Why are Disney Transport buses so bad?

[DisFanGuy]

I’m sure this has been asked before but has anyone felt like the Disney Transport bus system has gotten worse? We’ve been going to WDW for years bus service has always been mediocre but this year it seems especially bad. Today we had 50+ minute waits every time we wanted to go back to the resort or hop to another park. At Hollywood Studios waiting almost an hour in 95 degree heat with NO shade at their temporary bus drop off/pick up location. IMO there’s no excuse for it. Is it even worth complaining? Experiences like this are making our family less likely to come back to WDW. Already committed on no 2019 trip and really thinking about skipping 2020 as well (not even Star Wars land makes us want to put up with this).

 

[Jadyreen1282]

I'd definitely contact guest services if it's every bus you have taken.

Hours waits are uncommon in my experience. Longest we have waited was twenty minutes. In 5 days we will experience what you are seeing and my attitude may change. For now I am not seeing any other reports of hour long waits. Trip reports don't indicate continual hour long bus waits either. You may have hit some bad issues.

Hope it's temporary. Will know soon enough.

 

[lambdabeta]

That is why we rent a car. It is also why we won't be back for a long time either. Now renting a car is more expensive because of the parking fees. This year we won't have to pay it because we booked early enough. We had long waits back in 2002 for buses and vowed then not to use their system. Some people on this board seem to have all the luck with the buses and always have short bus waits but that was not my experience. Even Disney tells you to give them an hour and a half to use their transportation to get to a dining reservation, sounds to me they know it is a problem but won't do anything about it. It is good that the times are on MDE but from what I have read about the bus waits on the signs they change frequently to a longer time while you sit and wait so I don't see that helping.

 

[greg9x]

What resort ?
We've had good and annoying this week, but mostly not too long of waits for Dolphin.... Mostly 15 minutes or under.

Worst was Disney Springs coming back... Seemed every other resort had 2-4 buses come before ours... Some literally back to back.

 

[DisFanGuy]

This time we were at SSR but we also had bad experiences at AKL and CBR. Had decent service at CR.

 

[DisFanGuy]

What resort ?
We've had good and annoying this week, but mostly not too long of waits for Dolphin.... Mostly 15 minutes or under.

Worst was Disney Springs coming back... Seemed every other resort had 2-4 buses come before ours... Some literally back to back.

We had similar experiences as well watching plenty of buses for all-stars, WL, CSR go by all the time. I think that was the most frustrating thing watching 10 All star buses go by! We paid a decent amount of money to stay at SSR and I found myself thinking I could have saved $200/night and be back at the all stars by now. I’d be even more mad if I was a member at SSR.

 

[Wild4Walt]

Our last trip we never waited more than 15 minutes for a bus to any of the parks or DS. We were at POR that time around. We are not RD people and probably hit the buses around 10a-1030a most mornings. We did notice that bus crowds were heavier if we were towards park close, but even then the buses came pretty quickly. We were there in May and I'd day crowd levels were at a 5 or 6 out of 10 ( 10 being heaviest ) - maybe that's the difference.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Even Disney tells you to give them an hour and a half to use their transportation to get to a dining reservation, sounds to me they know it is a problem but won't do anything about it.

I have to disagree. WDW is twice the size of Manhattan, albeit with much more open space.

The typical bus interval is 20 minutes. All vehicles are subject to external/uncontrollable conditions, like traffic or breakdowns or weather. Sometimes delays can't be helped.

Buses don't travel between resorts. Transfers are usually required. Walking from the origination point (room, attraction, etc.) plus twenty minute wait plus fifteen minutes travel time plus twenty minute wait plus ten minutes travel time plus walking from the bus to the restaurant plus arriving ten-fifteen minutes early (as advised when making the ADR) totals 75-80 minutes plus walk time. Ninety minutes makes complete sense.

Granted, the reverse could easily occur: arrive at each bus stop just as a bus is loading, but 40 minutes off the trip. Go from one resort near a non-MK park to another such resort, cut ten more minutes. Go from a Building 10 Preferred room at Pop to Olivia's, cut walking time

 

[seven dwarfs]

I’m sure this has been asked before but has anyone felt like the Disney Transport bus system has gotten worse? We’ve been going to WDW for years bus service has always been mediocre but this year it seems especially bad. Today we had 50+ minute waits every time we wanted to go back to the resort or hop to another park. At Hollywood Studios waiting almost an hour in 95 degree heat with NO shade at their temporary bus drop off/pick up location. IMO there’s no excuse for it. Is it even worth complaining? Experiences like this our making family less likely to come back to WDW already committed on no 2019 trip and really thinking about skipping 2020 as well (not even Star Wars land makes us want to put up with this).

We are here now and buses have not been good. It has been all times of day and from anywhere. (Disney Springs, Camp ground, AOA, parks etc.) My kids have even opted to not hop a couple of times so they could just use our car. We normally don't have issues. I do think it's very crowded. More then expected. Maybe that is part of the problem.

 

[DisFanGuy]

We are here now and buses have not been good. It has been all times of day and from anywhere. (Disney Springs, Camp ground, AOA, parks etc.) My kids have even opted to not hop a couple of times so they could just use our car. We normally don't have issues. I do think it's very crowded. More then expected. Maybe that is part of the problem.

Yea we’re here now to and it has been very busy but imo it’s no excuse Disney has had a their bus system for over 30 years so they should know by now how to manage crowds and run an efficient bus service. I can understand maybe 30 mins at busy times but beyond 30 mins is unreasonable.

 

[maxiesmom]

I’m sure this has been asked before but has anyone felt like the Disney Transport bus system has gotten worse? We’ve been going to WDW for years bus service has always been mediocre but this year it seems especially bad. Today we had 50+ minute waits every time we wanted to go back to the resort or hop to another park. At Hollywood Studios waiting almost an hour in 95 degree heat with NO shade at their temporary bus drop off/pick up location. IMO there’s no excuse for it. Is it even worth complaining? Experiences like this are making our family less likely to come back to WDW. Already committed on no 2019 trip and really thinking about skipping 2020 as well (not even Star Wars land makes us want to put up with this).

Did you not see the cooling buses they have stationed at the HS bus stop?

If you find the buses are not working for you, you can always rent a car or take advantage of taxis/Uber.

 

[DisFanGuy]

Did you not see the cooling buses they have stationed at the HS bus stop?

If you find the buses are not working for you, you can always rent a car or take advantage of taxis/Uber.

Was not aware of cooling buses. Nobody informed us. Didn’t rent a car because wdw was the only thing we did this trip. Yea I did eventually get a taxi a couple of times but when spending almost $400/night on room I don’t think decent bus service is an unreasonable expectation.

 

[Disney Ron]

We just returned home 2 days ago from a 10 day stay and the buses were an absolute joke! We always rent a car, but decided to try just the WDW transportation this time.

We were at Typhoon Lagoon and took the bus to Disney Springs then got in line for the bus to POFQ. There was already about 50 people in line before us. We were there for about 20 minutes waiting when the woman at the head of the line started getting irate saying they had been there for an hour without a bus showing up. The people behind her in line verified what she said. Finally a bus driver was just walking down the sidewalk past all of us when the woman, sternly but politely, explained to the driver the situation and he called on his radio and within 5 minutes a bus finally pulled up. Absolutely redonkulous!

Another day we board the bus at the WL to go to DHS. The bus is a third full. We then go to the Contemporary to do a pickup there. There is a mob waiting for the bus. The bus driver starts loading so I know people will be standing so I get up and give my seat to a woman holding a child. In the mean time the driver keeps waving the mob onto the bus. The bus was packed so much that the line on the floor near the driver that no one is supposed to cross while the bus is moving had riders in front of it. It was so packed I'm not sure, but I think I may have inadvertently had sex with the woman I was squished against. People were irate! This one guy I'm squished against looks at me and says "$7,000 for this?"

Towards the end of our trip we started using Uber to get around. Much faster and more comfortable.

 

[disneyfantotheend]

I have never had bad bus service. Probably just lucky, but I also don't mind waiting a little. My first few trips I was crazy about getting place to place fast, not anymore. I relax and enjoy every minute.

 

[Disney Ron]

I have never had bad bus service. Probably just lucky, but I also don't mind waiting a little. My first few trips I was crazy about getting place to place fast, not anymore. I relax and enjoy every minute.

It's hard to relax when waiting an hour for a bus in 100 degree heat! Then you finally get on a bus and the AC is barely running.

 

[disneyfantotheend]

It's hard to relax when waiting an hour for a bus in 100 degree heat! Then you finally get on a bus and the AC is barely running.

If it bothered me that much, I would just rent a car, but it doesn't, so I wait.

 

[Disney Ron]

If it bothered me that much, I would just rent a car, but it doesn't, so I wait.

We always used to rent a car, if you read my original post, but because of a 10 day trip thanks to Disney's new hotel parking fees, we decided to use Disney transportation instead of paying 5 to 6 hundred dollars for a rental car and parking. If you think it's normal to wait for a bus for an hour there is nothing more I can say.

 

[DisFanGuy]

I have never had bad bus service. Probably just lucky, but I also don't mind waiting a little. My first few trips I was crazy about getting place to place fast, not anymore. I relax and enjoy every minute.

Yea I don’t consider waiting a little to mean waiting for 50 mins. Especially when the temperature is 96 degrees.

 

[Disney Ron]

Did you not see the cooling buses they have stationed at the HS bus stop?

If you find the buses are not working for you, you can always rent a car or take advantage of taxis/Uber.

First of all we were just at HS last week and I just asked my wife did she notice any "cooling buses" at the HS bus stop and she said she didn't and neither did I. I'm not saying they haven't been there on other days, but the day we were there they were not.

Secondly after paying a huge amount of money, is it unreasonable to expect not to have to wait more than 30 minutes for a bus? Then my "option" is to pay more money for transportation if the buses aren't "working" for me?

Now, if we want to avoid the buses and rent a car, we have to pay parking fees? We all know the cost for the Magical Express is not free and that you're paying for it in your hotel reservation, so if we rent we are paying for the Magical Express but not using it, but now have to be charged to park? Something smells there.

 

[Chelley00]

We tried the bus twice in June while staying at the Yacht Club. We waited 50 minutes for the bus to pick us up from MK when it was 95 out and then we sat on the bus for 15 minutes before it left for YC. I couldn’t even count how many busses we saw come and go.

We waited 40 minutes at YC for the bus to go to AK and finally gave up and drive ourselves.

The rest of the week we just drove