Everytime we have tried to go on a Friday or Saturday afternoon/evening, we have trouble finding a parking space. It happens and it happens more than you are aware of.
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Bus kiosks thingies!
- Thread starter mousermerf
- Start date
Everytime we have tried to go on a Friday or Saturday afternoon/evening, we have trouble finding a parking space. It happens and it happens more than you are aware of.
DisneyWales
Member
Annual Pass holders get free parking anyway, or premium Passholders do anyway.
As for the Swipe you card for a dispatch system that could just work out.
I belive we shall see the bus system work much like it does now, however i belive the swipe for dispatch service will help then to reduce wait times.
I.e. if there is a wait fo 20mins at a resort for some reason (delay, or just planning belived there would be no need for bus at that time) a guest could swipe there card and request a bus, making dispatch aware there are guests waiting at said stop.
Now if these terminals had touch screen these could still be used by non resprt guests.
Now when a resort guest swipes it brings a personal greating, "Hi John" etc, adding a little personal magic, then you point on the map where you want to go, point at MK, then it say are all you party travling together today(taken from the info gathered at time of check-in), yes or no, then you click either how many are with you, then it could give you a rough wait time. Also when you use your card at a park or at another hotel, it asks you automagically if you are returning back to your resort. It can also make guests aware if they may need to Transfer i.e. monorail or to another bus.
Non guests can still use the system, however the interface just say "Please swipe you resort keycard, or press here" if you press here is does much the same as above but its not personalized.
Its makes no sence for Disney to stop non resort guests from using transport, I always drive from Resort to Resort whenever we go, but we stay of property so its easier for us.
This new system just makes it easier for Disney to offer a little more magic, make traveling easier for guests, and monitor popular routes etc.
As for the Swipe you card for a dispatch system that could just work out.
I belive we shall see the bus system work much like it does now, however i belive the swipe for dispatch service will help then to reduce wait times.
I.e. if there is a wait fo 20mins at a resort for some reason (delay, or just planning belived there would be no need for bus at that time) a guest could swipe there card and request a bus, making dispatch aware there are guests waiting at said stop.
Now if these terminals had touch screen these could still be used by non resprt guests.
Now when a resort guest swipes it brings a personal greating, "Hi John" etc, adding a little personal magic, then you point on the map where you want to go, point at MK, then it say are all you party travling together today(taken from the info gathered at time of check-in), yes or no, then you click either how many are with you, then it could give you a rough wait time. Also when you use your card at a park or at another hotel, it asks you automagically if you are returning back to your resort. It can also make guests aware if they may need to Transfer i.e. monorail or to another bus.
Non guests can still use the system, however the interface just say "Please swipe you resort keycard, or press here" if you press here is does much the same as above but its not personalized.
Its makes no sence for Disney to stop non resort guests from using transport, I always drive from Resort to Resort whenever we go, but we stay of property so its easier for us.
This new system just makes it easier for Disney to offer a little more magic, make traveling easier for guests, and monitor popular routes etc.
ImaYoyo
Active Member
Thanks for the advice, I gave myself a call and stuck with the same decision.
ImaYoyo
Active Member
The poster you're replying to is right, the DTD lot is full MAYBE once a year (New Years Eve). Most people forget about lots P and Q (near Cirque) which hold LOTS of spots, and usually less than 100 cars. DTD lot fills no more than 1 day per year. NOW, you may not be able to find a spot right beside the particular location you're interested in going, especially the marketplace, but west side always has plenty.
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
4? I take it you have never been to Pop Century. It has one stop--at the food court. At resorts with multiple stops (the moderates), they could have a couple at the main bus stop and just one at the others. Disney is very much aware of how many guests use a given bus stop and I'm sure they are also aware that they need enough of these kiosks that guests will not need to line up to use them, b/c many guests will simply not have the patience to do this (and the ones who have not quite been introduced to computers would be confused by them). I would also point out that most resorts have routes combined--Pop has 5 queues at their one bus stop, since the water parks are pretty much always set up so you ride the same bus to DTD and TL and BB is combined with either MGM or DAK depending on your resort, so there would be a max. of 5 kiosks per stop.
Well, then, maybe all the off site park goers could use lost P and O then, and leave the remaining lots for the people actually going to DTD. Great info!
ImaYoyo
Active Member
On a side note, it's not park-goers taking up those spots, it's Cast Members not parking in the Cast Lots. So if anyone sees a working CM (name tag, costume, ect) getting out of a car parked in the guest lot, feel free to let a manager or guest relations know. It is unacceptable that this is practice goes on. In fact, there have been many CMs that have had their vehicles towed over the past year for doing this, INCLUDING 1 area manager. SHAME!Well, then, maybe all the off site park goers could use lost P and O then, and leave the remaining lots for the people actually going to DTD. Great info!
OneLuckyMom
New Member
Oh goody - another line to stand in!:fork:
I can just see it now - you exit the MK after the fireworks, have to stand in a miserably long line to swipe your card, then have to stand in the line for the bus to your resort...
brkgnews
Well-Known Member
What they really need is RFID, where the system just senses your presence from your room card as you walk through. Of course, you'd probably need some strong zappers to do that, since most RFID access is based on a prox system, where you ahve to hold your chip right up to the sensor to register it.
PhilharMagician
Well-Known Member
Now the only actual entrance into TTC lot is thru the booths that I am aware of. Now I know you can come in on Vista Dr and bypass the booths, but this puts you into the MK resort area. When you cross over W Seven Seas Dr there is no parking lot entrance. Then on Floridian Way you have the exit ramp for the TTC lot.
Where is the other ramp to get into the lot?
The queue for what?
Last I checked, at a hotel stop, there are no 'stand here for MGM, stand here for MK' etc areas.
OneLuckyMom
New Member
At the Values there are.
Vernonpush
Well-Known Member
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
AKL does, as well...guess you haven't been to many resorts...Pop's queues are actually quite extensive
jasondiff
Member
You can make a U-turn from the MK exit (World Dr southbound) that puts you onto World Dr northbound just inside the toll booths. This is useful for people coming from the MK resorts, Fort Wilderness, and the Car Care Center who want to drive their own car into the MK lot.
Tornado
New Member
The company I work for in the UK (Tesco, a Supermarket, much like Wal*Mart) uses this system to monitor the queues at the checkouts. The software that runs it, actually runs off of Windows 3.1 (we're the BIGGEST company in the UK, and we still use Windows 3.freakin' 1) so I guess it must be pretty simple to work out.
niteobsrvr
Well-Known Member
Everyone is cracking me up here while they aregue back and forth.
In the last 7 years, of which I have worked for in transportation for a few of those, transportation has been a part of Resorts not Parks. While its one big property, budgeting each is separate. Transportation is provided by funding that comes from room sales.
The bus drivers have never enforced the resort guest only rule because it has been easier than arguing with people looking for a freebie. You have to make a trade-off between the convenience of a few for the sake of many. At Downtown Disney, we have turned people away who were not resort guests with managements blessing.
Also, park hopping does not entitle you to use of the busses. The official policy in fact is your parking pass is good at any park on that day and you should drive from one park to the other when you hop.
With the increased price of fuel, Disney now has every incentive in the world to limit its bus service to just those who are paying customers. Its fleet rivals some citys in size. In fact it was the 4 or 5th largest fleet in Florida if I remember correctly.
The kiosks that are mentioned have been in the planning stages for a while and work exactly the way some people have surmised. You scan your card, select your destination and enter the size of your party. Based on numbers and time interval, the computer system then determines the proper number of buses to send and when. The upper display then tells you approximately how long until your bus arrives.
Another part of this system that was tossed around was scanning cards on the actual busses upon entrance. There were a myriad of cool marketing reasons to do this but it also served to limit busses to resort guests.
In the last 7 years, of which I have worked for in transportation for a few of those, transportation has been a part of Resorts not Parks. While its one big property, budgeting each is separate. Transportation is provided by funding that comes from room sales.
The bus drivers have never enforced the resort guest only rule because it has been easier than arguing with people looking for a freebie. You have to make a trade-off between the convenience of a few for the sake of many. At Downtown Disney, we have turned people away who were not resort guests with managements blessing.
Also, park hopping does not entitle you to use of the busses. The official policy in fact is your parking pass is good at any park on that day and you should drive from one park to the other when you hop.
With the increased price of fuel, Disney now has every incentive in the world to limit its bus service to just those who are paying customers. Its fleet rivals some citys in size. In fact it was the 4 or 5th largest fleet in Florida if I remember correctly.
The kiosks that are mentioned have been in the planning stages for a while and work exactly the way some people have surmised. You scan your card, select your destination and enter the size of your party. Based on numbers and time interval, the computer system then determines the proper number of buses to send and when. The upper display then tells you approximately how long until your bus arrives.
Another part of this system that was tossed around was scanning cards on the actual busses upon entrance. There were a myriad of cool marketing reasons to do this but it also served to limit busses to resort guests.
CBOMB
Active Member
I think you got it right Merf. It can't be for fast pass with out a printer. It makes perfect sense to have one of these set up at each bus stop. You can monitor the number of guest waiting, and how long they have waited at each stop. This will especially be beneficial to multiple resort bus lines, which is just about everyone. It will be fairly easy to manage from the central dispatch point, at least I think it will. I'm sure they will have the capability to reset the machine when the bus departs. It might require a different approach at park closing, but I think it would be best to leave it in place all of the time. I know Disney is spending a lot trying to get their bus system up to standards, and I think this will go a long way in lowering the wait time for a bus.
Am I missing something? How would this stop non resort guests from using the buses?
I get the part about scaning your card and putting the number of guests in your party to tell dispatch to send a bus, but how does that prevent a non resort guest from coming up and just standing behind you or running up when the bus arrives? If you run to catch a bus that has just arrived and is off loading and loading it wouldn't make sense for you to swip your card at the kiosk would it?
Maybe I'm just slow and missing something.
I get the part about scaning your card and putting the number of guests in your party to tell dispatch to send a bus, but how does that prevent a non resort guest from coming up and just standing behind you or running up when the bus arrives? If you run to catch a bus that has just arrived and is off loading and loading it wouldn't make sense for you to swip your card at the kiosk would it?
Maybe I'm just slow and missing something.
Vernonpush
Well-Known Member
So I guess Disney dosen't want people staying off-property going to their resorts for lunch. Unless they have a way for people with ADRs at a resort to get a bus from the parks then there will be alot of people just skipping their ADRs. But I guess with the "Free dining plan" they might not want people eating at the resorts?