Reports: Florida fast trains could draw nearly 2.3 million a year (http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/4566983.htm) - AP, 11/20/02

QuikQuote: But the ridership studies also show that Walt Disney World's desire to protect its interests by being directly connected to Orlando International Airport, with no stops in between, could jeopardize a more lucrative route connecting the airport with the Orange County Convention Center and the International Drive tourist district.
"They (Disney officials) are bullies about this stuff," authority member Bill Dunn said. "I'd like to find a way to prevent them from controlling this process. I don't want to beat them; I just don't want them to control it."

I'm sure Disney will be played out to be the villain during the planning sessions of this, but I completely understand where Disney is coming from.

Currently, Disney provides non-stop transportation for it's resort guests, which helps to start Guests vacations that much sooner. That way they don't have to waste time waiting at different stops. If the Convention Center Route is implemented, it would not benefit Disney Resort Guests because they would have to wait.

On top of that, it would allow those staying on International Drive to have direct access to Disney Property, which sounds like it's not a bad idea, but Disney would have to pay for tranportation to get them from the Disney station to the parks. That means Disney would have to spend more money in order for it's competitors to reap the benefits.

Hmmm.....gotta take issue with the Bellman on this one.

A) Disney could CLEARLY work out a way to deal with the problems of the international drive customers. It could, for example, negotiate with the authority to PROHIBIT tickets for that trip (i.e. if you wanted to use the train to get to Disney you would have to BACKTRACK to the CC (or even the airport) and then travel to Disney. Depending upon tix price, problem solved.

B) Time - I would seriously doubt that a decent train with three stops would have significantly longer "through speed" than a Mears Shuttle. Would hinge on frequency but operating speeds should be faster and the "load times" shouldn't be that bad. One problem is luggage which could significantly slow down loading speeds (and diserability of service) since the fastest way to deal with loading is to only allow bags/suitecases to be "carried on". Train from Heathrow is like that.

C) If Florida had any kind of clean air problems it would be a total no brainer - and even still it is the environmentally friendly solution. Far better to take those 2.2 million cusotmers (lets say a total of between 500,000 and 750,000 trips) and put them on mass transit. Good benefit to air quality.

And of course, less people would drive to the resort, resulting in less parking fees...

But the state of Florida is building this train, using taxpayer money. The current plans for this bullet train is one stop between the airport and WDW. So folks going to WDW would have to put up with a stop for a couple of minutes while the train loads/unloads. But they gain the exclusive tracks, so no traffic jams, etc., plus the fact that they get to travel a lot faster than normal.

As for the transportation at WDW, who says that Disney couldn't charge for its bus/tram/monorail system. They could very easily sell tickets, and provide hotel guests and package folks passes as part of the deal. Heck, here in San diego, they sell trolley tickets on a self serve system. So you hook up FastPass machines that sell tickets, and have the driver/boarder check for the pass.

Or they could do what they did here at the DLR, and just stop providing transportation between the hotels and the parks.

Gee, sounds like Disney wants another big government giveaway. But don't the NON-Disney hotels, restaurants and theme parks also pay taxes and have lots of employees????

So why don't they build stations at the Convention Center, Disney and Universal????