Monorail closure for March!

[roomthreeseventeen]

Not sure I understand the frustration here, or wanting Disney to compensate you. The monorail is still running, just not midday. And you can still take a bus or boat if you need to travel midday.

Stuff happens.

 

[Mousemommy1]

I understand construction, however, I think Disney should offer some type of compensation to those staying in the monorail resorts during the time that the monorail has limited service- just a couple of meals or something. We all know those resorts cost big bucks. It would be good customer service.
Whenever someone asks about CR, Poly,GF, the most frequent post is something like "It's worth it for the monorail." I've read that construction on the GF DVC is behind schedule. I hope this monorail downtime won't go beyond the time stated. BTW, I'm seeing two different times- 2 weeks and until the end of March.

I think that the only compensation that should be offered, is to move people to another resort w/out penalty if they so choose. I mean really, there is still plenty of transportation to parks, extra busses, extra boats, etc... Granted, we are staying at the Poly for the first time in July, I would like for the monorail to be running, but if I find out its not going to be, I would either change, or decide to stay and deal. I talked to my DH and he didn't see what the big deal was, he pointed out that transportation is still provided...which is true. I just never understood the attitude that if things don't go your way, your entitled to something, instead of just changing your situation.

 

[staceymarie]

It would be nice if Disney notified people in case we wanted to change resorts, instead of hearing it through the boards

This I agree with! I think it's unfair to be told by others to basically just take it in stride. The monorail resorts are just that---MONORAIL resorts. The Contemporary website says- and I quote" You can also pick up the monorail on the fourth floor to easily make your way to Magic Kingdom theme park and Epcot theme park"-- It doesn't say only sometimes!

If they are going to be down while we are there, those of us who have booked them should be notified. Period! That's why I pay the extra--my Mom needs this "convenience" and my DD and I love the access of the monorail.

I don't understand why they just don't spend the $$ and fix it! (i know this thread is regarding GF DVC but there are so many threads about it being dilapidated!)

I am going to be there 4-16-12 and hopefully all will be normal but it just is bothersome to hear others defend Disney's cruddy monorail service lately when some of us actually want to pay extra for it!

 

[sotoalf]

A friend just tweeted from the Polynesian: while waiting for a HS bus an hour ago he saw at least four MK buses. It looks like Disney's taking care of this as best as possible.

 

[jujube]

Not sure I understand the frustration here, or wanting Disney to compensate you. The monorail is still running, just not midday. And you can still take a bus or boat if you need to travel midday.

Stuff happens.

The compensation is not for me because we won't even be there at the time of the closure. I feel bad for those who will be inconvenienced. I just said it would be good customer relations to offer a couple of meals. You can bet that they will be catching flak from some of those put out. It seems to me that it would be proactive to jump in and offer vouchers. It might defuse some disappointment or anger.

 

[jujube]

I think that the only compensation that should be offered, is to move people to another resort w/out penalty if they so choose. I mean really, there is still plenty of transportation to parks, extra busses, extra boats, etc... Granted, we are staying at the Poly for the first time in July, I would like for the monorail to be running, but if I find out its not going to be, I would either change, or decide to stay and deal. I talked to my DH and he didn't see what the big deal was, he pointed out that transportation is still provided...which is true. I just never understood the attitude that if things don't go your way, your entitled to something, instead of just changing your situation.

I agree with changing resorts w/out penalty, however, this falls w/in the Spring Break time frame and it may not be that easy. Yours is a good solution though.

 

[staceymarie]

I don't think it's a feeling of "being entitled"---I think it's like renting a condo in Florida---it's advertised with air conditioning(monorail). Oh geez--it doesn't work but it's ok because they've provided you with these lovely box fans(buses)! Deal with it! LOL!

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

I don't think it's a feeling of "being entitled"---I think it's like renting a condo in Florida---it's advertised with air conditioning(monorail). Oh geez--it doesn't work but it's ok because they've provided you with these lovely box fans(buses)! Deal with it! LOL!

Not the same thing. The monorail is still running at all the hours people are usually on it,

 

[gottaluvPluto]

Not the same thing. The monorail is still running at all the hours people are usually on it,

We usually use the monorail the hours it will be down. So for me it is an inconvenience. Also, the bus system at the Poly is horrible. Hopefully, the extra bus service won't share with other resorts.

 

[staceymarie]

Not the same thing. The monorail is still running at all the hours people are usually on it,

There is no "usual" at Disney. But whatever...
Some people who use monorail resorts aren't happy with the monorail system and Disney's approach. It's just the way it is!
OTOH--you are entitled to your opinion!

 

[coopersmom]

It would be nice if Disney notified people in case we wanted to change resorts, instead of hearing it through the boards

This. It is standard practice at resort hotels all across the world to notify booked guests of closures, rehabs and other onsite maintenance/construction/etc. that is out of the ordinary and could negatively effect their stay. This way it's not an unpleasant surprise and those to whom it does matter significantly can make changes in their trips or accommodations, if desired.

It's not so much that it's happening, but how Disney has handled it. Ever since construction began at the Grand, no Grand guests, from what I know, have been officially notified (i.e. a call from Disney) of the construction at booking. You wouldn't know anything about it from Disney's own promotion marketing, website or available public information about their resorts.

I know we weren't. I read about it here and only after I called to find the impact it would have during our stay, did I get any kind of information from Disney ... And then only after repeated contacts (several emails to various addresses, including IPO, and two phone calls).

This was also towards the beginning of the reduced monorail hours and, frankly, Disney handled it dismally, transportation-wise, as well as the impact of frequent unplanned shut downs of the lines, which were a daily occurance. Without the monorail, the transportation options at the Grand, including self-parking, are pretty bad ... The equivalent, or worse, of most Values--for five times (at least) the price.

At least at the Polynesian you have walkability to the TTC for additional bus and ferry access and, from the Contemporary, the walkway to the Magic Kingdom, which at least ameliorates some of the inconvenience. At the Grand the monorail or resort bus system are your only options. And as someone who has waited upwards of 30 minutes every single time we tried to take a bus to/from the Grand, which shares buses with the Poly and Contemporary, it's not terribly exclusive or luxurious ... Which, accurate or not, is definitely the way Disney sells the Grand Floridian.

I realize the information is only anecdotal but we were also stuck on several rides, and saw several others shut down unexpectedly at times we wanted to use them; something that had never happened on any previous trip I'd taken to either Disney World or Land. It seems like routine maintenance may no longer a priority (i.e. it's cheaper to do less).

 

[carrie6466]

This. It is standard practice at resort hotels all across the world to notify booked guests of closures, rehabs and other onsite maintenance/construction/etc. that is out of the ordinary and could negatively effect their stay. This way it's not an unpleasant surprise and those to whom it does matter significantly can make changes in their trips or accommodations, if desired.

It's not so much that it's happening, but how Disney has handled it. Ever since construction began at the Grand, no Grand guests, from what I know, have been officially notified (i.e. a call from Disney) of the construction at booking. You wouldn't know anything about it from Disney's own promotion marketing, website or available public information about their resorts.

I know we weren't. I read about it here and only after I called to find the impact it would have during our stay, did I get any kind of information from Disney ... And then only after repeated contacts (several emails to various addresses, including IPO, and two phone calls).

This was also towards the beginning of the reduced monorail hours and, frankly, Disney handled it dismally, transportation-wise, as well as the impact of frequent unplanned shut downs of the lines, which were a daily occurance. Without the monorail, the transportation options at the Grand, including self-parking, are pretty bad ... The equivalent, or worse, of most Values--for five times (at least) the price.

At least at the Polynesian you have walkability to the TTC for additional bus and ferry access and, from the Contemporary, the walkway to the Magic Kingdom, which at least ameliorates some of the inconvenience. At the Grand the monorail or resort bus system are your only options. And as someone who has waited upwards of 30 minutes every single time we tried to take a bus to/from the Grand, which shares buses with the Poly and Contemporary, it's not terribly exclusive or luxurious ... Which, accurate or not, is definitely the way Disney sells the Grand Floridian.

I realize the information is only anecdotal but we were also stuck on several rides, and saw several others shut down unexpectedly at times we wanted to use them; something that had never happened on any previous trip I'd taken to either Disney World or Land. It seems like routine maintenance may no longer a priority (i.e. it's cheaper to do less).

I quoted your whole post, because I didn't want to misquote. I totally understand what you are saying. We stayed at the GF starting on 7/7/09 for 8 days, which was days after the deadly monorail accident. Monorail service was spotty, at best, during that time.

What I want to say is that busses and monorail aren't the only option to get back and forth to MK. There are boats that go back and forth to the MK all day long. The launches were actually great. It was a nice ride and hardly ever crowded. On the mornings the monorail wasn't working, they started them at 7 am. The only time they didn't run was during thunder and lightning, like any other watercraft.

It wasn't the monorail, but in the case of the timing of our trip, it was what they had and we just tried to make the best of it. We weren't notified before by Disney beforehand. We had NO monorail service that week way more than we actually had monorail service.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

I agree that notice is nice, but maybe they didn't have it. I do not think anyone should be compensated, unless it's the fee to change resorts.

 

[pinkangel460]

This. We are going in 3 weeks, so hopefully after the disruption has ended. And, I don't have any room to complain because we got bumped from a royal room. But, if services were to be out during my vacation, I would have chosen another resort. I think it's fine for those of you with older kids who can take a bus without carting a ton of crap. But, we will have a preschooler and 3 month old wih a double stroller, bottles, changes of clothes in case of accidents, water cups, and an infant car seat. Because we got bumped to a monorail resort, we decided we'd only have to take the bus 2 days - Ak and HS days. And, as a resort booked 4 plane tickets. So, while we would have avoided the buses altogether had we stayed in our royal room by driving to each park, we gave up that option because we assumed the monorail - as part of the poly's advertising - would be available to bring the kids back mid day without loading us all on the bus.

For us, it isn't about the resort, but about being able to plan a trip that will not add stress with our preschooler and very young baby. A stressful trip is no fun. And, if we were going to be there before the 17th, I would be on the verge of tears. If the baby wanted a
Mid day break and our preschooler didn't, my husband would stay with the preschooler and I would be taking the baby back. There is no way I could lug the baby, the stroller, the infant car seat that snaps ink the stroller, the diaper bag, etc all onto the bus by myself. However, I can roll it all onto the monorail!

Again, being bumped, I can't really complain and it looks like we won't be affected. But, I agree with people who are upset. Many decisions are made (fly vs drive, etc) based on resort choice, so not alerting people that a very baby friendly form
Of transportation might not be available is not good policy in my opinion. I this were during my dates, I would have chosen to drive and probably stay at a moderate do I could park near my room. Just saying that it affects some more than others.

 

[Colleen27]

It seems like Disney is really "phoning it in" on notifying guests of these issues... First the pool rehab at the Poly, which guests only heard about on the boards or from Tikiman's site, and now the same with the monorail. It seems like quite a departure from usual for Disney - the main pool at Pop was closed during our trip last year and we received a very nice letter notifying us about 6 weeks before our arrival. I was very pleased that Disney showed such courtesy even to value resort guests booked during the free dining promotion.

I'd be absolutely livid if I'd paid Poly prices for the lack of consideration Disney has displayed with two issues that significantly effect the guests there!

 

[joecatz]

Florida resident and DD of a 2 and 4 year old here. I think the big thing to understand about all of this is that many people (myself included) make their determination to STAY at the monorail resorts to AVOID the buses entirely, especially with young children. Trust me, when you have two kids napping at 4:00 in a double stroller and you wanna go back to the resort for a while, the last thing you want to do is figure out how to get on a crowded bus, holding two kids, a backpac and a 20 lb stroller.

Same goes for going back at night...

When we pay for the convenience of the monorail resorts, we usually do it for that reason.

We're going on 3-13/14 and actually decided not to stay at the contemporary because the rates were PEAK. (meaning, about $100/nuight MORE than other times of the year)

This also falls right dab in the middle offlorida spring break for a lot of folks.

If I was paying for the contemporary or ploy or Gf when this was happening I'd be very very upset. Not because of the "inconvenience" but becuase if I had known about it, I would have booked somewhere else, because the whole reason to book that resort would have been because of the monorail, which is the case for most folk.

 

[PeterPan09]

I am staying at the Grand right now and it is not bad at all. The monorail closes from 11:30 to 6pm. There are busses running to the Poly and the Grand and they are running every 5-7 minutes. Yes, it can be a pain, but I am here and having a wonderful time celebrating my 40th anniversary. The monorail is in need of repairs and that is what they are doing. If it is going to ruin your vacation, stay somewhere else or wait until construction is done. In the grand scheme of things, this is a very small inconvience.

We got here yesterday too and it is a little annoying but nothing to ruin the weekend. The only thing we couldn't figure out was why they had us take a bus frm TTC to MK, then take another bus back over the same route to Poly and GF. I would think it would have been easier just to run buses from TTC to the monorail resorts, or right from EPCOT/MK to the monorail resorts for the construction period.

 

[joecatz]

also,

just checked the "passholder rates" for GF and Contempo. roughly $565 and $485/night the week of March 12th.

To put that into perspective, When we stayed at the GF in September it was about $300/night, and last time we did Contemporary we paid between $225/$250 night. as passholders...

If I was paying almost DOUBLE what I normally would, and got there to find out the monorails werent running 11-6 I'd be livid. Livid.

 

[coopersmom]

I quoted your whole post, because I didn't want to misquote. I totally understand what you are saying. We stayed at the GF starting on 7/7/09 for 8 days, which was days after the deadly monorail accident. Monorail service was spotty, at best, during that time.

What I want to say is that busses and monorail aren't the only option to get back and forth to MK. There are boats that go back and forth to the MK all day long. The launches were actually great. It was a nice ride and hardly ever crowded. On the mornings the monorail wasn't working, they started them at 7 am. The only time they didn't run was during thunder and lightning, like any other watercraft.

It wasn't the monorail, but in the case of the timing of our trip, it was what they had and we just tried to make the best of it. We weren't notified before by Disney beforehand. We had NO monorail service that week way more than we actually had monorail service.

You are right I forgot to mention the boats, but I was taking them into consideration when I posted. In my experience when the monorail was down, the boats AND buses to the Grand were extremely crowded and very slow in coming.

The Grand Floridian is isolated in that it only has the small launch, monorail and its own buses. You can't get anywhere without them. The other "monorail" hotels have alternate (walkway) access to other transportation methods: either the TTC with its more frequent buses and large Magic Kingdom ferry (Polynesian) or the direct walkway to the Magic Kingdom (Contemporary), which also gives access to more frequent buses to the other parks.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

Florida resident and DD of a 2 and 4 year old here. I think the big thing to understand about all of this is that many people (myself included) make their determination to STAY at the monorail resorts to AVOID the buses entirely, especially with young children. Trust me, when you have two kids napping at 4:00 in a double stroller and you wanna go back to the resort for a while, the last thing you want to do is figure out how to get on a crowded bus, holding two kids, a backpac and a 20 lb stroller.

Same goes for going back at night...

When we pay for the convenience of the monorail resorts, we usually do it for that reason.

We're going on 3-13/14 and actually decided not to stay at the contemporary because the rates were PEAK. (meaning, about $100/nuight MORE than other times of the year)

This also falls right dab in the middle offlorida spring break for a lot of folks.

If I was paying for the contemporary or ploy or Gf when this was happening I'd be very very upset. Not because of the "inconvenience" but becuase if I had known about it, I would have booked somewhere else, because the whole reason to book that resort would have been because of the monorail, which is the case for most folk.

This! We CHOSE the POLY because of the monorail. PERIOD. It was to skip the buses or the boat for that matter. If we wanted to take a boat or a bus we would have chosen another resort, when there was still time to make that change or we would have rented a minivan for that matter with enough notice. For those that say "Choose a different resort if it will matter so much" I am sorry but I am checking in MONDAY. It just came to light Thursday/Friday that there would be a monorail issue.

I am sorry that so many of you are less than understanding about the fact that people who choose a monorail resort WANT to use the MONORAIL!. Disney is not the be all end all of resort destinations and while some of you can excuse poor customer service "because it is Disney" I can't. I am upset. As a customer and a human it is my right to be upset about things that directly affect myself and my family. We paid a premium to stay MONORAIL resort which is not the same cost as it is to stay in a bus resort or a boat resort. Wilderness Lodge for example is a boat resort and is significantly cheaper as are the deluxe resorts that only have buses.