Im so glad this topic came up, because Ive got a LOT to say, both good and bad. Lets start with the good:
First, lets take a look at a map thats been circulating on the Transportation boards. Just take a look at this thing:
Its huge! Before criticism can be rendered, we have to look at just how massive this operation is and give credit where credit is due. Unofficially, 17 million people visited MK alone last year. Due to the setup, every single one of them had to use Disney transportation to get to MK except those who walked from the Contemporary, which is a relatively small amount of the overall population. That means 34 million used Disney transportation just at MK alone! Now add the resort to DTD routes, park to park routes, people going to dinners, we move a LOT of people in a year. For the size and scope of the operation, overall things run pretty smooth.
Now obviously when crowds rush transportation, there can be issues. Ill start with monorails since theyre the red headed step child of transportation. They suck, they break, parts fall out and start fires, bus bars fall off the beams cutting power, I could go on
and on
and on. Yeah sure, theyre iconic but what theyre iconic FOR is starting to change and its not a good thing. 3 major holidays in a row they broke and caused a LOT of people to be stranded at MK due to boats being down for wind(1 of those 3 times). Ive seen strings of people walking from MK to TTC in these situations. When monorails break it causes mass chaos for both MK and the other parks because buses have to be brought online to assist watercraft with getting guests out of MK and to the TTC. And its not just major break downs that cause a problem, it can be a medical emergency, someone puking and the need to clean it up, or a squirrel on the beam that can bring monorail operations to a halt. For this reason, I think it would be a horrible idea to spread monorails to other areas on property. They can barely keep the operation they have running, how on earth are they going to handle more? They have made steps in the right direction by reducing monorail hours to perform maintenance(and thats a decision I will forever back management on because I see the negative effects of their lack of maintenance the last 10+ years), but that doesnt mean they are ready for an expansion.
Now its on to buses. Buses are absolutely the work horse of transportation. We run nearly 300 buses every single day. Buses are deployed partially by an automated system and partially by human intervention. This can mean an inconsistent experience depending on who is deploying the buses and what circumstances might be happening elsewhere. For instance, monorails being down and forcing buses to divert causes delays everywhere else. Disney runs X number of buses according to foreseen demand. They cant just start up a bus and send it somewhere, it takes time to bring additional buses online and it takes staff they might not immediately have. Additionally, the biggest difference between buses and monocraft is they do not just simply run a route. The dynamic deployment makes things much more complicated. This is the biggest reason why Disney says and I frequently preach allow at least 1.5 hours to get to your destination when using Disney transportation. There are many variables and you should always be prepared for them.
Having said that, I see Disney is addressing the bus problem. When AoA came online, more buses were added and they have tested those bendable buses as a way to increase capacity on routes and make it at least a little bit more comfortable for people. Thats not going to prevent lines at peak times, but the idea is to move more people quicker and more efficiently. They are aware of the increase in traffic and are making efforts to prepare for it.
And lastly we get to Watercraft: Bailing out monorails for over 40 years. First, the resort routes at MK are pretty well set and boats do get dynamically deployed after fireworks to move the crowd as quickly as possible. But this is definitely a situation where we need more boats. The addition of BLT had a big effect on the blue route, to the point where we had to change the flow of the 2 launches to accommodate the crowds. Again, its all the same in the end, but we were able to make a modification that at least makes it look better. The same is inevitably going to happen when the GF DVC opens. The gold route only has 2 launches and we only have 1 spare launch. What we need is at least 1 if not 2 additional cruisers, but apparently the resorts dont want to pay for it. With the current setup, the red/green routes suffer when there is lightning (which shuts down the launches) or when the monorails break(which is like
daily). It forces a cruiser to be transferred to the gold and the red and green routes experience longer wait times because of it. So yes, we need more boats, preferably in the form of cruisers since they are ECV capable and have a much higher capacity than the launches. In addition to that, we need the ability to take boats out for maintenance and cleaning without worrying about the operation. 1 spare launch and 2 insanely slow MK boats are not cutting it.
Next its on to the ferries. First, as indicated in the blog, I think there has been an increase in the number of people driving. In the last 3.5 years I have definitely noticed an increase in the number of people taking the ferryboats. I doubt its because anyone listens when we say its quicker at fireworks time to take the ferry than the monorail, so I can only assume its because more people are driving. That said, there is really one main issue with the efficiency of the ferryboats which is that we cannot unload and load at the same time. Therefore, more (ferry)boats will only make the situation worse, not better. In order to address this problem, the queue areas at TTC and MK need to be redone to allow simultaneous loading and unloading. Recently we have begun experimenting with the idea by having a ferryboat docked in both the main slip and temp slip at MK during the fireworks exit. The problem is due to the angle of the temp slip at the TTC, it can only be utilized in an emergency situation as it creates a difficult situation for ECVs and strollers. So they are not helping anything with the test they are doing, except putting 1200 people on 2 boats and making them wait to dock. Truthfully, its all the same in the end. Until they effectively make 2 main slips on each dock and properly configure them, more boats will not help the situation. I also want to add it takes at least 45 minutes to get a ferryboat out of dry dock if monorails go down. If the 3rd boat is already out, it takes 20 minutes to get a crew across, do the necessary checks, and bring the boat online. Again, its a combination of having the necessary staff and equipment available to help the situation.
The benefit to the boats is if there is a mechanical, medical, or security issue, we have backup slips to utilize so the operation does continue even if it slows things down.
With all that said, information IS being gathered to take a look at the MK watercraft operation. GPS units have been ordered for the boats which will help with more efficient deployment and Im hoping (speculation here) will lead to some kind of wait time indication being given either on LCDs on the docks, through the My Disney Experience app, or both. Disney is absolutely aware of the increased guest flow and is trying to do something about it, but like any huge corporation, it takes planning, budgeting, etc to get anything done and they move at a snails pace!
I hope Ive given a true double sided view here. Im often critical of Disney, but I see they are making some decisions with regard to transportation that is a step in the right direction. Yes, there are issues, but again, for the size and scope of this privately run operation, we do a pretty good job. Ultimately its up to the time vs reward value of each individual.