Disney Ends Evening EMH Monorail Service

[KAT4DISNEY]

i agree 1,000,000%

 

[spiceycat]

really wish disney would say the real reason for this change.

is it because of the monrail wreck - or something else.

I also don't believe that it is needed for monrail work - this on their past history does not make sense.

especially if it is indeed a perament change.

that will make it really hard for families. and families was what disney world was all about. Guess that is changing too.

as a single person who travels solo - the buses won't effect me bigtime - but for families who stayed with a monrail resort because of the monrail service.

well they just might decide to start staying offsite in the houses - which are better for families in the first place.

most guests only spend a day or less at AK - studios unless they have teens might be the same. MK and Epcot I think are still the big attractions at Disney.

time to do a poll

 

[dreaming4disney]

Here's a thought:

If they can invest in new soda machine chips for cups to make sure people aren't getting more soda then they paid for, maybe they have the $$$
to put into the monorail.

It's just a thought but why not update and add what is needed to keep the monorail working properly. Put some cold hard cash into the whole monorail system to keep it up to the standards that Disney set oh so many years ago!
If they take everything that is unique and special eventually the people will be gone too.
JMHO

 

[Simba's Mom]

You know that little boat that ferries people between the MK, Grand Floridian, and Poly? I predict they'll add a stop at the T&TC, then guests coming from Epcot will be told to take the monorail from Epcot to T&TC, then the little boat to the GF. From what I've seen, those little ferryboats are very lightly used in the evenings now.

 

[Sammie]

I don't get my reasons why they do things from the PR department I get them from friends I have known for over 25 years that have no reason to spin PR on me.

At times they give me the real reasons for things and I am not at liberty to share, and I don't.

But I have checked with at least 5 friends in upper management, as in I am not talking to bus drivers, and they all shared the same thing and they don't even know I am talking to the others, Beam Maintenance that simply can not be put off any longer.

And yes they have put it off because, gee they figured there would be a tremendous negative response to it.

Anyone that has been around here for some time, knows I call them like I see them. I don't wear Disney rose colored glasses. No one is more upset with DVC and Jim Lewis right now than me. Search my posts if you are new.

If everyone griping is just venting, then fine, venting can be good. But it is what it is, beam maintenance that Yes probably should have been done years ago. I mean lately every time I am near the monorail it is stuck on the track.

Now if they said you are going to have take buses forever at BLT, then yes I would be upset too. But if you have to take a bus a couple of times, I don't think it will kill you, I mean some of us do it all the time.

If I find out this is indeed a permanent change I will be the first to let you know.

 

[Sammie]

I think part of the problem also is that Disney has gotten used to doing so much marketing spin on their announcements that many (including myself) often don't believe reasons they give.

This one has a problem passing the sniff test b/c it's a permanent change that will not vary based on the time of the year. If it was summer only because EMH's go so late and they can't do daily maintenance in an hour then sure, but the fact that it will occur year round when that sometimes means 10 or more hours of down time then it becomes less believable. It's also doubtful that they work on every single monorail at one time when it is off the tracks and one would think they ought to be able to keep at least the resort line going on the same schedule that it has for many years.

And that leads to belief that much of this is for Disney's convenience or savings rather than anything else needed. Or that they've been required to for other reasons but that also doesn't make much sense with the varied hours throughout the year.

Has Disney released an "official" statement saying this is a permanent change, if so I missed it.

What so many of you do not understand, is Disney does not do all of it's work in house. Just like a regular person sometimes they do have to have maintenance done when the company that is going to do it, is available.

And does anyone really think they do these things to P O their customers, I mean really do you.

And if you do really think they do this things at the worst possible time with no care to the response. I personaly would never give them another penny of my money.

 

[Sammie]

Not what I'm saying at all. What I'm saying is that Disney has maintained the monorails without discontinuing service for 30+ years. They just don't want to pay the icnreased cost of that maintenance now as their monorail fleet gets older. They can fix the monorails whenever they want, but they should not fix them when guests want to use them for transportation to "Monorail Resorts." This is hardly a major request.


Finally, I'll note that people complain on these boards about the most inane things conceivable. I have seen numerous people pitch a fit about rusty shower curtain rings or a ding on a piece of furniture at BLT. Yet, when monorail service that is the heart and soul of BLT (i.e., the monorail hotel) is diminished in a meaningful way, some people don't seem to care. I think those people are either short sighted on this issue or they are wearing some seriously rose-colored glasses.

As to them being able to fix them whenever they want did you get that from someone working for Disney Transportation management?

 

[twinklebug]

I don't think the problem is that Disney doesn't have the funds - I believe this issue is that they need a set schedule to work on the trains. EMH has made a mess of things. The MK is known to be open as late as 3am during holidays.

You may argue that the monorail fleet is large (11 trains) and they can transition the trains in and out of service. I agree, this would seem to be a solution, but as we know, moving more than one train at a time is a very choreographed thing to have to do, and when the track is live it's even trickier. Fact is, all tires, brakes, doors and other services on each train must be inspected and maintained on a daily basis. Disney has an excellent safety record to the point that the US DOT has visited, studied and written reports about how Disney does it with the goal of setting up models and guidelines for US cities to follow. How do I know, I was one of the folk who assisted in one of those studies.

Add to this the Rail Beams. Although they may look like it, they're not just hunks of cement out there. Each one carries current, signals and there are a number of switches. Each will develop cracks as years progress. To maintain the rails requires that the track not be live. The system has to be down before they can work on it.

I think what Disney Rail maintenance would like to do is say, for example, "the monorail closes at 10pm" , however the park management wants them open for regular (non-emh) hours which could go as late as midnight and this is the best agreement they could come to.

There will always be a group of complainers. Even when the horrible accident occurred and the system was shut down for a few weeks, people were "vocal" about not being able to use the monorail to get to their resort. Stating that they had hotel rooms in GF/Poly/CR just so they could use the monorail.

I personally am glad Disney is being proactive about maintaining their system which we all obviously love. Remember, they plan on keeping the system running during regular hours, and no one has been hurt. Let's keep it that way.

 

[hakepb]

I'm starting to think Vegas made a huge mistake.

How can Disney be a "model city" and shut down before midnight? Now Disney is saying, be like us and shut down early. We've proven our ideas cannot work past midnight, they just don't make sense.

 

[spiceycat]

Now if they said you are going to have take buses forever at BLT, then yes I would be upset too. But if you have to take a bus a couple of times, I don't think it will kill you, I mean some of us do it all the time.

If I find out this is indeed a permanent change I will be the first to let you know.

if you can find out if is permanent - which has been reported - that would help.

if this is only temporary and yea temporary can be a year - then I am okay with it.

but if it is really permanent - that is a big change.

 

[supersuperwendy]

We'll see how this plays out. The monorails can hold so many people at once vs. the buses and boats. We have no reservations at a monorail resort in the near future so this won't affect us in the next few years. I hope it's temporary.

 

[MiaSRN62]

if you can find out if is permanent - which has been reported - that would help.

if this is only temporary and yea temporary can be a year - then I am okay with it.

but if it is really permanent - that is a big change.

Agreed Pat---this impacts monorail resort guests to a huge degree if this is permanent. The nightly rates at these deluxe "monorail" resorts reflect the convenience of being able to use the monorail for trips back and forth to the MK

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Has Disney released an "official" statement saying this is a permanent change, if so I missed it.

The responses from one or two CM's and from DVC have indicated it is permanent. Disney has not done their usual calendar of an attraction closing for a certain amount of time due to refurb. At this point there have been more sources reporting it is permanent and no reports that it isn't unless that is what you are now stating.

And if this is due to required maintenance on the beams it almost makes even less sense that closing down an extra few hours each night will allow repair of the structures. I don't have inside info on what the issues are with the beams but I've seen enough highway maintenance (and concrete repairs) in my life to know that structures similar to the "highway in the sky" would need a full shut down for a period of time for any major work. Anything else would really seem to be delaying the inevitable and just protracting the pain during that time.

 

[Sammie]

The responses from one or two CM's and from DVC have indicated it is permanent. Disney has not done their usual calendar of an attraction closing for a certain amount of time due to refurb. At this point there have been more sources reporting it is permanent and no reports that it isn't unless that is what you are now stating.

And if this is due to required maintenance on the beams it almost makes even less sense that closing down an extra few hours each night will allow repair of the structures. I don't have inside info on what the issues are with the beams but I've seen enough highway maintenance (and concrete repairs) in my life to know that structures similar to the "highway in the sky" would need a full shut down for a period of time for any major work. Anything else would really seem to be delaying the inevitable and just protracting the pain during that time.

Kat I missed the comments from DVC, saying it was permanent, do you have a link. I know the DIS has posted nothing saying it was permanent, nor Deb Wills, CheshireFigment a CM shared an internal memo, no mention of permament.

Thank you for contacting DISNEY VACATION CLUB®.

We appreciate your interest in the Monorail Service. I do apologize for
any inconvenience. WALT DISNEY WORLD has decided to make some changes
to the Monorail System so that we can adjustments to our operations to
accommodate for planned transportation maintenance. Effective July 11,
2011, the EPCOT Monorail System will be closing 1 hour after EPCOT
regular operating hours. Effective August 1, 2011, the Magic Kingdom
Monorail System will be closing 1 hour after Magic Kingdom regular
operating hours. Buses and watercraft (where applicable) will be
transporting guests back to the resorts during the Evening Extra Magic
Hours.

Please let us know if we can be of any further assistance.

This is the only communication I see from DVC and I see nothing that says this is a permanent change.

 

[jade1]

Remember, they plan on keeping the system running during regular hours, and no one has been hurt. Let's keep it that way.

Are you sure about that? It appears below that the MK loop will shut down at 7PM over 1/2 the nights, while EPCOT is open until 9PM. So how is that running during EPCOT's regular hours?

Thank you for contacting DISNEY VACATION CLUB®.

We appreciate your interest in the Monorail Service. I do apologize for
any inconvenience. WALT DISNEY WORLD has decided to make some changes
to the Monorail System so that we can adjustments to our operations to
accommodate for planned transportation maintenance. Effective July 11,
2011, the EPCOT Monorail System will be closing 1 hour after EPCOT
regular operating hours. Effective August 1, 2011, the Magic Kingdom
Monorail System will be closing 1 hour after Magic Kingdom regular
operating hours. Buses and watercraft (where applicable) will be
transporting guests back to the resorts during the Evening Extra Magic
Hours.

Please let us know if we can be of any further assistance.

 

[dancnorris]

Please see my earlier post below. I have written DVC and WDW to complain. DVC called me to discuss my complaint for 30 minutes. I was told in plain terms that this change is PERMANENT. She expressed hope that customer complaints might lead to a change, but stated that change can take a while and there are no gaurantees. DVC is compiling quotes from members that complain to forward to their "transportation partners." Hopefully they will hear us...

DVC Member Satisfaction called me after I wrote to complain. They confirmed two things:

1. At present, unless there is an uprising, the change is PERMANENT.

2. If MK closes before Epcot, the monorail will close 1 hour after MK closing regardless of whether Epcot is still open for its regular hours. Therefore, in the low season (i.e., DVC season), when MK closes at 7 or 8, you will not be able to get back to the monorail resorts from Epcot after Illuminations, even when there is no EMH. You can ride the monorail to the TTC, but the Resort monorail will be closed.

As I said to the DVC representative, that strikes me as CRAZY. The response I got was crickets. I think DVC is not happy about this, and they are hoping that enough people will complain to get this to change eventually. But Disney is stuborn.

If you go in the low season, you can basically write-off riding the monorail to Epcot from BLT, POL, or GF, whether you are going for EMH or not.

 

[bastraker]

If MK closes at 7pm on a Halloween party night, and we go to Epcot for dinner and fireworks, how do I get back to BLT?

If I ride the Epcot monorail to the TTC, are there going to be buses there to take me to BLT or do I have to get a bus at Epcot to get to BLT?

Taking a bus will annoy me since we have 2 small kids and a double stroller. This is part of the reason we bought BLT and like staying there. I don't like to take the bus unless I have to.

 

[dancnorris]

If MK closes at 7pm on a Halloween party night, and we go to Epcot for dinner and fireworks, how do I get back to BLT?

If I ride the Epcot monorail to the TTC, are there going to be buses there to take me to BLT or do I have to get a bus at Epcot to get to BLT?

Taking a bus will annoy me since we have 2 small kids and a double stroller. This is part of the reason we bought BLT and like staying there. I don't like to take the bus unless I have to.

I feel your pain. We are in the exact same situation. All I can say is please write DVC and WDW to complain. I can post email addresses if it helps...

 

[Shamus]

Thank you for contacting DISNEY VACATION CLUB®.

We appreciate your concerns about limited Monorail Service Operations as related to the Evening Extra Magic Hours. I am happy to inform you that after careful consideration, WALT DISNEY WORLD has decided to eliminate the Evening Extra Magic Hours. We are hopeful that this remidy will be satisfactory to all. I apologize for any inconvenience.

Please let us know if we can be of any further assistance.

 

[DebbieB]

If MK closes at 7pm on a Halloween party night, and we go to Epcot for dinner and fireworks, how do I get back to BLT?

If I ride the Epcot monorail to the TTC, are there going to be buses there to take me to BLT or do I have to get a bus at Epcot to get to BLT?

Taking a bus will annoy me since we have 2 small kids and a double stroller. This is part of the reason we bought BLT and like staying there. I don't like to take the bus unless I have to.

Disney has said a decision has not been made if they will shut down the monorail early on party nights. I'm willing to bet they don't. On the thread on the theme parks board, someone quoted a cm saying they didn't even think about party nights, they were only thinking about EMH.

There will be direct busses from Epcot, it started last week for Epcot EMH. One route runs to TTC & Contemporary, another to Poly & GF.