Busses

As a frequenter of Disney twitter feeds, blogs, and forums, a major WDW discussion point is the pros and cons of the bus system. Those from the midwest tend to view them as limiting, while those from foreign countries or major cities find them incredibly plentiful.

Buses are a highly flexible and deploy solution to moving a large amount of people from point A to B. Vehicles can be deployed as demand requires, their routes can change as required, and if one breaks down the complete system does not shut down.


But guests, despite presented with facts and figures, would rather favor boats, monorails, and other forms of transportation over the buses. But why?


As discussed in the book Vinyl Leaves references, WDW is a corporate utopia, a designed space to project an image and sense of security for fun and profit. "The antidote to everyday life". We "welcome civility on a human scale" and where "utopia is a drawing device". WDW cares for your needs, from the youngest of children to the oldest with disabilities. You pay hundreds of dollars a day to experience this utopia, to escape the normal, shut off the worry centers, and take in the blissful overload. Why else can we explain normal, rational, people do such crazy things as wear matching shirts with hats that have Goofy ears on them or seemingly ignore basic safety instincts that are widely practiced in the outside world?

This is not to say bus or car drivers are ignoring their safety or others. If anything, people who drive around WDW are cautious as anyone in the outside world; those looking for escape either take alternate transportation or take a break from such escape while driving.

Buses are not utopian. They are not novel. They are not human scale in person or on the road. Monorails are at normal male height while on a boarding platform and forced perspective of the pylons make the vehicles seem smaller. Boats are vintage and relatable. Trams are novel and open.

Buses at WDW speak against the utopian message we're sold. It reminds of our daily commute to work or school, and the cities we're leaving behind.

WDW bus system is not poor nor inefficient, it is massive (third largest in the state of Florida) and manages to move hundreds of thousands of people in hours. The bus system is message confusion, and this is why people, when presented with rational arguments, still rebuff them inside of WDW.