Personal Pod Transport Arriving Soon?

[jt04]

According to a site with "gossip" and "disney" in it's name, management is seriously looking at adding at least a segmented version of personal transports to the WDW Transportation system. To me WDW would be a perfect "test bed" for such technologies and I would love to see DOE, WDC and major technology companies get together to install these on property.

Seems like a loop from the Epcot monorail station that goes to CBR, OKW, and the PO/Riverside area and back would not only be efficient and feasible but also economical.

Or maybe something as simple as just connecting AKL with AK's entry plaza.

Very interesting rumor!!!! More info here about these systems can be found here...

http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/10/personal-pod--1.html

 

[captainkidd]

How in the world would that possibly work?

 

[jt04]

How in the world would that possibly work?

Electricity :lookaroun

 

[Master Yoda]

How in the world would that possibly work?

Well you see people get in the shiny little pod and it takes them places. Kind of like a bus only smaller and cooler.:lol:

In all seriousness a system like this would be the only viable replacement for the bus system. The trick would be getting it to work on such a large scale and making it to where the average person could operate it. The theory is that you could have loading stations at every resort, park etc. You get into your pod press a button for your destination and off you go. Again in theory they have much more flexibility that the current monorail system, do not require a driver, are less expensive to operate ans supposedly the track is considerably less expensive to build.

 

[ewensell3]

Am I the only one who is reminded of the "Johnny Cabs" from Total Recall?

 

[RiversideBunny]

......
Or maybe something as simple as just connecting AKL with AK's entry plaza.
....

That would be the most feasible thing to do. Those things require tracks and since they only hold a few people there would have to be a lot of them.

 

[MousDad]

So if I'm reading this right, it's like a giant omnimover ride, except the cars are not connected, and they can break off the main line to a exit/load spur.

It's a very interesting concept. Seems like capacity could be an issue, hence your suggestion to start it only between low traffic volume points makes sense.

 

[jedimaster1227]

Am I the only one who is reminded of the "Johnny Cabs" from Total Recall?

You aren't. That was my initial thought as well...

If this is even remotely possible for WDW, it is news to me.

 

[captainkidd]

Electricity :lookaroun

I was speaking from a logistical standpoint.

Think of how many of those things they would need. Then think of the traffic backup on them. Then think if one of them breaks down.

 

[MousDad]

You aren't. That was my initial thought as well...

If this is even remotely possible for WDW, it is news to me.

Seeing your sig made me laugh out loud. So not only do you guys have enough clout to get Epcot to throw an anniversary party, now the whole company has named a year long marketing campaign after you. :lol:

 

[jt04]

You aren't. That was my initial thought as well...

If this is even remotely possible for WDW, it is news to me.

I remember Eisner talking about a system very similar to this where your party would enter a vehicle and press a button with your desired destination and the vehicle would take you there automatically. It has been discussed and so maybe the time is right now. They are installing the system at an airport so it appears they have solved the capacity issue.

I am especially hopeful in that it appears the track can be built at ground level when possible which would make the installation much less expensive and feasible.

 

[captainkidd]

Those things require tracks and since they only hold a few people there would have to be a lot of them.

Exactly.

 

[captainkidd]

I remember Eisner talking about a system very similar to this where your party would enter a vehicle and press a button with your desired destination and the vehicle would take you there automatically. It has been discussed and so maybe the time is right now. They are installing the system at an airport so it appears they have solved the capacity issue.

I am especially hopeful in that it appears the track can be built at ground level when possible which would make the installation much less expensive and feasible.

I'm definitely missing the idea on this concept. No doubt, they look cool and sound even cooler. But just thinking about how this would run given the amount of people that would be using these is mind-boggling.

I mean now, if a car breaks down, no problem - The other cars simply pass right around it. If one of these breaks down en route from Animal Kingdom Lodge to Epcot, what does everyone else waiting in line do?

We all know how aggrivating it can be waiting for a bus going to your exact destination. And the buses can hold about 50 people, if not more. I can't imagine this system being any quicker.

 

[jt04]

I'm definitely missing the idea on this concept. No doubt, they look cool and sound even cooler. But just thinking about how this would run given the amount of people that would be using these is mind-boggling.

I mean now, if a car breaks down, no problem - The other cars simply pass right around it. If one of these breaks down en route from Animal Kingdom Lodge to Epcot, what does everyone else waiting in line do?

We all know how aggrivating it can be waiting for a bus going to your exact destination. And the buses can hold about 50 people, if not more. I can't imagine this system being any quicker.

The average wait for a bus is 15 to 20 minutes at best. It appears you could load at least 30 to 40 pods (up to 160 people!) in that time. There are no traffic lights, security gates or other traffic bottle necks on the pod network unlike busses. Just look at how long a bus sits in front of the MK waiting to load while the pod system would load continuously. It's kinda like an omnimover in that respect.

 

[WDWFREAK53]

Ok, here goes.

Have kiosks at every resort, DTD, Water Parks, and Theme Parks.

When you walk up to the kiosk, choose where you want to go (touchscreen).
The computer will send a signal every 5 minutes to the transportation mainframe. Depending on the amount of people within those 5 minutes that chose the same location...one of two different sized vehicles are dispatched.

At the beginning of the day (going to theme parks)...buslike pods are dispatched to each resort/theme park...on a continuous loop for a certain amount of time. After the initial early morning/park closing rush...the regular system kicks in. (These times would vary depending on the time of season (peak, regular, mild).

People say that it won't work because of the huge spikes in travel...but it can if implemented correctly.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

GREAT... So I guess this means we've found the new topic to replace the never ending "Monorail Expansion" threads.

:brick:

Although this probably would be a viable option. :drevil:

Can't see it happening anytime soon though. Planning, desing, infrastructure, construction... While it might be less costly than adding monorail tracks everywhere, it would still be a pretty penny.

And I don't think we're in a spending cycle anywhere around WDW.

The only prayer I think WDW would have would be if it was a guarantee to increase the percentage of people that never left property. If they can do a study that shows that would be a certainty, you'd get the accountanteers on board... And I think that's what you'd have to have.

I see it as similar to the idea for a rail system between MCO and WDW. Or the light rail they talked about between Tampa and WDW. Those both died. I don't remember for SURE, but I thought they died basically because of money. What did they do instead? Magical Express. Why? Similar result, a LOT less money up front. Buy some busses, and gas them up. In some cases, they don't even buy the buses... Mears carries people for them.

It'd be cool, and probably more efficient in the long run... But I just don't see it.

But BOY... Talk about the publicity they could get out of it. They could create entire marketing campaigns around something like that. So who knows.

 

[RiversideBunny]

How long would it take and how much would it cost to build a track to every resort, DTD, the water parks, and each theme park?
Seems prohibitive.

WDW would be better off waiting for development of the Luke Skywalker air cars that don't need tracks.
Maybe by 2051.

 

[Disney05]

Very cool, very futuristic. If anyone can make it work it would be Disney, but don't forsee it happening anytime soon.

 

[WDWFREAK53]

Simple solution. Plastic!

1. Resort guests have full access to Disney's Magical Express and Disney's Dream Pods. (Valid Resort Room Key required) (kiosks will allow you to swipe your card)

2. Guests visiting Walt Disney World that aren't staying in a Disney operated resort will be charged $10.00 per day. This includes parking and the use of Disney's Dream Pods. (A plastic "Magic Carpet Card" will be issued and it will be "charged" with the amount of people in your party.

3. Guests visiting Disney's Downtown Disney area will have a charge of $5.00 to park per day but can be validated by any of the shops/restaurants located in the Downtown Disney area. This $5.00 parking fee does not include the use of Disney's Dream Pods. No cards issued to be used in the kiosks.

If the project can clearly show an income...it is more likely to be built.

If 20,000 people use this per week...that's $200,000/week just going towards the system.

 

[Rob562]

I'm definitely missing the idea on this concept. No doubt, they look cool and sound even cooler. But just thinking about how this would run given the amount of people that would be using these is mind-boggling.

I mean now, if a car breaks down, no problem - The other cars simply pass right around it. If one of these breaks down en route from Animal Kingdom Lodge to Epcot, what does everyone else waiting in line do?

We all know how aggrivating it can be waiting for a bus going to your exact destination. And the buses can hold about 50 people, if not more. I can't imagine this system being any quicker.

Quicker, maybe. (Actual travel times would be about the same as buses, but wait times would be reduced) More efficient, yes. Because to get people from point A to point B, you're only using the capacity required to get them there. Half-full buses are wasting money, from a financial standpoint.

As for a car breaking down, there are ways around it that would require a lot of planning and system design. The first way would be to handle it like the Internet... Ensure there are multiple ways to get from one point to another on the system, so that a breakdown in any one spot doesn't bring the system down. (It might just take longer to get somewhere via a re-routed car)

Or when you're building the guideways, build each one double-wide to allow traffic to use the other side of the guideway to get around a broken-down vehicle. This would also help the system overall by doubling the peak capacity by using both guideways simultaneously.

A third option would be to program the system so that if a car breaks down, the next car behind it eases up behind it and then pushes it to the nearest station (or to the original destination of the pushing car) to clear it off the track.

As always comes up in these discussions, I've heard from people-who-know that the one scenario that Disney planners couldn't come up with a viable solution to is the fireworks dump at the end of the night at the Magic Kingdom. None of the current PRT systems could handle that large of a surge in passengers without requiring a station that takes up the entire MK entrance plaza, from the bus stops to the monorail station.

-Rob