Updated: Express Bus Service now being offered....get out your wallet

[AuburnJen 777]

Beginning December 7th, you can be picked up inside the four theme parks and reach your destinations faster.  There is a hitch though.  If you are a passholder or a castmember, you can only purchase the one day pass.  The only way you can purchase the multi-day pass is if you are not one of those people.  More details on this will become available towards the launch date.  Thanks to wdwnt.com for this breaking news.

http://wdwnt.com/blog/2016/12/breaking-walt-disney-world-adding-express-bus-service-price/

photo credit: wdwnt.com

See updated information about the new passholder offers at the end of the thread.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Welcome to the Walt Disney World Year Of A Million Schemes!

Sent from my LG-V930 using Tapatalk

[Memphis 105]

I can see the value in this service not only faster transportation but saves a ton of walking and I am assuming since you come and go from inside the park no bag checks?  But what a slap in the face to passholders to have to pay $15 a day.  They give a break to the people that pay for 2 to 10 days but no break for people that pay for hundreds of days and probably go less than 30 days.

[PureTcrazy...rita 380]

Welcome to the Walt Disney World Year Of A Million Schemes!

Sent from my LG-V930 using Tapatalk

Amen! This had definitely been a year of greed. I'm trying to be nice, but I just had another opportunity to see and experience what seems to be an endless push to give less and charge more. I do not believe I will renew my ap.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

I'm not offended by this.  It's an extra revenue stream for Disney, but only for those who really want it versus across the masses for few who'd use it.  Now, full disclosure here...we do not use Disney's transportation except the boat to the MK.  

If Disney did not charge for this bus service, everyone would use it and it would negate the purpose of said service.

Personally, I think it's a solid business plan.  

[Travisma 1,317]

On ‎12‎/‎4‎/‎2016 at 9:20 AM, twiceblessed....nacole said:

I'm not offended by this.  It's an extra revenue stream for Disney, but only for those who really want it versus across the masses for few who'd use it.  Now, full disclosure here...we do not use Disney's transportation except the boat to the MK.  

If Disney did not charge for this bus service, everyone would use it and it would negate the purpose of said service.

Personally, I think it's a solid business plan.  

But like others have been speculating, they probably won't add buses, just take away some of the ones from the normal runs and change them to the paying ones.

[Beckers 1,136]

How often do any of you hop? Because of my kids ages we normally change parks after a hotel break.

 

but I'd totally pay for one day if we ever would try to hit all 4 in one day.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

3 minutes ago, Beckers said:

How often do any of you hop? Because of my kids ages we normally change parks after a hotel break.

 

but I'd totally pay for one day if we ever would try to hit all 4 in one day.

This is a good question, and one that has been overlooked in all of the discussion I've seen about this new express bus service.

Since the introduction of FP+,  and the shuttering of attractions in DHS and Epcot. we do a lot less hopping than we used to.

Hitting a park for rope drop in the morning, and then hopping to another to use pre-booked FP+'s is still a solid strategy, but hopping to a 3rd or 4th park isn't very attractive, because it's unlikely that there will be anything to do there without a long wait.  Day-of FP+'s for Epcot, DHS and AK will be long gone by noon on most days.

So, if you're only going to hop once per day, this service isn't such a great deal.

Also, there is a lot of lost magic being dropped off in some backstage area rather than entering the parks in the way designed and intended.

TCD

[Travisma 1,317]

2 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

This is a good question, and one that has been overlooked in all of the discussion I've seen about this new express bus service.

Since the introduction of FP+,  and the shuttering of attractions in DHS and Epcot. we do a lot less hopping than we used to.

Hitting a park for rope drop in the morning, and then hopping to another to use pre-booked FP+'s is still a solid strategy, but hopping to a 3rd or 4th park isn't very attractive, because it's unlikely that there will be anything to do there without a long wait.  Day-of FP+'s for Epcot, DHS and AK will be long gone by noon on most days.

So, if you're only going to hop once per day, this service isn't such a great deal.

Also, there is a lot of lost magic being dropped off in some backstage area rather than entering the parks in the way designed and intended.

TCD

But since it's a premium service, some people will use it just so they can say they did.

[shoreline99 137]

2 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

Also, there is a lot of lost magic being dropped off in some backstage area rather than entering the parks in the way designed and intended.

Believe it or not, aside from the blatant money grab I think this is my biggest beef with this.

I'm sure there is some similar service that 'special guests' use to park hop that was the basis for this, but it certainly does cheapen the experience.

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

31 minutes ago, Beckers said:

How often do any of you hop? Because of my kids ages we normally change parks after a hotel break.

 

but I'd totally pay for one day if we ever would try to hit all 4 in one day.

I don't know about the rest of you but we don't park hop.   I just don't see the need.  Even when we had our APs we didn't.   Mainly because we rarely spend an entire day in the parks.  We hit the parks about 8:00 or 9:00 am and head out about 3:00 or 4:00 pm. 7 to 8 hours is enough for us. 

So this money grab doesn't bother me unless they pull regular buses to provide this pay service. 

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

58 minutes ago, h2odivers...Ray said:

I don't know about the rest of you but we don't park hop.   I just don't see the need.  Even when we had our APs we didn't.   Mainly because we rarely spend an entire day in the parks.  We hit the parks about 8:00 or 9:00 am and head out about 3:00 or 4:00 pm. 7 to 8 hours is enough for us. 

So this money grab doesn't bother me unless they pull regular buses to provide this pay service. 

Doubt we will use this service but we do park hop. Usually though we leave mid day to go to a resort for lunch or the hotel to relax and then head to a different park in the evening. 

[keith_h 420]

We don't park hop. We are there long enough that we plan a day per park which allows to take our time and not worry about rushing through. I see this as targeting folks with shorter stays whose only chance to see everything is to visit a couple of parks a day. While I still think this is a blatant money grab it is something useful to everyday families with time constraints. 

[DaveInTN 3,247]

2 hours ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

Also, there is a lot of lost magic being dropped off in some backstage area rather than entering the parks in the way designed and intended.

TCD

That ceased being a concern for Disney the moment that Main Street exceeded its designed capacity and they opened up the back walkway to the exits.  At that moment, management had to weigh and compare the value of increased capacity and revenue, vs the intended magic of the parks' original designs.  We know what won.  

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

1 hour ago, DaveInTN said:

That ceased being a concern for Disney the moment that Main Street exceeded its designed capacity and they opened up the back walkway to the exits.  At that moment, management had to weigh and compare the value of increased capacity and revenue, vs the intended magic of the parks' original designs.  We know what won.  

True.  And this express transportation is an extension of that.  They can shove buses full of guests into the parks, bypassing the bag check and scanning lines, and get them busy spending money.  Plus, they get $15 a head!  Free money!

TCD

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

22 hours ago, Travisma said:

But like others have been speculating, they probably won't add buses, just take away some of the ones from the normal runs and change them to the paying ones.

Hmmm... that's a good thought.   That would add to the frustration for those who use the bus service.  It's why we stopped using it; it can run so slow sometimes. 

[Beckers 1,136]

So I read a review from someone on fB (personal post so no link to share) and they said the buses only leave every 30 mins.

[Travisma 1,317]

But for an additional $29.95, you can get on the secret bus that runs every 15 minutes.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

11 hours ago, Beckers said:

So I read a review from someone on fB (personal post so no link to share) and they said the buses only leave every 30 mins.

I've read a couple of reports on other sites that confirm this- the buses run on 30 minute departure schedules.  The schedules are not posted, but you can ask the CM's working at the express bus stops when the next buses are scheduled to arrive. 

The set schedule is one thing that makes this option attractive.  No standing at a bus stop wondering when the next bus will come.

TCD

[keith_h 420]

If the bus is full will they divert another one right away so those left in line don't have to wait? To me that has always been the biggest problem with the buses. They all seem to be handled centrally with the local folks onsite having little control on which bus goes where in order to balance the line waits.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

34 minutes ago, keith_h said:

If the bus is full will they divert another one right away so those left in line don't have to wait?

From what I've read, the buses are no where close to being full, and a lot of them arrive and depart empty, or with just a handful of guests.

Remember, this is only a test, and there hasn't been much advertising of its availability to guests.  Since My Disney Experience requires guests to commit to a plan months ahead of their arrival date, it's not hard to see why guests aren't swarming to pay $15/day to ride the express buses.  Hard core fans already had their plans set before this "perk" was announced.

Basically, this test consists of paying bus drivers to drive around with nearly empty buses.

TCD

[DaveInTN 3,247]

I'm sorry, and maybe I'm just an old sentimental fool, but I really dislike the trend over the past 5 years or so toward allowing more and more guests to go backstage at the parks.  It was always kind of magical and mysterious to me how things operated....kind of like the magical Wizard behind the curtain.  Once that curtain is pulled back, a bit of the magic is gone forever.  Yes, they've offered Keys to the Kingdom type tours for many years, but you actually had to make the decision to plunk down your money for that, and if I recall correctly they warned people that they would see things that would spoil that magic a tad.  Now they are constantly ushering people down backstage walkways, taking them to backstage bus stops, exiting parks past back doors and cast member parking areas, running marathons through loading zones and past costuming warehouses.  We are probably only a year or so away from them ushering VIP guests into their waiting limousines right down inside the Utilidors.  I'm telling you right now, Walt's head is crying little frozen tears over all of this.  Some day he's coming back, and he's firing everyone.  

[keith_h 420]

I'd love to be able to trip around the Utilidors.

[Cortezcapt (Derek) 156]

I'd love to be able to trip around the Utilidors.

Get food poisoning and start getting sick while waiting for the parade. Worked for my grandma, we were wheeled then drove all through backstage past where the were staging the parade. Very interesting for my mom and I , not so much for my grandma.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

[keith_h 420]

20 hours ago, Cortezcapt (Derek) said:

Get food poisoning and start getting sick while waiting for the parade. Worked for my grandma, we were wheeled then drove all through backstage past where the were staging the parade. Very interesting for my mom and I , not so much for my grandma.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

I don't want to see it that badly.