Resort transportation expectations?

[eliza61]

Let me start off with, I love Disney transportation and since I travel for business (maybe 8 months of the year in major cities) I think the system is pretty darn good. First, of all its free (enough said in my book). Any other city- you pay to get on the bus. Period. So I'm asking this in all seriousness. What would people like for it to be? There have been a lot of gripes about the resort transportation so what would be a better system.
Things I like:
1) It's pretty convienent. Walk a little ways outside your resort and there's the bus or monorail or boat. You may have to transfer once in a while but other than that, its easy to get to where you want.
2) Outside of the occasional blimp, it's pretty reliable. You miss the bus, it is possible to wait 30 minutes.
I've never understood the sharing problem. What other transportation system in the world gives you your own bus? Why shouldn't it share? If the parks are crowded there's a good chance the bus/monorail/boats will be also. I mean they have to move those people some how.

So how would you improve the transportation system.

 

[seashoreCM]

1. Put in some kind of express service between Marketplace and Far West Side (fka West Side) at Downtown Disney. This could take the form of an elevated busway, a Tomorrowland Transit Authority, a Chicago style el, a subway, or you name it. If it is not a busway, then guests would connect to resort buses at Far West Side or, for a few resorts, at Marketplace.

2. Put in a bus exit lane at Typhoon Lagoon for peak usage only. One way to inhibit or even eliminate cheaters in cars is to make this lane a second lane going up, and during congested exit times the lane is designated "down" for exit.

3. Put in signs at park exits and resort lobbies that tell when the next bus to each destination will arrive.

Disney hints: http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[kaytieeldr]

Okay, in a perfect – aka, it’s all about me - world? I’d like a magic carpet waiting outside my room to whisk me off to my destination at a moment’s notice (and of course to be waiting for me, once there, to take me to my next destination).

Realistically? A few more buses so that when one does fill up on a resort run, there’s another one parked outside the driveway or around the corner to take over starting at the next stop. I’m thinking, for example, how bad Port Orleans Riverside apparently gets.

 

[goofy4tink]

I would love it if the buses could be more often...rather than every 20 or mins, they could come every 10 mins...especially during the peak times.
I would like the deluxe resorts to have better bus transportation. IF you can get boat or the monorail to a park from your resort, the bus system is lacking. Perhaps they could step up the buses to these resorts.
I do like the idea of a board that would tell you when the next bus to which park will be arriving at the stop. How cool would that be?!

 

[grimley1968]

I do like the idea of a board that would tell you when the next bus to which park will be arriving at the stop. How cool would that be?!

I thought this was in the works? Is it not?

Anyway, here's how I would implement it, if money is no object:

- Each bus would have a GPS/RFID unit on it to transmit exactly where they are to the dispatch center. Occupancy status would also be transmitted.
- Dispatch center updates boards at every bus stop, showing when each bus will arrive, give or take 120 seconds or so
- Dispatch center would also be able to see cameras at each stop to see where buses are needed most, and adjust bus routes of empty buses, if needed, to accommodate surges in waiting crowds

If I read correctly, I thought this was pretty much what was already in the works.

I would definitely add a handful of buses.

I would replace any buses that require a step up with those where the wheelchair conveyer thing goes flat to the ground. This really seems to speed up loading those on wheelchairs.

At GF and Poly, I would replace the smallish water taxis they use there to get to MK, with the much larger boats they use at WL to get to MK. Those boats seat more people and can accommodate wheelchairs, ECV's and strollers better than the smaller boats.

At WL, I'd have a resort-operated golf cart or something slightly larger to take guests over to the TTC quickly, via Timberline Drive and Topiary Lane. This would alleviate the need for a WL-EPCOT bus, and would allow WL guests to quickly get to the TTC and ride the monorail to EPCOT. The WL and TTC are really not far at all from each other, if you take the two lightly-traveled streets mentioned above.

 

[clkelley]

Eliminate all of the buses and vehicle traffic (except campers going to Ft. Wilderness) on Disney Property and install the Personal Transport System.

Imagine this. You arrive on Disney property at a massive parking lot. You go through a drive-through check-in to check in to your resort, your luggage is taken for you and tagged, you park your vehicle, and then you are taken by tram to a PTS loading station. You already have your resort IDs, you board a climate-controlled PTS, you swipe your ID, input your destination and you are automatically transferred to your destination by rail. If you do not understand the input system, your car will still move on, but if no input is received within a certain amount of time, then you are taken to a "help" station where a Cast Member will help you program in your destination.

Same thing arriving by DME, instead of trips to several resorts, you are taken to a central checkin area. If your bags were not picked up at the airport, they are tagged and sent to your resort (also carryons), you are checked in to your resort, and can then board a PTS to any destination you choose.

Want to go to OKW from All-Stars. No longer a problem, just hop into the PTS as it slowly rolls past in the parking lot area of your building (parking lots at the resorts are no longer necessary), swipe your room key, input your destination, and off you go. They are fully accessible with roll-on roll-off access, you don't have to fold those strollers, no more waiting for a bus, no more transferring.

Somebody you don't know/makes you nervous hops into your PTS with you?? Hit the big red emergency button, the door locks and you are whisked at high priority to an emergency help station.

Sound crazy?? Not really. It is technologically feasible and has been rumored to actually have been planned on paper. Will it happen?? Only time and $$$$$$$$$ will tell.