News New Gondola Transportation - Disney Skyliner -

joelkfla

Well-Known Member
I'm sure they have plenty of buses that are ready to be sold off that would normally be replaced with newer stock anyway. Attrition is how they will cut down the fleet. What excess they have will probably be used to do things that they now hire outside bus companies to do. Many of the newer ones could easily be adapted to make the Magic Bus run. They are all capable of running over the road, they just don't do it yet. I'm pretty sure that j tust changing destination signs at stops will not require any permit to do.
If you mean Magical Express, that is run by Mears, not Disney. There's no way Disney Transport buses would be used for airport service. They are transit buses. They have limited seating to maximize standee capacity and to speed loading and unloading, The seats that they do have are narrow and not comfortable for long trips. They are all low floor, so there is no luggage carrying capability. The engines and transmissions are optimized for transit service.
 

JenniferS

When you're the leader, you don't have to follow.
Haul rope is on for the Pop/AoA line. Here's something bizarre though. Tower 12 appears to have been taken down. It's the last one before the return terminal. Was standing last week. Now sitting on a barge.

How “in the know” is this guy? I thought the AC discussion had 100% been put to bed. He has brought up the possibility of AC being added at a future date. 🤦‍♀️

Also he is speaking in absolutes about lighting, audio/music. How sure are you about that?
 

iowamomof4

Well-Known Member
How “in the know” is this guy? I thought the AC discussion had 100% been put to bed. He has brought up the possibility of AC being added at a future date. 🤦‍♀️

Also he is speaking in absolutes about lighting, audio/music. How sure are you about that?

I don't believe he has any real inside knowledge. He seems to be more of an observer and speculator. I enjoy watching his videos because he does show things I like to see, but I don't go to him for intel on anything.
 

danlb_2000

Premium Member
Original Poster
All it will take to keep buses on the skyliner routes is one person who is afraid of heights suing because Disney is not providing ground transportation.

The problem with this is that they will provide ground transportation, you can take a bus to another park and transfer, take a mini-van, rent a car, or just not stay at that specific resort. If someone really puts up a fuss while there I bet Disney will just give them free mini-van or move them to another resort.
 
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peter11435

Well-Known Member
The problem with this is that they will provide ground transportation, you can take a bus to another park and transfer, take a mini-van, rent a car, or just not stay at that specific resort. If someone really puts up a fuss while there I bet Disney will just give them free mini-can or move them to another resort.
Yep. And as @lazyboy97o pointed out the company is under no legal obligation to accommodate specific phobias.
 

danlb_2000

Premium Member
Original Poster
Haul rope is on for the Pop/AoA line. Here's something bizarre though. Tower 12 appears to have been taken down. It's the last one before the return terminal. Was standing last week. Now sitting on a barge.


It's interesting that the whole tower has been taken down. I could see them taking just the top off if they found some sort of mechanical problem, but they wouldn't need to take the whole tower down for that. Is it possible that they found that the tower was out of alignment and now have to re-do the foundation?
 

King Panda 77

Thank you sir. You were an inspiration.
Premium Member
The problem with this is that they will provide ground transportation, you can take a bus to another park and transfer, take a mini-van, rent a car, or just not stay at that specific resort. If someone really puts up a fuss while there I bet Disney will just give them free mini-can or move them to another resort.
download.jpg
 

danlb_2000

Premium Member
Original Poster
Haul rope is on for the Pop/AoA line. Here's something bizarre though. Tower 12 appears to have been taken down. It's the last one before the return terminal. Was standing last week. Now sitting on a barge.


Are we sure that tower had been installed? I found a photo here from around Nov 12 and it wasn't installed yet.
 

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
If you mean Magical Express, that is run by Mears, not Disney. There's no way Disney Transport buses would be used for airport service. They are transit buses. They have limited seating to maximize standee capacity and to speed loading and unloading, The seats that they do have are narrow and not comfortable for long trips. They are all low floor, so there is no luggage carrying capability. The engines and transmissions are optimized for transit service.
I know it is Mears that is doing it, but, they are contracted to do it by Disney. They aren't doing it as a favor. If Mears isn't needed at the end of the contract, they don't renew. I don't think they will ever use them unless Bob decides that his bonus wasn't big enough this year and wants to cut expenses, but, there still are a lot of onsite needs that excess buses could fill. It's not hard to figure out that Disney is spending a huge amount of money to have Mears available at all hours to carry passengers in from the Airport. It isn't cheap and indirectly, Disney is paying for the cost of Drivers, benefits, and maintenance of the Mears Magical Express fleet.

The buses might be geared differently, but, public transit uses city buses all the time for short over the road travel. They can be rearranged internally if they want to however they aren't designed to carry luggage. The old RTS buses could have done it because they are high enough, but, not the new ground hugger design. So not likely but they could fill in for the onsite tour buses. The cruise connected ones would still have to be the bigger, higher and better riding deluxe buses. The trip from that Airport is a relatively short trip and the traffic in that area will prohibit any warp speed attempt.
 

peter11435

Well-Known Member
I know it is Mears that is doing it, but, they are contracted to do it by Disney. They aren't doing it as a favor. If Mears isn't needed at the end of the contract, they don't renew. I don't think they will ever use them unless Bob decides that his bonus wasn't big enough this year and wants to cut expenses, but, there still are a lot of onsite needs that excess buses could fill. It's not hard to figure out that Disney is spending a huge amount of money to have Mears available at all hours to carry passengers in from the Airport. It isn't cheap and indirectly, Disney is paying for the cost of Drivers, benefits, and maintenance of the Mears Magical Express fleet.

The buses might be geared differently, but, public transit uses city buses all the time for short over the road travel. They can be rearranged internally if they want to however they aren't designed to carry luggage. The old RTS buses could have done it because they are high enough, but, not the new ground hugger design. So not likely but they could fill in for the onsite tour buses. The cruise connected ones would still have to be the bigger, higher and better riding deluxe buses. The trip from that Airport is a relatively short trip and the traffic in that area will prohibit any warp speed attempt.
Where to start....


No Disney transport bus has anywhere to put luggage. That’s the first problem.
 

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
Where to start....


No Disney transport bus has anywhere to put luggage. That’s the first problem.
That is what I said, I was talking about the fact that the RTS buses had lower panels on the bus that actually mostly contain areas that were boxed in but empty because they were mostly used for city routes so no luggage was ever a factor, but, they did exist just never used. I also referred to them in the past tense when I said RTS buses, they no longer exist, had the possibility, not necessarily a usable reality. So lets skip the first problem and go to the second because there was nothing wrong with my comment other then perhaps not stated clear enough. You can argue the point if you want but I was a bus driver and put many miles on RTS buses, I know how they were built. I also know that the new low riders do not have that space. Even at best those areas on the RTS probably weren't big enough for a lot of luggage.

1543067924740.png

You can see the panels I was talking about on the line between the front and rear door. Those areas are on both sides of the bus. One contained the electrical breaker on one side and access to the fuel port on the other. You can see that small door under the i on Disney (that was the fuel port) the rest were empty. Those smaller doors were mounted on bigger panels. The number of panels varied depending on the size of the bus. A 35 ft. one had 4 open areas and a 40 ft. had six. They were never used for luggage but they did exist. The were all on hinges and held closed by magnets at the bottom. The were very easy to open up. The RTS buses were built up high because at the time they felt that having the tire locations dominate in the interior a waste of passenger space both front and rear axle. That left them with a bunch of empty space below the passenger floor, so the put in compartments, no extra charge for the air space. It also was the area that a bus was more likely to get hit by cars so it was an easy repair. All those panels were universal, any panel from any year fit in place of a damaged one.

So if the next argument, I assume, is that Disney didn't pay for the Drivers, benefits or maintenance on those buses then Mears should be classified as a charity and be tax exempt. The amount, of course was included in the contract numbers not individual buses or drivers. What is happening now will probably continue because Disney hasn't ever wanted to invest in the cost of a luxury bus which are way more expensive then the standard buses used in the Resort, as a depreciation tax break, but, to pay someone else and deduct the entire amount as a deductible expense of doing business.
 

peter11435

Well-Known Member
That is what I said, I was talking about the fact that the RTS buses had lower panels on the bus that actually mostly contain areas that were boxed in but empty because they were mostly used for city routes so no luggage was ever a factor, but, they did exist just never used. I also referred to them in the past tense when I said RTS buses, they no longer exist, had the possibility, not necessarily a usable reality. So lets skip the first problem and go to the second because there was nothing wrong with my comment other then perhaps not stated clear enough. You can argue the point if you want but I was a bus driver and put many miles on RTS buses, I know how they were built. I also know that the new low riders do not have that space. Even at best those areas on the RTS probably weren't big enough for a lot of luggage.

View attachment 327817
You can see the panels I was talking about on the line between the front and rear door. Those areas are on both sides of the bus. One contained the electrical breaker on one side and access to the fuel port on the other. You can see that small door under the i on Disney (that was the fuel port) the rest were empty. Those smaller doors were mounted on bigger panels. The number of panels varied depending on the size of the bus. A 35 ft. one had 4 open areas and a 40 ft. had six. They were never used for luggage but they did exist. The were all on hinges and held closed by magnets at the bottom. The were very easy to open up. The RTS buses were built up high because at the time they felt that having the tire locations dominate in the interior a waste of passenger space both front and rear axle. That left them with a bunch of empty space below the passenger floor, so the put in compartments, no extra charge for the air space. It also was the area that a bus was more likely to get hit by cars so it was an easy repair. All those panels were universal, any panel from any year fit in place of a damaged one.

So if the next argument, I assume, is that Disney didn't pay for the Drivers, benefits or maintenance on those buses then Mears should be classified as a charity and be tax exempt. The amount, of course was included in the contract numbers not individual buses or drivers. What is happening now will probably continue because Disney hasn't ever wanted to invest in the cost of a luxury bus which are way more expensive then the standard buses used in the Resort, as a depreciation tax break, but, to pay someone else and deduct the entire amount as a deductible expense of doing business.
Disney doesn’t operate RTS buses any more so the entire conversation is pointless and not relevant to the conversation. A surplus of Disney transport buses can’t be used to support DCL or ME routes.

The reasons Disney contracts the DCL and ME routes has nothing to do with costs of the bus.
 

HauntedPirate

Park nostalgist
Premium Member
The problem with this is that they will provide ground transportation, you can take a bus to another park and transfer, take a mini-van, rent a car, or just not stay at that specific resort. If someone really puts up a fuss while there I bet Disney will just give them free mini-van or move them to another resort.

You put that very nicely. Translating that using words that will offend people - They can put on the BIG GIRL PANTIES AND GET OVER THEMSELVES. :D The entitlement mentality that pervades our society these days is utterly disgusting.
 

shernernum

Well-Known Member
That is what I said, I was talking about the fact that the RTS buses had lower panels on the bus that actually mostly contain areas that were boxed in but empty because they were mostly used for city routes so no luggage was ever a factor, but, they did exist just never used. I also referred to them in the past tense when I said RTS buses, they no longer exist, had the possibility, not necessarily a usable reality. So lets skip the first problem and go to the second because there was nothing wrong with my comment other then perhaps not stated clear enough. You can argue the point if you want but I was a bus driver and put many miles on RTS buses, I know how they were built. I also know that the new low riders do not have that space. Even at best those areas on the RTS probably weren't big enough for a lot of luggage.

View attachment 327817
You can see the panels I was talking about on the line between the front and rear door. Those areas are on both sides of the bus. One contained the electrical breaker on one side and access to the fuel port on the other. You can see that small door under the i on Disney (that was the fuel port) the rest were empty. Those smaller doors were mounted on bigger panels. The number of panels varied depending on the size of the bus. A 35 ft. one had 4 open areas and a 40 ft. had six. They were never used for luggage but they did exist. The were all on hinges and held closed by magnets at the bottom. The were very easy to open up. The RTS buses were built up high because at the time they felt that having the tire locations dominate in the interior a waste of passenger space both front and rear axle. That left them with a bunch of empty space below the passenger floor, so the put in compartments, no extra charge for the air space. It also was the area that a bus was more likely to get hit by cars so it was an easy repair. All those panels were universal, any panel from any year fit in place of a damaged one.

So you are arguing that Disney could convert buses for trips to the airport that you are aware they don't use or have anymore?
 

GoofGoof

Premium Member
I would think at least some of the buses could be repurposed as room inventory expands. If that takes too long they could be sold off too, but more likely they would retire and sell off other older buses and use the ones taken off these lines as replacements for them. I think they typically have a shortage of licensed drivers anyway so most of the drivers will hopefully be assigned to other routes.
 

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