Could Parking Trams Be Coming Back to Disney World Soon?

Since Disney World reopened, many things have been unavailable or temporarily suspended.

FastPasses have been unavailable!

We haven’t seen FastPass+, dining plans, parades, or streetmosphere entertainment for over a year. Other things, like restaurants and resorts, have reopened gradually. One thing has been gone since last summer that we really miss — and now it might be coming back soon!

When the parks reopened in July 2020, one of the first things we noticed upon arrival is that the parking trams were missing! The trams used to travel from the park entrance to the parking lot to help shorten the walk to our car, but since the reopening, they’ve been out of service.

This sign makes us sad!

You can still see the colorful vehicles sitting off in the far corners of the parking lots, just waiting to be revved up again. So what’s stopping Disney from bringing them back? Well, a few things come to mind.

Why haven’t they come back?

When the parks first reopened, social distancing was likely a factor in the suspension of this perk. At the time, cars were being parked one space apart and guests were still being distanced on ride vehicles. Keeping the distance on trams would take longer to load, meaning that things would probably get backed up in the parking lot — that’s not very social-distancing friendly.

Hollywood Studios’ Tram Loading and Drop-off

But now that physical distancing requirements have been relaxed and rides are once again loading every row, what’s the holdup? Well, for a while Disney World (like the rest of the country) has suffered from a bit of a staffing problem. There aren’t as many Cast Members as there were before the closure, and using those limited employees to operate the trams is likely not a high priority.

We can’t wait to ride them again!

But now, it seems that we may soon get to ride the trams again! On August 2nd, the Disney Careers website posted a job listing for Parking, and included in the job description is the following statement: “Parking Operations Cast Members will safely operate multi car passenger trams throughout parking lots.”

©Disney

The job opening is for part-time employees and doesn’t specify a start date, but it gives us hope that the trams will return soon. With crowd levels going up soon thanks to the holiday season and the 50th Anniversary, we’re expecting the parking lots to be much fuller in the coming months. Having the trams back will certainly help our aching feet after a long day in the parks!

They’ll help shorten that walk back to the car!

No matter when they return, we’ll be there to cover the news ASAP. Stay tuned to AllEars for the latest updates and information straight from Walt Disney World!