Bus Transportation

[disneynutsss]

weird question... is the bus transportation owned by disney?

 

[Robo]

weird question... is the bus transportation owned by disney?

The WDW internal buses are Disney.

The Disney Magical Express buses are operated by Mears.

Disney can call out for additional buses from Mears for use on-property, when needed.

 

[ntsammy5]

Disney can call out for additional buses from Mears for use on-property, when needed.

During the Marathon in January they bring in buses from all over!

 

[disneynutsss]

thank you.

my cousin moved down recently and she got a job driving the internal buses. it got me thinking and i thought i heard that they were no longer owned by Disney.

 

[joelkfla]

During the Marathon in January they bring in buses from all over!

Those buses are chartered by Disney Sports, aka ESPN Wide World of Sports. They routinely charter buses for events, which are run completely separately from the Disney Transport buses. In fact, most of the time Disney bus drivers aren't even told when and to which resorts the event buses will be running.

Other buses on property that are contracted to outside companies include the shuttles for College & International Program cm's, buses to Hotel Plaza at DTD, and Shades of Green buses.

During peak periods, including now, Disney Transport also charters buses to help out on resort service, because Disney simply does not have enough buses to get the job done. They come from Mears, American Coach, and lots of small companies.

 

[WEDWDW]

Those buses are chartered by Disney Sports, aka ESPN Wide World of Sports. They routinely charter buses for events, which are run completely separately from the Disney Transport buses. In fact, most of the time Disney bus drivers aren't even told when and to which resorts the event buses will be running.

Other buses on property that are contracted to outside companies include the shuttles for College & International Program cm's, buses to Hotel Plaza at DTD, and Shades of Green buses.

During peak periods, including now, Disney Transport also charters buses to help out on resort service, because Disney simply does not have enough buses to get the job done. They come from Mears, American Coach, and lots of small companies.

Thanks for the great info!

I did not realize the CP and IP buses were "contract" buses.

 

[bradk]

i'm not sure how active they still are on it, but it's been said for some time that Disney has been 'pressuring' Mears to take over its buses.

Mears doesn't want it tho. One 'reason' I was given was that the buses are useless off property.

 

[Robo]

During peak periods, including now, Disney Transport also charters buses to help out on resort service, because Disney simply does not have enough buses to get the job done. They come from Mears, American Coach, and lots of small companies.

It also stands to reason that they have to bring in outside buses because Disney may not have enough staff drivers to cover the increased runs.

I've also heard that the non-Disney buses can travel any route between destinations their drivers may choose, but the actual Disney buses must follow only the approved and proscribed Disney routes, due to the satellite automatic dispatch system in the MIM buses. If those Disney bus drivers attempt another (sometimes more direct) route, the bus' MIM system thinks the bus is "off course" and stops making the guest announcements.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

i'm not sure how active they still are on it, but it's been said for some time that Disney has been 'pressuring' Mears to take over its buses. Mears doesn't want it tho. One 'reason' I was given was that the buses are useless off property.

. . . normal large MEAS buses cannot negotiate the turns at WDW, so MEARS said no
. . . the Disney buses are significantly amaller than regular buses
. . . they would nto be good for charters that MEARS does
. . . the bus rate would be too high per-passenger for charters
. . . and, they would not be suitable for the other MEARS routes

NOTE: Forgot the question - Yes, Disney operates its own internal bus system. I think the buses are actually leased, though. The drivers are Disney employees.

 

[bradk]

the buses are not leased as far as I know, those RTSes are pushing 30 years, that'd be some lease.

they also went through a lengthy process vetting whether they should purchase Novas or Gilligs to replace the RTS since the RTS parts are only available from overseas.

and the idea behind Mears taking over the Disney buses would that they would purchase Disney's fleet, not replace it with 300 more buses. but the Disney buses can't be used outside property so it'd just be more work for Mears with far little reward, as I've been told.

 

[chartle]

the buses are not leased as far as I know, those RTSes are pushing 30 years, that'd be some lease.

They still may be leased. Many companies lease equipment from another company. It not like leasing a car though the buses will never be used by anyone but Disney.

It has something to do with tax issues and equipment purchases.