Golf carts at large resorts a good idea?

[DWHUBBY]

By large resorts, I am referring to SSR and OKW. I posted this idea last year and now with the opening of the Treehouse Villas, I thought I would revisit the idea. This could be a great perk for DVC members. This is my idea.

The premise:

DVC could have a staging area at each of the "neighborhoods" with a number of golf carts. These could be used by DVC members (under conditions to follow) to go from their neighboorhood to any other neighborhood including the main building. Once they get to their destination, they drop off the cart at that neighborhood's staging area, go do their thing, come back to the staging area and do the same for the return trip.

Conditions:

1. The only person(s) allowed to drive the cart will be a DVC member with a valid driver's license. (The same laws apply to the cart as with a car).
2. That person(s) will need to sign some sort of legal agreement so as to protect themselves, WDW and DVC in case of an accident (insurance).
3. The carts would need to be equipped with a card reader. To use the cart, you swipe your card when you take the cart and when you drop it off. They can use GPS to track it like they do on the golf course.
4. The member will be charges a set amount PER USE to be billed at the end of the stay.
5. The carts would be first-come-first-served with no guarantee they will be available.

This would eliminate a lot of the headaches of getting around the resort. Of course, the resort staff would occasionally need to reposition the carts so they do not all end up in the same place. That shouldn't happen if people use them for both directions. I know there would be many other details that would need to be ironed out, but this is just to plant the seed. Who is with me?:thumbsup:

[dlpmikki]

It's an interesting idea, not least because when SSR was the Disney Institute they did have carts for getting around!

[medic9016]

This is already done at Fort Wilderness.

1.Vehicle traffic is limited. The only place you can park is at your campsite. At a large resort it would be difficult to limit vehicle traffic.
2. The age requirement is 16 with a valid DL. This is not enforced very well at FW. Florida has very specific golf cart laws in place.
3. You rent it at $57 a day. You must sign a liability waiver. The GPS/Card reader idea, how would you enforce damages to a cart?
4. How many carts would you need for several thousand people staying in a resort. On a first come basis, what happens when you take the cart to a location, while your inside someone grabs the cart and takes it some where else using there card?
5. You would have to limit cart access due to the large volume of people.

[nicster]

We once stayed at a resort in the Monterey area of CA that had this arrangement. We checked in, then the man helped us transfer our belongings into the golf-cart. He drove us to our room, brought our luggage, etc into the room & handed us the keys to the cart. Each cluster of rooms had its' own car port. It really cut down on the amount of walking we had to do & on the noise from autos, as only the golf-carts were allowed from a certain point on. We would simply drive the cart out to our car in the morning, park it, transfer to our car & reverse the whole thing when we got back. The downside was that occasionally the cart would go missing, we found out later that they had to recharge the batteries at another location. I don't know how this could be done at WDW resorts without really hiking up the nightly rates, but to some that is not an issue.

[DWHUBBY]

This is already done at Fort Wilderness.

1.Vehicle traffic is limited. The only place you can park is at your campsite. At a large resort it would be difficult to limit vehicle traffic.
2. The age requirement is 16 with a valid DL. This is not enforced very well at FW. Florida has very specific golf cart laws in place.
3. You rent it at $57 a day. You must sign a liability waiver. The GPS/Card reader idea, how would you enforce damages to a cart?
4. How many carts would you need for several thousand people staying in a resort. On a first come basis, what happens when you take the cart to a location, while your inside someone grabs the cart and takes it some where else using there card?
5. You would have to limit cart access due to the large volume of people.

The intent of this idea is primarily for the "outer neighborhoods" away from the main buildings. I know from experience from staying at Congress Park (SSR) and Turtle Pond (OKW) it can be a long haul to the main building...especially for little ones. If you are staying near the main building, you probably won't need the cart. As far as somebody else taking your cart, remember it is a pay per use idea. There are enough people coming in and out all the time, especially at the main building, that I imagine there would usually be a cart available. Also, keep in mind that this would be a DVC perk...not everybody staying at these resorts are DVC members.

[dephenn]

I think it's a terrific idea. especially if the tree house villas are going to be a two bus system. I know last year we had to catch an early morning magic express bus and had to wheel our luggage from congress park to the main building with little ones, a golf cart would have been a huge help.

[MinnieMommie]

I think if they can come up with a way to make the carts available without there being so many that they are a nuisance or threat to the pedestrians (and without the cost being so high that it is prohibitive for most)it is a great idea. If you think being located at Congress Park is inconvenient it is worse for those assigned to Paddock and Carousel at SSR. It seems that in lieu of golf carts there should be some sort of internal shuttle system which will take people back and forth to the main area (Carriage House). The distance between some areas to the main area must be very hard for those with young children (and for others as well)to navigate. :mickey:

[Marceline]

I recall ye' olden days when they gave you a personal golf cart for your stay at the Disney Villas. It was a total blast driving around the area. We cruised the golf course paths, drove all the way over to the old tree houses, and used it as our main quick zip over to the Marketplace. :cloud9:


However.......since it is no longer a practice, I am guessing it had tons of potential for abuse, liability issues, damage and general annoyance. :(

I think the idea of an internal shuttle for the large resorts is a great idea. Or just utilize the buses. When we stayed at OKW, by Old Turtle Pond, we just hopped on a bus to get to the Hospitality House....it always stopped there before heading out to the parks.

[DWHUBBY]

bump

[Seasonscraps]

That's an interesting idea.

I stayed at one resort that was so spread out they actually had an on demand shuttle service. You could call them and the would drive over to pick you up and drop you at a different part of the resort (ie..your room to the pool or to one of the restaurants, etc). Of course they would coordinate groups coming & going at the same time but it was much nicer then having to drive all over especially if you wanted to enjoy a cocktail or two.

[DonLefNY]

They'd need a ton of carts. Imagine the cart jams.

[Zone Stop]

The Downtown Disney bus already acts as an Internal Shuttle at both resorts...

And while I love the idea of golf carts, there'd be no place to put them at Old Key West, and all of them at Saratoga Springs would end up parked at Downtown Disney ;)