Disney Does Driverless in the Sunshine State

Disney is gearing up fully autonomous vehicles that will shuttle you and your family from the parking lot to the amusement park, stress-free. Well, as stress-free as you can get while introducing grandma to the concept of a car with no driver. No, grandma, Satan is not "steering this contraption." At least, we don't think he is ...

According to the Los Angeles Times, Disney is negotiating deals with two autonomous manufacturers — Local Motors and Navya — to bring the Disney shuttle to its marvelous existence.

Driverless reached out to both Disney and the automobile manufacturers for comment on whether the shuttles will use deep learning — computer algorithms used to recognize images — to fully automate the ride. Or if the shuttles will be maintained by an operator in some capacity much like the monorail system at the park.

It's unclear as to how the shuttles will operate, but Navya does give us an example of what the Disney shuttle might look like. An example that does not use a shuttle operator:

Pretty cool, right? Imagine riding around in one of these at Disney World. You'll never have to walk again. Take that, exercise!

The Navya shuttle can transport up to 15 passengers and is fully autonomous. The vehicle runs on rechargeable electric batteries that can last up to 13 hours depending on traffic conditions. Although, I'm not sure how much traffic there will be at Disney World, unless there's like a huge line for cotton candy blocking the roadway or something.

At the moment, there is no word on when the shuttle, and which manufacturer, will start doing its thing around Disney World. But I do hope that by the time I get to see the Avatar exhibit, the shuttle will be there to carry me from one theme park frenzy to the next.

You think Disney will have its autonomous shuttles ready by the new Avatar Pandora opening? I hope so! Comment below!

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Cover image via Navya