How come Disney hasn't expanded the Monorail?

[ZIPBAGS]

I know its like a million dollars per mile. But, with the cost of gas and how much those buses must use. It might become more feasible.

Also, what expansion of the monorail is the most feasable?

 

[AdventureGuru]

Good question! I'm game...anyone have any insight?

 

[MonkeyPants]

its welllllllllllllllll more than a million a mile

 

[cmwilson523]

I seem to remember hearing something about the land being a little too "squishy" when Disney looked at expanding the Monorail line to go to the Studios and Epcot resorts. There was a big concern about how safe it would be if the land weren't stable enough.

 

[David R]

My partner asked me the same question the other day and I said "$1 million/mile" and is that for one way? You'd need two directions, is that $2 million/mile then?

Are you going to have multiple TTCs (ie. hubs where people transfer) or are you going to have lines from each resort to each park, or even just park to park? Where would those TTCs be at? Or are you going to be able to expand the current one?

How many more trains would you need to service all the new areas? The ones running plus the ones undergoing maintenance. Buses are probably cheaper than monorail trains.

What would that do for the exclusivity of most deluxe resorts?

I'd love to be able to get on a monrail at Epcot and travel to MGM and them from MGM to Downtown Disney but the logistics behind those simple trips are probably overwhelming and expensive.

 

[MagicOurWay]

From a completely unknowledgeable lay person. I would think that adding MGM to the Epcot rail would be the biggest bang for the buck. Then the big 3 monorail resorts would have direct access to 3 parks (adding AK would be considerably more expensive). If they could add a centralized resort stop on the Epcot side (without spoiling the views) that would be a pretty thorough system.

Lastly maybe they could add a spur to pick up OKW/SS/PO? Logistically, I would think this would make for some pretty long trips though, as those returning from MK would probably have to go to EP/MGM before coming back up to OKW/SS et al. And those going to EP from this area would have to go all the way to MK first. Unless of course they built sophisticated monorail interchanges with flyovers, etc. Expensive!!!

 

[DWatWDW]

It was amillion a mile when they originally built it, in the 70s. Now it would be much more.

The only reason it hasnt been done is cost.

 

[Laurajean1014]

I don't know much about the system. However, the monorails are maintenance through a Swedish company and if it needs more than a tweak, a service reps flies from Sweden to WDW to fix it. This was part of Disney's outsourcing policy a number of years back. They felt it wasn't worth training and maintaining in depth knowledge to their personnel. Current personnel can do a limited amount of repair or analysis.

 

[Kick Save]

Cost of monorail vs. cost of buses is probably still in favor of the buses by a pretty big margin, hence no new construction. Even if the price of diesel goes another dollar or two higher, it's probably still the cheaper transportation.

HOWEVER! I'd like to see a nice Epcot-MGM loop. Put a transfer in at Epcot, then have that loop visit the Yacht and Beach club, the Swolphin, MGM, the Boardwalk, then back to Epcot. Nice tidy little loop, but kind of makes the boat service on that same track obsolete.

 

[Daryl]

Boats and the monorail serve the MK resorts so I think both would be logistically feasible in the EPCOT area. Also I believe the busses are fueled by some form of Biodiesel, so I think the previous poster is right, cost comes down in favor of the Busses. As others have said, extending the monorail to MGM would be the most logical move offering the best bang for the buck, but boy, would it be expensive. If the choice is to build 3 E ticket rides or extend the monorail, I vote for the rides.

Speaking of monorails The rumors of Orlando building a direct link from the Airport to Disney property are still floating around out there. Now that would be Great!

 

[kellyf2626]

I always wondered why they didn't expand the monorail to at least include WL??

 

[frayedend]

I'm quite surprised at the price of 1 million/mile. What, are they using the Big Dig people to do this thing? I bet it can be done cheaper today than in the past.

 

[salmoneous]

One of the things you have to ask yourself is, "What's in it for Disney?" Sure it would be cool if the TTC -> Epcot monorail was expanded to MGM. But what does Disney get in exchange for the money spent?

 

[Poohbear123]

Boats and the monorail serve the MK resorts so I think both would be logistically feasible in the EPCOT area. Also I believe the busses are fueled by some form of Biodiesel, so I think the previous poster is right, cost comes down in favor of the Busses. As others have said, extending the monorail to MGM would be the most logical move offering the best bang for the buck, but boy, would it be expensive. If the choice is to build 3 E ticket rides or extend the monorail, I vote for the rides.

Speaking of monorails The rumors of Orlando building a direct link from the Airport to Disney property are still floating around out there. Now that would be Great!

Oh, good, I haven't heard too much more about the Airport to Disney Property thing in awhile, now that sounds great! I personally think they need a Monorail to AK and AKL that would be neato!

 

[Laurajean1014]

Not with current labor rates.... but I agree, the material could be less (but not the price of copper wire - it up over 87% in my area).

 

[EdDome]

HOWEVER! I'd like to see a nice Epcot-MGM loop. Put a transfer in at Epcot, then have that loop visit the Yacht and Beach club, the Swolphin, MGM, the Boardwalk, then back to Epcot. Nice tidy little loop, but kind of makes the boat service on that same track obsolete.

Last month when we were on the boat trip from MGM to BW, the driver mentioned that both the Swan and the Dolphin were designed to have a monorail travel through them (sort of like the Contemporary). If you look at the outside of both the Swan and Dolphin, the center of the exterior has a square section that's black. The driver said that the black-colored area is a "knock out" section that was designed for quick removal when / if the monorail was extended from Epcot. Doubtful if it will ever happen but I found it interesting.

 

[nalabell]

Well, Disney is expanding the monorail. Here is the link showing you the first phase of this huge project.Hope you enjoy this fun!!

www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1165806

 

[JRawkSteady]

Yeah it will be expanded to the new DVC resort, which is not so far from the Contemporary. Definitely a pointless expansion. However, it would not be to cost prohibitive to add MGM to the Epcot Loop. It's less than a 10 minute walk from one to the other...not even a mile...They could definitely get rid of some buses this way, and not have to add a CM to drive a new route, since it's connected to the Epcot loop. I never understood why this could not be done.

 

[Robo]

...The driver said that the black-colored area is a "knock out" section that was designed for quick removal when / if the monorail was extended from Epcot. Doubtful if it will ever happen but I found it interesting.

That is a popular (especially with the bus drivers) "Disney Urban Legend".
Its been discussed here many times.

The "black areas" are simply design elements.

(When was the last time you saw a building that had a "knock-out" area?)

 

[Robo]

I know its like a million dollars per mile. But, with the cost of gas and how much those buses must use. It might become more feasible.

Also, what expansion of the monorail is the most feasable?

That figure was quoted back when they were figuring the cost to build a monorail link to/from the Orlando Int'l. AIRPORT.

It is that high because of the LAND costs to buy/rent the rights-of-way on other owners' property.

It would not cost a "Million dollars a mile" (one-way or two way) to construct ON Disney property. It is far from "High-Tech" as the design of the tracks is 1960's technology, and rather easy to pre-fab.

The biggest deterrent to building monorails to all resorts and theme-parks is the huge amount of TERMINAL SPACE it would require.

Look how big TTC is with just the THREE monorails there.
How big whould if need to be to handle two, to ten more trains at the same junction?

And there WOULD need to be a central junction, as there would be NO WAY to send multiple monorails (at least the kind they are using NOW) to multiple parks (individually).

Now, imagine what TTC would look like will virtually ALL guests from 4 theme-parks and X number of resorts "changing trains" going to/from parks/resorts/parking lots at or near opening or closing times... even if the times were "staggered". (YIKES!)

AND...
There would STILL be the need for X number of buses going to/from at least some of the resorts... and for "back-up" should there be a problem with the monorail(s) or the track(s).

With WDW as large and varied as it has become... a conventional monorail system (as they have now) would not be very PRACTICAL on a larger scale, even if its cost to build was lower.

OTOH, there was talk for awhile last decade of using a DIIFERENT KIND of monorail system at WDW with much smaller cars that could be more easily "re-routed" on the tracks (think of the cars as rather large "traveling elevators") as needs changed throughout the day. This system is still closer to being "experimental". Another flaw with this system is it would not be able handle a substantial of people per car at any given time, so it would require MANY cars... and there could be significant safety issues with more and more cars operating at once.