How far would $2 billion have gone in expanding the monorail?

[TinkerElsasMom]

They are not doing magic bands at the expense of new rides and attractions. Look at the fantasyland upgrade that's happened over the past two years. Look at the construction for Avatarland beginning in AK. He rate do WDW expansion is not slowing down. Expansion has always been slow. Additionally, it would be dumb of Disney to do massive projects at all the parks at the same exact time. Consumers do not want to see construction work at every park they visit. They do one massive project at a time. Fantasyland is winding down so Acatarland is heating up.


Disney will never be able to please everyone. They are constantly expanding parks and adding new rides, but they do it at a slow methodical pace. It's just their way.

 

[Brad Bishop]

Am I the only one who thinks the magic bands were a great idea?? On our last trip to Disney I can't even count the number of problems people encountered with paper tickets. They were a pain in the butt. Additionally, the added bonus of not having to carry around a room key, fast pass tickets, and being able to link your credit card to it seem like a huge time saver. It's a completely new system so of course it's expensive, but it will pay for itself.

Disney is so slow when it comes to adding new parks and attractions. Just a fact of it. I'm looking forward to this upcoming trip with the magic bands. Maybe my thoughts will change once I experience them, but so far it seems really cool.

Nope. I like them, too. I almost responded before. I see the unifying of all of there services into the Magic Band a really good thing going forwards.

The only place where it really seems awkward right now is at some stations where they have the RFID reader positioned weird like the Magical Express a few months back where you had to rotate your wrist in a really odd way or when you're driving and returning to the hotel and you have the band on and now you have to signal the gate and it doesn't quite reach and especially not at the angle.

Long term, I think it's a good thing and will serve WDW quite well for the next few decades.

 

[fairestoneofall]

I would've been happy if they had spent the money improving (not expanding) the monorail. they could've replaced some of the trains. also, I wish they'd invest more money in sprucing up current attractions. they are doing some, but there are many that get completely ignored.

 

[waynesgirl]

I love the monorail and would like to see it spruced up. That was the "ride" my DS loved the most

 

[Shaden]

They are not doing magic bands at the expense of new rides and attractions. Look at the fantasyland upgrade that's happened over the past two years. Look at the construction for Avatarland beginning in AK. He rate do WDW expansion is not slowing down. Expansion has always been slow. Additionally, it would be dumb of Disney to do massive projects at all the parks at the same exact time. Consumers do not want to see construction work at every park they visit. They do one massive project at a time. Fantasyland is winding down so Acatarland is heating up.


Disney will never be able to please everyone. They are constantly expanding parks and adding new rides, but they do it at a slow methodical pace. It's just their way.

Except, they are, there was some pretty solid information around here for a while that a bunch of projects are On hold, or cancelled due to the cost overruns of MM+ and FP+

 

[Mad Hattered]

They could make the Monorail an attraction since it's so iconic, then you could use your Magic Band at the FP+ scanner to get on it. It's called synergy!!

But then people would be in line for the Monorail instead of spending money. Oh, wait....

 

[wallrock]

I feel like the long-term plan is to dismantle the monorail. New ferry dock, a billion new bus stops at the front of MK...I dunno. Hope I'm wrong.

Spot on with this if you ask me. The loop around the Magic Kingdom area has been down for roughly 8 hours at a time for maintenance, but don't think for a minute that the powers that be aren't studying the ability of the watercraft to permanently move the masses from point A to B during this time period. The monorail system we know now has been operating for nearly 25 years without vehicle updates (other than routine maintenance) - far longer than any other period in WDW's history - and no signs of an update anytime soon. If the rumors hold true that a walkway between the Grand Floridian and the Magic Kingdom is being constructed I think that would add another nail in the monorail's coffin. Boats, like buses, can be added or subtracted based on guest volume.

 

[MolonLabe]

I'd be happy if they just fixed the existing lines.

 

[hedberg1661]

I'd be happy if they just fixed the existing lines.

Agreed. It is a must in the next few years.

 

[Airb330]

except, they are, there was some pretty solid information around here for a while that a bunch of projects are on hold, or cancelled due to the cost overruns of mm+ and fp+

+1

 

[NavyDad]

I don't believe we will ever see any expansion in the monorail.

The investment cost would be huge and I would imagine it is more economical for Disney to add and subtract individual transportation units such as boats and busses as needed.

Honestly, I think we are more likely to see the monorail go away than it be expanded.

 

[TimothyG]

I don't think you'll ever see Disney get rid of the monorails. When you think of Disney World, you think monorails. They use them heavily in promotional advertisements and they know it makes their resort unique. I think that it brings so much to the MK resorts and the loop around Epcot really goes well with the park.

I think there are a variety of legitimate reasons why the monorail isn't expanded:

• It costs a lot more to expand the monorail system than it does to buy more busses and boats. To expand the monorail system would conservatively cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Buying 20-30 more busses (they have 325 currently so that would be a huge increase) would only cost a few million dollars (at about $300k-$400k per bus).
• When a monorail breaks down, no other monorails on that loop can move until the problem is resolved.
• New stops cannot be added or removed without months of construction. However, it's trivial for Disney to construct a bus stop.
• If you have too many stops it will take forever to get anywhere using the monorail. If you have too many beams to alleviate that issue, it will quickly become an eyesore. I also don't think there's really room at a lot of resorts for monorail stops or just to have beams crossing them. I think it would kill the atmosphere of some places.
• You cannot add new trains to the system when demand increases. When it's NYE, Disney can just call Mears to quickly expand their fleet temporarily.
• To pay for it, it would increase resort prices far more than buying more busses. And I think Disney is pretty much charging the max that they can charge right now.

Just my two cents. Monorails are awesome, and I love them to death, but I think people like the idea of a monorail expansion more than they would like the reality of an expansion.

 

[hedberg1661]

I don't think you'll ever see Disney get rid of the monorails. When you think of Disney World, you think monorails. They use them heavily in promotional advertisements and they know it makes their resort unique. I think that it brings so much to the MK resorts and the loop around Epcot really goes well with the park.

I think there are a variety of legitimate reasons why the monorail isn't expanded:

• It costs a lot more to expand the monorail system than it does to buy more busses and boats. To expand the monorail system would conservatively cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Buying 20-30 more busses (they have 325 currently so that would be a huge increase) would only cost a few million dollars (at about $300k-$400k per bus).
• When a monorail breaks down, no other monorails on that loop can move until the problem is resolved.
• New stops cannot be added or removed without months of construction. However, it's trivial for Disney to construct a bus stop.
• If you have too many stops it will take forever to get anywhere using the monorail. If you have too many beams to alleviate that issue, it will quickly become an eyesore. I also don't think there's really room at a lot of resorts for monorail stops or just to have beams crossing them. I think it would kill the atmosphere of some places.
• You cannot add new trains to the system when demand increases. When it's NYE, Disney can just call Mears to quickly expand their fleet temporarily.
• To pay for it, it would increase resort prices far more than buying more busses. And I think Disney is pretty much charging the max that they can charge right now.

Just my two cents. Monorails are awesome, and I love them to death, but I think people like the idea of a monorail expansion more than they would like the reality of an expansion.

Couldn't agree with you more. I too feel that they could never get rid of the monorails. I believe the next "new" thing you will see with the monorails will be a new fleet of trains to replace these old ones. That is about the extent of what they can do. I have heard though, that no one makes these trains anymore so I am sure a custom job like this will cost a few pretty pennies.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Spot on with this if you ask me. The loop around the Magic Kingdom area has been down for roughly 8 hours at a time for maintenance, but don't think for a minute that the powers that be aren't studying the ability of the watercraft to permanently move the masses from point A to B during this time period. The monorail system we know now has been operating for nearly 25 years without vehicle updates (other than routine maintenance) - far longer than any other period in WDW's history - and no signs of an update anytime soon. If the rumors hold true that a walkway between the Grand Floridian and the Magic Kingdom is being constructed I think that would add another nail in the monorail's coffin. Boats, like buses, can be added or subtracted based on guest volume.

Good points. I forgot about the maintenance hours, which I am sure were needed, but I'm sure were being studied as well.