Changes to bus transportation for the water parks begins this weekend

[Disone]

Today's Disney is a walmarted product sold at premium prices, It USED to be a premium product back in the days before Iger.

Honestly I disagree. I think Disney has greatly benefited from Iger. I do think wdw is in much better condition now with a much more optimistic future then it was ten years ago. In 2006 it was pretty bleak.

That all said.... Did not realize they were also adding 15 dollar preferred parking option at the water parks? Have not seen this announcement. That does leave a lot to be desired

 

[disneyflush]

Need an announcement from Disney on something that will save customers money somehow. Need to balance their announcement range at least a little bit.

 

[IMFearless]

Yeah I've never understood why they cannot hit a steady schedule. Huge cities do it. Comparatively, WDW's bus network isn't THAT complex since most routes function as shuttles.

I think the reason that they don't run buses on a fixed schedule is that it would make it difficult to adapt to changing needs...

For example, a heavy thunder storm causes the cancellation of Festival of Fantasy. All of a sudden, 20,000 guests are leaving the park en mass.

Or the monorail to Epcot fails, all of a sudden the buses need to take over.

I think on the whole the system works quite well. Most of the time the dispatchers seem responsive to the needs of guests.

Crunching the numbers, if around 4000 guests are travelling to each water park via bus daily, they will need to run a near constant service to transfer them from AK or DS. It's around 600 guests per hour - or approx 10 buses an hour.

The flip side is that all guests traveling to AK will skip the intermediate stop at BB every time.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

I think the reason that they don't run buses on a fixed schedule is that it would make it difficult to adapt to changing needs...

Also, the buses run frequently enough that there is no need to plan schedules around them.

If I take a bus to work and it runs every 30 or 60 minutes, then I need to know the fixed schedule so I can catch my bus.

At WDW, all I need to know is to allow up to 20 minutes (or so) for a bus to come, and make sure I'm early enough to make any scheduled dining or Fastpass times.

 

[Phil12]

This is most likely Disney's first step in a gradual phase out of the water parks.

 

[ford91exploder]

This is most likely Disney's first step in a gradual phase out of the water parks.

Would not surprise me as water parks require expensive maintenance and don't offer merchandising and dining upsells....

 

[BrerJon]

It will be interesting to see if the water parks get any love, or even direct bus routes again once Volcano Bay opens, after which Disney will have a real challenger to guide them on how to run a water park properly.

 

[ToTBellHop]

It will be interesting to see if the water parks get any love, or even direct bus routes again once Volcano Bay opens in December, after which Disney will have a real challenger to guide them on how to run a water park properly.

I think the Disney water parks are fine...sure, a new slide would be nice, but the water parks are the least of WDW's problems.

 

[Phil12]

I think the Disney water parks are fine...sure, a new slide would be nice, but the water parks are the least of WDW's problems.

Central Florida water parks have for years been plagued by repeated bad publicity concerning sexual predators in the parks. Considering the liability issues involved, I think Disney would prefer to shut down both Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon in the coming years.

 

[Disone]

I really doubt highly the water parks elimination is on their agenda. More likely in my opinion, is the elimination of the monorail system. They are running those 12 trains way past their intended operational lifespan with absolutely no plans for replacement on the horizon. In fact if they don't act now the company that produced them will no longer be able to replace them. They've developed a new model that will no longer fit on the Walt Disney World beam and have discontinued that scale.

 

[unkadug]

I really doubt highly the water parks elimination is on their agenda. More likely in my opinion, is the elimination of the monorail system. They are running those 12 trains way past their intended operational lifespan with absolutely no plans for replacement on the horizon. In fact if they don't act now the company that produced them will no longer be able to replace them. They've developed a new model that will no longer fit on the Walt Disney World beam and have discontinued that scale.

That would be the absolute last straw for me..

 

[xdan0920]

That would be the absolute last straw for me..

Me as well. I don't like the whole..."that's it!!! I'm selling my DVC and never going back drama" but, I will sell, and I won't be back.

 

[COProgressFan]

Another squeeze, where their loyal customers lose. Sad and unnecessary.

Coincidental timing? They're cutting the bus service to the Water Parks, while introducing the preferred parking model.

Starting June 05 at Blizzard Beach and June 19 at Typhoon, the $15 preferred spots get you closest to the entrance.

1) Cut the bus routes. 2) Make people want to drive. 3) Now charge them a fee to park close to entrance.

Welcome to Disney 2016.

Wow, first I've heard about premium parking at the water parks. Those lots aren't even that big to begin with. Seems completely unnecessary.

 

[IMFearless]

For $15 I would expect to be carried to my vehicle!

 

[Witchy Chick]

And by adding GPS the scheduling system could grab an empty bus near a bus station full of passengers and pick them up, That would require monitoring of the bus stops either remotely by video link or a CM stationed there but that would also upgrade security at the bus stops and eliminate unnecessary trips as if there are no PAX at the buses scheduled stop don't bother stopping there but grab the bus stop with a full queue.

This would align bus trips with demand and probably even SAVE money while enhancing guest satisfaction.

That would be creepy.

 

[Vaughn4380]

In fact if they don't act now the company that produced them will no longer be able to replace them. They've developed a new model that will no longer fit on the Walt Disney World beam and have discontinued that scale.

Any source or link for this info? I have to think the manufacturer would always be willing to build an order to any scale required by the customer. If true, this would put a major nail in the coffin for future monorails.

 

[ToTBellHop]

For $15 I would expect to be carried to my vehicle!

No, but you'll get one water bottle per guest. Disney charges $3/bottle, so at five guests you break even.

 

[IMFearless]

Seriously thought you were joking about the water! That is literally too much! Disney is seriously becoming the type of tacky amusement park business that Walt originally tried so hard to build Disneyland not to mimic.

 

[Disone]

Any source or link for this info? I have to think the manufacturer would always be willing to build an order to any scale required by the customer. If true, this would put a major nail in the coffin for future monorails.

Admittedly I'm playing a little bit of connect-the-dots on that. I don't have a specific Source but Bombardier transportation declined to put in a bid for Disneyland's new monorail trains citing that the scale was far too small for them to make a competitive bid on. And now they've come up with the Innovia monorail, which requires a larger and wider beamway. Today they could still do it because they are still completing orders of older model trains. However their focus is now on innovia.

 

[ford91exploder]

Admittedly I'm playing a little bit of connect-the-dots on that. I don't have a specific Source but Bombardier transportation declined to put in a bid for Disneyland's new monorail trains citing that the scale was far too small for them to make a competitive bid on. And now they've come up with the Innovia monorail, which requires a larger and wider beamway. Today they could still do it because they are still completing orders of older model trains. However their focus is now on innovia.

More likely Bombardier did not want to deal with Disney's relentless nickel and diming so they declined to do business with Disney.