for a bus and the arrival time kept on changing we caught an Uber instead. I was annoyed that I had to pay to get to where I was going but it was better for my blood pressure than waiting. We had to get to the Contemporary for dinner on 12/30 and there were no MK buses picking up at the Dolphin.

 

[joelkfla]

It could be that the DS bus drivers tell people to get off at HH and walk over to Peninsula Rd. Or, some got off knowing the lay of the land and others followed. Or, the DS buses are not empty when they went by the vlogers and those people eventually got off at Peninsula Rd to wait for the MK bus. In any case, all of them are still ahead of the vlogers.

No, the buses from DS went to OKW to pick up Guests for MK. The Guests who boarded at DS did not have to change buses.

 

[AngiTN]

The folks in the vlog? They say they've been to WDW many times? But, they didn't seem to have a handle on how things go. Why not get on the DS bus, go to the next stop, usually Peninsula Rd, get off and wait for the MK bus there? That would have been easy, since they had the various bus routes right there.

Exactly what I said! The folks in this blog acted like someone there for the first time, not someone there many times. Made no sense. How would they not have known to get off the bus a the first stop, once they got on that DS bus?

 

[goofy4tink]

No, the buses from DS went to OKW to pick up Guests for MK. The Guests who boarded at DS did not have to change buses.

I must have missed that part. I'm not altogether sure how someone sitting on a bus stop, at OKW, would know this, if the buses weren't stopping for them. Did a driver at DS tells them to get on the POR bus and it would go directly to MK? This just doesn't make sense. Why would a bus, from DS, continue on to MK? If this is the case, then Disney is actively making it possible for off-site guests to get to MK from DS. Is this something new?? That would mean there are buses from DS to MK.

 

[robinb]

No, the buses from DS went to OKW to pick up Guests for MK. The Guests who boarded at DS did not have to change buses.

I'm confused about how you know that. Is DS the hub for all MK bound buses?

 

[joelkfla]

I must have missed that part. I'm not altogether sure how someone sitting on a bus stop, at OKW, would know this, if the buses weren't stopping for them. Did a driver at DS tells them to get on the POR bus and it would go directly to MK? This just doesn't make sense. Why would a bus, from DS, continue on to MK? If this is the case, then Disney is actively making it possible for off-site guests to get to MK from DS. Is this something new?? That would mean there are buses from DS to MK.

I'm confused about how you know that. Is DS the hub for all MK bound buses?

I was a driver for 9 years, but also the vloggers said so.

That's the way buses run in the mornings. There aren't usually Guests going from parks to resorts, so a bus leaves a park (or DS) and goes to a nearby resort to pick up for a distant park. When it leaves the distant park, it goes to a different resort (usually one near that park) and picks up for the hub it started from. It works the same for all hubs: many buses picking up at Pop or the Epcot resorts come from DHS in the morning, and most buses picking up at the All-Stars come from AK. Drivers called them "Figure-8" routes, but they're more accurately like a diamond.

That saves a bus from running empty all the way from MK to OKW or BW. It's also why you can easily get a bus in the a.m. from a park to a nearby resort, but getting to a distant resort usually requires a special bus or van ride. It's also why it's usually best, when going from resort to resort, to transfer at a park near the destination resort.

So yes, there actually are buses going from DS to MK in the a.m., but they go thru a resort first. The marquee does not have MK on it; it used to have DHxx for DeadHead to xx, but they started putting the intermediate resort on them to help out Guests who were going to that resort. When I was driving at DTD and someone asked how to get to MK in the a.m., we usually put them on a bus that was going to PO and then on to MK. We didn't have a separate drop-off zone like DS does now, and all the load zones at the Marketplace are close together, so it was easy to get them onto the right bus.

 

[goofy4tink]

I was a driver for 9 years, but also the vloggers said so.

That's the way buses run in the mornings. There aren't usually Guests going from parks to resorts, so a bus leaves a park (or DS) and goes to a nearby resort to pick up for a distant park. When it leaves the distant park, it goes to a different resort (usually one near that park) and picks up for the hub it started from. It works the same for all hubs: many buses picking up at Pop or the Epcot resorts come from DHS in the morning, and most buses picking up at the All-Stars come from AK. Drivers called them "Figure-8" routes, but they're more accurately like a diamond.

That saves a bus from running empty all the way from MK to OKW or BW. It's also why you can easily get a bus in the a.m. from a park to a nearby resort, but getting to a distant resort usually requires a special bus or van ride. It's also why it's usually best, when going from resort to resort, to transfer at a park near the destination resort.

So yes, there actually are buses going from DS to MK in the a.m., but they go thru a resort first. The marquee does not have MK on it; it used to have DHxx for DeadHead to xx, but they started putting the intermediate resort on them to help out Guests who were going to that resort. When I was driving at DTD and someone asked how to get to MK in the a.m., we usually put them on a bus that was going to PO and then on to MK. We didn't have a separate drop-off zone like DS does now, and all the load zones at the Marketplace are close together, so it was easy to get them onto the right bus.

Thanks for the explanation. So, it would seem that more and more people are going to be using this 'loophole' (for lack of a better word), which enables them to get to MK early. I don't have a huge issue with it....it's up to Disney to deal with that issue, but I do have an issue with those paying to stay at a Disney resort not having a bus to get them to MK...and have to wait for over an hour. Because those from DS are taking up room on the bus? Nope not okay. It would make sense to me that the bus from DS goes to HH first, drops everyone off there. The bus could then pick up at the various stops, and then p/u at the HH. It makes sense since the bus is there to drop those from DS off at the resort. They wouldn't need to ride around the various stops. Then, when the bus to MK stopped at HH, they could get on then. It just doesn't seem fair to have them take space away from those at the resort.

 

[robinb]

I was a driver for 9 years, but also the vloggers said so.

That's the way buses run in the mornings. There aren't usually Guests going from parks to resorts, so a bus leaves a park (or DS) and goes to a nearby resort to pick up for a distant park. When it leaves the distant park, it goes to a different resort (usually one near that park) and picks up for the hub it started from. It works the same for all hubs: many buses picking up at Pop or the Epcot resorts come from DHS in the morning, and most buses picking up at the All-Stars come from AK. Drivers called them "Figure-8" routes, but they're more accurately like a diamond.

That saves a bus from running empty all the way from MK to OKW or BW. It's also why you can easily get a bus in the a.m. from a park to a nearby resort, but getting to a distant resort usually requires a special bus or van ride. It's also why it's usually best, when going from resort to resort, to transfer at a park near the destination resort.

So yes, there actually are buses going from DS to MK in the a.m., but they go thru a resort first. The marquee does not have MK on it; it used to have DHxx for DeadHead to xx, but they started putting the intermediate resort on them to help out Guests who were going to that resort. When I was driving at DTD and someone asked how to get to MK in the a.m., we usually put them on a bus that was going to PO and then on to MK. We didn't have a separate drop-off zone like DS does now, and all the load zones at the Marketplace are close together, so it was easy to get them onto the right bus.

Thanks for your reply. The "Figure-8" routes make a lot of sense.

BUT ... I didn't hear the vlogers say that the buses were going directly from DS to the MK. They start talking about buses from DS to OKW and then onto the MK around minute from about 22:00 until 25:00. they specifically explain how full the OKW buses are leaving DS and how they think the DS guests were transferring at the Peninsular Rd stop.

Now from your experience, it sounds like it could be that a bus leaves DS, stops at OKW and then goes onto the MK. But couldn't they just as easily end up going to Epcot and then circle back to a DS area resort (like OKW) to to to DS?

 

[joelkfla]

Thanks for your reply. The "Figure-8" routes make a lot of sense.

BUT ... I didn't hear the vlogers say that the buses were going directly from DS to the MK. They start talking about buses from DS to OKW and then onto the MK around minute from about 22:00 until 25:00. they specifically explain how full the OKW buses are leaving DS and how they think the DS guests were transferring at the Peninsular Rd stop.

Now from your experience, it sounds like it could be that a bus leaves DS, stops at OKW and then goes onto the MK. But couldn't they just as easily end up going to Epcot and then circle back to a DS area resort (like OKW) to to to DS?

It's possible I just extrapolated that from what they were saying because of my familiarity with the system.

The routes are predefined, and nowadays assigned by computer. When a bus leaves the hub, the computer knows where it's going until it gets back to the hub. There's someone who sits at an office in the CCC and spends all his time figuring out what routes work best and when they should be dispatched. The routing didn't always make sense to us drivers, but we just drove where we were told.

In the afternoon, the routes tended to be shorter and less convoluted because travel was more equal between both directions, but I don't know whether that's still true.

 

[disneyeveryyear]

What I also find frustrating is since the DS buses don't start at the parks until 4:00 p.m., the guests are getting on SSR buses to then walk over to DS. I got on an SSR bus from MK at 3:30 p.m. in February. I was one of the last people on, and had to stand. However, I did get frustrated as an SSR owner, when no less than 4 different groups came up to the driver to ask what stop to get off at to walk to DS. Unfortunately, he told them the correct stop. I was ready to tell them Grandstand, so they would have the furthest walk possible.

My dues are paying for those buses and there were so many DS people heading to dinner reservations that I couldn't even sit down (I know, I could have waited). I thought I remembered years and years ago having to show my pass or something to get on the bus. Does anyone else remember that?