Cast Members are conducting utilization studies in the parking lots of the four WDW theme parks. The purpose? Plans call for getting rid of the trams from the parking lot into the parks. They may be replaced by buses. Now, before you bust a blood vessel thinking this is just more cost-cutting, there are reasons for this. Mainly, it's because STUPID tourists don't realize that when the tram is moving, you don't jump on or off
Disney certainly seems to be growing more safety conscious, and while there is absolutely nothing wrong with that (safety should always come first), just like with the Splash Mountain "over-the-shoulder" restraints idea things appear to be getting out of hand. You simply cannot protect people from every concievable (and foolish) method they may find to do themselves harm. The WDW railroad and Main Street Trolleys are also open-sided (unrestrained) vehicles - are they unsafe too?
That said, I don't see how a standard bus (if that is what's actually proposed) could work in the parking lot. It takes too long to load and has too low a passenger carrying capacity (how many more buses & drivers might be needed? Both cost money, and we know how Disney feels about that). Much more practical, I suppose, would be a tram with some manner of
door. The examples currently used on the Sudio Backlot tour might work (have to watch people standing too close when you open the door), or perhaps a model with air-gates similar to those found on many (and increasing) attractions. This would still be overkill by any reasonable standard, though. I'm sure there have been accidents, but similar trams have successfully operated at parks nationwide for decades, and they didn't suddenly become unsafe. Indeed, once in the mid-80's I saw Walt Disney World hauling guests all the way from the MK entrance to the MK parking lot using these same trams. Bypassing the monorial or Ferry, this required running down streets busy with cars and Disney buses, but was hardly unsafe.
It still seems like this rumor has been mentioned somewhere here before, with the idea of just eliminating the trams altogether as a cost-cutting move (people manage to walk around the rest of the park, right?). I may be remembering that bit incorrectly, but it does ring a bell.
