Complimentary Transportation Bus ever discontinued?

[LadyBlue]

I'm wondering, with all the budget cuts within the park and services. Could it be possible for Disney to discontinued their bus services from resorts to parks? If I were to look at the graph's this would save so much money for the parks. I could see Disney selling this as:

You can take Uber's, there are endless Drive share app's nowadays!
Buses doesn't fit the needs of a COVID world.
You pay a ticket price to use the transportation bus. Like Lighting Lane, the Bus Ticket's could be a flat fee for daily entry to the park. Such as $15 per guest, daily.

Prior to 2020 and 2021, I would never thought this or consider it a possibility, but honestly, I wouldn't be surpised if Disney does make this decision.

Also, what are some awful ways Disney could do to make extra money? How about we pay a fee to enter a souvenir shop? This is a joke btw.

 

[Chicken Guy]

Nah, it’d lose more money than it makes by a long-shot. Money would be lost to aforementioned Uber services, guests would travel less, which results in less money spent at other destinations on property, operations would become significantly less efficient- collecting bus fare and swiping cards are one of the most time-variable stages of transit operations-, and mix in the large number of people that would stop coming entirely. Also, their current parking infrastructure probably couldn’t handle a massive amount of additional guests shifting to driving. I don’t think there’s money to be made, but then again, this is Disney in 2021 we’re talking about.

 

[Muffinpants]

Lots of family's would just stop going. We almost rented a car for this trip I am on.. and I am thankful we cancelled it. I am to tiered to drive at the end of the night and just wanna hop on a bus and turn my brain off. So many family with 3-4 kids would need a huge suv to lug around strollers and the children.

 

[Weather_Lady]

Shhh... don't give Disney any ideas! If recent events have proved anything, it's that there's no amount of irreversible damage that present management won't consider inflicting upon the Disney brand or the Disney guest experience, if there's a penny to be made in the short term.

 

[ppete1975]

no.

The resorts need a way to get you to the park, most are too remote to expect everyone to walk or use an uber. If they did away with them it would impact the resorts more than almost any change they make. Its a necessary evil.

It would make as much sense as removing the boat that takes you from the parking lot to the entrance of the MK

 

[ppete1975]

Lots of family's would just stop going. We almost rented a car for this trip I am on.. and I am thankful we cancelled it. I am to tiered to drive at the end of the night and just wanna hop on a bus and turn my brain off. So many family with 3-4 kids would need a huge suv to lug around strollers and the children.

Thats why im going to miss the magical express, i was able to arrive at the airport and not think about traffic cars parking or messing with the rental companies. It was like being a kid again!!

Yes i know there will be options for the same affect, but having disney handle it and it being "free" was a nice gesture for what we pay for resorts.

 

[Muffinpants]

no.

The resorts need a way to get you to the park, most are too remote to expect everyone to walk or use an uber. If they did away with them it would impact the resorts more than almost any change they make. Its a necessary evil.

It would make as much sense as removing the boat that takes you from the parking lot to the entrance of the MK

If we had to drive anyway we would never stay on property.

 

[Weather_Lady]

Thats why im going to miss the magical express, i was able to arrive at the airport and not think about traffic cars parking or messing with the rental companies. It was like being a kid again!!

Yes i know there will be options for the same affect, but having disney handle it and it being "free" was a nice gesture for what we pay for resorts.

I agree. If it was getting too expensive, Disney could simply have raised room rates like it always does anyway, and people would still have felt like DME was a "free" perk -- one of the many (every one of which has now been eliminated) that justified the cost of an onsite stay.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

If I'm not mistaken, I believe a lot of the budget for the buses and boats come from the resorts. That being said, a "transportation pass" wouldn't shock me. For $X Per day or per visit you get unlimited access to all WDW transportation. Which then all gets managed in Genie. I would absolutely hate that, but it wouldn't surprise me.

 

[Lilofan]

I'm wondering, with all the budget cuts within the park and services. Could it be possible for Disney to discontinued their bus services from resorts to parks? If I were to look at the graph's this would save so much money for the parks. I could see Disney selling this as:

You can take Uber's, there are endless Drive share app's nowadays!
Buses doesn't fit the needs of a COVID world.
You pay a ticket price to use the transportation bus. Like Lighting Lane, the Bus Ticket's could be a flat fee for daily entry to the park. Such as $15 per guest, daily.

Prior to 2020 and 2021, I would never thought this or consider it a possibility, but honestly, I wouldn't be surpised if Disney does make this decision.

Also, what are some awful ways Disney could do to make extra money? How about we pay a fee to enter a souvenir shop? This is a joke btw.

That would create a nightmare on the local WDW roads. There are not enough rental cars in the fleet of companies to even support this and if so the local roads would be gridlock day and night. The plus side of riding a bus is if one had too many drinks one doesn't have to worry about drinking then driving.

 

[Brad Bishop]

I think it's just a matter of time before they start charging, in some way, for on-site transportation.

They'll sell it by telling you how you're doing good by paying them to make the park more "green".

Laugh at it if you like, but it's the exact same tactic they used for resort parking.

Bob isn't going to leave anything "free" on the shelf.

Maybe you'll pay an extra transportation fee for you and each of your guests when you arrive at your on-site resort or maybe you by some kind of day-pass if you're staying off-site.

I can't believe this is not going to happen, eventually.

 

[ppete1975]

I agree. If it was getting too expensive, Disney could simply have raised room rates like it always does anyway, and people would still have felt like DME was a "free" perk -- one of the many (every one of which has now been eliminated) that justified the cost of an onsite stay.

Exactly, sad part is you are still paying for DME. If they itemized what the resorts cost im sure its still factored in, along with free parking and free magic band. Its just someone looking at every cost and being like, that shouldnt be free. Yet all of that was factored into the cost of the resort prior. And they sure havent said we have removed this perk and reduced the cost of the hotel.

Thats the biggest thing to remember with all of the cost cutting that they have done. Your ticket, resort, whatever was factored for these additions, perks or experiences, when they are removed.. you are still paying for them. When there werent fireworks.. you were still paying for them, but the tickets didnt go down.

now i could see the busses needing a ticket or magic band scan to board

 

[LadyBlue]

If I'm not mistaken, I believe a lot of the budget for the buses and boats come from the resorts. That being said, a "transportation pass" wouldn't shock me. For $X Per day or per visit you get unlimited access to all WDW transportation. Which then all gets managed in Genie. I would absolutely hate that, but it wouldn't surprise me.

Yes! Exactly! I truly belive we will be soon paying a "transportation pass." Oi.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

I think it's just a matter of time before they start charging, in some way, for on-site transportation.

They'll sell it by telling you how you're doing good by paying them to make the park more "green".

Laugh at it if you like, but it's the exact same tactic they used for resort parking.

Bob isn't going to leave anything "free" on the shelf.

Maybe you'll pay an extra transportation fee for you and each of your guests when you arrive at your on-site resort or maybe you by some kind of day-pass if you're staying off-site.

I can't believe this is not going to happen, eventually.

My first thought was they would include it in the oft rumored "resort fee". But thinking more about it, they'd have several loopholes including off-property guests boarding at Springs. And people who just wanted to hop on and ride the Skyliner from IG or DHS. So I think they would go down some sort of validation path.

Note: This is purely speculation. There is no active rumor stating this is even a possibility right now. IMO, I just think it would be a natural evolution though based on the current decision making.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Would make no sense IMHO.
I know there's going to be people quoting me with memes about nothing that Disney does making sense. Sorry for pointing out how predictable some of you are...

 

[Brad Bishop]

My first thought was they would include it in the oft rumored "resort fee". But thinking more about it, they'd have several loopholes including off-property guests boarding at Springs. And people who just wanted to hop on and ride the Skyliner from IG or DHS. So I think they would go down some sort of validation path.

Note: This is purely speculation. There is no active rumor stating this is even a possibility right now. IMO, I just think it would be a natural evolution though based on the current decision making.

There is no active rumor. Why would they include it in "resort fees" when they already charge resort fees and don't include it? I think it'll be a secondary paid item OR resort fees will be increased to cover it. You won't get "transportation" and the current "resort fees".

The more I think about this the more I think it'll be an extra "transportation fee" at the resort to cover each member of the party for their stay (I'd even bet they'd make it mandatory so if you rented a car or showed up in your own car then you're still paying for it - that way they can claim, "We're encouraging you to "go green"!" - it's all about the optics).

I feel like, with the way Bob is, that if he included it in the resort, even with raising resort fees, that his brain would still be stuck on, "Why am I giving this away for free???"

For those who think they'd need to build more parking if they got rid of, or started charging for transportation: Why wouldn't they just increase their parking fees? That way they don't have to build a new lot AND they can guarantee space on all but the busiest of days.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I imagine the cost of building enough parking wouldn’t make it worthwhile.

 

[twilight mitsuk]

If I'm not mistaken, I believe a lot of the budget for the buses and boats come from the resorts. That being said, a "transportation pass" wouldn't shock me. For $X Per day or per visit you get unlimited access to all WDW transportation. Which then all gets managed in Genie. I would absolutely hate that, but it wouldn't surprise me.

Or a resort fee

 

[JIMINYCR]

This is one perk Disney will never discontinue. Theres too many guests relying on the service and there just wouldnt be enough rides available for that many guests on property to use a ride service. I could see them either adding on a fee to your resort stay or checking resort status to limit rides only to guests and restrict those not staying on property from boarding buses unless paying a fee.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Yes! Exactly! I truly belive we will be soon paying a "transportation pass." Oi.

And it will be the same price as parking your car in the resort parking lot. Coincidence? I think not. But, seriously, no they won't stop running. That would be some of the dumbest business decisions ever made. They are already on that path, but I don't think they will make the luxury of size become the curse of size.