T&D Party Wagon offers special occasion transportation and holiday tours in Eastern Iowa

All his life, Tyler Annis wanted a career in law enforcement. But he also wanted to own his own business.

While those tracks no longer intersect, they do run on parallel paths, with T&D Party Wagon buses keeping holiday revelers, wedding guests, concertgoers, sports fans, birthday parties, and bachelor/bachelorette party guests safe on the road.

While the focus is on Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids, Dubuque and Iowa City, buses have taken riders to concerts at the Great Jones County Fair in Monticello and to the Mississippi Valley Fair in Davenport.

New this season are two-hour holiday light tours throughout the Corridor, available Sunday to Thursday for $350. Groups can design their own route, or follow the company’s routes, which include the holiday lights at Coralville Lake in Johnson County or Hawkeye Downs in Cedar Rapids, as well as various houses in either North Liberty or Cedar Rapids. Friday and Saturday tours can be booked, as well, but since those are the busiest nights, the rate rises to the normal pricing, instead of the holiday special, Annis said.

Annis, 25, and his wife, Delaney, 26, who moved from Cedar Rapids to Urbana in July 2022, started the party bus service Dec. 1, 2022, to “provide safe and reliable transportation, while still being able to have fun,” he said.

Leaving law enforcement was a tough decision, he noted. But now he will get to spend Christmas and other celebrations with his family, after pulling holiday shifts during his stint as a Linn County Deputy Sheriff from November 2016 to March 2023, then with the Vinton Police Department until September.

“I just made Thanksgiving for the first time in seven years,” he said.

For a while, he tried to work both jobs, but as the bus business bloomed, he found he just couldn’t do both justice. But he still picks up a shift with the Vinton police every couple of weeks.

His wife kept her job as a nurse with Unity Point Health — St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids. Her insurance covers them both, making it easier for him to leave his job and benefits package.

The couple started out with just one 16-passenger bus, purchased through Facebook Marketplace, and in a year’s time, the fleet has grown to six buses, with capacities ranging from 16 to 40 passengers. Family and friends have helped Annis gut and modify the seating, sound system, lighting and other tricked-out amenities.

And with a larger fleet comes the need for more workers behind the wheel and under the hood. They now have 11 drivers and a mechanic, and in the coming year, they plan on adding two more buses and hiring more staff, including a secretary, and either building or acquiring a shop with office space.

Annis declined to say what the venture has cost, other than “a lot,” to grow the company at an accelerated pace. He’s also been navigating a steep learning curve.

“I was only ever on one party bus my whole entire life, which was my wedding a few years back,” he said. “So learning how to build and how to run a business … and how to market a business has been a big learning curve. I'm starting to figure things out. I’ve still got a lot to learn now. It’s been a process, but it’s been fun.”

Party on.

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