Disney Transport general discussion

[joelkfla]

_{The first delivery of the new order of Gilligs has arrived on Disney property. They're in the shop being outfitted.}

_{I haven't seen them, but I have seen a photo (rather dark.) They appear to be the standard Gillig low-floor model, without any BRT styling or fairings, except for the BRT-style side mirrors. They do appear to have rear route signs -- a first for Disney.}

_{It will probably be at least a month for licensing, outfitting, and customization before they go into service.}

[Big CJ]

Awesome, thanks for the report.

[gmnewlook]

joelkfla, what are the numbers for the new Gilligs? Are they regular straight diesel, hybrid or CNG? Would help to add the info on my Disney transport - Gillig Low Floor album on my facebook transit gallery page if you know the numbers.

Thanks.

[UpLift Vancouver]

I am planning on coming down for 2 weeks in February (15th to 29th) - what can I expect to see running around down there? I'll be staying at the Caribbean Beach resort while down there, do the 12 artics run by there at all?

[joelkfla]

joelkfla, what are the numbers for the new Gilligs? Are they regular straight diesel, hybrid or CNG? Would help to add the info on my Disney transport - Gillig Low Floor album on my facebook transit gallery page if you know the numbers.

Thanks.

Turns out just 1 has arrived so far; I guess they wanted to try out the changes before the full order arrived. It's regular diesel, and the number is 5158, next in line after the artics, and it is in regular service for all hubs.

I am planning on coming down for 2 weeks in February (15th to 29th) - what can I expect to see running around down there? I'll be staying at the Caribbean Beach resort while down there, do the 12 artics run by there at all?

Caribbean Beach is one of the resorts served by the artics. But they recently added the All-Star Resorts to the lists, so the artics are spread more thinly. I think they are still running to CBR, but I don't know how frequently.

The artics are often taken out of service mid-day, from around 11am until 3 or 4pm. They sometimes run all day on busier days. You may also see them being used for driver training in the early afternoon. When they're out of service during the day, they're parked either in the MK bus loop furthest from the park, or at the Transportation & Ticket Center next to the monorail station.

Also folks, the bus arrival time boards are being rolled out to more resorts, A number of resorts now have frames installed with a "Watch for future enhancement" sign over the screen opening.

[gmnewlook]

Turns out just 1 has arrived so far; I guess they wanted to try out the changes before the full order arrived. It's regular diesel, and the number is 5158, next in line after the artics, and it is in regular service for all hubs.

Thanks for the info. How many will be delivered? Looking forward to seeing them when we go back in 2 years.

[joelkfla]

Thanks for the info. How many will be delivered? Looking forward to seeing them when we go back in 2 years.

I've heard numbers ranging from 35 to 50 for the current order, still hopefully by the end of this year. But I've also heard that management would like to increase the fleet size by around 170 (including this order) within the next 5 years.

[Big CJ]

I've heard numbers ranging from 35 to 50 for the current order, still hopefully by the end of this year. But I've also heard that management would like to increase the fleet size by around 170 (including this order) within the next 5 years.

Will any buses be replaced between here and the next five years? Also is 5158 a BRT or Advantage?

[joelkfla]

Will any buses be replaced between here and the next five years? Also is 5158 a BRT or Advantage?

I don't know whether there are plans to retire some of the older Novas.

A number of additional buses went into service last week. They are the standard low-floor Gilligs. The only obvious differences from previous models are the longer side mirrors, rear marquee (destination sign), white led marquees instead of yellow, driver's 3-point safety belts, and shiny aluminum wheels in place of the white-coated steel ones. The interiors are identical, with full-length longitudinal seating, center door flip-out wheelchair ramp, and 2 Q'PODs.

The highest number I've seen on the road is 5168, so if they are being deployed in numerical order, at least 10 were added.

[Big CJ]

I don't know whether there are plans to retire some of the older Novas.

A number of additional buses went into service last week. They are the standard low-floor Gilligs. The only obvious differences from previous models are the longer side mirrors, rear marquee (destination sign), white led marquees instead of yellow, driver's 3-point safety belts, and shiny aluminum wheels in place of the white-coated steel ones. The interiors are identical, with full-length longitudinal seating, center door flip-out wheelchair ramp, and 2 Q'PODs.

The highest number I've seen on the road is 5168, so if they are being deployed in numerical order, at least 10 were added.

I may check those out in early December, well it depends on when things cool down. Security around the country has been ramped up since ISIS has been making threats against the United States. Do the rims look like these by any chance?

[Big CJ]

A picture of 5171-15 was seen on Facebook.

[Len90]

5193-15 is the highest number I have seen pictures of. I personally saw up through 5188-15.

[UpLift Vancouver]

5193-15 is the highest number I have seen pictures of. I personally saw up through 5188-15.

I saw as high up as 5208-16 when I was down there

[Len90]

I saw as high up as 5208-16 when I was down there

Time to figure out the 2015 vs 2016 cutoff then. Has anyone seen any more new articulated buses? I heard rumor Disney was to get more with the latest order.

Articulated buses have been operating out of MK to the All Stars, Pop Century, Art of Animation, and Caribbean Beach. Seems like they have been successful in moving more people and have ended the multi bus loading at those stops during the rush after parades/fireworks.

[Ma44hew94]

No new articulated buses as of yet, but the latest order of Gillig Low Floors are all in service. 5158 to 5200 are all '15's, the remaining 5201 to 5208 are '16's.

The current articulated buses continue operating as they have done from MK to All Stars, Pop Century, Art of Animation, Caribbean Beach and Port Orleans Riverside. Port Orleans French Quarter is able to take them, but they are very rarely allocated to that route, presumably becasue the route is a lot quieter.

[Ma44hew94]

Has anyone heard anything on a 2017 order?

[Seashore_518203]

On 4/3/2017 at 3:44 PM, Ma44hew94 said:

Has anyone heard anything on a 2017 order?

This brand new, unnumbered Gillig low floor was seen at Disney World Ticket and Transportation Center last Thursday. I do not know how many buses have been ordered.

[Len90]

I was just down there two-three weeks ago and still the highest I have seen is 5206-16. The bus sitting at TTC looks to be a new delivery for 2017. Are we hitting a point where the original Nova's 4815-4832 are turning 17 years old. How long were the terms on the lease for these buses?

[Andru]

They can't possibly have been leasing the Novas for 17 years?

[Ma44hew94]

Im pretty sure the Novas will have been purchased by Disney since the original lease, it would be very unusual for buses to be leased at that age.

[Len90]

Given how Disney was not happy with those when they first got them it makes it even more interesting that Disney bought them off the lease.

[Len90]

My brother is down there and just saw 5211-17. 

[andrethebusman]

A quick question - how many routes are there? 5 hubs x 22 resorts comes out to around 100? Also, anybody know anything about Transtar who runs cast services, as I understand?

[joelkfla]

12 hours ago, andrethebusman said:

A quick question - how many routes are there? 5 hubs x 22 resorts comes out to around 100? Also, anybody know anything about Transtar who runs cast services, as I understand?

That's hard to say.

Disney Transport buses do not run on a traditional schedule.  They are dispatched ad hoc from the "hubs", which are the 4 theme parks + Disney Springs.

Morning routes are different from midday routes.  In the a.m., most routes run from a hub to a resort, sometimes pick up at additional resorts, then drop off at a different hub, then pick up at one or more nearby resorts, and finally back to the original hub.  In some cases, routes originating from 2 different hubs serve the same resort-to-hub combination. Midday, most routes run from a hub to one or more resorts and then back to the original hub.  At night, after fireworks or park closing, buses are just dispatched from the hub to one or more resorts as needed.  The number of resorts grouped together on a route can vary during the day, as can the order of pickup.  Also, some resorts contain multiple stops, and the grouping and order of those stops can change during the day.

In addition, there are various shuttles: to the waterparks, between theme parks, internal resort shuttles, and several backstage cast member shuttles.

Drivers have to be familiar with the entire property. Although they usually work out of a specific hub, they never know to which resort they will be dispatched.  And sometimes buses and drivers are "floated" to a different hub for a period of time during their shift.

I retired a year ago. At that time, they were moving towards more autonomous computer dispatch.  Up to that point, a model was prepared, I believe weekly, based on expected resort occupancy and park attendance.  That model served as a baseline for dispatchers, sort of a minimum schedule.  Dispatchers were responsible for meeting that baseline and adding or modifying runs to meet demand.

Transtar is an independent contractor.  I think they are associated with the same company that runs Star Taxi & limos in the area.  Their buses are 2nd- or 3rd-hand, and usually not in the best condition, from what I've heard.  They provide scheduled service between the college & international program housing complexes and WDW sites, only to CP & International cm's.  Lots of cm's now use Uber or Lyft at times when they don't want to deal with the Transtar buses.

[andrethebusman]

I have seen references to the college and international housing. Where are these locations? Off property, I imagine. Also, in the "old days", the 2600 RTS's were used for cm transport, while the 2700's were for the public. Does DT still haul cm's also, or has that been contracted out?

Where are buses laid up when not in use? The garage, from looking at Google Earth, can't accommodate more than maybe 50 buses. Are many parked at hubs at night?

I was at Disney last month, rode buses several times. From talking to drivers, it appears things have changed and there are now "fixed schedules" where driver stays on same "route" or group of routes.