Checks for resort monorail

[sam_gordon]

This may have been discussed before, but what the heck...

During busy times (ie: 30-60 minutes on either side of MK opening/closing), should Disney require showing a room key for guests to ride the resort monorail loop when boarding at TTC or MK?

If they already do, someone let me know.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

If they were to do this during the busy times like Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Easter, July 4th and maybe when the Magic Kingdom has closed I wouldn't have a problem with the Cast Members asking to see KTTW cards for those staying at the Monorail Resorts. However the reality is they don't do this and I doubt they ever will.

Although during a time when the Magic Kingdom has closed I know some guests who might stay offsite would line up for the Resort Monorail so they can take it to the TTC, because the Express Monorail line would be to long. However if a lot more guests did that then it means a longer line for the Resort Monorail and it might not be fair to those guests staying at the Monorail Resorts. Although when guests take the Resort Monorail to the TTC it's not really faster because it will 1st stop at the Contemporary and over there they need to wait for guests to get off and on. In fact there have been times when I was sitting on the Resort Monorail at the Magic Kingdom and saw two or three Express Monorail's come and go before we had even left, so that's one way they keep it's line moving.

 

[cranbiz]

I disagree, like all forms of transportation, its available for all WDW guests.

We offer two trains to MK, the express which only goes from MK to TTC and the resort monorail. It is the resort monorail because it stops at ALL monorail resorts. What we should probably do is rename the resort monorail to Local.

In fact, because the resort monorail stops at the CR first, it can take longer to arrive at the TTC.

 

[dudspizza]

I disagree, like all forms of transportation, its available for all WDW guests.

We offer two trains to MK, the express which only goes from MK to TTC and the resort monorail. It is the resort monorail because it stops at ALL monorail resorts. What we should probably do is rename the resort monorail to Local.

In fact, because the resort monorail stops at the CR first, it can take longer to arrive at the TTC.

Agreed. Disney states anyone with a hopper pass can use Disney Transport, but we all know that anyone can use Disney Transport.

I understand people pay tons of money to stay at a monorail resort, but transport is open to everyone..

 

[Brian Noble]

IIRC, even the stated requirement to have a hopper pass was removed some time ago.

I suspect the number of people who are "improperly" using the resort line is relatively small. I generally don't even bother---the line is shorter, but the express trains seem to come more frequently, making it more of a wash. That could just be now that they are one train short, though.

 

[goofy4tink]

Generally speaking it's going to be those who stay at the Polynesian and GF who feel this way.
There have been other threads from those staying at these two resorts who feel this way. They feel that too many non-resort guests use the resort line to get to TTC, rather than use the express line since it's so long. Does that happen? Sure. Does it have a huge impact? Doubt it. I have never noticed it to be a huge issue when heading back to the Polynesian from MK at park closing. Sure, some got off at the TTC, but it wasn't a huge number.
Now...I suppose that Disney could take out the TTC stop at park closing and opening..that way no one could board without being at an actual resort. But, I doubt that's going to happen either.

 

[sam_gordon]

In fact, because the resort monorail stops at the CR first, it can take longer to arrive at the TTC.

I would agree with you if you assume two guests get on the monorails at the same time.

I'm referring to someone staying off site seeing the EXTRA long line for the express monorail, comparing it to the short line to the resort monorail and deciding "hey, let's go there". Maybe they only have to wait 1 train on the resort line but would have to wait 5 trains on the express.

I just think during the busy times (again, immediately before park open/close) it could be a good perk for onsite guests.

 

[got2lovedisney]

FYI When we were there Christmas 2008, you couldn't board the Epcot to TTC monorail without showing your KTTW card. I think they did this is discourage people from parking at Epcot and trying to hop over thus avoiding the full to capacity MK parking.

 

[ancestry]

What about all of the people holding dining reservations at a monorail resort who may not be staying at a monorail resort? What about guests wanting to visit other guests?

This would be a bad idea on so many fronts.....

 

[OKW Lover]

I can't imagine why Disney would do this. If they did, it would limit the ability of the other guests to visit those resorts and spend money there.

 

[goofy4tink]

They may look at the line for the Express line and think that they will get there more quickly by taking the shorter Resort line...but that's not going to work. It takes about 15 mins, at least, to make the run to MK via the Resort line. It is much shorter timewise to take the Express...hence the name, Express. There are usually two Express monorails running, sometimes 3, during busy times of day. And possibly two Resort lines running. It takes much less time to take the Express line over, even if the line is longer. When the Express monorail gets to the TTC, it pretty much empties out...which means a ton of guests can get on vs only some guests getting out at each stop along the Resort line.

 

[seashoreCM]

FYI When we were there Christmas 2008, you couldn't board the Epcot to TTC monorail without showing your KTTW card. I think they did this is discourage people from parking at Epcot and trying to hop over thus avoiding the full to capacity MK parking.

This would have to be during a capacity closure situation within Magic Kingdom where Disney's resort guests were not yet being turned away.

Incidently the Epcot lot is from time to time used as an overflow parking lot for Magic Kingdom (when TTC fills up).

 

[annacali]

FYI When we were there Christmas 2008, you couldn't board the Epcot to TTC monorail without showing your KTTW card. I think they did this is discourage people from parking at Epcot and trying to hop over thus avoiding the full to capacity MK parking.

What if your car was already in that full to capacity MK parking lot (and you had hopped to Epcot to avoid the crowds) but you didn't have a KTTW card???

 

[clkelley]

They actually used to ask for resort IDs at MK closing to board the resort monorail. I've been asked on at least two occasions. Granted, this was at least 5 years ago. In both cases, I was NOT staying at a monorail resort, but was a Disney resort guest. I had dinner reservations at a monorail resort.

There was also a time once when I was asked to show a park ticket or resort ID to enter the TTC area.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Someone mentioned it already, but it's worth saying again. Resort guests are not the only ones visiting the resorts. You have people going to dining reservations, visiting friends/family, etc.

Lets also not forget that the monorail is not the only method of getting to the resorts from the MK, there also boats the run constantly and can often be quicker to get from MK to Poly or GF.