Absolutely unacceptable

[MonorailPilotMulan]

As a former Monorail CM, I understand everyone's frustration. Believe me, we always got a lot of flack for daily down times. The fact of the matter is that the trains are pretty old (21 years old at this point) but the beam is even older (40+ years old). Disney's primary operating goal is safety so you can imagine that with some of the issues the trains have throughout the day, there needs to be some heavy maintenance. And with the construction that just needs to happen, this is a safety issue. Having heavy construction machinery that close to the beam is a safety concern.

Personally, I would never consider staying at the Magic Kingdom area resorts simply because the monorail is there. Sure, it costs a lot of extra money, but so does the YBC, BW and WL. It's prime real estate and that's what I believe Guest pay for.

If enough Guests complain, though, Disney may actually start to get creative in how they operate the trains. I'm not discouraging anybody to not write letters. By all means please do! But do realize that this is just the way that things get done.

Also, please try not take it out on Monorail Cast, they really have no say in when the monorail is scheduled to close or not

Wishing everybody some extra special pixie dust on their vacations!

 

[Reddog1134]

As a former Monorail CM, I understand everyone's frustration. Believe me, we always got a lot of flack for daily down times. The fact of the matter is that the trains are pretty old (21 years old at this point) but the beam is even older (40+ years old). Disney's primary operating goal is safety so you can imagine that with some of the issues the trains have throughout the day, there needs to be some heavy maintenance. And with the construction that just needs to happen, this is a safety issue. Having heavy construction machinery that close to the beam is a safety concern.

Personally, I would never consider staying at the Magic Kingdom area resorts simply because the monorail is there. Sure, it costs a lot of extra money, but so does the YBC, BW and WL. It's prime real estate and that's what I believe Guest pay for.

If enough Guests complain, though, Disney may actually start to get creative in how they operate the trains. I'm not discouraging anybody to not write letters. By all means please do! But do realize that this is just the way that things get done.

Also, please try not take it out on Monorail Cast, they really have no say in when the monorail is scheduled to close or not

Wishing everybody some extra special pixie dust on their vacations!

Excellent post.

 

[Tinkerbellmom33]

I did not read all of the posts, just the first page, so if this is repeated info, I apologize.
I understand your frustration...I just got home Friday from BLt and somehow missed any info about the monorails to the resorts being down during the day. We used the monorail in the mornings and hiked back in the afternoons and when we went out before 6. It wasn't so bad.
They did have a bus at the TTC, but I found taking the Ferry to MK area and then walking easier. If I remember correctly, the Poly was the first stop for the bus.(we were the last) That's a positve
I agree, the timing is a little off. I understand Disney has to maintain, I fully appreciate it, but with Spring break trips coming up. I could imagine it being a little rough. I know part of the perk of being at those resorts is not being on crowded buses. I know for me it was.
Have a great time and hopefully it's not too bad getting around.

 

[wbeem]

I can't believe people are still whining about the monorail.

 

[Angel Ariel]

I agree, the timing is a little off. I understand Disney has to maintain, I fully appreciate it, but with Spring break trips coming up.

it's not just maintenance, though. It's construction for the new DVC resort at the GF as well - which is going to happen regardless. Which is better - now, or in the peak of summer? There's going to be people affected no matter when they closed the monorail, and there's no real "down" time (not like january/feb) between now and summer. It's not like they could just delay construction until their next real down time

 

[Missyrose]

I just got back from Disney, I was there March 6-10 and on our last day happened upon a WDW Resort Transportation manager who was at the MK bus depot, helping to coordinate the extra buses. He said no one in his department is very happy about the daily shutdowns because it throws so many different moving pieces into flux.

He said the goal for the MK-area resorts is to have buses picking up and dropping off every 10 minutes or less during the times the monorail is down. He also said that every indication he's received is that the construction issue from GFV that is causing the monorail shutdown should not take as long as they originally planned, and they hope to have the monorails back up to their normal schedules by midweek instead of next weekend.

 

[fbarker]

Exactly! This is what all the people saying, "Don't complain, because it won't make them turn the train back on today," are missing. They need to think these things through and take care of details like warning resort guests, and they're not going to do that if they don't get any feedback about it.

Your kidding right!! You don't think Disney executives don't sit down and think every decision through. They just don't come into work one day and say hey lets shut the monorail down during the day!! I am sure they look at every posssible scenario and determine which one is the least impacting to the paying customer. As has been pointed out...Disney is crowded all the time there just is not an ideal time to shut down rides or support services.

But lets give Disney some credit.....they are pretty smart people.

 

[TLSnell1981]

I am not familiarwith SOG location at all. How close it is to MK? Does it have view, piped fireworks at night? Is it completely comparable to MK resorts? I asking because I simply have no idea.

SoG is across the street from the Poly.

The resort only had an occupancy rate of 60% to 75% most of the year while Disney's Polynesian Resort and Disney's Contemporary Resort had an occupancy rate at almost 100%. One of the major problems with the resort was the location. The resort was out of the monorail loop; almost a quarter of a mile away from the nearest monorail station at The Polynesian.

Most travel agents and tourists did not really consider The Golf Resort to really be a "Disney" resort. The resort was expanded and renamed The Disney Inn in February 1986 to try to appeal to more than golfers. It received an additional 150 rooms with a new Snow White theme during that renovation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shades_of_Green_(resort)

 

[Angel Ariel]

I know what wiki says...but honestly, how could it be that much of an issue when WL clearly doesn't have that issue at all and is also not on the monorail loop? WL may be cheaper than Poly, but it's still a Deluxe resort and still pretty expensive.

I don't know...personally, I think SoG is a great location We generally use their golf cart to get from the lobby to the end of their entry drive, and from there it's like a 5 min walk to the Poly's monorail. Even without the golf cart, it's like 15 mins from lobby to Poly - a nice walk in the morning, where we'd eat breakfast as we walked over to the monorail.

 

[TLSnell1981]

I know what wiki says...but honestly, how could it be that much of an issue .
.

This is also my opinion, my own personal experience. We've stayed exclusively on Disney property, since the early 80's... (Poly, CR, BC, BW, CBR, THV, LBV Vacation Villas, AS, AK, Swan/Dolphin..)

What do you think, Disney's reasons were for selling the property? The rooms are HUGE...and just across from the Poly. Why are the Monorail Resorts, more expensive, than the EPCOT Resorts?

 

[flicx]

This is also my opinion, my own personal experience. We've stayed exclusively on Disney property, since the early 80's... (Poly, CR, BC, BW, CBR, THV, LBV Vacation Villas, AS, AK, Swan/Dolphin..)

What do you think, Disney's reasons were for selling the property? The rooms are HUGE...and just across from the Poly. Why are the Monorail Resorts, more expensive, than the EPCOT Resorts?

My opinion is they have the monorail as the primary form of transportation! I especially like staying near the TTC at the poly. Love the fact you can walk to the epcot line and either take the regular line or resortline back to my room quickly.My family loves the magic kingdom and epcot foremost! However with the super inflated room prices don't know if my family will stay there again. I guarantee if we ever do make the plunge again,it won't be when the monorail is down for 6 and 1/2 hours a day.

 

[Angel Ariel]

What do you think, Disney's reasons were for selling the property? The rooms are HUGE...and just across from the Poly. Why are the Monorail Resorts, more expensive, than the EPCOT Resorts?

I don't disagree that they were selling the property b/c they weren't filling the rooms. I just have a hard time believing they weren't filling rooms mostly b/c of a lack of monorail access, when they opened WL the same year they sold SoG (also without monorail access) and they don't seem to have an issue filling rooms there.

As for monorail resorts being more expensive...according to WDW's compare tool (at least as of tonight), only GF & Poly are more expensive than Epcot resorts. CR actually has rates less than some of the Epcot resorts. Here's what the compare tool showed me as starting room only rates:

AKL - $265+
BEach Club - $335+
Board Walk - $345+
Contemporary - $315+
Grand Floridian - $460+
Poly - $405+
WL - $265+
Yacht Club - $335+

Considering CR's price is on par with the Epcot resorts, I don't think the increase in price for GF and Poly can be attributed to the monorail. GF is the flagship hotel for the entire WDW property. It houses a 5 star restaurant as well as it's own spa - both of which are the only ones on Disney property. Poly and GF also both have beaches on SSL, which CR doesn't have, and boats to and from MK (which CR doesn't have).

Is the monorail part of why I think the price is different compared to WL/AKL? Yeah...but considering how different the pricing is even between the 3 monorail resorts, I don't think you can say the monorail is the defining factor in what sets the price of those resorts.

 

[KellyNY]

This is also my opinion, my own personal experience. We've stayed exclusively on Disney property, since the early 80's... (Poly, CR, BC, BW, CBR, THV, LBV Vacation Villas, AS, AK, Swan/Dolphin..)

What do you think, Disney's reasons were for selling the property? The rooms are HUGE...and just across from the Poly. Why are the Monorail Resorts, more expensive, than the EPCOT Resorts?

View. Epcot resorts just do not have same view. Illuminations not really seen outside Epcot. I do not know about size of Epcot rooms and how many 4 or 5 fit.
Also, do not disregard that MK is THE icon park, not Epcot. If you price them same, which area will be more popular?

 

[TLSnell1981]

View. Epcot resorts just do not have same view. Illuminations not really seen outside Epcot. I do not know about size of Epcot rooms and how many 4 or 5 fit.
Also, do not disregard that MK is THE icon park, not Epcot. If you price them same, which area will be more popular?

IDK...Boardwalk View rooms...are pretty amazing. Location, theme and convenience are our top priorities. I will admit, "the view" is very important to us.

Room only for our May dates, average per night, similar views..

Poly $625
GF $645
BWI $510

 

[Angel Ariel]

IDK...Boardwalk View rooms...are pretty amazing. Location, theme and convenience are our top priorities. I will admit, "the view" is very important to us.

Room only for our May dates, average per night, similar views..

Poly $625
GF $645
BWI $510

View is something subjective (which is why I didn't include it in my post above). Personally, I'd pay more for a view of the MK than I would for a view of Epcot (and did on my honeymoon in order to have a castle view room). I'd venture to say I'm not the only one who would say the same.

 

[KellyNY]

IDK...Boardwalk View rooms...are pretty amazing. Location, theme and convenience are our top priorities. I will admit, "the view" is very important to us.

I do not know what you can see from Boardwalk but definitely not an iconic park and castle. MK is like ocean when you go to Hawaii, you either have The view or you don't.

 

[TLSnell1981]

View is something subjective (which is why I didn't include it in my post above). Personally, I'd pay more for a view of the MK than I would for a view of Epcot (and did on my honeymoon in order to have a castle view room). I'd venture to say I'm not the only one who would say the same.

The monorail makes the extra $$$$ worth it for me. I love both views.

 

[Angel Ariel]

The monorail makes the extra $$$$ worth it for me. I love both views.

Also something that's a personal viewpoint and subjective...

You asked me why Gf/Poly/CR were more expensive than Epcot resorts if not for the monorail. I pointed out only GF and Poly are actually more expensive than Epcot resorts. Logic would reason that since all 3 have monorail access, the monorail can't be the reason that GF/Poly are more expensive than the Epcot resorts.

 

[jujube]

View. Epcot resorts just do not have same view. Illuminations not really seen outside Epcot. I do not know about size of Epcot rooms and how many 4 or 5 fit.
Also, do not disregard that MK is THE icon park, not Epcot. If you price them same, which area will be more popular?

You can see Epcot fireworks from the Epcot resorts. You can also walk to 2 parks.

The rooms are very nice.

For first timers, probably MK would rank 1st. After that first stay though, who can say?

I do not know what you can see from Boardwalk but definitely not an iconic park and castle. MK is like ocean when you go to Hawaii, you either have The view or you don't.

Personally we prefer the Epcot and DHS parks. We spend 1/2 day at MK.

This is your opinion.

The monorail makes the extra $$$$ worth it for me. I love both views.

The monorail is the primary reason we'd stay at a monorail resort. The MK view is secondary at least for us.


I don't get why some cannot accept that people don't all feel the same way.
My favorite color is yellow but I don't expect everyone to choose it as their favorite color.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I do not know what you can see from Boardwalk but definitely not an iconic park and castle. MK is like ocean when you go to Hawaii, you either have The view or you don't.

At the Boardwalk Inn if you stay in a Standard View Room you could see the France Pavilion and Illuminations if you got Garden view room. Now if you happen to get a view of the driveway from there you could see the Tower of Terror.

Plus if you stay in a Boardwalk/Water View Room then you can also see Wishes off in distance when you look in the direction of the Yacht Club and Beach Club.