I wish i could see the Disney "transportation books"...

[seashoreCM]

The monorail has always been a novelty as opposed to true mass transit. Walt wanted to have one and in the case of WDW also wanted to have a separation between "his" world (WDW) and the outside world. So the monorail was put in between the parking lot (TTC) and Magic Kingdom.

Disney's monorail has rubber tires (rolling on the concrete beam) So it does not enjoy the lower friction and more energy efficient relationship of steel wheel on steel rail.

Light rail (streetcars) might never have been invented had there been smooth roads back in the early 19'th century. The reason for light rail back then was the lesser friction I mentioned; fewer horses could pull more people. The energy efficiency is not that different between smooth roads and rails so if there had been smooth roads (not cobblestones versus dirt), transportation companies would not have invested in rails in the roads.

Today the disadvantages of buses are mainly (1) traffic copngestion and (2) the size of the vehicles in turn meaning more drivers for smaller numbers of people compared with trains. Only in a few areas (notably Downtown Disney) is traffic a problem. Hmmm. Maybe Disney is leaving the bus travel to and from DTD in its pathetic state to further discourage day guests' parking at DTD for free and taking buses to the parks.

The soil in the area is "soggy" enough that building a monorail is more expensive than it looks. Roads (highways) have their weight spread out "sorta" uniformly over wide areas of land while monorail pylons need foundations that are really supported by just small patches of land.

 

[TLinden16]

I'm going to move this to our transporation board.

 

[rock_doctor]

Can't be done. The bus system carries a massive number of people, much more then what the monorails could carry. Back in the 80s they did toy with the idea of doing away with all of the boats and only using buses and monorails but that did not go over well either. Plus the roads in Disney are not able to handle the number of cars necessary to carry all of the people that would need to drive if no hotel transportation was available. Also take into account the number of resorts that are on Disney property. The buses are actually the most efficient form of transportation. WDW is the size of a major city...

 

[Lewisc]

A monorail beam (a pair of them, actually) running along a modern roadway would surely cost the same or less than the cost of building the roadway.
And, we see that Disney does invest in those roadways, even though they are expensive to build.

Pilings to support the monorail beam would have to be put in "swampland". Much more expensive then roads. $100 million per mile may be low, depending on how many stations are built.

Light rail, with limited sections elevated, would be a lower cost alternative.

 

[Jestocost]

Pilings to support the monorail beam would have to be put in "swampland". Much more expensive then roads. $100 million per mile may be low, depending on how many stations are built.

Light rail, with limited sections elevated, would be a lower cost alternative.

The fact is noone on these boards is qualified to say what it would cost to add new monorail lines at WDW. Trying to guesstimate based on what someone thinks would be required (and, seriously, does anyone here know what it would cost to prefabricate a section of concrete monorail track?) is pointless. The only way to even ballpark it reliably is to use what it actually has cost to build other monorail systems, and even then there is a wide range of estimates for what any given system has cost and factors involved in building those systems that may or may not be relevant to construction of a monorail system at WDW.

Regardless of what the cost would end up being it almost certainly is more than any business (this isn't a matter of Disney being "cheap," folks) could possibly justify.

A light rail system would be less expensive to build than a monorail system, but it definitely is nowhere near as sexy. Light rail also brings other potential problems, such as traffic backups where tracks cross roadways, and many of the same limitations as the monorail.

 

[Lewisc]

There are some posts in the rumors thread that provided some cost estimates. You start with the costs in Vegas.

We don't know exactly how much it would cost. We know it would cost more then a road.

I agree with your conclusion. It will cost far more then could be justified. The exact numbers are irrelevant.

Light rail, done right, would eliminate grade crossings. The track could be elevated where necessary.

Light rail would have all of the (non-cost) issues that monorail has. You'd have the same group complaining that Disney went the cheap route. "Walt would have never settled for light rail over monorail"

The fact is noone on these boards is qualified to say what it would cost to add new monorail lines at WDW. Trying to guesstimate based on what someone thinks would be required (and, seriously, does anyone here know what it would cost to prefabricate a section of concrete monorail track?) is pointless. The only way to even ballpark it reliably is to use what it actually has cost to build other monorail systems, and even then there is a wide range of estimates for what any given system has cost and factors involved in building those systems that may or may not be relevant to construction of a monorail system at WDW.

Regardless of what the cost would end up being it almost certainly is more than any business (this isn't a matter of Disney being "cheap," folks) could possibly justify.

A light rail system would be less expensive to build than a monorail system, but it definitely is nowhere near as sexy. Light rail also brings other potential problems, such as traffic backups where tracks cross roadways, and many of the same limitations as the monorail.