kristenrice
NOT just an ambulance driver
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2006
Here are some random comments and observations from my recent trip...
1) Arrived on Sunday morning at the DME stand around 9:45am. We waited less than 5 minutes for a bus. When we boarded (first on), I started my stopwatch. We waited 19 minutes before we departed. This was what I expected so I was pleased. First stop was Coronado Springs (what a mess that place is!) and then off to AKV. We were at the resort by 10:30am so DME was very efficient.
2) We stayed at AKV (Jambo) for 5 nights without a car so we relied exclusively on the buses. I was quite satisfied with the bus service overall. We had ONE scooter on a bus the entire week, and it was a person who had already boarded at Kidani so we never had that "scooter delay" that can sometimes be a headache. I will also point out that we were never at a bus stop to a park before 10am so we were not travelling from the resort during peak times.
3) We used Uber to get to the Top of the World Lounge on Sunday evening. Our driver arrived within a few minutes of being "ordered". We were pleasantly surprised to get a female driver around 9pm. She told us she was just getting ready to make a run to Wal-Mart and decided to turn on her app on a whim. She said that when she saw a "young lady" (oh, how sweet) that needed a ride, she decided to take on a quick fare before getting her groceries. We all had quite a laugh about the route that her GPS sent us on. We were in the access roads and parking areas of the Studios for some reason. There was so much construction, we just assumed that it was all detours, but she was very pleasant and we enjoyed the ride very much. We also used Uber to get back after the Hallowishes show. Our driver was a CM from the S&D who had just gotten off work and so he was much better with the actual navigation...no back roads on that trip...very pleasant ride and my friend was quite impressed with her first Uber experiences.
4) There is a new shuttle that takes you between Jambo House and Kidani Village. The last time we were there (last year), it was a 15-passenger van. Now is it a larger "bus", like the ones from the Car Care Center. It is much easier to board and I even noticed a bin of folded towels when you enter for those who are shuttling back and forth to use the pools. Nice touch.
5) We arrived to the resort bus stop around 10:45am as the Epcot bus was pulling away. I started my stopwatch again and the next bus arrived 16 minutes later, which was better than I expected at that hour.
6) The DME back to the airport is still quite quirky. I have never (in only about 10 experiences) had a DME bus that truly leaves as scheduled. Our bus was scheduled for 3:10pm for our 6pm flight. It arrived at 3:15 and we were the first stop. We went to AoA and Pop Century before heading to the airport. We arrived at the airport at 4:15 and....WOW!!...that was my first "bad" experience with security. In all of my past trips, I have gotten very lucky with the "random" TSA-pre designation on my boarding passes...not this time. Holy smokes!! It took about 30 minutes to get through what was the most disorganized operation I have ever seen. One family had one of their bags pulled for inspection and the agent set it aside and walked away! There it sat...totally ignored...while this poor family was waiting patiently. The dad finally flagged someone down and it was handled, but good grief! I admit, I was a bit slow because I couldn't remember what went where (I had a laptop and an iPad, plus my shoes, a plastic-buckled belt, etc) because I've always had pre-check, but I managed. Then, my bag disappeared. It went into the x-ray machine and when I was gathering my stuff, the bag was gone. The guys behind me said that "someone took it", but that "someone" was a TSA-agent. So there I stood...no agents anywhere near me...no bag...just people behind me wondering why I was holding up the line (I was out of the way) and not grabbing my electronics. Finally, my bag emerged from the x-ray belt. I have no idea what sort of side trip it took, but I got it back and all was well.
**NOTE: When DME says they will pick you up 3 hours before your flight, YOU MAY NEED EVERY MINUTE!! Heed the warnings!! We didn't have to run, but we made it to our gate with about 15 minutes to spare. If you are planning on chilling out, grabbing a snack, etc, you may need every second of that 3 hours.
Overall, I would say our transportation experiences this trip were above average, bordering on excellent. If anyone has questions, I would be happy to answer them.
1) Arrived on Sunday morning at the DME stand around 9:45am. We waited less than 5 minutes for a bus. When we boarded (first on), I started my stopwatch. We waited 19 minutes before we departed. This was what I expected so I was pleased. First stop was Coronado Springs (what a mess that place is!) and then off to AKV. We were at the resort by 10:30am so DME was very efficient.
2) We stayed at AKV (Jambo) for 5 nights without a car so we relied exclusively on the buses. I was quite satisfied with the bus service overall. We had ONE scooter on a bus the entire week, and it was a person who had already boarded at Kidani so we never had that "scooter delay" that can sometimes be a headache. I will also point out that we were never at a bus stop to a park before 10am so we were not travelling from the resort during peak times.
3) We used Uber to get to the Top of the World Lounge on Sunday evening. Our driver arrived within a few minutes of being "ordered". We were pleasantly surprised to get a female driver around 9pm. She told us she was just getting ready to make a run to Wal-Mart and decided to turn on her app on a whim. She said that when she saw a "young lady" (oh, how sweet) that needed a ride, she decided to take on a quick fare before getting her groceries. We all had quite a laugh about the route that her GPS sent us on. We were in the access roads and parking areas of the Studios for some reason. There was so much construction, we just assumed that it was all detours, but she was very pleasant and we enjoyed the ride very much. We also used Uber to get back after the Hallowishes show. Our driver was a CM from the S&D who had just gotten off work and so he was much better with the actual navigation...no back roads on that trip...very pleasant ride and my friend was quite impressed with her first Uber experiences.
4) There is a new shuttle that takes you between Jambo House and Kidani Village. The last time we were there (last year), it was a 15-passenger van. Now is it a larger "bus", like the ones from the Car Care Center. It is much easier to board and I even noticed a bin of folded towels when you enter for those who are shuttling back and forth to use the pools. Nice touch.
5) We arrived to the resort bus stop around 10:45am as the Epcot bus was pulling away. I started my stopwatch again and the next bus arrived 16 minutes later, which was better than I expected at that hour.
6) The DME back to the airport is still quite quirky. I have never (in only about 10 experiences) had a DME bus that truly leaves as scheduled. Our bus was scheduled for 3:10pm for our 6pm flight. It arrived at 3:15 and we were the first stop. We went to AoA and Pop Century before heading to the airport. We arrived at the airport at 4:15 and....WOW!!...that was my first "bad" experience with security. In all of my past trips, I have gotten very lucky with the "random" TSA-pre designation on my boarding passes...not this time. Holy smokes!! It took about 30 minutes to get through what was the most disorganized operation I have ever seen. One family had one of their bags pulled for inspection and the agent set it aside and walked away! There it sat...totally ignored...while this poor family was waiting patiently. The dad finally flagged someone down and it was handled, but good grief! I admit, I was a bit slow because I couldn't remember what went where (I had a laptop and an iPad, plus my shoes, a plastic-buckled belt, etc) because I've always had pre-check, but I managed. Then, my bag disappeared. It went into the x-ray machine and when I was gathering my stuff, the bag was gone. The guys behind me said that "someone took it", but that "someone" was a TSA-agent. So there I stood...no agents anywhere near me...no bag...just people behind me wondering why I was holding up the line (I was out of the way) and not grabbing my electronics. Finally, my bag emerged from the x-ray belt. I have no idea what sort of side trip it took, but I got it back and all was well.
**NOTE: When DME says they will pick you up 3 hours before your flight, YOU MAY NEED EVERY MINUTE!! Heed the warnings!! We didn't have to run, but we made it to our gate with about 15 minutes to spare. If you are planning on chilling out, grabbing a snack, etc, you may need every second of that 3 hours.
Overall, I would say our transportation experiences this trip were above average, bordering on excellent. If anyone has questions, I would be happy to answer them.