Although the monorail, Disney Skyliner, and some boat transportation is available for guests staying at select resorts, odds are you’ll have to hop on a Disney bus at some point during your trip.

When Disney World reopened, we got to experience the new bus loading and seating process — no more filling in every available spot or standing up and holding on to those hanging black handles! But, when we rode on one Disney bus today, we noticed some things have changed.

Previously, the Disney busses we had ridden on generally had 6 zones. Typically, the bus driver directs each party to enter the bus through a specific entrance and sit in a particular zone depending on the size of their party. The overall goal is to have as few people as possible entering through the same set of doors and maintain some social distancing between guests while seated to the extent possible.

But, with just 6 sections, some buses could be sent with very few guests. For example, if there were 6 unrelated parties with only one guest each, each guest would be directed to sit in a different zone and the bus would drive off with just those 6 passengers.

Today, however, we hopped on a bus and found it had 10 zones! This new seating arrangement appears to allow for a greater amount of smaller parties to all sit in one bus.

Here’s a break-down of the seating zones in the bus we rode:

• Zone 10: 4 seats available. Zone 10 is made up of those 5 seats along on the back row of the bus, but the center seat was unavailable.
• Zone 9: 4 seats available. Zone 9 is made up of 5 seats on each side of the bus located across from each other, but 3 of the seats on each side were not available.
• Zones 8, 7, 5, 2, and 1: 2 seats available in each
• Zones 6, 4, and 3: 3 seats available in each

Section 6 can also be modified to allow for a handicap guest if needed.

So, in total this bus can hold 27 guests. This new seating arrangement could increase capacity for smaller parties.

We rode another bus earlier in the day that only had the 6-zone arrangement, however, so it appears that this new 10-zone style is not available in all of the buses. It’s possible Disney will continue to change the bus zones to accommodate more guests in a more efficient manner as they evaluate their transportation needs. We’ll continue to keep tabs on the bus seating arrangements and let you know if we spot any more changes!

Click here to check out the ultimate guide to Disney World transportation after the reopening! 

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What’s your favorite form of Disney transportation? Let us know in the comments!

The post PHOTOS: New Disney Bus Seating Arrangement Accommodates More Small Groups first appeared on the disney food blog.