How could Disney Enhance the Bus Ride experience

[Tenny317]

I think one of the reasons nothing happens on the buses is because have you even been on the bus at like 11pm....everyone looks miserable hahaha. In my opinion this is why I think they have had bus drivers stop speaking. I think a quiet activity or whatnot would be the smartest thing to do. Like some tv's with cartoons (like in hotel lobby's) a movie, or trivia on the tv that you ccan play with just yourself or your group. A scroll of park times or something like that on the side on the inside of the bus would be good (like NYC subway of the stops) These are my humble opinions

 

[dvitali]

Love how Pop Century play certain television or popular music from each century on their buses on the way back to the resort. There must be puck inbedded in the road at the entrance that say welcome back. The same puck start your next destination is as you leave the resort going to each park.

Love to see each bus have those little television like those on Magical Express talking about each park highlights and must do.

 

[Pioneer Hall]

My bus drivers have all been of the silent denomination. Sign me up for that hitchhiking ghost!

Both perfectly reasonable suggestions. The cartoons would be particularly enjoyable additions to those long rides

There are lots of great suggestions on this board though. Scroll back and read some. There are always ways to enhance things that are relatively flat. Maybe some of these ideas will catch the eye of someone from TDO and make their way into the parks!

As an FYI, you can press the button of the quotation makes in someones post in order to do quote multiple posts in one reply (as I did here). All you have to do is press the button on any posts you want to quote and then press reply and they will all be there.

 

[flavious27]

A subtle amount of instrumental disney classics would be nice, along with mood lighting that goes with it. We already have spiels for most of the routes, this would be like the next evolution in the spiels.

 

[Thrill Seeker]

I'd like to see a Transportation TV concept come to the Monorails and Buses. Each destination would have a visual explanation of what it is and what you can do there. Each park can show off their new attractions and each resort can show off the different restaurants and activities available for guests. On longer rides (such as the monorail to Epcot or the bus to DAKL) it can show some fun little tidbits.

I think it's a cool idea that would make rides to various locations that much more enjoyable, and informative.

 

[H2Opolo15]

Honestly, i don't want the busses to change at all. They are a great, calm transition to the parks (before the madness) or after the parks (after the madness) and to add more noise just wouldn't be appreciated by a large amount of guests IMO. I know from the parks to CBR they play steel drum music, which is so relaxing it's ridiculous.

And it's a great way to make a new friend or friends. When I was there in December right before Christmas the whole bus busted out in Christmas carols on our way back from DHS. It was awesome!:xmas:

My vote, keep the buses as they are. They aren't supposed to be an extension of the parks, they're supposed to keep you subtly involved in the magic but not overwhelmed by it. And as stated, the bus drivers need to concentrate on their sometimes capacity full busses.

 

[erasure fan1]

My vote, keep the buses as they are. They aren't supposed to be an extension of the parks, they're supposed to keep you subtly involved in the magic but not overwhelmed by it. And as stated, the bus drivers need to concentrate on their sometimes capacity full busses.

I agree, thats why the only thing I would like to see would be a system to let you see ETAs on the buses at the stops. A subtle enhancement but one that would be much appreciated by me.

 

[juniorthomas]

As an FYI, you can press the button of the quotation makes in someones post in order to do quote multiple posts in one reply (as I did here). All you have to do is press the button on any posts you want to quote and then press reply and they will all be there.

I find those megathreaded posts make me go crosseyed. I know, I'm being ridiculous, and I'm probably the only one who thinks this way, but responding to multiple people in one post just looks so cluttered.

Responding to multiple quotes from one person is a bit more acceptable to me though.

(Bottom line: I'm simply ridiculous. I apologize)

 

[juniorthomas]

I may be in the minority, but I'd rather not be entertained by the bus driver. It seems like a big distraction for someone who is behind the wheel of a bus full of people. I would prefer the driver be completely focused on driving the bus safely.

Theming the buses and installing video screens would be a nice addition. Videos shown might focus on all WDW has to offer - the various resort properties, DTD, water parks, theme parks, all the shows. No matter how much I know about WDW, I still enjoy watching these types of things and for a lot of guests it might be a good opportunity to introduce and entice them to something they didn't know about. Perhaps they might also change the mood of things depending on time of day, i.e. late at night at park closing maybe just show a goodnight kiss kind of thing or play the classic Disney music to soothe and de-stress weary guests.

I'm sure there would be away to involve the bus driver without taking his focus off the journey all together, but still, that's a very valid point.

 

[juniorthomas]

Honestly, i don't want the busses to change at all. They are a great, calm transition to the parks (before the madness) or after the parks (after the madness) and to add more noise just wouldn't be appreciated by a large amount of guests IMO. I know from the parks to CBR they play steel drum music, which is so relaxing it's ridiculous.

And it's a great way to make a new friend or friends. When I was there in December right before Christmas the whole bus busted out in Christmas carols on our way back from DHS. It was awesome!:xmas:

My vote, keep the buses as they are. They aren't supposed to be an extension of the parks, they're supposed to keep you subtly involved in the magic but not overwhelmed by it. And as stated, the bus drivers need to concentrate on their sometimes capacity full busses.

Certainly a new opinion (and a welcome one at that.)

I still feel that bringing park magic/theming/etc into the buses is a good idea, but you bring up some good points. Those bus rides are indeed perfect cool down times (both literally, with the AC blasting in there, and mentally).

And I'm jealous that I missed out on the caroling. I'm doing that next time I'm there at Christmastime.

 

[chrissyw14]

This right here.

The college I went to, Rutgers, had a large bus system pretty much like WDW (in fact I think they both use the exact same bus model) and every bus stop has a digital display stating the estimated arrival times of each bus line. Were the arrival times always accurate? God, no! If you were at a stop after a student center the display would say the bus is arriving in 1 min and 20 minutes later it shows up, but that issue was because the drivers would take giants breaks at every student center everytime. Disney would probably have less of an issue with this considering I don't think would have tolerance for a driver to take a 20 minute smoke break every single time he pulled into Epcot. Rush hour also effected the times, but not as much as the drivers themselves. Overall though the system was a Godsend because you knew whether or not you had time to run and grab food at a Grease Truck next to the stop. There was also NextBus.com which you just can just log onto on your laptop or smart phone and check the arrival times as well as bring up a map that displays a selected route and the location of all the buses on that particular route. There was a way to get the times by text too.

This would be the best way imo to improve the system. No more not knowing if you have time to use the bathroom before the bus shows up. Taking care of that alone can make the bus trips a lot more bearable.

Here is the online bus locator for Rutgers if anyone wants to look: http://www.nextbus.com/predictor/stopSelector.jsp?a=rutgers
Just keep in mind that its summer right now so its running very infrequently. Usually the buses run about 10 min apart from each other.

I go to Rutgers, this is exactly what I thinking about when reading these posts. The nextbus system works really well and a lot of stuff at Rutgers doesn't haha, I could check the bus times online and time when to leave my dorm or something, perfect for not so nice weather

 

[Communicore]

Everytime I have been on the bus the driver seems irate!

 

[H2Opolo15]

I agree, thats why the only thing I would like to see would be a system to let you see ETAs on the buses at the stops. A subtle enhancement but one that would be much appreciated by me.

That's a very intersting point... I have heard from a few people that The Ohio State University has a downloadable app for your smart phone that can tell you where each bus is on campus. Simply put each bus is rigged with a GPS devise and that sends a signal that your app responds to thus allowing you to see when the next bus to your desired location is coming... It's a fantastic idea, but probably won't happen.

 

[H2Opolo15]

Certainly a new opinion (and a welcome one at that.)


And I'm jealous that I missed out on the caroling. I'm doing that next time I'm there at Christmastime.

Haha let me know how that goes! Hopefully I'll be on taht bus!:xmas:

 

[juniorthomas]

That's a very intersting point... I have heard from a few people that The Ohio State University has a downloadable app for your smart phone that can tell you where each bus is on campus. Simply put each bus is rigged with a GPS devise and that sends a signal that your app responds to thus allowing you to see when the next bus to your desired location is coming... It's a fantastic idea, but probably won't happen.

That would be so helpful, really.

 

[juniorthomas]

Haha let me know how that goes! Hopefully I'll be on taht bus!:xmas:

Christmas carols on all Disney buses, regardless the time of year. Best idea ever.

 

[flynnibus]

That's a very intersting point... I have heard from a few people that The Ohio State University has a downloadable app for your smart phone that can tell you where each bus is on campus. Simply put each bus is rigged with a GPS devise and that sends a signal that your app responds to thus allowing you to see when the next bus to your desired location is coming... It's a fantastic idea, but probably won't happen.

It's quite common in modern bus systems.

LED boards at stops telling you next arrival... with ETA
Website telling you the same route info and ETAs..
and of course mobile apps tying into the same backend

 

[erasure fan1]

That's a very interesting point... I have heard from a few people that The Ohio State University has a downloadable app for your smart phone that can tell you where each bus is on campus. Simply put each bus is rigged with a GPS devise and that sends a signal that your app responds to thus allowing you to see when the next bus to your desired location is coming... It's a fantastic idea, but probably won't happen.

And the Disney buses do this as well so it wouldnt be that hard of a transition. I agree that its not likely to happen but it sure would be a fantastic addition to the bus system.

 

[Skipper Dan]

Nope. Never step a foot on a Disney bus. Rental car everywhere I go.

Could you toss some of that extra gas and parking money my way? Thanks very much! :wave:

 

[juniorthomas]

It's quite common in modern bus systems.

LED boards at stops telling you next arrival... with ETA
Website telling you the same route info and ETAs..
and of course mobile apps tying into the same backend

I tried to suggest it to my local transport system and they basically laughed at me. Meanwhile they drop $25 million on a soccer stadium that isn't even close to said transit system. Lovely.