Slowdown/Reduction of services?

[GrumpyFan]

Some people have reported that WDW is starting to reduce services such as bus transportation to reduce costs. However, when we were there last month, we didn't notice anything like this. Our average wait time for a bus was 15 minutes from Pop, and no more than 10 minutes from the parks.

Has anybody noticed anything of significance or something that appeared to be a reduction of service?

[FromKnoxvilleto Disney]

Great question! We are leaving next weekend and I was curious about this as well?

[DizneyRox]

Are you referring to recent changes maybe due to rising fuel costs, or the overall decline in value since about 2000?

[Ropachs]

Glad to hear you didn't notice longer bus waits! Thanks for sharing...and easing my mind a bit.

[KAJUNKING]

this is good to here that you didnt notice a difference, we are driving this year but once im there i dont want to have to think about driving untill its time to leave

[Marker]

Some people have reported that WDW is starting to reduce services such as bus transportation to reduce costs.

Who is reporting that? Credible sources, or unfounded rumors?

[GrumpyFan]

Are you referring to recent changes maybe due to rising fuel costs, or the overall decline in value since about 2000?

Recent changes.


Who is reporting that? Credible sources, or unfounded rumors?

Various sources. This and Other forums, news/rumor sites, secondhand from friends that just returned. However, none of these are "confirmed", they're just speculative reports based on different people's opinion. I wouldn't go so far as to say these aren't credible, just un-verifiable.

[hubbyofadisneyholic]

We have been using the WDW buses on our trips for many years and in my opinion the waits were definitely longer last month than they have been on previous trips.

Of course luck and timing come into play. If your bus comes 2 minutes after you get to the stop you think the service is great. But, the family that has been waiting for that bus for 45 minutes will have a totally different opinion.
And while we only had to wait 45 minutes once, there were many waits of 30+ minutes, even at non-peak times. And that is way longer than what it was as recently as June 2007.

[Aggie97]

We also did not notice a decline in bus transportation service (or any other services, actually!) on our past few trips (in 6/08, 2/08 & 11/07). :mickey:

[GrumpyFan]

We too had a wait for a bus almost 45 minutes one morning while trying go from Pop to Epcot. But, I call that a "bug" in the Disney transportation system that happens every now and then. Because I saw at least 2 busses for all the other stops within that timeframe and as ours was leaving, another pulled up. Other than that, we never waited more than 20 minutes coming or going from Pop or Dolphin at various times of the day.

[Nascfan]

We didn't notice any difference last month either, and we actually timed the waits by looking at a watch every time we got in a bus queue, whether from resort or park. Most waits were 5 minutes or less, a couple in the 10 minute range (still acceptable as it's advertised that busses run every 20 minutes), and only one was 15 - 20 minutes. That was Pop to DTD, and it's a notoriously long wait to get to DTD from anywhere, I feel.

[dizknee531]

We DID NOT notice any difference. We were just at OKW 7-10 to 7-15. still great service!!:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[disney100%]

I am so happy to read this. We are traveling to WDW in October - 6 adults and 4 children (ages 3.5, 2, 1.5, and 10 months). With the kids, we were hoping that the bus waits would be reasonable or I think we would have to get pretty creative at the bus stops to contain them all! :mickey:

[GrumpyFan]

Even though this was moved from the Theme Parks thread, where I think it should still be, I'm still curious of other people's input.

[DizneyRox]

There are quite a few ways that Disney can go about reducing operating expenses, many of them they have already done. The busses though I don't think really bother me. In the last few years, they have switched to an on demand bus dispatch process. No longer does a driver get a route and drive it all day. You can notice this as they pull into each park, they get their next route. This is smart, and doesn't bother me so much, except those times when I'm the only one waiting for a bus, and it takes forever to arrive.

Other things like the reduction in grounds keeping, the things they do now during business hours instead of off hours out of guest sight (maintenance, garbage collection, etc), and the generic nature of all the gift shops really drives me nuts. Add to that how the DDP has destroyed the variety on the menus at pretty much every Disney eatery and the appeal is quickly eroding.

Our time between trips has increased significantly over the course of all these changes. What used to be a 3 or 4 times a year destination is now a once a year maybe. And that is sad coming from a DVC member.

[Goofster]

....and the generic nature of all the gift shops really drives me nuts.

I agree with you on this one. Each of the gift shops are starting to lose their uniqueness as they all carry the same stuff. What really annoys me is that a lot of the product is losing the "Walt Disney World" name on it. For instance, I'm seeing a lot of product with Both WDW and DL logos on them or just a generic "Disney Parks". If I'm in WDW, I want to see unique WDW merchandise - not a 'one size fits all' product that can be found anywhere. :ack:

[SgtTigger]

Who is reporting that? Credible sources, or unfounded rumors?


Recent changes.



Various sources. This and Other forums, news/rumor sites, secondhand from friends that just returned. However, none of these are "confirmed", they're just speculative reports based on different people's opinion. I wouldn't go so far as to say these aren't credible, just un-verifiable.





Ill report it....... go back and read my trip reports from June...... Bus service was SLOW..... VERY SLOW.......
I talked to the manger and the supervisor of transportation and told them it was bad..... I also know that they have a new system for the busses.... I told them it is not working..... He said he hoped that it would be better by the time we go in Nov.... he also said it was much better than when they started it..... I told them to get there money back......




:cop: :tigger:

[GrumpyFan]

Ill report it....... go back and read my trip reports from June...... Bus service was SLOW..... VERY SLOW.......

I also know that they have a new system for the busses.... I told them it is not working..... He said he hoped that it would be better by the time we go in Nov.... he also said it was much better than when they started it..... I told them to get there money back......


Sorry you had such horrible service. I have heard that bus service to Saratoga Springs, Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom Lodge is slower than some of the other resorts.

The "new system" is called Magic in Motion and they have been rolling it out since early this year, but it's apparently been in development since around 2000.

[SgtTigger]

Sorry you had such horrible service. I have heard that bus service to Saratoga Springs, Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom Lodge is slower than some of the other resorts.

The "new system" is called Magic in Motion and they have been rolling it out since early this year, but it's apparently been in development since around 2000.

You know If it had just been Wilderness Lodge that would have been ok..... but I heard all kinds of complaints.... Sitting in the hot tub 2 different couples had problems with service.... then our night at Epcot 5 different stops were full... I mean to the walkway full..... and the transportation person there was just walking from empty stop to empty stop till finally our bus came and they needed 5 more just at our stop.......
then more things happened till I just had to tell someone.... I went to Wilderness Lodge manger and he was great...... talk to us for a while... ( remember we go 2 times a year) had the transportation manger call me the next day.... told him what was going on... was completely honest about the whole thing told me tons of complaints were coming in..... I told him I know of the new system and then he told me he hoped it would be better in Nov.....
remember if no one says anything no one knowes.......



:cop: :tigger:

[JPL]

My June Trip was a bus nightmare

AKL to DTD 49 minutes
AKL to DHS 70 minutes (they gave us a FP for that wait)
DHS back to AKL 40 minutes
AK back to Pop 50 minutes (they called in DCL buses I also notice another company going to different hotels)

The average was 25-35 minutes to get a bus anywhere.

[GrumpyFan]

My June Trip was a bus nightmare

AK back to Pop 50 minutes (they called in DCL buses I also notice another company going to different hotels)

The average was 25-35 minutes to get a bus anywhere.

We had a cruise line bus pick us up once as well. I found it interesting, considering that Disney used to have what I thought was more than enough busses to cover everything. But, they must be phasing out some of the older busses, or just not using them if they're not fuel efficient.

[Mousemates]

Noticed that the bus stops during our last trip in late June (stayed at ASMov, CB) were kind of full....so we opted to drive to the parks instead...was very happy with decision at the end of our days when we saw some of the lines at the "return to resort" pickup areas.