News New Gondola Transportation - Disney Skyliner -

[Lift Blog]

A full bus can handle about 70-80 passengers.

Equivalent to one minute worth of gondolas at 4,500/hr.

 

[winstongator]

Equivalent to one minute worth of gondolas at 4,500/hr.

Buses every 20 min means ~250/hr max. It’s a nearly 20x difference. Like 20x the buses. I realize now that the labor difference for a bus vs gondola is huge.

 

[GoofGoof]

Equivalent to one minute worth of gondolas at 4,500/hr.

Crazy stat. Should make it very unlikely for a long line.

Buses every 20 min means ~250/hr max. It’s a nearly 20x difference. Like 20x the buses. I realize now that the labor difference for a bus vs gondola is huge.

It’s a huge labor savings. They will need some CMs to man the stations but no drivers and much less labor on equipment maintenance.

 

[Goofyernmost]

A full bus can handle about 70-80 passengers.

Maybe an articulated bus but a 40 foot bus can hold, safely around 45, with standing maybe close to 60, but other then that one would have to be married to whomever they were next to before they could do that without a lawsuit.

 

[TeriofTerror]

WDW was built for Jawas. My family is half Jawa. I'm laughing at these calculations that completely ignore the presence of kids.

I'd love to live in a world where children at WDW were easy to ignore.
Joking aside, I completely agree.

 

[peter11435]

Maybe an articulated bus but a 40 foot bus can hold, safely around 45, with standing maybe close to 60, but other then that one would have to be married to whomever they were next to before they could do that without a lawsuit.

Have you ever actually been on a bus at WDW?

 

[Jambo Joe]

So everyone will go happy and smiling into their flaming crocodile filled death

alligator filled death. Thank you.

 

[Jambo Joe]

DC

With Lift Blog's post above it seems WDW could make a game by naming the poles after states and kids could read them off as they passed and check that they passed them all. Like license plates on car trips and might teach a bit at the same time.
Just wonder if Guam or Puerto Rico is the 51st!

DC

 

[GoofGoof]

Have you ever actually been on a bus at WDW?

At park close it’s a whole lot more than 45. Looks more like this:

The gondolas will be a pleasant change to jamming in at close.

 

[Jambo Joe]

According to some people on this forum, the first "first person report" will be "OH MY GOD!!!!! IM ON FIRE, FALLING AND BEING ELECTROCUTED!!!! TELL MICKEY I AM MAD THERE ARE LIGHTBULBS BURNED OUT ON THE CASTLE!!!! SAVE ME **** VAN ****!!!!"

That last one was just to get **********'ed

Also ‘Hey, the damn Eiffel Tower is just a model bolted to the roof’

 

[joelkfla]

Maybe an articulated bus but a 40 foot bus can hold, safely around 45, with standing maybe close to 60, but other then that one would have to be married to whomever they were next to before they could do that without a lawsuit.

No, really. I was a WDW bus driver. The radio code for a full bus is "Signal 72", because that was the number expected to load on the old RTS buses (the ones with steps.) The current low-floor buses are designed to hold even more, because there are fewer seated and more standees, so 70 is a very reasonable number. New Flyer claims its articulateds can load up to 123.

Of course, the numbers can be knocked down by a couple of scooters and a few giant strollers.

 

[marni1971]

I have to give something to this thread...

I’ll discuss some operational points around this area some other time.

 

[larryz]

It’s a huge labor savings. They will need some CMs to man the stations but no drivers and much less labor on equipment maintenance.

And gondola station operators won't need CDLs...

 

[Goofyernmost]

Have you ever actually been on a bus at WDW?

Yup, and at closing. I also drove buses and was in management in a municipal bus company for over a decade. I will admit that I didn't count the people on the bus that I road on but it was packed, but, having actually driven one in the public transportation environment I do know how many can comfortably, meaning not scraping buttons, and how many that are supposed to be on one. If Disney ignores the concept of personal space then maybe they sardined more in them. But, weight wise and safety wise they shouldn't. Silly me I would think that they put safety first. Oh, well, I'm not going to get into another purpose lacking discussion subject. It's really not worth the effort. My experience was with mostly RTS buses, maybe the low floor buses and the internal configuration allows more, but, that just fortify's why I always drive my car to the parks at this point.

 

[peter11435]

Yup, and at closing. I also drove buses and was in management in a municipal bus company for over a decade. I will admit that I didn't count the people on the bus that I road on but it was packed, but, having actually driven one in the public transportation environment I do know how many can comfortably, meaning not scraping buttons, and how many that are supposed to be on one. If Disney ignores the concept of personal space then maybe they sardined more in them. But, weight wise and safety wise they shouldn't. Silly me I would think that they put safety first. Oh, well, I'm not going to get into another purpose lacking discussion subject. It's really not worth the effort. My experience was with mostly RTS buses, maybe the low floor buses and the internal configuration allows more, but, that just fortify's why I always drive my car to the parks at this point.

Your experience then is based on a bus that Disney began phasing out 17 years ago.

 

[raymusiccity]

At park close it’s a whole lot more than 45. Looks more like this:
View attachment 310638

The gondolas will be a pleasant change to jamming in at close.

Don't be so sure ! Gondola's have already been through their capacity dry runs !

 

[Minthorne]

I have to give something to this thread...

View attachment 310655

I’ll discuss some operational points around this area some other time.

All I can say is...

 

[mm121]

WEDWAY peoplemover, PRT, light rail, inventing new transportation as Disney requires...

Would love to see them explore a prt system to connect AM to Hollywood Studios,

Could also connect the system to blizzard beach and the animal kingdom hotels.
Could be run mostly at ground level, but any bridges or overhead portions needed would be much cheaper than roadway construction would be.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Your experience then is based on a bus that Disney began phasing out 17 years ago.

Maybe, but, the size of people, if anything has increased. The basic square footage in a 40 foot bus is very close to the same with really not much more then 40 square feet gained because the newer buses are about 1 foot wider then the old RTS buses. Plus the last time I was there they were still using the remaining RTS buses during peak time. Most of the footage would come from the open aisle space between the seats so the actual seating is not much different, but the standing area is a bit wider. They still have two, at least, wheelchair/scooter areas that, if anything are used more now then back then. In order to accommodate for the wheels on the bus (that go round and round), large areas are cut out to provide space for the wheels and tires both front and to the rear axle. The rear area is also elevated to a different level, creating a rather large space that is primarily a stairway to the level above the wheels. Any responsible transportation organization or general safety regulations would dictate and have signage the reads "NO STANDING ON THE STAIRS" when the bus is in motion.

So, even though they look bigger there isn't a whole lot more space for people. All the low floor buses really accomplished was to make the bus be easier to access for people that with slight mobility problems and go to a more modern design. Physically... RTS is 40' by 8' or 320 Square ft. New style is 40' by 9' or 360 Square Ft. Deduct the extra footage for drive train needs and you have not made much progress in the stack um high scenario. That doesn't even take into account that the 36 square feet in the rear of the bus is occupied by a rather large diesel engine and the front approximately 30 square feet in the front have a driver and a door opening and no one is supposed to be standing in front of the white line from the back of the driver to the windshield, for many obvious reasons.

No matter how many spaces you add for the new buses they still will not come even close to the capacity of the Gondola's, so that is why I said it was a purposeless discussion. It doesn't matter. Throw 90 in there, stack um like firewood if you want, the Gondolas will still out capacity the bus system. Which I think that is what my comment was about.

 

[peter11435]

Maybe, but, the size of people, if anything has increased. The basic square footage in a 40 foot bus is very close to the same with really not much more then 40 square feet gained because the newer buses are about 1 foot wider then the old RTS buses. Plus the last time I was there they were still using the remaining RTS buses during peak time. Most of the footage would come from the open aisle space between the seats so the actual seating is not much different, but the standing area is a bit wider. They still have two, at least, wheelchair/scooter areas that, if anything are used more now then back then. In order to accommodate for the wheels on the bus (that go round and round), large areas are cut out to provide space for the wheels and tires both front and to the rear axle. The rear area is also elevated to a different level, creating a rather large space that is primarily a stairway to the level above the wheels. Any responsible transportation organization or general safety regulations would dictate and have signage the reads "NO STANDING ON THE STAIRS" when the bus is in motion.

So, even though they look bigger there isn't a whole lot more space for people. All the low floor buses really accomplished was to make the bus be easier to access for people that with slight mobility problems and go to a more modern design. Physically... RTS is 40' by 8' or 320 Square ft. New style is 40' by 9' or 360 Square Ft. Deduct the extra footage for drive train needs and you have not made much progress in the stack um high scenario. That doesn't even take into account that the 36 square feet in the rear of the bus is occupied by a rather large diesel engine and the front approximately 30 square feet in the front have a driver and a door opening and no one is supposed to be standing in front of the white line from the back of the driver to the windshield, for many obvious reasons.

No matter how many spaces you add for the new buses they still will not come even close to the capacity of the Gondola's, so that is why I said it was a purposeless discussion. It doesn't matter. Throw 90 in there, stack um like firewood if you want, the Gondolas will still out capacity the bus system. Which I think that is what my comment was about.

You are correct that the buses do not even come close to the capacity of the gondolas.

Your last visit must’ve been quite some time ago if you saw them using RTS buses.