What's up with the new design of all the Disney busses?

[BabaGanoush]

My personal favorite quote regarding crowd control/packing people in - "Personal space means there is room for 6 more people."

 

[brockash]

Alright, it might now be brand new to some but I was there in 2009 and didn't see this. Just got back from a great trip to WDW and noticed 99% of the busses running to the parks all had the sideways facing seats (where you're looking at the person across from you) with maybe 12 seats at the back of the bus on an upper level facing forward. I've seen this design in the past but it would be an occassional thing where we may get a bus like this. I counted the seats and there are less than on the forwarding facing busses (got 1 this trip) but the isles are much wider. All I can think is they feel like it's more important to have standing room for people on the bus rather than a place to sit??? I did see a lot of people with large strollers and I can see how a wider isle might be a benefit to them but I personally would much rather have more of a chance to sit and also face forward as my neck ended up hurting a lot from looking to the side if I wanted to watch where the bus was going. Maybe it's just me but does anyone else not like the newer design?

Honestly, I wish all the buses were this way....and yes it's mainly because of how much easier it is to get a stroller on and off those types of buses. We did happen to ride more of those types this past Sept. trip, as oppose to the last few, but I thought maybe we just got lucky.

 

[SyracuseWolvrine]

There was at one point a thread in the Transportation Board by a poster named Chip n Dale Express, that actually listed the seating capacity for the older RTS busses, compared with the newer Gillig and Nova models. I don't remember the exact numbers, but I seem to remember there was only a difference of 3 or 4 seats.

The busses with all sideways seats have a MUCH wider aisle. For example, let's say that the usable interior width of a bus is 8 feet (96 inches), and in our hypothetical bus, the seats are 20 inches wide, and have a Front-Back length of 24 inches. If you put 4 seats facing forward, that's 80 inches of your available 96 taken up, leaving only 16 inches for an aisle. With the sideways seats, the total width taken up by the seats is 48 inches, leaving a whopping 48 inches of available aisle space. Those extra inches make the bus seem roomier, and also make it much easier to navigate the aisles with strollers/ECV/Wheelchairs.

 

[pampam]

There was at one point a thread in the Transportation Board by a poster named Chip n Dale Express, that actually listed the seating capacity for the older RTS busses, compared with the newer Gillig and Nova models. I don't remember the exact numbers, but I seem to remember there was only a difference of 3 or 4 seats.

The busses with all sideways seats have a MUCH wider aisle. For example, let's say that the usable interior width of a bus is 8 feet (96 inches), and in our hypothetical bus, the seats are 20 inches wide, and have a Front-Back length of 24 inches. If you put 4 seats facing forward, that's 80 inches of your available 96 taken up, leaving only 16 inches for an aisle. With the sideways seats, the total width taken up by the seats is 48 inches, leaving a whopping 48 inches of available aisle space. Those extra inches make the bus seem roomier, and also make it much easier to navigate the aisles with strollers/ECV/Wheelchairs.

Very interesting. I had never thought of it that way.

 

[cm8]

I personally prefer what is being called the newer buses. With the old ones is you are getting on with any kind of stroller it is very difficult to lift it over and I always worry about hitting someone in the head when getting to the back. We do not have a jogging stroller and it just doesn't make sense to me why they do not allow the person with the stroller get on through the back. I have been allowed a couple of times but the usual answer is that no one gets on through the back door.

The other thing that really annoys me is when younger individuals(teenage and up) or men do not give up a seat for a child or even worse a mother with a small child. Unless I can see that my bus is not going to fill up, I do not even bother sitting down. How can a parent sit there and allow their 16 year old son not give up a seat. I guess some or simply oblivious to common courtesy.

Just because you are male or teenage does not mean that you should be required to give away your seat. They are tired too! Having a child does not negate getting a seat

 

[Csaks]

It's not just the scooters -- the overall capacity of those buses is much larger (of course its standing room) but the more people they can move at once the better they like it.

Liz

I believe that is the reason, you can fit more people in a bus standing than you can sitting them down. As for standing, I don't mind because the rides are generally shorter than your average city commute.

hmmmm....not a new bus design to us...that is the only style bus we have ever encountered since beginning our annual treks in 2004.

They are getting more prevalent. The old ones are a nightmare for loading and travel. The only thing they were good for was hanging on while standing, more options.

 

[Happy Goofy]

The only way we can do DW is if my husband has a scooter because he has a difficult time walking. He looks able bodied but he has nerve damage in his legs. We live about an hour from there and we go there often. When we get on the bus with the scooter we hear people moan about how long it takes to get him set up. Believe me we would rather be able to walk the parks but since he can't at least this allows us to enjoy Disney.

 

[SyracuseWolvrine]

I searched, but couldn't find a picture of one of the earliest (and rather short lived) ideas in Disney Transportation ... known as the "SuperBus", it featured a passenger compartment that was actually pulled by a semi truck. It quickly was compared to a cattle car, and was discontinued not long after it's introduction.

Edit: Found one ... http://suzuki.888j.net/florida/wdw.html has a picture of the front and the back towards the bottom of the page

 

[TDC Nala]

City buses and subways are going the same way and it isn't to do with strollers or ECVs. It's for increased capacity as they can fit in more standees. ALL public transportation options accommodate standees. I never understood why it might be more important to be seated on a Disney bus than to be seated on a Metrobus, but I am used to public transportation.

If you feel it is dangerous to stand on a bus, you can wait for a bus that has seating room, or rent a car. But the nature of public bus or subway transportation is that some passengers will stand.

 

[torinsmom]

City buses and subways are going the same way and it isn't to do with strollers or ECVs. It's for increased capacity as they can fit in more standees. ALL public transportation options accommodate standees. I never understood why it might be more important to be seated on a Disney bus than to be seated on a Metrobus, but I am used to public transportation.

If you feel it is dangerous to stand on a bus, you can wait for a bus that has seating room, or rent a car. But the nature of public bus or subway transportation is that some passengers will stand.

Yeah, well then you get slammed here by people who think you should give up your seat after you waited because they have a child or are older.

When we went to DC, we had to stand on the metro and I didn't feel safe at all. They are always packed, so waiting for another doesn't really work there. People will not move their stuff off the seat next to them to make room for people to sit either. We parked at the Ballston mall and had to stand holding onto our luggage, while people took up two seats. I almost laughed when the metro started suddenly and I stumbled. My foot came down on someone's foot. She was one of the ones with her shopping bag in a seat that did not offer me a place. I think moving your bag for someone to sit is a lot more common courtesy than giving up a seat you waited for and standing so someone else can sit.

 

[Magicbus]

I have no inside info but this is why I think WDW has switched to the low floor buses. It's what's available. It's the standard for commuter buses. I don't think it has anything to do with steps or no steps, ECVs, strollers, sitting, standing. It's the basic design that the market place has for sale for mass transit use. The low floor design does load easier, handles ECVs better, etc. Just about every city that uses buses for mass transit has switched to the low floor bus because it makes sense in many ways. Yes it does have fewer seats but the main function of short distance mass transit is to move people from point A to point B. The passenger comfort factor is secondary. The older bus design was just a variation of the standard bus being used 30/40 years ago. Those buses need storage underneath, commuter buses don't. Tour buses have a much better ride because they're traveling long distances. Commuter buses do a lot of stop and go and have a stiffer suspension therefore the ride is not as good but the average ride time is about 15 minutes. And after all that they're more efficent for various reasons. The reality is that all of the high floor buses will be gone and all WDW buses will be the low floor type. I've heard differing time frames, but my guess is that by the end of 2011, the older buses will be history.
I guess Disney is saying, this is the type of bus we've determined is needed to do the job we need it to do. If it's not something you can live with, sorry, you'll have to make other arrangements. Just my opinion.

 

[TLinden16]

I'm going to move this to our transportation board.

 

[skiingfast]

I have no inside info but this is why I think WDW has switched to the low floor buses. It's what's available. It's the standard for commuter buses. I don't think it has anything to do with steps or no steps, ECVs, strollers, sitting, standing. It's the basic design that the market place has for sale for mass transit use. The low floor design does load easier, handles ECVs better, etc. Just about every city that uses buses for mass transit has switched to the low floor bus because it makes sense in many ways. Yes it does have fewer seats but the main function of short distance mass transit is to move people from point A to point B. The passenger comfort factor is secondary. The older bus design was just a variation of the standard bus being used 30/40 years ago. Those buses need storage underneath, commuter buses don't. Tour buses have a much better ride because they're traveling long distances. Commuter buses do a lot of stop and go and have a stiffer suspension therefore the ride is not as good but the average ride time is about 15 minutes. And after all that they're more efficent for various reasons. The reality is that all of the high floor buses will be gone and all WDW buses will be the low floor type. I've heard differing time frames, but my guess is that by the end of 2011, the older buses will be history.
I guess Disney is saying, this is the type of bus we've determined is needed to do the job we need it to do. If it's not something you can live with, sorry, you'll have to make other arrangements. Just my opinion.

Standing for 15 minutes, like a guest does waiting for the Great Movie Ride or Dumbo. Something that posters seem to forget because it is unfogiveable that they would have to do this on the first and last ride of the day too.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Hearing about the new buses now has me worried about our trip in November. I have to wonder what Disney's liability will be when someone falls and is injured due to having to stand on the bus. It is well documented of how many accidents Disney buses seem to be involved in and even when they have to stop short because some tourist cuts them off while not an accident can cause someone to loose there footing if standing on a bus.

Well, think about it. Walt Disney World operates hundreds of bus runs every day. You say it's " well documented ... how many accidents Disney buses seem to be involved in". Do you know how many? If it's ten in twenty-eight years, that's an excellent record. As for any documentation of buses stopping short, I'm not aware of it.

Remember, the more bodies occupying the floor space, the less damage to any standee (flying strollers notwithstanding).

 

[DebbieB]

One time a couple got on a crowded bus at MK late at night after MVMCP. They had 2 sleeping kids on their shoulders and had a double jogger stroller! It was an old style bus and really took up all the room. What a mess. Then when they finally got settled, the one kids headband started playing a Christmas song. It was late and we were tired, we couldn't help but crack up.

 

[Magicbus]

Well, think about it. Walt Disney World operates hundreds of bus runs every day. You say it's " well documented ... how many accidents Disney buses seem to be involved in". Do you know how many? If it's ten in twenty-eight years, that's an excellent record.

Good point. But it's more like thousands of runs every day. Lets say 275 buses are running and each bus does one run every hour, times 16 hours equals 4,400 runs per day, and that's on the conservative side. It's probably more.

In the last year, how many accidents have there been that involved injuries? You'd think from all the publicity that the buses are just crashing all the time. I, and every driver I know, have not had an accident ever, or have even put a scratch on any bus, and that's a typical record. If there are problems with the bus system, safety is not one of them. But I may be just a little bit biased.

 

[kaytieeldr]

You're not biased, Magicbus. Even if you were, the rest of us aren't; well, if we are, some of us also simply like numbers. I was going to go into a whole calculation of resort numbers, park numbers, bus intervals, park hours, Downtown Disney... so thank you for the more accurate picture!!!

Just as with anything else, we never hear of the 99.999999999% of - in this case - buses that operate normally and without being hit by any other vehicle (or hitting any vehicle/structure/sign) every day. Nope, just the ten or so in the last few years involved in accidents.

 

[torinsmom]

Standing for 15 minutes, like a guest does waiting for the Great Movie Ride or Dumbo. Something that posters seem to forget because it is unfogiveable that they would have to do this on the first and last ride of the day too.

It's not the standing that is the problem for me. It's the standing on a moving vehicle. I am not likely to go flying across the Magic Kingdom just standing there in line for Dumbo, you know? OTOH, I have seen people fall into others when the driver just made a sudden stop and I have seen a big stroller bang into someone's legs for the same reason. If there was a real accident, I can imagine there would be some major injuries. I don't ride the buses anymore anyway. I much prefer driving in my own car. It's quicker, more comfortable, and less stinky too!

 

[Csaks]

As I post I'm watching a show on one of these new buses being built.
Capacity is 80 people. I can't see the old ones holding that many people.

 

[joelkfla]

I, and every driver I know, have not had an accident ever, or have even put a scratch on any bus, and that's a typical record.

I don't think I've seen a bus older than a couple of months without a scratch!
Tinkerbell's cousin Scratchendent must be very busy every night.