Demo bus at Disney Transport

[10 min. to wdw]

maybe another method would be the style of doors like they have on kilamanjaro safaris, I realize that some one has to manually close them but i'm sure disney could come up with a way for a electric motor to close it. with safety in mind they could get electric eyes or something to that effect and modify the current trams or replace the aging ones with this. it would save them the cost of rehabing the ttc tunnel.

 

[bamboo7]

Originally posted by 10 min. to wdw
maybe another method would be the style of doors like they have on kilamanjaro safaris, I realize that some one has to manually close them but i'm sure disney could come up with a way for a electric motor to close it. with safety in mind they could get electric eyes or something to that effect and modify the current trams or replace the aging ones with this. it would save them the cost of rehabing the ttc tunnel.

this is all a definite possability. i really don't know what sort of shape they are in, after all these years (as far as how well they run and how reliable they are) but they could possbily keep the exsisting cabs and just put different trailers on.

Another issue. I know that when there is lightening in the area, they stop running trams in the parking lot. I don't know if they stop running them at the backstage tour. Maybe they would have to because you aren't dealing with huge open areas like in the parking lots. If they went to a bus system would that solve that problem? i have no idea.

 

[10 min. to wdw]

another theroy

I thought of this after reading your post:

Keep the current tractor portions or replace if real bad. make new trailers similar to the old or new monorails. with doors roofs and lights, may sound expensive but I think they could be made cheaper than replacing with busses that go for well over $300,000 and have no proven lifecycle info. that would solve all problems. If you wanted to you could make the front of the tractor look similar to the monorail. just a thought

 

[Invero]

Going back to the original topic at hand...

We now have two more demo buses at Disney Transport.


The first is a Gillig Advantage from Broward County Transit. It seems to be a nicer bus, drivers area is innovative and well laid out. However, the passenger windows are poorly designed. They are designed so that from the outside, the windows are uniform. However, from the inside, this means the lower deck passengers get the "bathtub" effect. The bottom of the windows will be level with your neck/chin. The rear deck area will have windows adjacent to your thigh.

The second is an Orion VII demo bus. I personally do not like this bus. It's very uninviting on the inside, unattractive on the outside, and the drivers area needs a lot of work.

 

[s25843]

I like the Orion Better

Thanks Again for the News!

 

[10 min. to wdw]

I drove a Orion today and Gillig not the same model but coming from a drivers veiw the orion is alot smother and easier to manuver as well as a nicer bus in my opion. however the orion i drove did not have arear door and had a aircraft style interior, Reading lamps and recliner seats a place to plug in headphones.

 

[Invero]

Originally posted by 10 min. to wdw
I drove a Orion today and Gillig not the same model but coming from a drivers veiw the orion is alot smother and easier to manuver as well as a nicer bus in my opion. however the orion i drove did not have arear door and had a aircraft style interior, Reading lamps and recliner seats a place to plug in headphones.

I'm assuming you're talking about a suburban Orion V, and a Gillig Phantom, correct?

It's hard to compare standard floor buses with low-floor buses, though. Although they have similar styling cues, the Orion VII is a completely different bus than the V. Although I did not take it out for a test drive, I'm sure it handles just fine. Certainly much better than the ill-fated Orion VI... Orion's first and flawed attempt at a low-floor bus.

The one thing I did like about the Gillig Advantage is that it's the only low-floor bus on the market to use standard sized tires. All other low-floor buses use smaller low-profile tires. The standard sized tire allows for a better ride, and much better braking systems. The low-profile brakes are also super expensive.

 

[Budke]

Invero, you're right. This should get back to the topic at hand (or at least fly off on a whole new tangent).

Originally posted by Invero about the VanHool AG30

It's got a full low floor, and as configured with 4 doors, has 45 seats. Wheelchair positions do not take up seats. Instead, they have padded standee rails for that area. Take out the rear-most door, and you could add another 6 seats at least. By comparison, the LFS has 35 seats (29 with two wheelchairs)

I like the idea of wheelchair positions that don't have folding seats. It seems (without experiencing it) that this would be more efficient and faster to load (and somedays, I prefer to stand anyway).

When buses are dispatched at Disney, is any special thought given to passengers in wheelchairs? I remember about 5 years ago, each day we'd be at a stop with somone in a wheelchair who would have to wait for the next bus, hoping it would have an available space. This last May, I never saw anyone need to wait. I don't know if that's because the newer busses have greater capacity for guests in wheelchairs or if there were fewer impared guests on property.

Anyway, does transportation know which hotels have x number guests who need this service, or does it all just work out for the best.

 

[Invero]

Originally posted by Budke
I like the idea of wheelchair positions that don't have folding seats. It seems (without experiencing it) that this would be more efficient and faster to load (and somedays, I prefer to stand anyway).

I like this too, only because it means that I don't have to tell someone they can't board, because someone refuses to give up thier seat. Yes, this does happen. One time, I had an EMPTY bus, and this one family refused to move to another empty seat. *sigh* For those concerned about sacrificing seats, the way VanHool had it, it really didn't sacrifice a noticable amount of seating area.

As for the two demo buses that we got in, the Orion and the Gillig, both have wheelchair positions behind each front wheelwell, with a ramp at the front door. Each wheelchair securment area takes up 4 seats. 2 side seats, and 2 forward facing seats. This is how most transit agencies have it set up, so that the driver doesn't have to leave the fare box. We at Disney prefer the ramp to be in the rear, so that the guest does not need to navigate around the front wheel wells. (this would be an impossible task for those in rented scooters who may not have fine tuned thier driving skills yet.) Our securment area by the rear door takes up only three side facing seats per securement area.

Originally posted by Budke
When buses are dispatched at Disney, is any special thought given to passengers in wheelchairs? I remember about 5 years ago, each day we'd be at a stop with somone in a wheelchair who would have to wait for the next bus, hoping it would have an available space. This last May, I never saw anyone need to wait. I don't know if that's because the newer busses have greater capacity for guests in wheelchairs or if there were fewer impared guests on property.

Back then, not all of our buses were lift-equipped. We also didn't have radios to communicate with central dispatch. However, now 100% of our buses are lift or ramp equipped, and have multi-channel radios. In addition, because of our flexible dispatching system, in the case that a bus cannot accommodate a guest travelling with a wheelchair, we can send out another bus that will go directly to them, and take care of them. Previously, buses were on fixed routes, and could not deviate.

 

[10 min. to wdw]

Originally posted by Invero
I'm assuming you're talking about a suburban Orion V, and a Gillig Phantom, correct?

It's hard to compare standard floor buses with low-floor buses, though. Although they have similar styling cues, the Orion VII is a completely different bus than the V. Although I did not take it out for a test drive, I'm sure it handles just fine. Certainly much better than the ill-fated Orion VI... Orion's first and flawed attempt at a low-floor bus.

The one thing I did like about the Gillig Advantage is that it's the only low-floor bus on the market to use standard sized tires. All other low-floor buses use smaller low-profile tires. The standard sized tire allows for a better ride, and much better braking systems. The low-profile brakes are also super expensive.

You are right on the models and everthing else you said. also they both have the wheelchair lifts in the front and I could imagine for a exp. wheelchair bound person it would be a tight turn. however I have driven new flyers low floor buses and was not very impressed with the whole setup. I know riders like them, but I don't plain and simple. I can also understand why disney likes them.

 

[Bagheera]

Anybody have any official info on the current status of this? Someone on another board is posting that CMs are saying that the VanHool AG300 is coming and that they're talking about reconfiguring the MK parking lot. Any truth to this?

 

[Invero]

I haven't heard anything about reconfiguring the MK parking lot... but that doesnt mean nothings going around. However, if they were to do that, they'd have some major construction for the tram tunnel... Seven Seas is a major major road... doing construction on that bridge would be hellatious for us drivers.

 

[niteobsrvr]

Originally posted by Invero
I haven't heard anything about reconfiguring the MK parking lot... but that doesnt mean nothings going around. However, if they were to do that, they'd have some major construction for the tram tunnel... Seven Seas is a major major road... doing construction on that bridge would be hellatious for us drivers.

I doubt that they would reconfigure the tram tunnel right away or maybe even not at all due to the fact that a total disruption of traffic on 7 Seas would be a nightmare. I beleive the interim solution would be to reopen the old cast entrance gate off of 7-seas as well as the ticket center gate directly across from it which would allow the busses to then cross 7-seas with the help of a security guard or parking cast member directing traffic.

The really complicated question to ask is who will drive them. They will definitely be serviced along with all the other busses which means they will need to be operated on the roadways. Theoretically, the people transporting them from around property to bus maintenance will have to have a CDL. They also will meet all of the other requirements regarding weight and passenger count to require a CDL.

Will Parking lot trams be merged with busses so as not to have to train a group of employees for a CDL license. Especially since Parking has a lot more college program people working in it and a fair amount of turnover due to the working vconditions. Further more, even if there were a way around the licensing issue, would the bus driver union, The Teamsters, make an issue of it in order to bring those jobs under their jurisdiction?

 

[mrtoad]

Originally posted by niteobsrvr
Yep, Thats it. Keep in mind most other Disney jobs start at $6.60 and hour and top out around $ 11.00 an hour after about 10 years of service. Busses tops out at 13.00 or so after 10 years under the current contract.

There are Few things to look at.

1. Drivers dont have to put up with all the crap that a normal city bus driver does including crazy people, drug dealers/users and really bad traffic.

2. Welcome to the state of FLorida where at least for now everything pays way less than up north. Part of this is due to the number of people who move to this state everyday looking for jobs. Part of this is due to the lack of competition in the job market in most of FLorida. The big industry is tourism. We dont have a lot of manufacturing and the like as one does up North.

3. While everyone beleives Disney prices to be high, keep in mind how much higher they would be if we all were paid wages equivalent to our northern counterparts.

There are pages of things that could be written here regarding cast members, guest service, our daily jobs. A point to ponder on your next visit when something isn't quite right and you are upset: IS the person immediatley in front of me where my frustration should go?

The answer is probalby not. However, if you are reasonable and treat the cast member with respect and dignity they will do their best to solve your problem. Otherwise, I ask, how many of you, for 7 dollars an hour, would tolerate some of the things that have been detailed on these boards and still be able to smile all day.

Working at Disney is a great job and over time the pay is reasonable for the amount of work related stress that occurs and the benefits are excellent. However, to many of us, a heartfelt thanks from a guest will carry us way further in the day than an extra couple of dollars on a paycheck.

Being from NJ that pay would be low up here. Is that decent pay for FL? I am thinking of something I would like to do in the future here. If I sold my house and bought a house in FL for cash so I would have no mortgage, could you live on that amount of money?

And on one of your other points. I agree, people have to try to seperate the person you are speaking to from your problem. Everyone deserves respect.

 

[niteobsrvr]

Originally posted by mrtoad
Being from NJ that pay would be low up here. Is that decent pay for FL? I am thinking of something I would like to do in the future here. If I sold my house and bought a house in FL for cash so I would have no mortgage, could you live on that amount of money?

And on one of your other points. I agree, people have to try to seperate the person you are speaking to from your problem. Everyone deserves respect.

It can be done. It helps if you have a roommate or a spouse who is working also. Probalby a good idea to not have a car payment either. I would also recommend keeping your credit card bills to a bare minimum or preferably none at all. Thats a lesson for life not just a preparation for working at disney.

The $6.60/hour wage will net you about $210 for a 40 hour work week. Overtime is often available in some parts of the business year round, in others it will only be available during peak times like summer and the holidays. The flip side to the overtime is that under current contracts a full time position is considered to be anything 30 hours or more per week. So, in slower times of the year it is feasbile that your hours could be reduced to somwhere between 30 and 40.

 

[Invero]

Originally posted by niteobsrvr
I beleive the interim solution would be to reopen the old cast entrance gate off of 7-seas as well as the ticket center gate directly across from it which would allow the busses to then cross 7-seas with the help of a security guard or parking cast member directing traffic.

That will be a nightmare in its own self... Traffic is already bogged down by the two crosswalks.

Originally posted by niteobsrvr
Will Parking lot trams be merged with busses so as not to have to train a group of employees for a CDL license.

Kind of an ironic full circle... Buses split from Parking in 1980, and then nearly 25 years later, they want to come back... lol

 

[DonickCo]

this is a disney test bus from May 2000, well it think it was may when i took the pics.

Fot all 8 photos check out my photo album.

-DonickCo

 

[10 min. to wdw]

In hate those TVS and talking busses

 

[Bagheera]

Thanks for the info, guys!

 

[Invero]

That's 2780 with the monitors... Not sure what the results were of that test.

4814 also recieved a talking bus type thing, but the version it got was rather annoying. Anytime the driver would use the turn signals, "Caution! Bus is turning Left!"