No MK Area Water Launches?

Disney magic is not painted school buses with colorful mickey faces on them putting out black smoke. How does Disney say it again...."Enviormentaly!" Yeah, thats it.
Sorry for the sarcasm here, but 1/2 the fun is getting there, and WALT NEVER dreamed that his property would be over flown with nasty dirty UNenvormentaly friendly busses. The should at least get them running on Compressed Natural Gas, like in NYC. Think about it, a city 1/2 the size of DW was able to do it ;) why cant they? As for the fact that buses will do. I dont think so. No one think so MK or the CR without thinking of the monorail, or EVEN the ferry launches. They have been going since '71, why stop 30 years later if it was such a waste of money!!!!:mad:!!!! This whole Ei$ner deal really gets me. I hate that guy, hopefully he will leave the company soon (yeah I know, Im just dreaming....WAY to much!) He did turn the company around, but not without cutting too many corners. Why does he waste money from DW and bring it to DL or other dumb "adventures" of his? Like the movie division? That is totally sperate if you ask me, and should remain that way. If money is made in one place it should stay there.
And as for the water level being to low, how would they run the big water ferry from WL/FW->MK? They must have larger hulls then the little tinny ferries. For ALL the money you spend a night at the PR/GF...they CAN AFFORD the extra $300 tops to run that thing each day.

Again, im sorry for my sarcasm, but I think I should let my steam out :mad: and voice my concern about the latest problems with disney.

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:
:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:
 
First of all, I don't think you mean to direct that at Landbaron, since he would agree with just about every word. Secondly, if you read the posts here, most of us are suspecting the FW/WL boats will be killed too.
third, the boats have been shut down before.
fourth, nobody is suggesting the Buses are a good solution. (although, I beleive FW had buses for many many years, possibly even before Eisner)


Finally, to Hell with Natural Gas. If they're gonna do busses, they should do busses like San Fransico where many of them run on electric guywires just like trolleys. Perosnally, I think that would be the best solution since then they could switch over to light rail in some areas and support it all from a central location. All of which has NOTHING to do with this rumour which may not even be true.
 
HOLD THE PHONE THERE BUDDY!!!

Im sorry DVC-Landbaron, but im going to have to TOTALLY disagree with you on this one. Disney magic is not painted school buses with colorful mickey faces on them putting out black smoke.
Have you not followed anything I've said the last year or so!!?? I HATE BUSES!!! You are EXACTLY right. The concept of transprotation around Disney should be MAGICAL! Plain and simple. And in my mind, there is nothing magical about buses. Lauches!! Boats!! Monorails!! Flying Carpets!! Transporters!! These are magic. Buses I see every day in Chicago and you know what? Everytime I do see one, belching that black smoke, a little magic actually slips away.

Whatever gave you the idea that I would like buses!!??:confused:
 
This is a true story that I unfortunately had the Dis- pleasure of living. One night my wife and I were leaving MK to go hotel hopping or to Downtown Disney this thing they picked us up in made the normal busses seem like a celeberity's private tour bus. It was a truck that pulled a trailer with very few windows. I swear this truck and trailer looked like one of the rigs they hall the big Mainstreet horses to and fro in. Sea World and Busch Gardens also use these types of trucks to hall their famous Clydesdales in. It was outfitted with seats, I think it even had air-conditioning, the speaker system blew our ear drums out, and hand loops for those of us unfortunate enough to have to stand. The whole way over to our destination my wife and I kept mooing like the cattle we were. Needless to say we'll never ride in any type of vehicle like that again.
So if you think the buses were bad, it can get worse, MUCH MUCH WORSE.:p
 


If the Magic Kingdom Water Taxi boats go no more, then I, too, shall go no more.

Screamscape claims (I thought I would put the quote here since there was some confusion regarding this particular rumor):
“Park News - (5/26/2001) The budget cutting may continue it seems. Early word is that there is a plan to remove the Friendship boats from service within Epcot itself. They will still run from the International Gate to the resorts and Disney/MGM Studios however.”

That rumor, too, has me sad, but not as much as the Magic Kingdom Resorts’ one. I don’t follow Screamscape, so I was happy to read on this thread that their accuracy record isn’t the greatest. I pray that their accuracy record with these rumors is abysmal.

I like F.C. Fan’s hovercraft idea, however I am afraid that they would be too “loud.” It was a great idea, though, for something new & interesting.
 
Hi all. I'm normally a lurker but I thought I'd comment today. As far a buses go there is a much better (perhaps more magical?) version than either the natural gas like NYC or electric from San Fran. In Vancouver BC Canada they operate a few fuel cell buses that run on hydrogen and produce zero emmisions other than water vapour. Unfortunately since they cost a lot more than the traditional diseal buses (as do the electric, and the natural gas one too) I wouldn't bet on Disney considering them. I've also wondered if Disney ever considered putting in Sky Train like in Vancouver. It is made by Bombardier as well but is cheaper than monorail while still being on an elevated track. Just a thought. I also am not too surprised that the friendships in Epcot are going since they got rid of the double decker busses as well. It seems like such a shame.

Janet
 
I don’t follow Screamscape, so I was happy to read on this thread that their accuracy record isn’t the greatest.
...people are left to suggest that Screamscape is/isn't accurate based on their own experiences with what they've read on the site.

I personally have found it wise to pay attention to Screamscape. The nature of the rumors business is that nothing is set in stone--otherwise it wouldn't be a rumor--so, eventually, reality will often contradict even a 100% accurately reported rumor that really was being considered.

If anyone wants my opinion (stop throwing things. You're only going to mess up your monitor), I'd guess that the low water levels brought up the topic that they might have to suspend launch service again, then some weisenheimer suggested that they could save some money if they got rid of them entirely. It's the kind of suggestion that would probably get some airplay in WDW's current budgetary environment.

So, I feel that Screamscape probably accurately reported something that is being considered. That doesn't mean it will certainly happen.

Jeff
 


This may sound extreme but if they were to stop resort launches, I would not return to Disney World. It is one of the things that provides the magic, especially to the Deluxe resorts but I wouldn't put it past Disney to do this. Suddenly AKl becomes MORE similar to other deluxes that would depend on buses.

People ask what you do first when you get to the World, for us it has been riding a launch! I think it is the best way to approach MK, WL, GF, Poly, etc.
 
I'd guess that the low water levels brought up the topic that they might have to suspend launch service again, then some weisenheimer suggested that they could save some money if they got rid of them entirely. It's the kind of suggestion that would probably get some airplay in WDW's current budgetary environment.

I think you hit the nail on the head, Jeff!
 
Posted by safari Steve:

Last year at this time there were big problems that resulted from the pumping of water from retention ponds to 7SL via the MK waterways.

Disney is currently pumping water into Bay Lake from a nearby water source. You can see the pump and long hose running parallel to the roadway approach of the Magic Kingdom Toll plaza.

World Showcase lagoon, as are the waterways along the Epcot Resort/MGM section, are currently being replenished by a lake located out of view behind China.

Yesterday's rainfall was certainly good news. But as Safari Steve mentioned, they need more of these types of showers to help replenish what's already been lost.

Yesterday marked the beginning of hurricane season for Florida, so there's a pretty good chance that they'll be ok during the upcoming summer months. For now it seems that the worst is over.
 
Talked to Chris, our Travel Agent at TDS Woodfield Mall. She had heard nothing about the launches, of course, she's CRO, and so would be the last to know.

(she enjoyed DCA on her recent trip though.)
 
"AGENT RIDER" here, reporting in from the shores of the Seven Seas Lagoon at Disney's Polynesian Resort. Just wanted to let you all know that my fiance and I took a launch from the MK to the Poly yesterday afternoon, and the gentleman driving the boat said that he has heard ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about the possibility of discontinuing the launches. When I asked him about the water level situation, he demonstrated to us (by pointing out the water line on the cement shore line), that the water level is currently only an inch or 2 below normal, and that "if one or 2 good hurricanes come", the levels should be completely back to normal! About an hour after our ride on the launch, a huge thunderstorm came, which lasted for about an hour - maybe that helped a little bit! I know that one can't always believe what CM's say, because they themselves might not have all of the information, but our launch captain seemed to know what he was talking about! I also asked various random Poly CM's, and they had not heard anything about the possible discontinuation of launches, either. Will continue doing research and asking around........"AGENT RIDER" signing off from WDW!;)
 
Now I feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Its good to know that the lagoon isn't shallow, although above reports indicate that that is due to pumping from other reseviors.

We shall see.
 
I recall about a year ago reading and artical ( I don't know where or who wrote it) about upcoming changes at the Deluxe Resorts ( and all the WDW resorts) regarding them to be "run more effeciantly". I don't remember everything that was mentioned to be "cut", It may have said something about the water taxi service as that is in the back of my head. Among the stuff mentioned was another item that you all may have heard. The discontinuation of haveing purchases delivered to your room. They would instead be routed to package pick up where you could get them as you leave the park. I had forgotten about this until I read about it again in the last few weeks and that that change would occure soon.
I certainly hope they do not discontinue the boats as that was one of the things that was so wonderful and relaxing about the WDW resort. As for purchases being delivered to the room... that doesn't affect me much but the rest of the shopaholics in the family will be depressed about it.
Dan
 
Polynesian had package pickup centralized in 1999. As I recall, the way things turned out, it was determined that in fact many of the Deluxe and moderates already ran things this way without any problems, so the fuss all died down.
 
We really appreciate the effort and as such I'm approving you a large salary increase...Just tell your superior I approved it! ;)

Seriously though, it's good to know the launches are still running and they don't appear in immediate danger of closing (like tomorrow)! And Orlando has had rain!!!

Oh and IASW Rider, I hope you're having (had) a good time...Did you play Millionaire???:D
:smooth: :smooth: :bounce: :smooth: :smooth:
 
I played Millionaire Cap'n and it's a blast. I got on the leader board each time but never higher than third.
I'll try again tomorrow then I have to go home :( .
BTW, I was mistaken in my previous post. There are currently 4 Friendships doing the Bay Lake route.
 
Greetings once again from WDW!

I asked a few more people, and have still not found one who has heard anything about the possibility of the launches being discontinued. The 2 resort launches and the TTC ferry have been running consistently since we've been here!

Thanks for your greetings and wishes. We have been having an amazing time, here! Everything has been absolutely perfect......and my boyfriend proposed to me the first night we were here, at the Poly!:D

Will be playing Millionaire today, in fact, and visiting with a friend of ours who works as a tech on the show!

Will let you know if I hear anything else! :D
 

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