New Bus enhancements in April

[starwood]

Wdwinfo has just released official information from disney about the future of Disney buses.

Disney Bus Schedules from the Resorts​

Big changes coming to the Disney bus fleet. The buses are being outfitted with GPS units which will become operational in April, 2007. The buses will have automatic Guest counters to track ridership. The bus marquee will automatically update indicating where its traveling to. Remote cameras will be installed to monitor the busier loading zones in order to better respond to Guest demand.
The biggest change will be the addition of background music with "automated spiels" to keep the guests entertained and informed during the trip.

starwood​

 

[oochr1soo]

The biggest change will be the addition of background music with "automated spiels" to keep the guests entertained and informed during the trip.

starwood[/LEFT]

what happened to the days when the bus drivers would talk? i remember them telling the riders about the parks.. now they just sit there..

 

[imagineer boy]

Where's you scource? Either way, it sounds like a great idea. Those busses do need a bit of change.

 

[hayzer11]

i agree, not with telling about the park, but having backround music heard in the park, that is cool

 

[wdwmagic]

Wdwinfo has just released official information from disney about the future of Disney buses.

Disney Bus Schedules from the Resorts​

Big changes coming to the Disney bus fleet. The buses are being outfitted with GPS units which will become operational in April, 2007. The buses will have automatic Guest counters to track ridership. The bus marquee will automatically update indicating where its traveling to. Remote cameras will be installed to monitor the busier loading zones in order to better respond to Guest demand.
The biggest change will be the addition of background music with "automated spiels" to keep the guests entertained and informed during the trip. ​

starwood​

This is quite an old plan now, it's been around since at least November 2005.
Check out http://www.wdwmagic.com/transportation.htm for more information.

 

[CheriBibi]

TOO BAD

One of my favorite moments about Disney Bus is when after a tiring day running around the parks, you would just sit there among exhausted and therefore very quiet adults and kids, lights turned off, watching the darken resort landskape, with the easy talk muttering of the driver keeping you from falling aseep. It was like bathing in a unforgetable feeling of content and doziness And even when he wouldn't speak, the feeling was irresistible.

I'll miss that if background music, and especially spiels, come and ruin it.

Was not the best parf of the day, but sure enjoyed by a lot of people. (judging by the number of guests calling "lights !" whenever a driver would take too long to turn them off )

PS : if you ride the bus on monday night, his route must change so i woudn't bet on where to catch him, yet there's a driver called Walter... He'll tell you about how he moved down there for Disney and had both his daughters work for Disney World. I know more about his family than my girlfriend's ! Well Walter sure made me feel content all the way from the Contemporary to PI, a bus ride I will never forget. Walter the Mutterer...

 

[CBOMB]

I just wish they went back to the RTS model. I really dislike the new ones.

 

[scorp111]

what happened to the days when the bus drivers would talk? i remember them telling the riders about the parks.. now they just sit there..

From my observations, English isn't the primary language for a some of the drivers now. Automated spiels would make it even less necessary.

 

[brertigger]

PS : if you ride the bus on monday night, his route must change so i woudn't bet on where to catch him, yet there's a driver called Walter... He'll tell you about how he moved down there for Disney and had both his daughters work for Disney World. I know more about his family than my girlfriend's ! Well Walter sure made me feel content all the way from the Contemporary to PI, a bus ride I will never forget. Walter the Mutterer...

I think I have been on Walter's bus before. He is a wonderful CM.
I always enjoy it when CMs like him tell stories on the way back at night.

 

[Mufasa's Pride]

Hopefully less talking by the bus drivers will put the end to the dreaded bus driver rumors...:lookaroun

Not to put down bus drivers, I have had great ones in the past, but they are mostly good for bad rumors.

 

[sbkline]

From my observations, English isn't the primary language for a some of the drivers now. Automated spiels would make it even less necessary.

And I hope I'm not the only one who thinks that if you live and work in America, you should have to learn and speak the language. :lookaroun

 

[JML42691]

I just wish they went back to the RTS model. I really dislike the new ones.

Even though I agree with you, the new busses are more enviormentally friendly for a massive fleet. Granted the old busses are more spacious and hold more people, they burn off too much fuel and create an awful smell on top of the pollution from them. It is extremely easy to see which lanes the busses take on the roads in Disney, just look for the lane that has a thick black stripe from the old busses's exhaust. Besides that, I always enjoy having an old bus at a crowded stop because they hold more people and there is a much better chance that our whole family (8 people) and whomever is with us will fit on (and potentially get a seat). Some trips we have 8-10 people with us so an old bus is a gift.

 

[goofyfan13]

And I hope I'm not the only one who thinks that if you live and work in America, you should have to learn and speak the language. :lookaroun

I feel the same way, but I'll just leave it at that.

Back on topic, I think these ideas sound good, it would be nice to have a little background music on those buses.

 

[LilDucky]

what happened to the days when the bus drivers would talk? i remember them telling the riders about the parks.. now they just sit there..

On our last trip (about a week and half ago or so), we had a bus driver that had us sing "The Wheels on the Bus...". The adults were more into it than the kids :lookaroun It was a riot! :lol:

 

[niteobsrvr]

Even though I agree with you, the new busses are more enviormentally friendly for a massive fleet. Granted the old busses are more spacious and hold more people, they burn off too much fuel and create an awful smell on top of the pollution from them. It is extremely easy to see which lanes the busses take on the roads in Disney, just look for the lane that has a thick black stripe from the old busses's exhaust. Besides that, I always enjoy having an old bus at a crowded stop because they hold more people and there is a much better chance that our whole family (8 people) and whomever is with us will fit on (and potentially get a seat). Some trips we have 8-10 people with us so an old bus is a gift.

The new and the old busses actually hold about the same number of people. The problem on the newer busses are people are afraid to get close to the ones sitting in the seats that face into the aisles. On the old bus that wasnt a problem.

If people forgo the personal space issue, you can actually fit two rows of standees down a majority of the bus and place some children in between for cushioning.

 

[dxwwf3]

I think those changes would be great if it does actually happen. Anything to improve the bus service is very welcome, even though I rarely have any problems with the busses.

 

[Escarabaja06]

what happened to the days when the bus drivers would talk? i remember them telling the riders about the parks.. now they just sit there..

When I went to Disney World over Christmas Break, the cast member who drove our bus was very funny, on the way to Magic Kingdom they told us trivia questions and told us alot of mousellaneous things! They were really funny. On the way back to Port Orleans Riverside we had another funny guy, it was really nice. I hate the dead silence, especially when we are the only ones on the bus!:brick:

 

[clarkstallings]

I had a bus driver say over the PA as we were departing "Hi I'm your bus operator (insert name) and I'll get you to your destination quickly and safely." I thought the latter bit was a given? :lookaroun

 

[disneykid23]

Even though I agree with you, the new busses are more enviormentally friendly for a massive fleet. Granted the old busses are more spacious and hold more people, they burn off too much fuel and create an awful smell on top of the pollution from them. It is extremely easy to see which lanes the busses take on the roads in Disney, just look for the lane that has a thick black stripe from the old busses's exhaust. Besides that, I always enjoy having an old bus at a crowded stop because they hold more people and there is a much better chance that our whole family (8 people) and whomever is with us will fit on (and potentially get a seat). Some trips we have 8-10 people with us so an old bus is a gift.

Well all three brands of buses that Disney has hole 72 guests. Each counter at the doors will be counting to 72 no matter which bus you are on.
Also it will be great if they can pull this off by April of this year but they have not begun to train on the computer system thats onboard the bus. With over 1000 drivers its going to take some time.

 

[JROK]

It'd be cool if the bus stops were like the one that Bill Gates showed off at the Microsoft Keynote this week. Have a plasma display with a map of the area and using the GPS in the bus, the map could display the location of the bus for that particular stop and it's estimated arrival time. Now that'd be nifty!:slurp: