Time to rant...

[BDK33]

So I have been an AP holder for close to 10 years now. I am a local so my wife and I easily get our value out of the passes.

However, after my last two trips, Im really starting to get sick of some things...

My wife and I were up for the Wine and Dine weekend running the 10k race. We have a 6-month-old so our plan was to stay Friday night before the race, while our son stayed with his grandparents and then Saturday they would come up and we could have a nice weekend at the parks with the baby.

We stayed at all star music. Three consecutive times on this trip we waited 40+ minutes for a bus to come get us. The last time this happened we ended u[ being 30 minutes late for our Chrystal Palace reservation. Before people chime in and say I should have left earlier... I think being at our bus stop 45 minutes before the reservation should suffice. Isn't that the benefit to staying on property?

Our most recent trip was this past weekend. We stayed at Coronado Springs. Would you know the same thing happened again? We consistently waited over 40 minutes for our bus to come to the resort. Then when we left the parks in the evening we waited one night for 5 busses to come before we could get on.

I think from here on out we are just going to stay off property. As an AP holder, the only benefits in my mind to staying on property are... 1)Extra Magic Hours and 2) Transportation.

With a newborn EMH are not important yet. If transportation is consistently horrible why not just stay off property, pay way less for a nicer resort and just drive?

Sorry for this rant but I'm wondering if I'm crazy or if others are having similar experiences...

TIA

 

[piccolopat]

If you are local, aren't you driving to get to WDW? If so, why not just drive to the parks if the buses are that bad?

 

[BDK33]

If you are local, aren't you driving to get to WDW? If so, why not just drive to the parks if the buses are that bad?

We live a little over an hour away. If we do a day we just drive in and out. If we do a weekend we stay over night.

Like I said in post, the perceived value of the resort is the “easy” transportation. At this point we will just drive to parks and spend less to stay off property.

 

[WEDWDW]

I've always had very good bus experiences for the most part-I certainly understand your frustration with 40+ minute waits-that is unaccepable if it happens on a consistent basis.

My main reason for always staying on property is not EMH and Transport-it is to be in the "WDW Bubble" 24/7.

 

[ShirikiUtundu]

We stayed at all star music. Three consecutive times on this trip we waited 40+ minutes for a bus to come get us. The last time this happened we ended u[ being 30 minutes late for our Chrystal Palace reservation. Before people chime in and say I should have left earlier... I think being at our bus stop 45 minutes before the reservation should suffice. Isn't that the benefit to staying on property?

Our most recent trip was this past weekend. We stayed at Coronado Springs. Would you know the same thing happened again? We consistently waited over 40 minutes for our bus to come to the resort. Then when we left the parks in the evening we waited one night for 5 busses to come before we could get on.

Yes it's ridiculous. But as familiar as I am with WDW transport and the state of crowds these days, I think 45 minutes is too little time. It's one of the reasons we choose to rent a car rather than use the busses.

 

[BDK33]

I've always had very good bus experiences for the most part-I certainly understand your frustration with 40+ minute waits-that is unaccepable if it happens on a consistent basis.

My main reason for always staying on property is not EMH and Transport-it is to be in the "WDW Bubble" 24/7.

I agree with your reasons as well. However, how much is that bubble worth to you?

For the same $300 or so a night to stay at like a port orleans, I could stay at Gaylord.

Just ranting because it’s stuff like this thstntotaly wrecks a trip.

 

[LizGirl]

The only time we wait for the bus anymore is to go to MK (or if there will be beverages at Epcot!). Even that doesn't seem worthwhile anymore. We waited for probably 30 minutes for two bus cycles to go to Disney Springs last week at around 6pm. There weren't that many people getting in line - the buses just took forever to arrive.

I understand that they are managing a ton of resources to keep the bus system running but there must be a better way. At the very least, update all of the bus stops with the screens that tell you when the next bus will arrive.

 

[BDK33]

The only time we wait for the bus anymore is to go to MK (or if there will be beverages at Epcot!). Even that doesn't seem worthwhile anymore. We waited for probably 30 minutes for two bus cycles to go to Disney Springs last week at around 6pm. There weren't that many people getting in line - the buses just took forever to arrive.

I understand that they are managing a ton of resources to keep the bus system running but there must be a better way. At the very least, update all of the bus stops with the screens that tell you when the next bus will arrive.

We talked about this as well.

Why not put those screens in the rooms so you don’t have to wait at the stop for 40 mins. You can see when it should arrive and leave your room aacordingly.

 

[hllb]

I agree that would be frustrating, but Disney absolutely recommends allotting 90 minutes for transportation for things like ADRs. 45 minutes is very tight.

 

[DisneyMom93]

We stayed at all star music. Three consecutive times on this trip we waited 40+ minutes for a bus to come get us. The last time this happened we ended up being 30 minutes late for our Chrystal Palace reservation. Before people chime in and say I should have left earlier... I think being at our bus stop 45 minutes before the reservation should suffice. Isn't that the benefit to staying on property?

TIA

I agree that waiting 40 minutes for a bus is unacceptable. It's also unusual. Did something happen?

However, you can wait 10-15 minutes easy, so basically you gave yourself 30 minutes to load bus (those scooter guests can take some time to load), travel, go through security and entrance, and get to Crystal Palace. It can be done I guess. Unfortunately, I think that was pushing it to try to get somewhere at a specific time.

 

[DisneyMom93]

We live a little over an hour away. If we do a day we just drive in and out. If we do a weekend we stay over night.

Like I said in post, the perceived value of the resort is the “easy” transportation. At this point we will just drive to parks and spend less to stay off property.

But you get free parking for your car. If you stay overnight you can still bring your car just for transportation to and from parks.

But I do agree that the bus should be quicker transportation. Not sure if it's possible though. Too many variables.

 

[BrianL]

We talked about this as well.

Why not put those screens in the rooms so you don’t have to wait at the stop for 40 mins. You can see when it should arrive and leave your room aacordingly.

They should make it available on the MDE app. There must be a way to funnel that data to it. Then you could check it from anywhere.

 

[BDK33]

I agree that would be frustrating, but Disney absolutely recommends allotting 90 minutes for transportation for things like ADRs. 45 minutes is very tight.

I know what they say. The bigger question in my mind is the value. Unless we are out drinking, why would I want to have to allow that much time to get to a park, when Disney is selling their resorts on the ease of transportation.

Lets not even get into the fact that 99% of the time I have to stand on the cramped bus holding my stroller and bag clinging on for dear life.

While it's not as sexy, I can drive and have a lot less stress and hassle.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

I agree that would be frustrating, but Disney absolutely recommends allotting 90 minutes for transportation for things like ADRs. 45 minutes is very tight.

Exactly.

Did you ask what the problem was?

 

[BDK33]

Exactly.

Did you ask what the problem was?

Who do you ask?

Also, it seems as this is more the norm than the exception...

 

[Happy_2_B]

We live a little over an hour away. If we do a day we just drive in and out. If we do a weekend we stay over night.

Like I said in post, the perceived value of the resort is the “easy” transportation. At this point we will just drive to parks and spend less to stay off property.

More value off property- but sometimes we stay onsite- especially if we are there for EP events like F&W. As a PP said, you are driving in anyways- using Disney transportation is almost always a worse option than taking your car in our experience. The only time it 'might' be worth it is for the MK. I can't remember the last time we used Disney transportation. We drive over and have our car anyways- just not worth the hassle of hoping to hit the bus or monorail timing exactly right for us. Would much rather have space to breathe in our own car instead of on a cramped bus or monorail- even if we lose a minute or two here or there we wouldn't go back to using their transportation.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Who do you ask?

Also, it seems as this is more the norm than the exception...

When we have a problem, we ask a cast member. Any that are available. Even if they can't help you, they can find someone that can.

So, a bus driver going to another park. I've not stayed at Music, but at Sports we would have gone into the front desk. Or, if I really need help, a cast member walking by.

But as a previous poster said, Disney recommends that you plan 90 minutes for transportation. If that seems too long for you, then you need to plan for other transportation.

 

[piccolopat]

We live a little over an hour away. If we do a day we just drive in and out. If we do a weekend we stay over night.

Like I said in post, the perceived value of the resort is the “easy” transportation. At this point we will just drive to parks and spend less to stay off property.

See, we believe that there is more value staying on site than just the transportation. In fact, we almost never use the transportation because we don't like the crowds on the bus and monorail (I face that every day using public transit in NYC) and we like the flexibility of coming and going when we please. Staying on site and driving means we get free parking at the parks and we don't need to get there driving in the traffic on I-4 or 192. A lot of the time now, we don't even rent a car and instead we use taxis to get where we want to go. If you're OK staying offsite and driving in each day, that might be a better choice for you at this time.

 

[AngiTN]

Who do you ask?

Also, it seems as this is more the norm than the exception...

There are phones at most all bus stops, though I can't say for sure about the Values, I've not stayed there enough to know. You pick it up and ask whoever answers on the other end.
We use buses, as we fly and do not rent a car. We spend a lot of days at Disney, as AP holders, several trips per year, 5+ nights each. We have never waited 40 min for a bus. So I can't see it is the norm.
You have hit an extraordinarily run of bad luck. For whatever reason.
I do think the road construction is causing a lot of delays too

As to your original time frame, I'm going to chime in that unfortunately, for future reference, 45 min is not enough time. Not by far. They recommend 90 min for a reason. We always go with 90 min to reach an ADR. Yes we usually arrive early but we aren't late. We just stop and shop for a few minutes on the way in.

 

[rileyz]

I now rent a car when staying on property. The buses are awful IMO. My last stay at Bay Lake we waited 40 minutes for DHS bus, I was done after that. Not to mention almost anyone can get on a bus, no security whatsoever.