More Wrapped Buses

[Bob]

Hey @Bob you're such an advit follower in the public forums, how come you have 21k posts but none in the public WDW forums it seems?

@Tom would be the best person to chime in on this but maybe they are starting steelwork on the buildings in the center of the area and will expand outward.

 

[xdan0920]

The difference is calling attention to oneself or trying to go as little noticed as possible.

Buses have always been quite noticeable.

Well lets look at the alternative to what Disney originally did. The solution could have been public transportation, or contracted buses (like UNI does now with partners) shuttling you from the resorts. That would truly stink. Instead, the way Disney addressed the PRACTICALITY needed was to create their own fleet, staffed, operated, and implemented at their properties up to a show standard THEY defined and blended with their vision of the guest experience.

Yes, you could argue Monorails should have been chosen over buses period... and that's another level one could debate. But the point I was making was, there are practicalities they must face in their controlled environment (point of sale is another example)... no one is holding them to a standard that says these 'undesirables' can never exist... but the necessity of these things would not dictate Disney accept 'the norm' and abandon all efforts to build or protect the guest experience.

So these arguments of 'Ads exist everywhere' or 'buses exist...' are not justifications for Disney to abandon all effort to maintain the guest experience they aspired to build with the WDW Resort.

I agree with your general sentiment, I just don't agree with the specificity. Buses are a visual intrusion, they break theme, they are big and ugly and loud. Putting an advertisement on them does nothing to increase those issues.

You want to tell me Disney can dream up a better class of bus? Something quiet, comfortable, visually appealing, theme appropriate, then I'm in on that. But they never have.

I see this as a non issue. And FWIW, when they wrapped the monorail I was ticked off.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I have just one question... How can a Disney bus sporting a Disney promotion while you are in a Disney Resort, immersed in everything Disney, in any way, manner, shape or form burst the Disney bubble. If anything it helps create it. None of us really think that Mickey Mouse is an actual thing, we aren't all that fired up on imagined Disney purity, that we cannot actually like to see something that we don't see in our regular life in the world. A Disney advertisement on a bus is not ever seen in the real world.

What all this boils down to is really everyone's private theory. It isn't based on hard fact, it is based purely on emotion and how we individually see a place like WDW. None of us know if Disney ever really intended to not have promotions or if that is just a thought that we have in our individual trains of thought. This discussion is possible the largest waste of cyberspace that has ever happened. No one is going to win because there are no facts to back it up, it is all an internal feeling and nothing more.

I would just like to add that when people are called "Pixie Dusters" that have been for years now calling others "Pixie Dusters" they have no right to be upset enough to call it "name calling". The real Pixie Dusters are probably the ones that are unwilling or unable to accept that whether we like it or not, the world that we live in will and should influence how we deal with and observe our surroundings. Those that cannot let go are probably so encrusted with PD that it is a wonder that they can still breath.

At any rate, the absolute boredom in this mind numbing thread has made me stop here on page 13. What a waste of time.

Why bother asking a question if you think it's all too stupid to bother with?

 

[flynnibus]

They fit into the overall scheme of their surroundings and are no different than previous 3rd party establishments within the park.

Presence is not new - implementation has been a slippery slope. See the French Fry cart in frotierland for instance. Disney brought in sponsors early on, but he also INTEGRATED them... shaping much of what we assume to be the default for the park (a bank on mainstreet, etc). Most were not without their flaws, but Disney understood when compromise was acceptable or not... and in some cases he just had to accept reality (Tomorrowland for the first years) and aim to improve it later. What is more significant about the early parks to this thread is not the existence of sponsorships (which the use of could have its own thread of merit).. but how they were leveraged and how they fit into the larger park experience they were trying to shape. 1971 is a lot more interesting than 1955 is for this discussion.. considering we can remove the 'desperate for money' angle that fueled many of those 1955 choices.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Buses have always been quite noticeable.

Visibility isn't the issue. An advertisement intentionally seeks to inform about something totally outside the Walt Disney World experience. A white bus is just there. It may not be build very much, but it is also not taking anything down. If there is no distinction then theming as a construct does not exist and the Six Flags approach should suffice.

 

[flynnibus]

I agree with your general sentiment, I just don't agree with the specificity. Buses are a visual intrusion, they break theme, they are big and ugly and loud. Putting an advertisement on them does nothing to increase those issues.

Ok... so what if tomorrow Disney stopped funding the decorated DME buses and used almost exclusively yellow Mears buses devoid of any Disney touches. Because its still a bus... would you feel the experience is equal?

 

[DVCOwner]

I think you got it wrong that what ever Disney does is okay with me. I have written several letters to Walt Disney World complaining about their reliance on buses. I think the buses take away from the "magic". I think that Disney needs to come up with something new. I for one would like to see street cars, buses like those used at Tokyo Disney Resort, or something that better blends into the resort than standard city buses.

Here is where we depart. I do not mind the warped buses any more then the other buses. They might be even a little better then that. Disney has always tied the parks to advertisement and will continue to do it. It is nothing new. If this thread was reduce the number of buses and find something better I would be on side of those that disagree with Disney.

 

[xdan0920]

Ok... so what if tomorrow Disney stopped funding the decorated DME buses and used almost exclusively yellow Mears buses devoid of any Disney touches. Because its still a bus... would you feel the experience is equal?

The line is admittedly hard to pin down. The example you came up with above would probably bother me. However, that's not the direction they went in here. If they wrapped the DME bus in a Lion King wrap, that wouldn't bother me in the slightest.

 

[DVCOwner]

I have just one question... How can a Disney bus sporting a Disney promotion while you are in a Disney Resort, immersed in everything Disney, in any way, manner, shape or form burst the Disney bubble. If anything it helps create it. None of us really think that Mickey Mouse is an actual thing, we aren't all that fired up on imagined Disney purity, that we cannot actually like to see something that we don't see in our regular life in the world. A Disney advertisement on a bus is not ever seen in the real world.

What all this boils down to is really everyone's private theory. It isn't based on hard fact, it is based purely on emotion and how we individually see a place like WDW. None of us know if Disney ever really intended to not have promotions or if that is just a thought that we have in our individual trains of thought. This discussion is possible the largest waste of cyberspace that has ever happened. No one is going to win because there are no facts to back it up, it is all an internal feeling and nothing more.

I would just like to add that when people are called "Pixie Dusters" that have been for years now calling others "Pixie Dusters" they have no right to be upset enough to call it "name calling". The real Pixie Dusters are probably the ones that are unwilling or unable to accept that whether we like it or not, the world that we live in will and should influence how we deal with and observe our surroundings. Those that cannot let go are probably so encrusted with PD that it is a wonder that they can still breath.

At any rate, the absolute boredom in this mind numbing thread has made me stop here on page 13. What a waste of time.

Great Post

 

[Hakunamatata]

This would be calling as little attention as possible

That's the Shades of Green resort bus.

 

[ABQ]

Meh, I could care less if the buses are used like rolling billboards. As has been pointed out, inside are about 30 ads anyway.
Now if they start wrapping the Friendship's or the boats on Bay Lake / Seven Seas Lagoon in ads, that will be too much.

 

[flynnibus]

The line is admittedly hard to pin down. The example you came up with above would probably bother me. However, that's not the direction they went in here. If they wrapped the DME bus in a Lion King wrap, that wouldn't bother me in the slightest.

My illustration's point being... simply because they crossed the line into 'its a bus' (and not something cooler) does not mean they've truly crossed the point of no return and everything beyond that point means nothing. It's not a total loss. The idea of a Disney fleet vs Lynx buses is another example of that point.

I think you would agree after that illustration... Not all buses are equal

That said, you've said the difference between a disney graffiti decor and a TWDC ad decor measures in the 'indifferent' band of care for you. The amount of disdain as a customer from point 1... to point 2... is no different.

That's perfectly fine.. and I don't think anyone has tried to argue you MUST care about the difference (tho apparently some people feel they must defend that). But just because people (even a lot of people) are indifferent to the delta... that does not mean the delta does not exist, and does mean it has no significance when we are discussing product design and management.

The story about Walt insisting that the materials used on the DL stagecoaches being accurate materials is ringing in my head as I typed that last line. It's not always about what people consciously observe or take notice of. The little things are used to support the larger ideas... but the little things can also detract. For the newer generation, take your Steve Jobs examples of his adament fighting for elements he thought were essential.. while his team thought were indifferent. It's not simply personal choice, but the belief that the decision aligns with the principles they hold true.

The bus wraps for Disney synergy advertising are really contrary to the vacation kingdom resort concept they built the resort around. Not everyone will be bothered by it - but it is illustrative of the lack of boundaries the company observes and their vision today.

For all the 'its all disney' posts... Imagine if waiting in queue at an attraction meant listing to promos for the latest Radio Disney act... or trailers. That's not the same boundary violations as the buses... but speaks to this idea of 'its all disney... all the same' mindset.

 

[flynnibus]

...

Its' just interesting that prior to that cite.. your profile listed no posts at all and still only shows 1 post. And search could only come up with 5 of your 21k posts (in 48months!). I wonder if @wdwmagic would be interested in debugging that. I presume there are chit-chat threads or something that are excluded from search results.

I see a ton of your following of threads, but have not recognized any of your posts.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

It's just that so much of WDW these days is borderline sensory overload, what with the sea of screaming kids everywhere you go, the kiosks, the carts, and the crowds. This turns the volume up just a titch more. It makes me think about one more thing while I'm trying to think about less things.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

Let's just be greatful we haven't seen Doombugges, Boats & other ride vehicles take the Six Flags route and glorify the everloving crud out of a ride vehicle...

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Let's just be greatful we haven't seen Doombugges, Boats & other ride vehicles take the Six Flags route and glorify the everloving crud out of a ride vehicle...

Man, those are awful.

 

[EOD K9]

This would be calling as little attention as possible

I wish I could see what you are talking about. I just see a sign on the right and some misplaced wheels sitting in some gravel.

 

[EOD K9]

I am finally going to interject my two cents with is probably worth zero cents. Some posters claim that the only bubble is in the theme park itself. Anything outside of that, is not in the bubble. To me, once I cross under one of the arches, I consider myself in the bubble. The visuals are much better there than in Anaheim.
The buses are a means to get to the parks. If each bus was themed to each hotel, and then there was a wrapped bus, yes, its breaks the theme. However, there is no theme between and African themed hotel and one based on a beach in Coronado California. IMHO, the silver livery buses to a better job visually. Even though the DCL buses are run by Mears, they are themed correctly from the parks to the cruise. It would be more annoying if they had the Agent Carter wraps on my journey to Port Canaveral.
I for one, am no Pixie Duster or Disney apologist. They have done a lot of things wrong lately. I just think that a bus on Disney property, advertising Disney things, is not the worst thing they could have done.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Let's just be greatful we haven't seen Doombugges, Boats & other ride vehicles take the Six Flags route and glorify the everloving crud out of a ride vehicle...

Why not if they're Disney ads?

 

[EOD K9]

Why not if their Disney ads?

In that case, it would ruin the theme of the mine train, a rocket in space, a limo through Hollywood, and a tea train in the Himalayas. But I see your point.