Dont waste your points at saratoga

[crisi]

BWV is the substandard DVC bus service

Its home for us, and it certainly has that reputation...but we apparently have good bus karma (knock on wood) and have really never had a big problem.

Sometimes I think it is a matter of luck - and expectations.

 

[DizBub]

Sometimes I think it is a matter of luck - and expectations.

Funny story. We were staying at BWV last fall and our room was at the very end near Jelly Rolls. We though we would be smart and go down the stairs, over the bridge and pick up the bus at the Swan. That worked well.....until we then stopped at the Dolphin, Yacht Club, Beach Club and then at BWV.

Note to self: BWV is the last stop in that loop, but expect the bus to be full already.

 

[DizBub]

Well, I doubt an SSR boat was going to POR. POR has it's own boats (yellow flag), as does OKW (green flag). SSR boats have blue flag. Water taxis are red flag.

The SSR route is DtD - SSR - Treehouse dock - SSR - DtD. So the boat you saw was likely going to the Treehouse dock. There are usually 2 boats on the route: one leaving the Treehouse dock at about the same time as one leaving the DtD dock. The two boats are generally at the SSR dock at about the same time. You probably just missed a boat going directly to DtD. (Especially likely if no one was waiting at the dock for the DtD boat when you got there.)

You are correct about the boat routes and flags. There were 2 boats at the same time. One was leaving and went out to the right. The one that was waiting dropped off a few people at SSR and was the driver who said that one was on the way and he said he was going to POR. He also went out to the right and he was the one that came back to pick us up. Who knows what was going on????

I know we waited 45 minutes for a boat that day though.

 

[Judique]

Again, while I do understand some level of frustration with this scenario, you also need to keep in mind that Disney transportation is complimentary. Also, it comes with no guarantees in terms of efficiencies. While I stand by my previous post that 1-hour transit times are not the "norm", they can and do happen from time to time, especially in peak seasons. If you can't deal with the variability that comes with the territory, then you should not be relying on Disney's complimentary transportation, and rather, should be renting a car.

I leave the watch, the schedules, and the worries behind. I'll be reunited with them soon enough.

Andrew - DVC pays for bus service. It is part of everyone's dues. We get to pay whether we use it or not.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

I can honestly say we've had occasional bus issues at every one of the DVC resorts. SSR isn't any worse in our experience. Yes, there are a lot of stops at the resort, but on the up side, it doesn't share a bus with any other resort. At the times of year when they have a single bus for all 5 Epcot resorts, that route just seems awful to me. The stop at Fort Wilderness from VWL is also very time consuming.

I think every one of us probably has a story of when we've sat and sat and sat at a bus stop wondering when our bus would come. "That's the third bus for Epcot! When's Magic Kingdom going to come?" It can happen anywhere. Fortunately, it's not the norm at any resort.

I'm very sorry that the OP had a bad experience. Not every resort suits every member's preferences, certainly. Their post seems a little strong, but I certainly don't hold it against them that they found a resort that isn't a good fit for their family. I guess that's why we have so many to choose from. SSR is actually my favorite, but I also love BLT and BCV for their easy walk into a park. That's why we own points at all three.

We've used the SSR boats dozens of times in our many stays at both the main resort and the tree houses. With the exception of when they've closed during bad storms, I've never once had an issue with that service.

 

[Cee]

We will often rent a car also, but have learned to deal with buses by keeping a very loose park touring plan. We get on the first bus that comes, and that's where we go. If that first bus is going to where we went the day before, we get on the next bus. I agree that wasting the day waiting on buses is not the way any of us wants to spend our vacation.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[crisi]

Funny story. We were staying at BWV last fall and our room was at the very end near Jelly Rolls. We though we would be smart and go down the stairs, over the bridge and pick up the bus at the Swan. That worked well.....until we then stopped at the Dolphin, Yacht Club, Beach Club and then at BWV.

Note to self: BWV is the last stop in that loop, but expect the bus to be full already.

That's a good example of our luck. In the twelve years we've been BWV owners - and we almost always stay there, we've never had that route. We've always had the route where the Y&BC gets their own buses and BW shares with S&D. And on that route, BW gets picked up first and dropped off last.

 

[LisaS]

That's a good example of our luck. In the twelve years we've been BWV owners - and we almost always stay there, we've never had that route. We've always had the route where the Y&BC gets their own buses and BW shares with S&D. And on that route, BW gets picked up first and dropped off last.

Same here. It's been a few years since we were on a bus that did the grand tour of Y&B as well as S&D. For the last few years we've always found that when boarding at BWV we were boarding an empty bus. It then went to S&D and picked up more passengers those two stops, then headed to a park. It's the reverse on the way back so we just get off at the first stop (can't remember if that's S or D) and walk back to the BWV rather than ride it all the way back.

 

[jekjones1558]

Same here. It's been a few years since we were on a bus that did the grand tour of Y&B as well as S&D. For the last few years we've always found that when boarding at BWV we were boarding an empty bus. It then went to S&D and picked up more passengers those two stops, then headed to a park. It's the reverse on the way back so we just get off at the first stop (can't remember if that's S or D) and walk back to the BWV rather than ride it all the way back.

Same here EXCEPT I only go to MK on the bus and we have always had BWV/S/D but on the way back it was also BWV/S/D. Haven't done MK on the bus for a year or so. Maybe the return order has changed.

 

[mmbl]

Our last trip we stayed at another property but were heading Downtown for dinner. We took the bus from the park to Saratoga and we waited well over an hour! If my RA wasn't acting up, we would have walked. 2 other families were in the same situation. We BARELY made our dinner reservation and we left the park 2 hours prior to it!

 

[DisneyHeather]

I was at SSR for 11 days at the beginning of December and we didn't wait more than 20 min at the most for a bus the whole trip. There were constantly buses running through the resort.

 

[Splashboat]

Our last 3 bus rides from DD to BWV not only stopped at Y&B, S&D but we also first changed drivers at the market place. All 3 rides were over an hour each. Couldn't believe it happened again and again. We will still take the bus and love the BWV but now we anticipate the long ride.

 

[ezbfields]

I just returned from SS and although all the parks were packed, I didn't have any issues picking up a bus for my wife, two young children and stroller.

 

[Andrew015]

Andrew - DVC pays for bus service. It is part of everyone's dues. We get to pay whether we use it or not.

Of course we pay for it one way or another. Just like cash guests "pay for it" when staying at a non-DVC resort. It's still considered to be "complimentary" transportation. The only difference between a cash guest and a DVC guest is that we get an annual, comprehensive cost-breakdown of where our funds are going. Believe it or not, you also pay for the toilet paper, too, but I don't believe the annual report goes into that level of detail

 

[disneynutz]

Of course we pay for it one way or another. Just like cash guests "pay for it" when staying at a non-DVC resort. It's still considered to be "complimentary" transportation. The only difference between a cash guest and a DVC guest is that we get an annual, comprehensive cost-breakdown of where our funds are going. Believe it or not, you also pay for the toilet paper, too, but I don't believe the annual report goes into that level of detail

It's considered "complimentary" because that's the spin and word that Disney has chosen to call it, just like "free dining".

Bill

 

[Judique]

Of course we pay for it one way or another. Just like cash guests "pay for it" when staying at a non-DVC resort. It's still considered to be "complimentary" transportation. The only difference between a cash guest and a DVC guest is that we get an annual, comprehensive cost-breakdown of where our funds are going. Believe it or not, you also pay for the toilet paper, too, but I don't believe the annual report goes into that level of detail

It's not considered any more complimentary than the toilet paper that I already know we pay for.

There are no free rides for DVC.

The point is that we get the service level that is paid for through our dues.

 

[Andrew015]

It's not considered any more complimentary than the toilet paper that I already know we pay for.

There are no free rides for DVC.

The point is that we get the service level that is paid for through our dues.

Perhaps it would ake you feel better if I used the word "included" rather than "complimentary"?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Always such differences in experiences. When we stayed at the THV's a little over a year ago I kept marveling at the easy central location that SSR has to all the parks. Everything was a short bus ride and no long waits and that's been our experience on our other two SSR stays also. We knew we'd have the extra step of getting from THV to the main section of SSR last year and that was no big deal. We had a car to use and did a couple of times but most often just went with the buses.

 

[312.Duck]

Our last trip we stayed at another property but were heading Downtown for dinner. We took the bus from the park to Saratoga and we waited well over an hour! If my RA wasn't acting up, we would have walked. 2 other families were in the same situation. We BARELY made our dinner reservation and we left the park 2 hours prior to it!

You probably could have taken the boat, but with no prior knowledge of it I probably would have done the same thing. It would seem the logical thin to do - go to the nearby resort. Perhaps the buses don't run as often to downtown from SSR?

 

[Judique]

Perhaps it would ake you feel better if I used the word "included" rather than "complimentary"?

I'm actually okay with the level of Disney Transportation that as a DVC member we pay for, so I don't need to feel better. I feel great at Disney and for that matter I feel pretty great in general wherever I am.

I was just responding to your Disney bus frustration that you stated that you understood about and making sure you also knew that you were probably getting the level you were paying for.