News Return of the Walt Disney World tram fleet tracker

[Clamman73]

I was on the monorail back and forth yesterday to Epcot and it was a busy day at both…so looking at how full the lots were I can’t believe they’re not running the trams. It’s being cruel at this point.

 

[Roxana Beaudry]

I wonder what Walt Disney would think if he knew what was going on with his parks the money grubbing no Transportation in the parking lot I think he would be very sad. Probably roll over in his grave.

 

[Thepuma]

To be fair, if you cannot possibly walk across a car park without the need for assistance then I'm not sure how you'll get on getting round a huge theme park. Last time we went to Hollywood studios our fitness tracker noted 16 miles walked that day.

 

[castlecake2.0]

To be fair, if you cannot possibly walk across a car park without the need for assistance then I'm not sure how you'll get on getting round a huge theme park. Last time we went to Hollywood studios our fitness tracker noted 16 miles walked that day.

Saying that, as someone regularly coming from the UK to Orlando, it feels to us british that Disney is shooting itself in the foot and taking advantage by making its recent decisions. You Americans seem quite placid in your responses.. if that happened in the UK you have protesters chaining themselves to the gates...or glueing themselves to the tarmac outside the entrance in protest. Lol

I’ll use my example again. My 80’year old grandma doesn’t need a wheelchair at the parks, we pace it out so we have a good balance of walking/sitting/resting as we go about the park. However, I can’t imagine making her walk from the middle of any of these parking lots just to get to the front entrance, that’s just cruel and very poor guest service. There’s no benches in the parking lots, no where to duck into to get AC, no shade. So now when she’s here this week I’ve had to come up with ways to get her to the front of parks without a tram. Some I’ll have to drop her at the rideshare area and leave her there and then exit the parking lot and park myself then meet up with her. Others I have booked a dining reservation at a hotel to get closer to transportation options(which we will just cancel once inside) It’s embarrassing that I have to go through such lengths because they can’t bring back a simple service. I know places are short staffed, but this one really needs to be a priority. I’d even compromise and say that maybe they only start running trams once cars hit a certain row, less labor and gas, but this really can’t continue and I hope people are voicing this to guest relations.

Guest.Services@disneyworld.com

 

[Thepuma]

I’ll use my example again. My 80’year old grandma doesn’t need a wheelchair at the parks, we pace it out so we have a good balance of walking/sitting/resting as we go about the park. However, I can’t imagine making her walk from the middle of any of these parking lots just to get to the front entrance, that’s just cruel and very poor guest service. There’s no benches in the parking lots, no where to duck into to get AC, no shade. So now when she’s here this week I’ve had to come up with ways to get her to the front of parks without a tram. Some I’ll have to drop her at the rideshare area and leave her there and then exit the parking lot and park myself then meet up with her. Others I have booked a dining reservation at a hotel to get closer to transportation options(which we will just cancel once inside) It’s embarrassing that I have to go through such lengths because they can’t bring back a simple service. I know places are short staffed, but this one really needs to be a priority. I’d even compromise and say that maybe they only start running trams once cars hit a certain row, less labor and gas, but this really can’t continue and I hope people are voicing this to guest relations.

Guest.Services@disneyworld.com

Totally agree in your situation...but your situation is probably 1 in 10,000 people in a car park - and Disney probably think that's not enough to keep them running when they are watching costs/staff numbers.

 

[RoadiJeff]

Maybe I missed it earlier in this thread but isn't there an option at the parking toll booth to pay a little extra for premium parking? That would let some mobility challenged person park much closer to the entrance than walking a long way.

 

[Goofyernmost]

You don’t make operating business decisions on the margins. You make them based on the majority of your customers, and while I am sure there are some people who would like the trams back, the vast majority of WDW guests don’t need them and don’t miss them. To the extent that there needs to be cuts, it’s better to make those cuts on non-entertainment items that most guests will never miss/use.

I repeat unless you are the only person in the world and are willing to pay millions for admission all the attractions in the world will be useless unless you can get to them. If you can afford to support the place by yourself, then by all means, lets not consider the needs of others. WDW is not a little grocery store parking lot, it is mammoth. Why not think of others for a change.

 

[Goofyernmost]

He's not suggesting this is a good thing.

I know! I'm just explaining why I feel that way instead of making people have to decide if it is for or against. I will change the wording in the first sentence, to make it clearer.

 

[John park hopper]

Maybe I missed it earlier in this thread but isn't there an option at the parking toll booth to pay a little extra for premium parking? That would let some mobility challenged person park much closer to the entrance than walking a long way.

Little extra try twice the regular rate 50 bucks

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

I’ll use my example again. My 80’year old grandma doesn’t need a wheelchair at the parks, we pace it out so we have a good balance of walking/sitting/resting as we go about the park. However, I can’t imagine making her walk from the middle of any of these parking lots just to get to the front entrance, that’s just cruel and very poor guest service. There’s no benches in the parking lots, no where to duck into to get AC, no shade. So now when she’s here this week I’ve had to come up with ways to get her to the front of parks without a tram. Some I’ll have to drop her at the rideshare area and leave her there and then exit the parking lot and park myself then meet up with her. Others I have booked a dining reservation at a hotel to get closer to transportation options(which we will just cancel once inside) It’s embarrassing that I have to go through such lengths because they can’t bring back a simple service. I know places are short staffed, but this one really needs to be a priority. I’d even compromise and say that maybe they only start running trams once cars hit a certain row, less labor and gas, but this really can’t continue and I hope people are voicing this to guest relations.

Guest.Services@disneyworld.com

Leaving your car at a resort you have dining reservations for all day is not something I would chance. You have a limited amount of time you can park there, I think it's like 3 hours or something. After that you risk being towed.

 

[castlecake2.0]

Totally agree in your situation...but your situation is probably 1 in 10,000 people in a car park - and Disney probably think that's not enough to keep them running when they are watching costs/staff numbers.

1 in 10,000 would mean there’s only 6 or 7 people at magic kingdom that needed a tram. I think there’s a lot more than that. I get their warching numbers, totally understand, I just think they messed up where they cut from. I want everything back to normal too, but maybe they could have allocated labor budgets better.

 

[castlecake2.0]

Leaving your car at a resort you have dining reservations for all day is not something I would chance. You have a limited amount of time you can park there, I think it's like 3 hours or something. After that you risk being towed.

They’re not going to tow you. And really that’s about home much time we would spend at the park anyway.

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

They’re not going to tow you. And really that’s about home much time we would spend at the park anyway.

ok

 

[WondersOfLife]

I'd prefer to lose trams and get the drummers back in Japan and AK.

That'd be a great point... If that was actually a factor. But it's not. Disney could very well operate the trams and re-hire the drummers. The two do not conflict each other at all. Hiring the drummers back again is hardly even pocket change to Disney.

Side note: If the next big thing on why the trams aren't operating is "staffing," I call bull on that as well. Just like how I called bull when everyone was preaching that the trams weren't running due to Covid yet the monorail was back up and all the rides were going back to full capacity.

They have plenty of CMs working popcorn and mickey bar stands.... Lets get it together, Disney.

 

[WondersOfLife]

You don’t make operating business decisions on the margins. You make them based on the majority of your customers, and while I am sure there are some people who would like the trams back, the vast majority of WDW guests don’t need them and don’t miss them. To the extent that there needs to be cuts, it’s better to make those cuts on non-entertainment items that most guests will never miss/use.

I'd actually be willing to bet that a huge chunk of Disney's park guests are handicap, and unseen handicap, actually.

And don't even get me started on the amount of obese folks (Sorry for the term. It's true, though. They're everywhere at WDW. And I specifically mean those without handicap issues.) that need to use ECVs because America.

If you're going to bring up business, then you need to know the facts. Because those people matter to Disney's business as well. Next time you go, make a game. Count how many people are riding on an ECV (whether a handicap is evident or not). My high score on a 4 day trip 3 years ago was 392 across all four parks. It was insane. There was literally a group of about 15 elderly people on their own ECV tour group lol.

 

[John park hopper]

1 in 10,000 would mean there’s only 6 or 7 people at magic kingdom that needed a tram. I think there’s a lot more than that. I get their warching numbers, totally understand, I just think they messed up where they cut from. I want everything back to normal too, but maybe they could have allocated labor budgets better.

It's not just the handicapped --Having gone many times to MK with my small sons (not using strollers) at the end of the day those trams were a god send getting back to my car

 

[The Mom]

I'd actually be willing to bet that a huge chunk of Disney's park guests are handicap, and unseen handicap, actually.

And don't even get me started on the amount of obese folks (Sorry for the term. It's true, though. They're everywhere at WDW. And I specifically mean those without handicap issues.) that need to use ECVs because America.

If you're going to bring up business, then you need to know the facts. Because those people matter to Disney's business as well. Next time you go, make a game. Count how many people are riding on an ECV (whether a handicap is evident or not). My high score on a 4 day trip 3 years ago was 392 across all four parks. It was insane. There was literally a group of about 15 elderly people on their own ECV tour group lol.

Many choose to vacation at places like WDW because they are accessible to a wide range of people who have difficulty traveling to other places. 50 years ago these people would have been stuck at home.

 

[bcoachable]

To be fair, if you cannot possibly walk across a car park without the need for assistance then I'm not sure how you'll get on getting round a huge theme park. Last time we went to Hollywood studios our fitness tracker noted 16 miles walked that day.

I do the parks waaaay different when I’m with others in my crew who might need a chair or an ECV…

 

[Thepuma]

1 in 10,000 would mean there’s only 6 or 7 people at magic kingdom that needed a tram. I think there’s a lot more than that. I get their warching numbers, totally understand, I just think they messed up where they cut from. I want everything back to normal too, but maybe they could have allocated labor budgets better.

Id say there's a huge difference between 'need' and 'want'......theres plenty of lazy people who would much prefer being taken somewhere to avoid walking....the amount of people that actually 'need' it, as in, they cannot make it otherwise, is very very small.

I get your situation, but its a tiny number that could not go without the trolleys so Disney aren't that concerned by its effects.

 

[bcoachable]

I’m not familiar with ADA laws- but in our litigious society- I certainly could see someone testing them out on this. That would be some fun click bait fuel… Colbert could be the tip of the ice berg as far as bad press goes.