Who else loves the buses at WDW?

Vulcan515151 · Post by **Vulcan515151** » Sep Wed 14, 2011 4:17 pm

I love the busses, gotta wait, but hard to get lost driving back to resort late at night.

kcarts · Post by **kcarts** » Sep Sun 18, 2011 10:09 am

Future Guy wrote:I don't want to get off on a rant here, but . . .

A key component of the EPCOT city that Walt intended to build on the Florida property was a futuristic, easy-to-navigate transportation system where there were no traffic jams and the pedestrian was king. Even after Walt died and plans for the city were abandoned, the futuristic transportation system remained. The monorail serviced the Magic Kingdom and the resorts along the Seven Seas Lagoon, and when EPCOT Center was constructed the monorail system was extended out that way. There were even plans for a monorail-and-PeopleMover system to service the Lake Buena Vista area.

What happened? Michael Eisner's administration decided to build resorts all willy-nilly to keep people on property. But what about the logistics of moving all those people around? Remaining true to Walt's philosophy of a community that avoided the transit problems of large cities would have required careful planning, forethought, and a sizable capital investment. So that is not what Eisner's people did. Instead, they just bought a whole bunch of city buses and dressed them up with Disney frippery. Now instead of a clean, efficient, well-planned transportation system where there are no traffic jams and the pedestrian is king, we've a got cheap, slapped-together transportation system where there are traffic jams and the pedestrian might get himself hit by a bus if he's not careful.

So no, I do not love the buses. To me they represent how Disney has turned its back on the futuristic optimism that Walt espoused in favor of doing whatever is easy and cheap.

Well, at a million plus dollars a mile, I can see how the monorail was eschewed for the bus. And where are these traffic jams? The only back ups I have seen at WDW are at the park entrances where they stop you to pay for parking and there were some jams during marathon weekend when they were running b/c of road closures. Most of the roads in WDW aren't designed for people to walk along the side. The resorts with bus transportation within (OKW, CBR, Coronado...) have sidewalks. Fort WIlderness would be the one resort where I can see issues. I don't think it was built with bus transportation in mind.

As far as Eisner building resorts "willy-nilly".... I think they did a pretty good job with the resorts they built. It's not as if they just threw up a bunch of Hotel 6's. You've got to remember that above all WDW is a business. You hate to think of that way but it is a business. In it to make money. With Universal coming to Orlando and SeaWorld expanding to become more than an "Aquarium", all fighting for the same tourism dollar. What better way to do that than keep the people on your property. Offer more resort options for guests, offer free transportation around your property, offer free transportation from the airport to your property (so you don't need a rental car), more night time options, more recreation options, the waterparks..... all to keep you spending you money at WDW.

While I agree with you that Walt's original idea is awesome and if it came to fruition would have been utopia. I just don't think it realistic.

mindflipper · Post by **mindflipper** » Sep Sun 18, 2011 12:43 pm

I don't think maintaining that large fleet of buses and its fuel bill is by any means cheap. It is in reality quite expensive. It's just that to expand the monorail is far more expensive. It would take far too long to realize any return on the monorail expensive, which means the bus fleet is here and here to stay...

Amy · Post by **Amy** » Sep Sun 18, 2011 1:03 pm

mindflipper wrote:I don't think maintaining that large fleet of buses and its fuel bill is by any means cheap. It is in reality quite expensive. It's just that to expand the monorail is far more expensive. It would take far too long to realize any return on the monorail expensive, which means the bus fleet is here and here to stay...

I agree with the buses being a big expense...does anyone know if they use biofuels? I would guess Disney would try to use fairly environmentally friendly buses and perhaps branch out into electric options if they aren't already using them...

Sharonofwindham · Post by **Sharonofwindham** » Sep Mon 19, 2011 10:03 am

I asked a cast member at AK about the trucks on the safari ride, how they keep from emitting exhaust that definitely would ruin the ride. She told me they are internal combustion(spelling) engines that run on propane. If they haven't already, it's been a while since my last visit, maybe they could do the same with the buses. Here in Portland, ME, we have buses that are run in this way on natural gas. I'm sure Disney will do this eventually, if they haven't already

Amy · Post by **Amy** » Sep Mon 19, 2011 10:04 am

Sharonofwindham wrote:I asked a cast member at AK about the trucks on the safari ride, how they keep from emitting exhaust that definitely would ruin the ride. She told me they are internal combustion(spelling) engines that run on propane. If they haven't already, it's been a while since my last visit, maybe they could do the same with the buses. Here in Portland, ME, we have buses that are run in this way on natural gas. I'm sure Disney will do this eventually, if they haven't already

I wonder if they already run on propane or natural gas since I don't really remember any stinky diesel smells while waiting in the bus lines...

Sharonofwindham · Post by **Sharonofwindham** » Sep Mon 19, 2011 10:17 am

Yay Disney! Now if they could just swtch to electric so they would be nice and quiet

. Wait, I could see that being a bit dangerous

.

Amy · Post by **Amy** » Sep Mon 19, 2011 10:18 am

Sharonofwindham wrote:Yay Disney! Now if they could just swtch to electric so they would be nice and quiet . Wait, I could see that being a bit dangerous .

I'm not sure if they have cng, but I would hope so...or electric. I would guess some of their smaller maintenance vehicles would be electric...

mindflipper · Post by **mindflipper** » Sep Mon 19, 2011 12:10 pm

I alway wished they could switch the MK's race way cars to electric so they could get rid of the smelly fumes...

Post by **Len90** » Sep Mon 19, 2011 8:54 pm

The buses are all running on a biodiesel blend and have been for years now. Disney has tried a hybrid bus that was built by designline but it burned up.

Amy · Post by **Amy** » Sep Mon 19, 2011 9:03 pm

Len90 wrote:The buses are all running on a biodiesel blend and have been for years now. Disney has tried a hybrid bus that was built by designline but it burned up.

That is good to know that they are using biodiesel fuel. Do you know if they utilize used cooking oil from the restaurants? I'm guessing the electric technology will have to come along a bit further before it can be used to the extent that Disney puts their fleet through each day!

Post by **Len90** » Sep Tue 20, 2011 11:05 pm

Amy wrote:
Len90 wrote:The buses are all running on a biodiesel blend and have been for years now. Disney has tried a hybrid bus that was built by designline but it burned up.
That is good to know that they are using biodiesel fuel. Do you know if they utilize used cooking oil from the restaurants? I'm guessing the electric technology will have to come along a bit further before it can be used to the extent that Disney puts their fleet through each day!

A lot of mass transit services are already utilizing hybrid buses. I know the MTA has a large fleet now of hybrids and they run their buses down to the ground.

I'm not sure on how the oil is gotten but it is called B20. 20% oil and 80% diesel.

flyer32 · Post by **flyer32** » Nov Fri 18, 2011 10:04 pm

I love listening to the announcements on the bus....for me it is part of the day at the park, a part i look forward to!!!

Amy · Post by **Amy** » Nov Sat 19, 2011 4:53 am

flyer32 wrote:I love listening to the announcements on the bus....for me it is part of the day at the park, a part i look forward to!!!

Me too! But it seems like more people are yakking so loudly you can't hear the announcements anymore

. There was a cute one last night between Epcot and DHS about being on our best behavior as there was royalty aboard. I had missed her getting on, but there was a little girl dressed as Snow White that the driver was acknowledging - very cute

. Sure it made her family smile a little wider!

Sharonofwindham · Post by **Sharonofwindham** » Nov Sun 20, 2011 12:06 pm

Amy wrote:
flyer32 wrote:I love listening to the announcements on the bus....for me it is part of the day at the park, a part i look forward to!!!
Me too! But it seems like more people are yakking so loudly you can't hear the announcements anymore . There was a cute one last night between Epcot and DHS about being on our best behavior as there was royalty aboard. I had missed her getting on, but there was a little girl dressed as Snow White that the driver was acknowledging - very cute . Sure it made her family smile a little wider!

Some of the Disney bus drivers are just the best

! They have a way of keeping the "magic" going when you're just sitting on a bus

. I REALLY appreciate them since I never rent a car anymore, staying on property the whole time. You really can't beat the scenary as you ride around the Resort either

!

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Who else loves the buses at WDW?

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