Expansion

[Lancer]

Take this for what its worth(or, with a grain of salt)

While I was at WDW last week, a castmember who has been with Disney for about fifteen years and has had some interaction with upper level management over the years,told me that they will be expanding the monorail to other parks and resorts. He also said that two new resorts are going to be built soon. When I told him of the answers given by other castmembers, that it was thought about and because of expense would not be done anytime soon, he said that "yeah, thats the standard corporate answer but it will be done". Thats all he would say. One castmember said, that when originaly built, they had to sink the rail posts 200 feet into the ground, but know any new posts would have to go in 500 ft and that thats where the major costs in the monorail are.

For what its worth

 

[mytwotinks]

That would be great and I hope that it is true!

I have heard in the past that the monorail is so expensive to maintain that it will only stay open until the current tracks are unable to be maintained. I hope this is not true.

 

[Cricket2]

500 ft?

 

[Jon99]

I thought I read the other day that Trump's new 80-90 story building in Chicago has a foundation of "only" 150 feet...

 

[Lancer]

I know, it sounded like a lot to me too, I'm just quoting what they said. Of course they can be way off base here, but considering the soil and the water table and what ever codes they have to satisfy, I'm sure they do have to be sunk fairly deep. Perhaps the 200/500 refered to spacing or they meant 50 ft. Who knows?

 

[manning]

I know, it sounded like a lot to me too, I'm just quoting what they said. Of course they can be way off base here, but considering the soil and the water table and what ever codes they have to satisfy, I'm sure they do have to be sunk fairly deep. Perhaps the 200/500 refered to spacing or they meant 50 ft. Who knows?

Oh my, they are going to sink Florida!!

 

[dbm20th]

I am pretty sure that the supports for SE are only 200 feet into the ground. 500 feet? That seems a bit excessive. Finding out the answer to that, and I don't know how you would, will help confirm this rumor.

From what I gather, WDW is in a pickle. The bus system is much more expensive now thanks to oil prices. Does the electric power of the monorail make it cheaper to take park hoppers back and forth than on the busses? Without knowing the numbers of the busses used for just that purpose, I can't answer that. Remember, that is all it will do. Help park hoppers, which is probably a very small percentage of the total bus traffic.

This rumor will always be around...

 

[JimB.]

As sort of a tangent to the continual "monorail expansion" rumours, I have always wondered why the "People Mover" concept that's in tomorrowland has not been expanded for REAL transportation purposes.

Walt Disney envisioned them as part of the transportation facilities in the original concept of EPCOT. It has struck me that it's a simpler, lighter (& therfore maybe cheaper) alternative to monorails. They may not be able to move as many people as monorails, but certainly more than busses.

Probably would not be the best system for long distances, but it could work for smaller areas (like maybe CBR - Epcot - MGM, or Ft Wilderness - TTC or something of that nature).

Just my 2 cents.

 

[manning]

As sort of a tangent to the continual "monorail expansion" rumours, I have always wondered why the "People Mover" concept that's in tomorrowland has not been expanded for REAL transportation purposes.

Walt Disney envisioned them as part of the transportation facilities in the original concept of EPCOT. It has struck me that it's a simpler, lighter (& therfore maybe cheaper) alternative to monorails. They may not be able to move as many people as monorails, but certainly more than busses.

Probably would not be the best system for long distances, but it could work for smaller areas (like maybe CBR - Epcot - MGM, or Ft Wilderness - TTC or something of that nature).

Just my 2 cents.

Sure would eliminate the waiting time as the cars are constantly coming and going!

 

[2Xited4Disney]

I think if the People Mover were capable of higher speeds then this would be great

 

[erikthewise]

Unless the CM you spoke to was Bob Iger or Jay Rasulo, I respectfully decline to believe this rumor. There is a thread on the Transportation Board on this topic: http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1027548
The response by Tyler is especially worth reading.

 

[rogerram]

just out of curiosity, why would a new monorail have to be up in the air? you could set it up like a commuter train. Everything is flat there. You might only need it a few feet off the ground to use the rail system.You wouldn't have the views from up top, but the convienence of a monorail over bus service would be much better. You could have bridges or tunnels where needed. You also could have it be on a rail and have it be a train system. As to the problem with cost of fuel for buses, auto manufacturers make great hyrid or electric cars now. Disney is supposed to be innovative. Why not electric or hybrid buses?

 

[DancingBear]

You wouldn't have the views from up top, but the convienence of a monorail over bus service would be much better.

Why do you perceive monorails as being more convenient than busses?

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

just out of curiosity, why would a new monorail have to be up in the air? you could set it up like a commuter train. Everything is flat there. You might only need it a few feet off the ground to use the rail system.

In any case, a monorail needs to be high enough off the ground so that people cannot touch the high voltage electric rails. In that case, the monorail might as well be a little higher to allow future roads, sidewalks, parking, etc. underneath.

 

[Another Voice]

Why do you perceive monorails as being more convenient than busses?

The advantage of the monorail is that it's not limited to the road system. A monorail track can easily weave its way between buildings, cross streams and lakes with much less structure, and have stations more centrally located than is possible with busses. Example - the Tomorrowland station at Disneyland. Imagine drving a bus up Main Street to drop people in the middle of the park.

 

[DisneyGeek2000]

The advantage of the monorail is that it's not limited to the road system. A monorail track can easily weave its way between buildings, cross streams and lakes with much less structure, and have stations more centrally located than is possible with busses. Example - the Tomorrowland station at Disneyland. Imagine drving a bus up Main Street to drop people in the middle of the park.

The main disadvantage of the monorail? A single rail! If a train breaks down, it affects all of the trains behind it - a bus can easily take another route, a monorail cannot.

 

[Another Voice]

Have you seen what a single broken down bus can do to a Los Angeles Freeway? A monorail takes out only one line - a bus can wipe out eight lanes of traffic. And check out how "well" L.A.'s Orange Line is doing these days. There's a lot to be said for seperating mass transit from automobile traffic.

 

[peter11435]

Have you seen what a single broken down bus can do to a Los Angeles Freeway? A monorail takes out only one line - a bus can wipe out eight lanes of traffic. And check out how "well" L.A.'s Orange Line is doing these days. There's a lot to be said for seperating mass transit from automobile traffic.

WDW is not a Los Angeles freeway.

 

[Markstudy]

The main disadvantage of the monorail? A single rail! If a train breaks down, it affects all of the trains behind it - a bus can easily take another route, a monorail cannot.

This is why they have 2 tow-trains that can move a broke monorail in 15 minutes.

Also the parking trams that bring people from the parking-lot are able to hook to a monorail and pull it with rope/cable (this is a back-up system to the tow-trains)

 

[Another Voice]

WDW is not a Los Angeles freeway.

Because Walt and company were smart enough to put in a monorail system.