Next Gen Busses

winstongator

winstongator

Well-Known Member
Lensman said:
Hopefully they'll be more charging spots at park dining locations, but you're right that there's probably a correlation between someone carrying a charging cord and them having a power bank.

Here's something that will make you feel better, though. I saw this additional photo in the blogmickey article that shows the charging unit to be a 4.2 amp 2 port unit, so probably 2.1 amps per port.
View attachment 386554


Yeah, natural gas doesn't provide the maintenance advantage that all-electric does, and there's not a real abundance of electric bus companies and availability right now, though this will change over the next 5 years. I wonder if it's also a factor that Disney routes don't have the stop-and-go city traffic that most municipal bus routes have? That's where electric buses really shine. Disney would also have to make a big switch in commitment from biodiesel to electric and install new charging infrastructure. They own their own biofuel facility so I'm not sure how they'd redirect the output - I think they use the portion not used for transportation for CHP (combined heat and power), so I don't think they'd have a problem. Even so, if they think too much about it they might discover that biodiesel -> CHP -> electric buses might be less efficient than biodiesel -> diesel buses.
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This is a great point about the overall chain efficiency. Buses can be good ev’s because they can accommodate extra large batteries. You’re right about the stop and go, but the buses spend a lot of time idling, and I dont thing the efficiency of a Diesel engine to AC is that good.

I’d still like more walking options. Riverside isn’t far from Epcot, as the crow flies. Taking energy from an abundant renewable source.
 
Marc Davis Fan

Marc Davis Fan

Well-Known Member
The buses are one of the "weak points" in the WDW "bubble," since obviously they're no different from buses in the "real world."

An easy way to make the buses more part of the "bubble" (or, put another way, to make them a reminder that you're someplace special and different from the outside world) would be to customize them, as Tokyo Disney does:

386675


386676


Even minor customizations would go a long way. This may seem trivial, but the "small things" are collectively an important aspect of what makes the Disney experience special.

Unfortunately, something like this probably doesn't fit TDO's model of needing a direct ROI for nearly everything.
 
twilight mitsuk

twilight mitsuk

Well-Known Member
Driver said:
It's going to be a little bit of both. They are planning to retire approximately 40 nova busses they are the oldest of the fleet starting with #4815 that has the 2 hidden Mickey's on the back. And with that the total fleet count will still increase, as the current fleet size is at 390 . The total of new bus purchases is 76. As far as " life left" DOT recommends retiring busses at 500,000 miles, Disney does makes an effort to satisfy that recommendation.
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Will the skyliner help with bus retirement
 
lazyboy97o

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
Marc Davis Fan said:
The buses are one of the "weak points" in the WDW "bubble," since obviously they're no different from buses in the "real world."

An easy way to make the buses more part of the "bubble" (or, put another way, to make them a reminder that you're someplace special and different from the outside world) would be to customize them, as Tokyo Disney does:

View attachment 386675

View attachment 386676

Even minor customizations would go a long way. This may seem trivial, but the "small things" are collectively an important aspect of what makes the Disney experience special.

Unfortunately, something like this probably doesn't fit TDO's model of needing a direct ROI for nearly everything.
Click to expand...
The Tokyo Disney Resort buses aren’t “small things” that build to a larger whole. They’re character branding, slapping Mickey shapes onto something and saying it’s special.
 
WDW Guru

WDW Guru

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
mm121

mm121

Well-Known Member
Marc Davis Fan said:
The buses are one of the "weak points" in the WDW "bubble," since obviously they're no different from buses in the "real world."

An easy way to make the buses more part of the "bubble" (or, put another way, to make them a reminder that you're someplace special and different from the outside world) would be to customize them, as Tokyo Disney does:

View attachment 386675

View attachment 386676

Even minor customizations would go a long way. This may seem trivial, but the "small things" are collectively an important aspect of what makes the Disney experience special.

Unfortunately, something like this probably doesn't fit TDO's model of needing a direct ROI for nearly everything.
Click to expand...
Those look great
 
Missing20K

Missing20K

Well-Known Member
lazyboy97o said:
The Tokyo Disney Resort buses aren’t “small things” that build to a larger whole. They’re character branding, slapping Mickey shapes onto something and saying it’s special.
Click to expand...
While I'd agree with you in terms of the TDR buses being more about branding then not, at the very least they incorporated the branding into the design and didn't just cheap out by throwing a branded wrap on an existing, off-the-shelf commercial bus. For that alone, I'd rather have the TDR buses than WDW's version.

More on topic, Big Mickey has trouble finding guests when their phone shuts off, thus leading to unmagical experiences for the guest.

Though it seems like it will be a funny quirk to the past in the near future when everyone's phone lasts for days or weeks at a time, and re-charging can happen through wifi or over the air. Like seeing a CD player in a car. Or a pay per view box in a hotel room.

Side note: how long before guests start complaining that the buses have usb chargers but the skyliner cabs don't?
 

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