Bus Transportation Slow Downs

[Clark Griswold]

Bad news...I do understand Disney taking a more "economical" approach to cut back on fuel costs. I can just picture the scene on my first night at Disney in July while waiting for the bus back to the Wilderness Lodge from Epcot after Illuminations.

 

[uklad79]

Bendy bus as we call them here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Articulated_bus

As for the bus stops they could be changed and then the buses could carry many more people.

 

[uklad79]

One of these would be better

 

[OneLuckyMom]

The only time I've had to wait for a second or third bus to show up was at a park closing (or after fireworks/parade in the case of MK, when the park stays open beyond that time).

While "bendy" busses would be more efficient in that specific case, they've got to eat a bunch more fuel than standard busses. And since the only time they'd fill them is at park closing, I don't see how in a cost-benefit sense, they'd work, unless they sat at the parks and didn't leave until nearly full - and I sure as heck don't want to be sitting around waiting for a bus that size to fill during the middle of the day when I just want to go back to the hotel for a swim...

 

[uklad79]

The only time I've had to wait for a second or third bus to show up was at a park closing (or after fireworks/parade in the case of MK, when the park stays open beyond that time).

While "bendy" busses would be more efficient in that specific case, they've got to eat a bunch more fuel than standard busses. And since the only time they'd fill them is at park closing, I don't see how in a cost-benefit sense, they'd work, unless they sat at the parks and didn't leave until nearly full - and I sure as heck don't want to be sitting around waiting for a bus that size to fill during the middle of the day when I just want to go back to the hotel for a swim...

They make Hybrid versions so it would make sense for those to be used. If they only had say a third of the fleet using them they would make sense because when a park closes they would clear the parks much faster saving some gas costs as less buses would be run and staff wouldn't be needed as late and not as many needed at that time to clear the parks. So if they used (total guess) 30 buses now to clear a park they could use 20 larger buses instead and as people would be moved quicker the buses would need to make less round trips to clear the back log and guests would be happier about getting back faster. During the day the buses could be used for the larger resorts such as Pop, All Stars etc.

 

[dvitali]

IF I knew how tall disney underpass and bridges are I would recommend maybe a double decker buses to carry twice amount of passenger to Pop and All-star. On a beautiful night one can ride inside the bus in peace and quited and on the top of the buses you can have all of your chearleader yelling their head off.:ROFLOLNow that I think about it Let Disney keep the bridges and underpasses the same height):ROFLOL::ROFLOL:

 

[WildLodgeFan]

They use them in Europe a lot.
A bendy bus looks like two buses joined together by an accordian section.
As the bus goes around a corner, it 'bends'.

Wild - I'll have to google up a photo of that!

 

[WildLodgeFan]

bendy bus photo

Wow, thanks for the visual!

 

[WildLodgeFan]

IF I knew how tall disney underpass and bridges are I would recommend maybe a double decker buses to carry twice amount of passenger to Pop and All-star. On a beautiful night one can ride inside the bus in peace and quited and on the top of the buses you can have all of your chearleader yelling their head off.:ROFLOLNow that I think about it Let Disney keep the bridges and underpasses the same height):ROFLOL::ROFLOL:

OMG, I spewed my soda over my desk - absolutely classic!

Though seriously I thought about how fun the double decker buses would be as well, but wasn't sure how many routes they could actually work on.

 

[fosse76]

The only time I've had to wait for a second or third bus to show up was at a park closing (or after fireworks/parade in the case of MK, when the park stays open beyond that time).

While "bendy" busses would be more efficient in that specific case, they've got to eat a bunch more fuel than standard buses. And since the only time they'd fill them is at park closing, I don't see how in a cost-benefit sense, they'd work, unless they sat at the parks and didn't leave until nearly full - and I sure as heck don't want to be sitting around waiting for a bus that size to fill during the middle of the day when I just want to go back to the hotel for a swim...

They could easily only use them during the morning rush and park closings when they would fill to capacity, and then use the regular buses for the rest of the day/least used routes. It would also reduce the wear and tear of the bus fleet. And though it may take more fuel to run those extended buses than a regular bus, it isn't double the consumption, yet the park would move nearly twice as many, so there would be fuel savings. But I agree with a previous poster that said the infrastructure for these buses to pick-up and drop-off people doesn't exist, and the construction costs might exceed what they are willing to invest at the moment.