Monorail hours changing to 1 hour after REGULAR park close...

[doconeill]

Both Kathy and DU posted on facebook, plus confirmed via CMs:

Beginning July 11, 2011 the Epcot Monorail will operate one hour after regular park close. Starting August 1, 2011 the Magic Kingdom Monorail will operate for one hour after regular park close. Additional buses and watercraft(where applicable) will be available. Return service on the evening Extra Magic hours will be supported by watercraft (where applicable) and bus transportation.

It is also reported via internal memo that this is maintenance related, but permanent.


This basically means that the monorail will shut down one hour into evening EMH, and monorail resort guests will have to take bus/water/walk. Plus on-site or late-exiting guests needing to get to TTC or "park hopped" via bus to/from MK will be affected.

So the question is...are they finding with all the recent breakdowns that there just isn't enough time to perform the needed maintenance during down and non-peak hours to keep the system running, or is it just really a cost-cutting measure disguised as maintenance?

Does operating buses in place of the monorail cost less, given that they need more to cover the load? Can they increase water launches?

Seems an odd thing to pull during peak season and just after a surprise ticket increase.

 

[CAJUNWDWFAN]

That really bites!

 

[PeterPan09]

From what I hear, this isn't cost cutting-although that may be a side benefit. The monorail trains aren't getting any younger and they are having more problems.

 

[doconeill]

Reducing operating hours is often a way of forestalling regular maintenance based on use hours as a cost cutting measure.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

If it does able them to fix the monorail issues, I'd say it's a good thing.

But I'd hate to be someone who is paying tons of money to stay at a monorail resort and have to take the bus back to the resort from Epcot or MK. I'm sure those folks would not be happy about it!

 

[book_junkie]

I can say that if this had happened last year when we stayed at the Poly, we would have changed our reservations and stayed elsewhere. One of the reasons we chose the Poly was to be on the monorail line, and to have it during evening magic hours and during the Halloween Party was priceless for us. If they can't maintain the monorail fleet then they need to take a look at what they're doing wrong.

It makes me glad that a. we're not on a monorail route resort this year (we came close but WL won out over the Contemporary for my Mom), and b.) we rent a car. I can just imagine that they'll be sharing buses to all the MK resorts at closing.

 

[2Tiggies]

It is disappointing as one of the appeals of staying at a monorail resort (at a premium I might add) is, erm .... being able to make full use of the monorail service. The second big plus of staying at one of these resorts is making use of the privilege of EMH, especially at MK, and again, using the monorail.

 

[PeterPan09]

The problem is-no matter when they choose to do maintenance or refurbish anything someone's vacation is going to be impacted. It would be great if they could close for a month or so and just fix and redo EVERYTHING, but that would be an even larger impact.

It would have been great if they could have given more of a warning, but perhaps the conditions really have gotten to a point where they simply couldn't wait anymore.

 

[Jitzy]

Both Kathy and DU posted on facebook, plus confirmed via CMs:



It is also reported via internal memo that this is maintenance related, but permanent.


This basically means that the monorail will shut down one hour into evening EMH, and monorail resort guests will have to take bus/water/walk. Plus on-site or late-exiting guests needing to get to TTC or "park hopped" via bus to/from MK will be affected.

So the question is...are they finding with all the recent breakdowns that there just isn't enough time to perform the needed maintenance during down and non-peak hours to keep the system running, or is it just really a cost-cutting measure disguised as maintenance?

Does operating buses in place of the monorail cost less, given that they need more to cover the load? Can they increase water launches?

Seems an odd thing to pull during peak season and just after a surprise ticket increase.

We were there the week of 6/19 - 6/25 and 7/3. Two nights leaving MK the monorail was closed ~ I guess for maintenance issues. The night of 7/3 was the most egregious. On top of the monorail issues, I have never experienced such neglectful crowd control by Disney. Fighting to my husband's left and Disney Security to my right. The guard did not move to do anything. Ridiculous....

Then leaving the park that night, about 11 pm, the monorail to the TTC is closed. On July 3rd. All the locals that couldn't stay for EMH leaving at the same time. I've never been so disappointed in the experience in my life.

 

[zulemara]

This is a good and much needed decision from management to resolve the problems with lack of maintenance on the monorail system. People staying at monorail resorts will still have access to the monorail the majority of the time. Making it seem like its not worth the extra price of a monorail resort because of those extra 3 hours once a week is ridiculous. Alternate transportation will be available and the boats A) go to the grand first(because I know it's going to be largely grand ppl complaining about this) B) won't have TTC people C) have only 2 stops instead of 4, therefore I would anticipate service for poly and gf people to be equally efficient if not faster. the CR people will end up on a bus and the TTC ppl on a ferryboat.

I don't praise management much for anything, but kudos to them for having the balls to stand up to the complaints(unwarranted IMO) that will come in and FIX OUR MONORAILS

edit: that was a copy and paste of another post I made, not meant to attack anybody, although I know all the arguments will come up about the price of monorail resorts etc etc, but as I stated, it's only 3 hours in the wee hours of the night that it can't be used and for the betterment of the system, so I support it. Just my opinion from someone who deals with monofails on a consistent basis

 

[doconeill]

You are saying this is only once a week...what was the normal operating time of the monorail on non-EMH days? I thought it was at least two hours after closing. [Edit: It looks like the Express hours were already 1 hour after park close - not sure of the Resort monorail]

It also raises numerous questions about how guests that are resort-hopping on the monorail might get around.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

I think that this is ridiculous. The WDW bus system is already overloaded and there are not enough buses, but to add more resorts to this mess is a big mistake. The fact that guests have to cram in like sardines and stand on a moving bus late at night is already a safety concern. I have seen people fall, hit their heads, etc. Shame on Disney. Find another way to maintain and repair your monorails. This reminds me of Lights of Winter: Oh, we need to do regular maintenance so we're going to close them while you're still in the parks. When was maintenance done all of these other years then??

 

[zulemara]

I think that this is ridiculous. The WDW bus system is already overloaded and there are not enough buses, but to add more resorts to this mess is a big mistake. The fact that guests have to cram in like sardines and stand on a moving bus late at night is already a safety concern. I have seen people fall, hit their heads, etc. Shame on Disney. Find another way to maintain and repair your monorails. This reminds me of Lights of Winter: Oh, we need to do regular maintenance so we're going to close them while you're still in the parks. When was maintenance done all of these other years then??

Attendance has gone up and they have done things like double late night EMH in the summer which they didn't used to do.

On non EMH days, they advertise 2 hours, but the reality is they ran until the last park cleared which is usually less than 2 hours especially when the close is drawn out(like 10pm fireworks and 12am close).

I stand by my statement. Do you all realize that parts have LITERALLY fallen out of a monorail and started a fire over by the lightshow channel? Or that the bus bar(that's the high voltage thing that makes the circuit) fell off the beam on the 3rd of July and that's why express was down. Or that they have trains unable to get up the hill by CR, causing both lines to do down so it can reverse back to the station? It's not just the trains, it's also the beam that needs maintenance. They USED to do maintenance, but as the park hours have changed over the years and the operating hours have extended for the system, they clearly haven't been able to do what is needed.

 

[SkaGoat]

decreasing services hours is also a way to increase the amount of time between major service, and in the end increase the life of the trains. I assume Disney is planning to replace it's aging fleet, original monorails in Florida lasted 18 years, these ones are at 22 years and counting.

Even if Disney picked up the phone tomorrow and ordered a bunch of new monorails, it would be quite some time until delivery.

If closing earlier makes the system safer and more reliable then I'm all for it.

 

[FireDancer]

Whether it is maintenance or cost cutting I'm sure they have their reasons. I can't work up the energy to get all that outraged about this particular decision either way. I do think though that it is for maintenance and is much needed. Those monorails are pretty old at this point and break down more and more.

 

[doconeill]

decreasing services hours is also a way to increase the amount of time between major service, and in the end increase the life of the trains. I assume Disney is planning to replace it's aging fleet, original monorails in Florida lasted 18 years, these ones are at 22 years and counting.

Even if Disney picked up the phone tomorrow and ordered a bunch of new monorails, it would be quite some time until delivery.

If closing earlier makes the system safer and more reliable then I'm all for it.

Aren't we still waiting on a 12th monorail with at least the cabs built from scratch (the rumored Monorail Maroon...)? If new trainsets were on the horizon, I could see doing this to reduce operational-based maintenance (it's common on rail systems), but then I wouldn't expect them to be having as replacement 12th being build under old specs.

But I haven't heard much about that either.

In the mega-thread in the Theme Parks board, there has been some talk that there is lot of need for beam maintenance which used to be done but was cut back due to ever-expanding park hours...reportedly the July 3rd issue may have been from the power bus bar falling off a section of the beam...

 

[mainegal]

Epcot Monorail will operate one hour after regular park close.


I thought the Disney transportation always operated until one hour after closing. Or, is it longer?

My big fear was taking too long to walk out of World Showcase, getting to the front gate, and not having a bus to take me back to my resort. What would happen to me?!

 

[*NikkiBell*]

I stand by my statement. Do you all realize that parts have LITERALLY fallen out of a monorail and started a fire over by the lightshow channel? Or that the bus bar(that's the high voltage thing that makes the circuit) fell off the beam on the 3rd of July and that's why express was down. Or that they have trains unable to get up the hill by CR, causing both lines to do down so it can reverse back to the station? It's not just the trains, it's also the beam that needs maintenance. They USED to do maintenance, but as the park hours have changed over the years and the operating hours have extended for the system, they clearly haven't been able to do what is needed.

If parts are flying off and fires have begun, then they should be shut down immediately as they are unsafe.

I understand how run down the monorails are, but isn't there another alternative? With all of the amazing things Disney has proven they can do, why can't they fix this issue?

 

[FireDancer]

If parts are flying off and fires have begun, then they should be shut down immediately as they are unsafe.

I understand how run down the monorails are, but isn't there another alternative? With all of the amazing things Disney has proven they can do, why can't they fix this issue?

I think their choices were probably either run them less hours and start fixing the issues in a hierarchical manner or shut them down completely and fix all the issues at once over a period of time.

Provided they are safe to operate the former is probably the better method. They may also be trying to preempt a failed safety inspection that will necessitate the later.

 

[ADP]

We've been visiting WDW for 17 years now. I can't remember the monorail breaking down as much as it has in the past year. It used to be rare to see or even hear about a monorail breakdown. During our June trip we saw the tow and rescue device attempting to pull the monorail to safety twice. We also saw the monorail stations closed one other time. In April we witnessed two other occassions when the resort monorail was OOS (out of service). Cast Members were providing other alternatves to the Magic Kingdom like the boats.

Considering what's been going on lately I feel this maintenance is needed. I don't pretend to know what the problem with the monorail system is, but it's easy to summize its related to wear and tear. Maybe it is and maybe it isn't. I'm sure whatever is wrong they'll get it fixed.