Monorails to no longer operate during Evening Extra Magic Hours

[FlightlessDuck]

WDW in 1971 --- MK. CR, Poly, and the monorail.

Too bad about tradition; too bad about the concepts that have resulted in today's WDW.

There were no Extra Magic Hours in 1971, either.

 

[mom2rtk]

Grand assertions - assertions of extreme scale and consequence - in the absence of reliable information, are wild leaps. I'm not sure what else could be considered wild leaps, actually.

Actually all I asserted was that maybe more folks would decide to check out the offsite bargains in light of EMH changes (monorail limitations and character elimination), thus affecting their ability to keep their rooms filled.

That's a "grand assertion" or "wild leap"? I actually find you labelling it as such to be a wild leap. Unless of course you have some sort of reliable metric to back it up.

 

[TriMickey]

 

[Wadecool]

Actually all I asserted was that maybe more folks would decide to check out the offsite bargains in light of EMH changes (monorail limitations and character elimination), thus affecting their ability to keep their rooms filled.

That's a "grand assertion" or "wild leap"? I actually find you labelling it as such to be a wild leap. Unless of course you have some sort of reliable metric to back it up.

I hope you've got your dictionary handy. I foresee a bunch of multi-syllable words being fired back in your direction.

 

[katdralion]

Oh my gosh! I can certainly see where you get your screen name from, bicker! Don't you ever get tired of it all?! Life's too short to be so argumentative.

 

[disney_bob]

I suppose that means you have no more access to reliable metrics on the topic than I do. So for you to say I'm making a "wild leap" is no more accurate than me making such a "wild leap" in the first place.

Or did you conduct some sort of market research on the topic already? No? Didn't hack into the Disney data base to see for yourself? Then this is ALL speculation. And opinion.

To help you see where you might have gone wrong in your statement...

http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/burden-of-proof.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_ignorance

 

[mom2rtk]

Bicker is correct. He doesn't need to provide proof, you do.

http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/burden-of-proof.html

Seriously.... you want me to prove my opinion? I'm a poster on a discussion board, not the prosecution.

I'm sorry, is there some sort of rule book I signed onto?

 

[katieam1]

When we stayed at BLT on our last trip most of the time at night we did walk home. The monorail was so packed we from all the people trying to get on we just thought it quicker to walk. We are DVC members and one of the main reasons we bought BLT was for the monorail. Epcot is what bothers me for the resort folks. We love staying at BLT because we can cut using the buses at 2 parks. We drive to Animal Kingdom and DHS so for us it is never using a bus that makes our trip happier. Now we have to. So what am I getting for my money now? Not much thats for sure. Very unhappy by this as I am sure many are.

 

[Wadecool]

To help you see where you might have gone wrong in your statement...

http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/burden-of-proof.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_ignorance

A cardinal rule of citing sources to strengthen your argument: don't use anything with "wiki" in the title.

 

[kimgof]

I am disappointed .I guess ,with not having the monorail "after hours" but what I found more distressing is how everyone is saying the monorail is in need of great repairs. Are the monorails safe? We are staying at a monorail resort and would be using the monorail quite often and although I'm not a huge fan of the ride(hate heights and claustrophobic) I usually just breathe through it. Now I'm a little nervous. Am I over reacting? I sure hope so.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Monorail backups are no fun, my pet peeve is when they decide to load express guests on the resort trains at TTC, its simply unfair and wrong for all the resort guests who have to deal with over crowded trains.

I have said that before, so your not the only one who has thought that.

 

[jesswindsor]

I think one of the reasons that guests stay at the monorail station resorts is well for the monorail. However I would like to think that the monorail isn't the only reason. At least they are still running the buses, and boats.

 

[racefanof88]

Actually I think the though process was more like this:

Ok, we have to deal with the monorail maintenance we have been putting off. We are at the point where it is increasingly dangerous to operate the monorails as they are and we have to get in front of the issue. So, do we just close down the entire monorail system for <insert time here, probably around a year> and rely solely on buses and watercraft or find a way to increase the time when the tracks are free of trains so we can work on the maintenance issues one at a time?

Well, I think the later is the better option. There will be some guests who get their panties all in a wad over the decision but in reality the majority will either not know this isn't the normal policy or get over it when they realize we will increase the frequency of buses to the effected resorts and add a monorail loop bus for those who need to get from resort to resort along the line.

Now, we will have to add a disclaimer to the marketing literature for the monorail resorts indicating that while the monorail will be running for the vast majority of the time the parks are open there will be periods of time when that is not the case but we have made alternate travel available for them so they don't have to worry about finding their own alternative.

In the end I don't for see this negatively effecting our bottom line all that much while a guest death due to the monorail's current condition would. Seems like a no-brainer to me.

Make it so number two.

This theory is again ignoring the dangerous position making such a statement could put Disney in. If the monorails are unsafe to run during EMHs then they are unsafe to run during regular operating hours, PERIOD. Since there are scenarios being played out here, let me set one up--

"Mrs. Jones, gets on the monorail at 3pm on Wednesday, July 13. She gets her foot caught on the edge of the door frame because she is wearing the wrong shoes, watching little Johnny, eating a Dole Whip, who knows, and poor thing breaks her foot. Of course first thing, after she has her cast and soft collar in place, is hire a Personal Injury lawyer, said lawyer subpoenas Disney's monorail maintenance records and low and behold, there they find the smoking gun, Disney states that the monorail is in disrepair and they are taking the system down for repair ONLY during EMHs. Now how do you think that will play out in our sue happy society? Mrs. Jones gets millions, or her lawyer does, she gets pennies on the dollar, and The Big Bad Wolf (Disney in this case) is once again in the news because a guest is injured."

You have to remember, juries in Florida aren't the best at making the right call .

 

[wijkowski]

We just booked (and paid in full) a ten day stay at the Polynesian in September and we are upset over the reduced monorail hours.

We gladly paid the Polynesian rate knowing the room itself is not worth it, but the amenities (with monorail use being a big one) makes it worth the price.

We love MK and EPCOT at night and we were excited to live the "magical" feeling going to/from our room to both parks via the monorail during EMH. During our ten day stay, we planned to take advantage of (2) MK EMH, (2) EPCOT EMH and MNSSHP. That is five of our ten days.

I understand we can take the boat to/from MK, but we now must take our car to EPCOT as we do not like the buses. Sure, they get us back and forth, but a big part of the "magic" will be gone.

I am a General Manager and understand costs and services offered for those costs. I am sure Disney can find other ways to cut costs without touching such an iconic mode of transportation.

As others have stated, I can only imagine there are major maintenance issues that must be resolved which have not been mentioned by Disney. Outside of this, the decision seems short sighted in my opinion.

Ron

 

[NedsTJ]

Just came across this post by Jason Garcia:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/the-...world-monorail-hours-20110711,0,1288947.story

 

[doconeill]

Just came across this post by Jason Garcia:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/the-...world-monorail-hours-20110711,0,1288947.story

I'd say that makes it "official"...

Interesting notes...they have not decided anything about hard-ticket events yet, and not only have they not replaced the 12th train (someone posted some time back that it was literally being rolled out, despite not actually being in the shed...), but they didn't even say when it might be replaced.

 

[psac]

The monorail resorts do offer other benefits, but the costs for the monorail resorts are higher then the non-ones (look at Wilderness Lodge as an example) because of it. Makes the appeal of staying at the Epcot resorts (Boardwalk/Beach Club/Yatch Club) even stronger.

 

[maxiesmom]

I am disappointed .I guess ,with not having the monorail "after hours" but what I found more distressing is how everyone is saying the monorail is in need of great repairs. Are the monorails safe? We are staying at a monorail resort and would be using the monorail quite often and although I'm not a huge fan of the ride(hate heights and claustrophobic) I usually just breathe through it. Now I'm a little nervous. Am I over reacting? I sure hope so.

I understand where you are coming from. I too have problems with clausterphobia. It doesn't keep me from riding the monorail, and I have been lucky enough not to have been in one that has stopped for along period of time. The most I think for me has been 10 minutes. However, from reading here, that is happening more and more.

 

[racefanof88]

Do you really think so? Do you truly think that the guests at four (out of 26) resorts needing to use alternate transportation is going to reduce EEMH attendance to such a great degree that WDW would cancel the perk altogether?

Actually, yes I do. Waiting on a bus, in 100+ degree heat index, with lighting striking all around, under a tin roof at Epcot for over an hour, yeah I think it will serious cause people to rethink the benefit of EMHs and staying on Disney property. During peak times, like now, it is easy to wait more than an hour for a bus especially if there are ECVs and wheelchairs to be loaded/unloaded. Last December, we were staying at Pop and the bus was so packed people were falling on each other because no one wanted to wait for the next bus. Everyone was cold and tired after EMHs at Epcot. I know the poor person sitting across from me had bruises due to the drunk guy with the stroller hitting him, over, and over, and over, because the bus driver thought he was Richard Petty .

 

[FireDancer]

Just came across this post by Jason Garcia:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/the-...world-monorail-hours-20110711,0,1288947.story

I have found Jason to be extremely reliable so I'm glad he wrote the article.

The two important things I took out of it:

the reduced hours are "to accommodate for planned maintenance" on the trains, which are approximately 20 years old.

Kind of what I figured. Most people don't have cars that old and if they do they probably spend quite a bit of time maintaining it.

Disney said it has not yet decided whether it will operate the trains during extra ticketed events

As of now that means it is premature to worry about the monorail not operating during the hard ticket parties.