Unexpected bus experience at MK

[cigar95]

During our trip last week, one day we wanted to go back from MK to the Beach Club at about 10:45. At that hour, there are just a few folks at the bus stop, leaving the parks, and lots and lots arriving.

Probably 3/4 of the busses arriving had no destination on their marquee - they just said 'Magic Kingdom', and they'd pull up, drop off, and leave again without picking anyone up. I wonder where these busses were going? It seems that if they knew their next stop, they could pull up at the stop for that location and pick someone up if they were there.

Has the "Magic on Demand" system ended? I thought the idea was to keep dispatch up to date on where there were guests waiting to go somewhere.

What really surprised me was that I asked the driver on a Swan/Dolphin/Boardwalk bus if he could drop me at the Beach Club, seeing that his bus was otherwise empty, and that his route takes him right past the BC. I know bus drivers in the past have been able to be a bit flexible with their routes during off-peak times, but he was insistent that those three locations would be his only stops. (At the time, I wanted to avoid the walk from the Dolphin to the BC that I could have made from his bus.)

I'm not complaining about the situation - I just thought it was a strange way to work the bus system. Any thoughts on what's up with the way these busses were running?

 

[grimley1968]

I don't know what's going on with the Magic on Demand system. However, I do know that WDW desperately needs to incorporate a GPS-based dispatching system with cameras at each bus stop. Some school systems are doing something like this. Basically, each bus would have a GPS receiver integrated with a transponder. Each bus stop would have cameras. A central dispatcher could look at near real-time images of each bus stop (live images might blow the cost of the this system up to an unfeasible level), and if certain bus stops get too crowded, he can look on another display that shows where each bus is in relation to the stops. He can then assign the nearest idle or empty bus to head to the overcrowded bus stop. It's really not that complicated to set up, and it's not as expensive to install as you might think. It would make the system much more responsive than it is now (assuming it's used the right way). It works for air traffic control, and would work very well at WDW with only a small number of extra employees.

 

[Alexander]

Absolutely, the current bus system is in desperate need of fixing. We waited over 40 minutes for a bus from Epcot to the WL. I asked several other bus drivers if one was coming and all they said was "if one has been dispatched". They made no offers to call and inquire and let them know that the WL line was getting very very long. Nearly every other resort had two busses come and go while we waited for just one. That was the last time we will use the busses at WDW. I just don't have the patience for that bologna.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Those buses were participating in the Magic On Demand system. The reason they were saying "Magic Kingdom" could be one of the following:

At that time they're gearing down the MOD and transitioning to the Flex Dispatch. Because of the significant reduction in demand, this allows many drivers to take thier first break of the day. So, they will go drop off, park, and take thier much needed break.

Other buses are ones that belong to other zones. So, they will not pick up because they need to head to thier home staging area.

As you said, there are very few people going back to the resorts. It's much quicker to deadhead to a destination. Besides, the way the MK is set up, they drop off on the North loop, and then go over to the South loop to pick up. They will keep MK on the sign for the drop off, and then change to the pick up when they go over to the proper zone. And if there's no one in the load zone, they might not even stop.