Disney Springs Buses Checking for Reservations Before Loading

Walt Disney World
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I saw this in a couple of places today:

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I get why they are doing this…but is this the first time they are doing this, or is it something they do at other busy times a year such as Christmas?

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Are they trying to keep people from parking at DS to get to the parks?

It’s kind of annoying for people who just want to go dine or check out resorts. I didn’t read the article yet, but are they checking for any resort stay, or specifically for the one the bus is headed to?

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Oh and it said this:

Cast Members told us this temporary measure is in place during the busy Easter period.

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You have to have a reservation or ADR at that resort.

It is to keep people, say, taking bus to Riviera and then taking Skyliner to the parks, tying up parking spots at DS.

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Yes. I read the article. Which is why I am wondering if this is a new thing, or just something they do during particularly busy times of year.

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Yes, I don’t think they have ever done this in the past.

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I hate it.

I’m never going to be the person they are trying to weed out but for one it seems like it may cause unnecessary backups/time suck at DS buses which already suck. But also it just seems inhospitable.

I hate it.

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The article says that Disney “operated a similar verification process around New Years from Disney Springs.” So it sounds like they’ve done this at least once before.

I don’t know. I get that they want to make sure there’s adequate parking in the shopping district, and that there’s profit to be had. But if parking at the parks is so expensive that people are taking the extra time to park at Disney Springs, walk to the bus loop, take a bus to a resort, and then take another form of transportation to the parks, maybe that’s a sign that your pricing for parking is squeezing people out. I wish they’d address availability and access rather than cinching up enforcement.

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The article is poorly written. It could be interpreted either way.

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I read it as if you have a resort reservation on property ANYWHERE, you are good to go. Which makes sense. There would be no reason a guest of one resort can’t travel to another while staying on property.

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As someone who has visited resorts to eat at QS this could possibly have affected. (Primo Piatta or whatever it’s called at Riviera, and Sanaa breakfast at AK.)

I had my own car, so for the first I parked at HS and rode Skyliner and for the second I parked at AK and took the bus.

But if I didn’t have a car, wouldn’t I have had to take a bus to a park or DS and then change to another bus?

I didn’t have reservations obviously.

And - now that I’m thinking more - this could potentially be me! We will be staying off property in June for ten days with 10 people (visiting Busch parks, not WDW). I had thought about getting breakfast at Sanaa on one of our off days. Now - we are staying at Windsor Hills which is close to AK. So I would probably just pay the AK parking and then take the bus. BUT if I was very frugal or staying elsewhere, I may have suggested parking at DS and taking the bus to AK. I wouldn’t be allowed to just park at AKL. Maybe they only want resort guests visiting resorts. Seems like potential loss in revenue.

It also can’t really be that many people, can it? As mentioned above - that is a lot of jostling to save $35. I’m not thinking they’re going to nab that many bad guys. But it will slow down an already slow process that much more.

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If you had an ADR for Sanaa, you would be allowed to take the bus from DS to AKL. Of course, if you had an ADR for Sanaa, you could just park at AKL directly.

I don’t think you would be impacted at all.

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Or…is Sanaa quick service? I thought you needed an ADR.

Primo Piatto is a different story. It is definitely QS, so parking at DS and taking the Riviera bus wouldn’t be allowed.

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Sanaa is QS for breakfast

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There were isolated reports at times but sometimes you don’t know if it is just a misunderstanding. At times it seemed to be isolated to some bus drivers and/or resorts?

I wonder if the blogs went to DS and observed if it was widespread. Wdwnt reported they originally read it on a FB post by an AP member.

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It appears if this is happening, it may just be for Spring Break. Although, as a Sorcerer pass holder, I am not even blocked out this week. Wouldn’t Thanksgiving and Christmas make more sense?

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Maybe they are experimenting.
I wonder if it will slow all bus transportation down.

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Report on chat is that to access the bus area you needed to pass a rope where they checked resort/ADRs. You could load any bus after that point.

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I agree.

Also I was thinking, what about folks who will ferry to OKW, SSR, POR or POFQ? How about those who will walk to one of the resorts?

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