Keep in mind that the MK parking lot is so large that you could fit the entire Disneyland Resort in it, and still have parking left over. On busy days like July4, its inevitable that you’d have to wait for a parking tram to get you. Even the “up-close AAA parking” is no picnic and requires a little bit of a hike. Public buses are allowed on property – one stops at the Ticket and Transportation Center at the Magic Kingdom (Route LINK 56), for example. Other parks should be on other routes.

As for your perception of slower trams as you’re leaving vs arriving? That could be due to the tram drivers having to spend more time helping guests find their lost cars in the evening rather than the morning commute which is more structured in how they work.

Of course, a lot of what you describe at the TTC could be alleviated by staying on property. On-site park guests don’t have to jump through the parking lot-TTC hoop that non-Hotel guests do.

I have a some additional thoughts…On days like July 4th (2011), with the park jam-packed, it took 95 minutes to go from park exit gate to car in the Magic Kingdom lot, via boat then tram — feeling like cattle packed in a stable. Disney’s transportation system can handle light to moderate traffic with ease, but cannot handle the volume of people they admit to the park on such special days. Also, as far as rides, without strategic use of FastPass privileges on such days, the park experience would be a waiting-line disaster too.

For “worst case” jam-packed conditions, it would help to have a second boat dock at both ends (expensive), and/or monorails with more cars, which is done in the train industry when there are more passengers to handle (right?) This would require a “load-move-ahead-and-load-more” operation due to the space available at each monorail loading platform, and might be risky as park-goers are not used to this). The other help would be a third mode of transportation to get to the ticket and transportation center — namely direct buses that are strictly used for this purpose and used exclusively at peak times.

Another idea is that Disney should accept public transportation buses within the park somewhere within walking distance of the ticket and trans center or Epcot. Other than special charter-type shuttle or long-haul buses, there does not seem to be any public transportation opportunities within the Disney compound. If one could take a public bus and avoid the current $14 parking fees all together (like is allowed at Sea World Orlando for example) that would take some stress off the Disney system, and give Disney the reputation of being more aware of the financial hardship parking fees have on their guests…of course, Disney would lose a lot of $14 fees, too — so I should quit dreaming on that one…

Last few things relate to trams — they emit diesel exhaust and I cannot figure out why Disney seems so concerned for guest safety and still allow that. Regarding frequency of trams, trams come one at a time at peak times. To get you to the parks, there is never much delay — the faster to the park to start spending money the better! But on departure, they tend to be slower or less frequent. With something like 50 passengers in each “row-queue” at jam times, and about 5 people per queue served by a tram, you still need to wait for 9 or 10 trams to get to the front of the queue and onto a tram. The trams come in serial fashion (one after another) and probably could be serving guests in a parallel fashion. That is, at peak times, there should be a parallel loading arrangement at the ticket and trans center so two trams can be loaded simultaneously. Combine that with a few more trams in circulation and a 30 minute wait to get to one’s car via tram could be cut in half.

Bottom line, Disney has a reputation for “world class” transportation, but its system fails miserably at peak times…I have experienced this several times over the years, and it isn’t getting any better… True world class systems would be able to better adapt to such jam conditions. For that reason, Disney is not worthy of any special praise for its transportation system in my estimation. Of course, Disney figures your magical time in the Magic Kingdom (or another park) will translate to forgiveness for being held captive and waiting in yet another long, long line to get to your car — as you can see, in my case, they are mistaken…Sea World, Kennedy Space Center and a few other attractions in Orlando offer such a refreshing change — where you can take one trolley to your hotel, or walk to your car in their lot and drive off — which after experiencing several boat-then-tram or monorail-then-tram Disney nightmares feels TRULY MAGICAL!