Coming soon to a Tram Near You...

[joel_maxwell]

The trams have opperated for years with out doors! I just don't feel they're needed.

yep, but in this lawsuit happy society... anything is possible.

sign reads: Do Not Touch OR You Will Die.... person touches, dies, and family sues winning millions for emotional damages. i think the tram is a ticking time bomb before some parent loses their child overboard and lawsuit city here we come.

I prefer to walk, it's the quickest way

And Merf, put yourself in their place, it most certainly isn't the most glamorous job in the world, but they get out there and do it. I've never had problems with cast members in parking.

me either..

i dont think that the pay of parking CM's should be in question, it is the quest relations CM's at Epcot that merf has made it clear on several occasions that he likes to go complain too about parking.... those people dont make enough.

 

[TravisMT81]

So when you go to a parking garage at the airport do you get the "service" you are paying for?

 

[ChrisFL]

It should direct you to an open parking space and not down a row that is full so you have to exit the parking lot and then drive all the way around and re enter and try again - merely guessing where you can park.

Or worse, driving backwards down the row or parking backwards in a space. It endangers those who do it and others - but supposedly safety first.

I can also personally attest to this exact issue and it was CHAOS!!

 

[montyz81]

Maybe they could use the same tram doors that are on the Backlot toor. Thos seem to work quickly.

 

[ChrisFL]

They could just have a continuous omnimover with a roof over it, going to the parking lot and back, but then people probably wouldn't get off, they'd just stay on it saying "woohoo, $11 for our disney vacation"

 

[Mad Stitch]

It has been awhile since I have been on the backlot tour. Don’t those doors need to be closed by hand individually? If the parking trams were like that it would severely slow down the load and unload process.

 

[montyz81]

It has been awhile since I have been on the backlot tour. Don’t those doors need to be closed by hand individually? If the parking trams were like that it would severely slow down the load and unload process.

I guess an updated version of them that make them close automatically and faster.

 

[Rob562]

So when you go to a parking garage at the airport do you get the "service" you are paying for?

Well, at BWI, they have an automated system with detectors over each parking space. They can tell whether the space is occupied and display either a red or green LED above. At the end of each aisle is a sign saying how many open spaces there are in that aisle, and at the garage entrance there's a large sign showing how many spaces are available on each level. *That* is worth the parking fee.

In fact, that would be one heck of a "futuristic" upgrade to install in the Epcot lot. Have an in-pavement sensor in each spot, and a sign at the end of each row indicating whetehr there were empty spaces or not. Leave it turned off during the day when there are CMs on-duty directing the flow of cars, but turn it on when they leave.

My local Six Flags park (Six Flags New England) charges $15 to park. They have a tram, but you have to walk across the lot to the corner closest to the park entrance to even get the tram. And the parking lanes were most likely designed by someone used to designing lots for a strip mall, because that's how they're laid out. Absolutely no thought was put into them in terms of mass movements of cars in or out. They have people out there directing traffic on only the busiest of days, and it's usually someone half-heartedly waving an orange flag in a general direction without paying attention as to whetehr there are actually any availabel spots in the direction they're pointing. At Epcot, if I'm arriving in the afternoon or evening, I tend to bypass the regular parking areas and drive down and around to the DDE/Kennel Parking area, where I know I can find spots.

I guess an updated version of them that make them close automatically and faster.

The problem is that anything hydraulic or otherwise automated would require auto-reverse sensors. To close the gull-wing doors on the backlot trams, the CM stands at the front of the tram and holds down a button while watching up the car along the end of the rows. If anyone sticks their legs or other objects out, they stop the doors. On most attractions where there's an automatic door closing or lapbar movement, there's a CM walking along at the point of closure monitoring.
Having a single CM walking the tram to close doors could take a while, especially at park close where the tram makes multiple stops and people get off at each one.

-Rob

 

[the-reason14]

I see both sides, yea if your a local and dish out alot of cash to park every other day, then yea, you should be getting some sort of direction. But at the same time, it shouldnt be that big a deal. Whenever we are in a situation where we arent on the busses and have to park, we usually find a place thats closer to the entrance or an easier spot than where the other folk go. But it would be best if they discontinued parking fees if you arent being directed, but this is disney, then want all the money they can get.

 

[ClemsonTigger]

And if people are getting injured, wouldn't putting in doors to stop the injuries be a good idea?

Yes, I think that would be an appropriate action.

 

[ClemsonTigger]

Well, at BWI, they have an automated system with detectors over each parking space. They can tell whether the space is occupied and display either a red or green LED above. At the end of each aisle is a sign saying how many open spaces there are in that aisle, and at the garage entrance there's a large sign showing how many spaces are available on each level. *That* is worth the parking fee.

-Rob

There isn't any value I can see provided by a parking fee other than your ability to park in the proximity of your destination. $36/day at Newark International cannot be used in the same sentence as value or worth...

 

[mcjaco]

I used to handle liability claims for airports throughout the country, BWI being one of them. It sounds like the parking lot is the only thing techically savy at that airport. I give that system two years before it's inoperable.

As for the parking gripes: 1) if you're a local and visit frequently, you should know how to park at any of the parks, quit complaining; 2) people can't figure out how to park in any other parking lots across the country, why expect them to get brains just because they're at WDW?; 3) doors on the trams will come, it's inevitable from American stupidity, 4) some people have way too much free time to think of things to complain about.

 

[mousermerf]

Tampa International Airport charges $9 a day to park in the economy lot which has the sensor system mentioned above, and lists how many spaces are free on each level.

You park, follow clear signs to the elevator, then ride a little bus to the terminal.

Maybe I expect something more from Disney - but don't pretend that the traffic not being directed or handled at Epcot isn't dangerous. At minimum 30 cars end up parked in closed lots each day there. That's 30 obvious times people had to drive the wrong way down the road - each and every day, often times more.

You can't pretend that's safe or something responsible Disney should ignore. In particular - it's something they didn't ignore in the past when they more fully staffed the lot.

 

[Polyman]

Amen - MCJACO. Spend a couple hours in the Epcot lot like I do and you wonder how some people ever got out of their driveway. And a lot of them get PO'd when you do direct them. They want to park where they want to park. I'm sure you've seen everyone in a steady line (or 2 when doubling), when some idiot pulls out of the line and parks wherever he wants, thus creating a chain reaction of "self-parking" and then chaos.

FYI - When I'm spieling I never wait until the tram is full unless it fills in 3 to 4 minutes. That is the maximum I will wait before getting underway. It is just not fair to those that boarded first to sit out there any longer than that. Of course, then I get cussed at or get the one finger wave for the ones I left behind. You can't win no matter what you do. There are no hard and fast rules as far as load time goes. When I train, I tell the trainee, no more than 3 or 4 minutes for pick-up. But it's up to each individual spieler.

 

[mousermerf]

Amen - MCJACO. Spend a couple hours in the Epcot lot like I do and you wonder how some people ever got out of their driveway. And a lot of them get PO'd when you do direct them. They want to park where they want to park. I'm sure you've seen everyone in a steady line (or 2 when doubling), when some idiot pulls out of the line and parks wherever he wants, thus creating a chain reaction of "self-parking" and then chaos.

FYI - When I'm spieling I never wait until the tram is full unless it fills in 3 to 4 minutes. That is the maximum I will wait before getting underway. It is just not fair to those that boarded first to sit out there any longer than that. Of course, then I get cussed at or get the one finger wave for the ones I left behind. You can't win no matter what you do. There are no hard and fast rules as far as load time goes. When I train, I tell the trainee, no more than 3 or 4 minutes for pick-up. But it's up to each individual spieler.

If more then 1 tram ran at Epcot, people wouldn't be so upset that they missed the tram.

 

[Polyman]

Main Entrance Management decision. Neither individual CM's, nor the Coordinator, can make that call.

 

[mousermerf]

Main Entrance Management decision. Neither individual CM's, nor the Coordinator, can make that call.

And you act as though the CM's getting the guest conplaints can't convey them to those groups.

You can take a metric, count the number of guests in a day who have a significant guest dissatisfier thanks to the operation (i'd say ing them off enough to have them give you an obscenity is definitely a guest dissasifier) and then you report your finding back to management.

The "it's not my problem" defense wont work with me.

 

[Polyman]

Did you ever hear of the saying, "Falling on Deaf Ears"? We suggest and report till we're blue in the face.

 

[Polyman]

Believe me Merf. I'm as frustrated as you are the way some of the operation works (or doesn't work). Like I said, I can see what's wrong, I know how to fix it, but I can't get anybody to listen and change it.:brick:

 

[PigletIsMyCat]

First of all, if you're charging me for parking, I do expect some semblence of order while parking. I hate chaos parkers, people driving the wrong way, and guests exiting their cars and walking down the aisle WHERE I'M TRYING TO PARK. Epcot does seem to have the most lax Parking CMs.

I am not paying for a close parking spot, or a covered one, or a valet one. I am forced to pay to park, it's the only place I can park, and I don't have a choice. They could actually DO their job. And, no, it's not all of them, at all the parks, but that makes it even worse - you're used to appropriate Parking CMs, then you're buffeted by backwards-drivers and Guests walking in front of your car with a stroller.

Also, Parking CMs make $12?!?! Wow, I went into the wrong line of business... But it must stink, being out there in all kinds of weather, dealing with rogue parkers, etc.

They should do away with the two lanes into parking lots - have one CLEARLY 'Handicapped ONLY' or whatever - that merge when you turn down the next row can get hairy, I've had a few close calls and angry gestures. Also, while I don't think we need doors on the trams, I can see the huge liability door-less trams pose to the less-thinking in the global population. I mean, come on, we have instructions on toothpick boxes...

'Hold stick near center of its length. Moisten pointed end in mouth. Insert in tooth space, blunt edge next to gum. Use gentle in-out motion.'