Following the Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin’s move to third-party resort transportation, buses from the resort now drop off at charter lots at theme parks and Disney Springs.
The resort recently switched from Disney-operated buses to Mears, prompting Disney to end drop-offs at the resort loop bus stops, resulting in a longer walk to park entrances. One of the biggest changes is that buses to the Magic Kingdom will now drop off at the Transportation and Ticket Center, forcing guests to take a monorail or ferryboat to the park. Over at Disney Springs, the drop off point will now be located on the West Side as opposed to the bus loop in the Town Center. The change comes just weeks before over 1,100 employees are expected to be laid off on November 13th due to low occupancy at the resort.
Keep reading WDWNT for updates as we learn more on this story.
How much longer of a walk is this for most of the theme parks?
It’s a major inconvenience for MK since you’ll have to get off at the TTC. Not a big deal for Epcot and HS if the boats still stop at the Swan/Dolphin. I don’t know where the charter lot is for AK.
There is no boat service either. Mears busses were already doing Epcot and HS when we got there. Both of those parks are not a bad walk from the hotel.
Yes…. But why? I appreciate the info, but a good report should always give us the details as to the reason for this. Are other WDW doing this? I know these two resorts are operated by a third-party, but are they not owned by Disney?
The resorts are owned by real estate firm Tishman on land leased from Disney. Tishman hires Marriott to run them. From this report, you could conclude that the ownership is looking to save on what they pay for use of the Disney transportation system. Probably has no effect on transportation at any other hotels on property.
So you spend all that money only to be left farther from the parks? That’s customer service.
/\ I don’t get what’s so complicated about this. They are not Disney resorts, they do not pay Disney for transportation service anymore, so they are going to use the non-Disney transportation spots in the parking lot like every other non Disney resort.
If you are staying at Swan/Dolphin hotel can you walk to Yacht or Boardwalk and take the Disney transportation they have to get to Magic Kingdom? This could be a work around from having to stop at the Ticket Transportation Center.
I heard they are still using the same bus drop off locations for EPCOT, HS and AK. Is that true? Also are they still servicing disney springs?
Yes, they are using Mears for Disney Springs. The drop off locations are not the same because they can not go where the Disney buses do. For HS, we were dropped farther out and the spot had no shade structure like the Disney spots do. Also the busses come less frequently like every 30 minutes. Part of our group almost got stranded at Magic Kingdom because they missed the last bus. Luckily it was the first day of the change and the driver did one last check before calling it a night.
This change came in the middle of our stay that we had booked with Disney. No notice from the hotel or Disney. This was our fourth stay at this resort and we got dropped off in an unfamiliar location with no instructions on how to return. We also did not get our perk package as promised. Worst Disney experience ever. We let them keep our money for a year, didn’t cancel and went on the trip. We expected the park conditions but the poor customer service was not magical.
We must have been there at the same time and were surprised and disappointed in the change mid-stay, without warning. We were most disappointed in the lack of precautions such as physical distancing, dividers, and limited capacity like we experienced on Disney transportation. We booked this expecting the same bus service and the lack of transportation was extremely frustrated. We are Bonvoy members and have been staying at the Swan for years but this was likely the last time (the piles of trash and dirty towels in the hallways is another issue).
For $190 plus tax and resort fee a night these hotels are much cheaper than the Yacht Club or BoardWalk Inn which were $700.00 a night when I was there.