(Another) Glitch Prompts Towing of Disney Monorail

[WDWKOOK]

Glitch prompts towing of Disney monorail train

Willoughby Mariano
Sentinel Staff Writer
10:30 p.m. EST, December 15, 2009

A glitch aboard a Walt Disney World monorail train forced it to be towed this evening, a company spokesman said.

The incident took place on the express line about 6 p.m. as a train was traveling between the Transportation Ticket Center and the Contemporary Resort. An on-board computer detected a possible mechanical problem, triggering the train to power down.

The train was towed to the next stop and the passengers were let off.

The problem was resolved by 6:30 p.m.

 

[tjkraz]

Monorail breakdowns aren't all that uncommon. It's not like they have been running flawlessly for the last 40 years. They are just getting extra attention at the moment due to last summer's accident.

I sure wouldn't have wanted to be stuck on the monorail for 3 hours like some folks were last week. But these minor breakdowns are prone to happen when you're running a dozen trains continuously over an 18 hour day.

 

[Cricket2]

I was there for this and the train had to be towed like 20 feet. They couldn't (wouldn't) let people off of it even though it was at the CR station. Weird all around. it looked to be a power issue as if it needed the tow car for power or something. They wouldn't give me any real details.

 

[Cricket2]

Wait, which day was this? I was there on the 7th when this problem occured.

 

[Uncleromulus]

The Sentinel must be REALLY hard up for news these days...

 

[OrlandoMike]

The Sentinel must be REALLY hard up for news these days...

Slow day for Tiger and Casey Anthony!

 

[WDWKOOK]

Wait, which day was this? I was there on the 7th when this problem occured.

This particular incident was on 12/15.

 

[Cricket2]

So that is 3 times in the past couple weeks?

 

[WDWKOOK]

So that is 3 times in the past couple weeks?

Umm... I think I've lost count! Is it 3X in one week?

 

[buzznina]

The Sentinel must be REALLY hard up for news these days...

What's even worse is people who trivialize these stories, I am glad they reported it. It seems like the problems with the rail have gotten worse in the past year. You act like it was no big deal, if this happens in the middle of summer, the inside of those cars can get over 100 degrees in just minutes. I just hope you do not get stuck in one.

 

[WDWKOOK]

What's even worse is people who trivialize these stories, I am glad they reported it. It seems like the problems with the rail have gotten worse in the past year. You act like it was no big deal, if this happens in the middle of summer, the inside of those cars can get over 100 degrees in just minutes. I just hope you do not get stuck in one.

The reader can decide whether the information is important or not. In this day and age, the information, in this case about the monorail glitches, is going to get out to the public outside of WDW whether the Sentinel reports it or not. The Sentinel isn't the problem. If they didn't report it, would the monorail "glitches" magically stop occurring?

 

[tjkraz]

The reader can decide whether the information is important or not. In this day and age, the information, in this case about the monorail glitches, is going to get out to the public outside of WDW whether the Sentinel reports it or not.

Not really. In this thread alone you have WebmasterCricket who witnessed a train being towed on the 7th and that wasn't reported by the Sentinel. Like I said, monorail breakdowns really aren't all that uncommon. Usually it's just one train and the towing vehicle is able to move it off of the main line in a few minutes' time.

The only reason this one is being reported is because it's a few days removed from a massive failure. I don't fault the Sentinel for reporting it. If the reporting leads to greater care and maintenance on Disney's part, we're all better for it.

But let's not pretend that these two incidents are the only blemishes on an otherwise spotless record, nor that the Sentinel is going to continue reporting these minor outages indefinitely.

 

[WDWKOOK]

Not really. In this thread alone you have WebmasterCricket who witnessed a train being towed on the 7th and that wasn't reported by the Sentinel. Like I said, monorail breakdowns really aren't all that uncommon. Usually it's just one train and the towing vehicle is able to move it off of the main line in a few minutes' time.

The only reason this one is being reported is because it's a few days removed from a massive failure. I don't fault the Sentinel for reporting it. If the reporting leads to greater care and maintenance on Disney's part, we're all better for it.

But let's not pretend that these two incidents are the only blemishes on an otherwise spotless record, nor that the Sentinel is going to continue reporting these minor outages indefinitely.

We can agree to disagree, however, you sort of made my point that if the Sentinel doesn't publish it, in this day and age, it will make its way out of WDW anyway. You used the example of a PP posting about an incident on the 7th. The Sentinel (most likely) didn't report it, but it got publicized right here and may have been Tweeted or blogged about, too.

 

[Uncleromulus]

buzznina: Thank you for caring about me...

 

[tjkraz]

We can agree to disagree, however, you sort of made my point that if the Sentinel doesn't publish it, in this day and age, it will make its way out of WDW anyway. You used the example of a PP posting about an incident on the 7th. The Sentinel (most likely) didn't report it, but it got publicized right here and may have been Tweeted or blogged about, too.

Nothing at Walt Disney World has ever happened in a vacuum. Whether it's a 60 minute wait time for a Disney park bus or overpriced chicken nuggets, guests have been sharing experiences with friends, family and discussion forums for years.

Again I'm not arguing that the Sentinel is wrong for reporting this. But the only reason it's deemed newsworthy is because of the more dramatic incident last week. A couple months from now a monorail breakdown won't be any more newsworthy than daily occurrences like folks stuck on an airplane or an elevator for a couple hours.

 

[zulemara]

Not really. In this thread alone you have WebmasterCricket who witnessed a train being towed on the 7th and that wasn't reported by the Sentinel. Like I said, monorail breakdowns really aren't all that uncommon. Usually it's just one train and the towing vehicle is able to move it off of the main line in a few minutes' time.

The only reason this one is being reported is because it's a few days removed from a massive failure. I don't fault the Sentinel for reporting it. If the reporting leads to greater care and maintenance on Disney's part, we're all better for it.

But let's not pretend that these two incidents are the only blemishes on an otherwise spotless record, nor that the Sentinel is going to continue reporting these minor outages indefinitely.

I agree. Monorails go down all the time. They glitch out, they stall, this that or the next thing happens, but life goes on and the day goes on. When the entire MK operation or the MK and EPCOT operation go down for an extended period of time, then I can see where it's news. I can't tell ya how many times I've been driving a cruiser and told to switch routes to the gold because the resort beam went down. Not the first, won't be the last.

 

[lovemickeyshouse]

Just imagine gettin stuck on a monorail and having to go to the bathroom the thought is scary .