I haven't read that section of the UOG in a long time, but I'm sure that the book says taking a car is faster than the bus for every destination in WDW except MK.
I wonder if that's more a factor of the rain or they just run much fewer busses in the middle of the afternoon. Maybe both.
Probably a little bit of both.
Whoa. Yeah, I might be a little ticked, too.
Not bad, but... was there an Epcot bus before that? Or was that lady still waiting?
Oh no... she was still waiting. And still very vocal. We saw Disney Springs and AK roll up before MK, but no, she didn't get an EPCOT bus before we left.
If only there were a line and not a cluster.
A stroller at Disney World is kind of a multi tool!
Wait... she was standing??? Someone didn't already do that?
Still... glad it happened (eventually)
Actually, yes, we got on and it was was standing room only, but someone got up and offered her the seat before we took off.
You're kidding! What kind of poor planning is that???
I guess it is just a product of the "bus loop." It always started near our end and Aruba was on the tail end of the loop (either last or second last). If they follow the same loop every time, I guess there's really no way around planning for something like that happening.
So it seems. I can just picture that!
All I needed was a wrist!
So... happy about that? Or...?
Not really... Splash is the kids' favorite ride and one of my favorites. We really wanted to ride it.
So I never have used RS. How does this differ?
In most cases with RS, you walk up and tell them you need it. They'll then use their little tablet thingy to put a RS pass on the MagicBand of the kids that are riding twice and the adult that will be sitting out the first ride. The RS is basically just another FP that doesn't count against your 3 (or 4,5,6, whatever). They set the RS so that if you go standby, the pass will allow you to ride in 45 minutes if the posted wait is 45.... if you're FP, the RS will allow you to ride in maybe 15 minutes or however long they expect the FP wait to be. The RS passes were good from that start time until the park closed the day it was issued so it definitely gives you a bigger window to get the ride in than your typical 1 hour FP window. Most CMs were issuing the RS to the adult, no questions asked... this guy was a stick in the mud and insisted that the adults both had to use FP and he only added the RS pass to the kids for their second ride.
Do you mean you might have missed your FP window?
Essentially, that was the concern, which is why we wanted to get the RS. In actuality, we were early in our window and it
shouldn't have been a problem. But if there's a ride breakdown, rain starts again, whatever... well, no BTMRR for me.
Out! Out into the heat!
That's the truth!
I very likely would have "accidentally" run over them and bumped into them (filled with plenty of "oh! sorry!" mixed in)
Huh... I guess I must have been in a better mood than I thought that afternoon!
That's where I used it for the first time too. It was great!
I should have clarified. Yes, that anytime FP got used for its original purpose!
Well, poop! That's not okay.
Love JC when it's dark.
Me too! It wasn't too dark, but it was nice to get that dusk, almost dark cruise!
Always the best when you get a good skipper.
They make or break the entire experience!
Still not under that 5 minute mark though...
Dude... sometimes you can take "not my job" a little too far.
I almost wondered if he didn't speak English well? People were yelling out asking what stop it was and he just kind of looked back and didn't say anything...
And the people who didn't know appreciated it and those who did... wished you'd just shut up so they could nap!
Hey, the lights coming on already woke them up anyway!
Good for you! The moderate resort bus stops are perhaps the worst as people crowd toward the bus the minute they see one. The multiple stops at the moderate resorts also make for additional craziness as certain stops are busier than others and buses can fill and bypass some stops entirely. I'm glad your ride worked out so well for you!
It is a chaotic set up in some ways. I'm glad it worked for us, but feel for the others left along the way.
So he wouldn't give you a RS at all? How frustrating! What's the point of offering RS if you won't actually give it?! What if someone else came in his place for the re-ride and they didn't know that your kids needed to go on again? Also, what if you split your FP+ between two attractions (although perhaps you didn't do that with two other kids that were tall enough for most rides)?
For those rides where they provided a RS pass, is it still a paper pass or have they changed it to an electronic pass that shows up on your account? And it's good though the end of the month? (Sorry for the questions, but RS will be new to me next trip!)
Ok, I guess I should have given a better rundown of how RS works now. It is electronic, not a paper pass. You go up to the entrance or actually to the
DAS CM if they have a stand near the entrance of the ride. They scan the magicband on a tablet and add a RS pass that works just like a FP to return and ride later. They will scan the MB of the person sitting out the first ride and up to 2 others who will ride twice. Once they scan and give you the RS, you can get on the App and see who has RS and it tells you for which attraction and what time it becomes good. If you ride standby and the wait is 45 minutes, you'd get an RS pass that opens up in 45 minutes. If you were FP, the RS pass would be good beginning maybe 10-15 minutes after they gave it to you. During our trip, all RS passes could be used from the beginning time stated through the time the park closed that day. So while both of us having FP for BTMRR worked, there are reasons it would have been nice to be granted the RS.
Technically, the whole splitting FP trick is a loophole in the system. Disney doesn't come out and tell you that's allowed, but they typically let you do it. I just wanted to share this story, because I've had it happen before at 7DMT and this time here at BTMRR where if we were employing that system, it was not going to work out. It was fine because we didn't split FP, since it would have been a logistical nightmare, but we always got RS anyway just so that we could extend our FP window beyond that original hour. There were no other cases during this trip where we had FP and still wanted RS that they questioned us or hesitated to give it to us.
Did it seem to work well for you pretty consistently? I think more quick service will be likely for me on our next trip and I look forward to something to make it easier!
I'm not shy about voicing my displeasure about some of the changes and "upgrades" they've made through
MDE... but this one is a win. It worked very well for us every time we used it. I could see it becoming less useful as more and more people catch on to it and start using it. Then it will probably be like FP... you don't use it to get ahead of the crowd, you use it out of necessity.
I hate when that happens! It always seems to occur when you've created a great ride photo.
And when you're writing a TR that desperately needs photos!
Oh, dear! Perhaps they had a shutdown earlier in the day (or another ride did and everyone chose JC for their anytime pass) and the FP line really backed up? I've certainly been in a few long FP lines, but I don't think I've ever waited 25 minutes! I'm glad you were rewarded with a great skipper after that long wait in line.
I don't know... we just seemed to experience long FP return lines in general. And from some of the comments, it seems like this might be a trend at this particular attraction lately.
That's a bummer! I always loved running into PP photographers that would take multiple fun shots. (I understand that's not always possible when there's a backup for pictures, but it's nice when it happens!) I do like your picture, though!
It really seemed like a "run them through" type mentality this time. Even if there wasn't a line, it was like click, click, click, done.
And this was for the "landmark" photos around the parks as well as the ones with characters. spoiler - CRT was the worst of them all!
How tough to not know the stops, especially for such a big resort like CBR! How nice of you to call out the stops for everyone!
It's really bad at night though... the lights come on, your eyes can't adjust and you can't even see out the windows to look for landmarks!
Thanks for joining. I can relate to the absence. I was gone from the dis for the better part of a year, but it has really been great to be back and be a part of this community! 
