DHS bus drop off 20 min walk!?

[Robo]

We were planning on walking from BWI...I thought we were okay until looking at the map posted on the previous page. Does that mean an additional 10+ minutes will be added to our walk? Were planning on arriving for the beginning of EMH (8 am) and are now considering taking the boat if it means saving steps at the beginning of a hot September day...

The ONLY difference between the normal/regular path would be the east and west "jogs" to get from the old path over to the new bus terminal sidewalk,
then back to join the normal path.
Note below that the length of the new bus sidewalk virtually matches exactly the same length of sidewalk that was originally walked in the normal path.

So, I don't see that the temporary "detour," in total, could add more than 5 minutes, if that, to your trip.
Leave 10 mins. earlier and you should be golden.

 

[greg9x]

We were planning on walking from BWI...I thought we were okay until looking at the map posted on the previous page. Does that mean an additional 10+ minutes will be added to our walk? Were planning on arriving for the beginning of EMH (8 am) and are now considering taking the boat if it means saving steps at the beginning of a hot September day...

At Dolphin and definitely prefer the boat...but it is straight shot from here, adding the other stops in may affect your decision. Also that early not as bad as later.

 

[JJZMgailey]

The issue I have with the WDWInfo post is that the author is presenting certain verifiable elements within the post as facts, even though they have not actually been verified. "Full disclosure" would simply indicate that the author is repeating the guest's words verbatim without any independent confirmation.

The greater issue is that today blog posts like this one are virtually indistinguishable from newspaper articles, each of which are created to different standards, and it can be difficult to learn the standard used to create certain items.

The story clearly stated that this was one person's experience of the walk - the person who was interviewed for the story did the walk on 8/15 and that was how long they said it took them. Your mileage may vary when you walk from the new bus stop area to the park entrance - all people walk at different paces.

Many folks don't believe it took that long while others have piped in to say it indeed took them that long. Most people don't sprint from a park entrance to a bus stop when it's as hot as fire outside with humidity close to 100%. It's certainly not a race and heat exhaustion is a huge problem at the theme parks; especially in August.

My guess is that Disney must be hearing about it as they now have two cool buses parked (at stop 6 and 19 last I heard) for people to get in and cool off due to the long walk in the blazing sun.

 

[Farro]

I think for people like myself who walk all the time at home, in the heat/humidity/blazing sun, it won't seem like a big deal.

For people who don't really do those types of walk often, the heat will make it seem like a big deal.

Regardless, it's temporary and I'm sure most will power through!

 

[princesspiglet]

Just heard from my sister about the return walk. She said it was much worse this afternoon due to the sun and the fact that the girls were exhausted already. She and her husband both ended up carrying a child each on their back because they just couldn't make it. Both of them(the adults)are athletes and were fine...but she said they passed quite a few people that were having a hard time and she did note that the CM's were out telling people about "cooling" buses along the way. They didn't stop, but saw others who took advantage of it. They were lucky and only ended up waiting about 6 mins for their next bus, so they didn't have to stand out in the sun for very long. Still....she said it was a rough walk back.

 

[ErinsMommy]

Didn’t read through all the replies yet, but this article was just recently posted:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/news-stories/temporary-bus-stops-at-hollywood-studios-farther-from-entrance-than-youd-think/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+disney-updates+(Disney+Updates+-+wdwinfo.com)

thanks!

 

[yulilin3]

It's 97 degrees right now and feels like 103, I don't think anyone is happy about extra steps, even 5 more minutes in this heat right now is bad, I'm happy Disney is finding temporary solution for this temporary situation.

 

[FastPasser.]

CM's were out telling people about "cooling" buses along the way.

Hey, I'll be walking at least twice the distance in about 45 minutes. Disney, I want a cooling bus.

 

[ohdanalee]

We were planning on walking from BWI...I thought we were okay until looking at the map posted on the previous page. Does that mean an additional 10+ minutes will be added to our walk? Were planning on arriving for the beginning of EMH (8 am) and are now considering taking the boat if it means saving steps at the beginning of a hot September day...

The difference between the normal path and the new re-routed segment is about 0.15 miles, give or take.

 

[gatorlisa]

Where do the park-to-park buses fit into all of this? Are all buses, including the park-to-park ones, using the loop shown in blue on the map posted?

 

[Farro]

Hey, I'll be walking at least twice the distance in about 45 minutes. Disney, I want a cooling bus.

But what if you miss your bus while chilling out on the cooling bus.

 

[AngiTN]

I'm really confused about 2 of the major complaints
1. no shade while walking to the buses.
Is there shade walking to the other park bus stops that I missed? Because I'm pretty sure those walks are non-shaded too

2. how far it is.
Didn't someone point out that the DS bus stop distances aren't that much further?

Now, the one differences is once you are there waiting the stops are uncovered, that I see but seriously, how is the distance and the walk THAT much different? What is causing all this stress and strife? Other than fo

We were at the CBR yesterday, which is bus stop 3 (1 being the furthest away from DH).

Maps doesn't show the experience of walking to the bus station well. While it certainly isn't a 20 walk for an experienced runner, I would say it can take close to ten minutes to walk to the DH entrance for the average person.

Keep in mind that the walkway isn't very large, and has a few turns. It's squeezed between the parking lot, and construction work on the other side (could it be the new bus station they're building there? it certainly looks like it).

The walk isn't pleasurable, and Disney knows it well: we counted 3 cast members along the walkway, not counting the CM at the entrance of the bus station. Hopefully they were smiling and waving at every guests.

DW told me that, hadn't we booked the YC, that provides boat transportation right in front of the park, she would probably have suggested that we cancel our other days of FPs at DHS.

Not sure which side you are talking about but some of it is the Gondola station (The long aqua roof area, near the lake)

 

[AngiTN]

But what if you miss your bus while chilling out on the cooling bus.

You catch the next one

 

[Farro]

You catch the next one

well...yeah...i suppose....

 

[FastPasser.]

But what if you miss your bus while chilling out on the cooling bus.

Bus, I wish, there's no bus, it's all walking in the sun.

 

[Farro]

Bus, there's no bus, it's all walking in the sun.

Maybe you can catch a ride with a passing tumbleweed.

 

[brockash]

It's 97 degrees right now and feels like 103, I don't think anyone is happy about extra steps, even 5 more minutes in this heat right now is bad, I'm happy Disney is finding temporary solution for this temporary situation.

What's the temporary solution? The "cooling stations?" In my opinion that sounds unreasonable for a company who markets the whole door to door service....give me a break, surely there could have been a bit better planning/brainstorming...at the very least maybe care enough to not have this scheduled during the hottest and wettest part if the year. They obviously could have built some temporary shading etc., or found a more realistic place for bus stops etc. At the end of the day it's just another drop of the ball in customer service, because who cares ppl. aren't refusing to come because of it...true Disney style and to be fair most businesses.

 

[JohnneeO]

The story clearly stated that this was one person's experience of the walk - the person who was interviewed for the story did the walk on 8/15 and that was how long they said it took them.

Thank you for clarifying about the source of the time/distance data. Anyone who reads your comment here will know. But the actual story does not indicate at all that you are merely relaying how long they told you it took. In the story, the time for the walk is presented as fact; "... it took...20-minutes to walk from bus stop number one to the entrance of the park;...".

Many folks don't believe it took that long while others have piped in to say it indeed took them that long.

I believe it is more accurate to say the many posters on the DISboards have commented that if the time and distance are accurate, that would indicate a rather slow pace of 1.5 mph, compared to the average walking speed (around 3 mph).


I want to be clear that I agree with the main thrust of your post (which I take to be that the walk to/from the buses at DHS has changed, it may present difficulties for some guests, and you want your readers to be aware). I also agree with most of your other opinions/comments here, and in your story, and it is a valuable post overall. It's just not clear to someone who has read only the wdwinfo post that the walking time and distance were not verified by the author.

 

[HopperFan]

Ok. Personal experience. Did it yesterday. Walking in was long but ok. Going back was horrible. Maps are deceptive in the blazing summer heat.

Left the park about 3 when the heat and humidity was awful. The walk at the end of a long park day felt like torture. Going back to the Poly so one of the furthest stops. No bus. 45 minutes straight in the blazing sun. A few beach umbrellas that shaded only a few people. Awful.

When the bus finally came it was packed. Adults actually were giving up their seats for children who were woozy in the heat. They changed drivers which took longer and when “chatty Cathy” sat down behind the wheel and asked if everyone was having a great day, there was a chorus of “no, just drive”!!! It was getting ugly.

Sorry folks, it is a lot longer...and depending on where you have to go for your bus it’s even longer. Arriving is a hike but the walk back is even longer. If you have small children or the elderly in your party plan ahead and leave some “gas in your tank” and go slow. And if it’s hot make sure your water bottle is full and you have a hat!

Poor Cathy, walking in to a hornet's nest. DHS and Epcot, we wait forever for buses ... I'm thinking they will need to address this situation quickly in this FL heat. And maybe add some water stations out there.

The lack of shade in the heat I can understand as a problem. I just don't see how this walk is long. In May I remember walking to the park-to-park buses which are just a little bit closer right next to the new loop and thinking that the new loop(s) weren't far at all. And as shown, the distance is pretty similar to the other parks bus areas.

The walk at Epcot to the buses is awful. Depending on where you are in the park it's almost faster to walk to DHS and get a bus there. With all the Epcot changes up front they'd be smart to move the bus depot closer. BUT it's all shaded walk. MK and AK are still walks in the sun and certainly not right outside the gate. I think folks just got spoiled at DHS all these years ... so I don't have an issue with the walk as much as the complete lack of shade on hot concrete and pavement ... and shiny metal queue poles to bounce more heat around.

Drop off area for regular vehicles, lyft,uber, is now the front of the old CM parking lot, so yes, it would be closer than the bus loop at the moment

If they don't do something about zero shade at the stops folks should consider all other types of transport during high heat / sunny hours.

I was just at HS on Tuesday (the first official day of the switch) I was traveling with my wife and 2 young sons (6&4) as well as 4 60+ aged members of our party. My wife and kids took an earlier bus (around 7:30) to the park and the walk to get into the park was longer but ok that early in the morning. When the other 4 joined us around 9 they were complaining about the length of the walk and the lack of shade. When we all left the park around 12:30-1 it was BRUTAL!!!! The only 2 cast members i saw from the exit until the Poly/GF bus stop were both standing in the shade well far away from even the first bus stop in the area. The Poly/GF bus stop is the 2nd or 3rd from the end of the far side of the loop. There is no shade except for 1 umbrella at each stop (that can only cover 4-5 people at max) being held down by 2 sandbags. We only waited about 10-15 minutes for the bus but in the unforgiving sun it seemed like an eternity. I can tell you that everybody that got on the packed bus was complaining about the walk and lack of shade.

IMHO, this switch is very poor planning on Disney's part!

The distance is not bad when you look at other parks, it's just lots longer than it used to be. But the lack off shade is going to bring on lots of work for the alpha teams and CMs and ....... there is zero excuse.

I get it's temporary but it will cost them very little to install sail covers at all the queue lines and get their monies worth in avoiding guests dropping like flies and bad PR. The issue is DHS has some of the worse bus service (why we usually drive) and having bodies out there in the FL sun is just plain STUPID PLANNING aka FAIL.

VERY VERY INEXPENSIVE to install when only need temporary quality.

 

[fla4fun]

I am thinking I will be happy to have my umbrella hat with me, and will probably stop and get a bottled water on the way out. I will have family with me for two days of my trip and we are exclusively doing DHS those days (we have FP for AS2 and SDD) and I may drive instead of subjecting them to this for those two days. It’s good to get the car out mid trip anyway. At least the wait for the trams is usually not too bad, compared to waiting for buses. On my solo day at DHS I may avail myself of the cooling bus since I won’t be in a rush to get anywhere.