Monorail closure for March!

[padawans]

That is the problem at this point there is really nothing Disney can do It is just too close to going. I guess I wrote them because I am upset about the way they fail to communicate with their guests and that I hope that they note that better (any!) communication would be appreciated. I wrote here because I think that telling people that it is fine that a major amenity is closed and that people should just get over it essentially is just not right either. People choose specific resorts for specific reasons and it is a right to be upset and also a right to expect more communication from a vendor. We will go and make the best of it but this whole trip leaves a bad taste in our mouth for Disney Corp.

It may not have been something that they knew about until recently. It's hard to say. If it was me I would switch resorts. I have planned trips in less than a week. If you booked the Poly for the monorail, and the monorail is closed. I am not sure why you are going to stay there.

 

[Polydweller]

I AM LIVID! I am leaving on Tuesday - staying at Bay Lake Towers - love the monorail resorts doing Delux Dining and doing lunch & dinner at all the monorail resorts! If I had known back in Oct - I would have booked the Boardwalk.

Why be livid? Disney would not have known in October. This will be on the schedule of the construction company and timing depends on how well construction is progressing. No way to have any precision on these things that far out. And they may not have planned to use a crane this way until something occurred to make them proceed this way.

Also I don't get all the angst. Most people won't be highly effected by it if it all. The vast majority of resort people are in the park by 11 am while the monorail is running so won't notice it. And it comes back at 6:00 when people are leaving. During the downtime busses and extra resort launches will be working which lots use anyway.

So the resort guests really have the monorail when the need it most. Just adapt and enjoy the fact that you are on vacation.

 

[colinsdad]

Why be livid? Disney would not have known in October. This will be on the schedule of the construction company and timing depends on how well construction is progressing. No way to have any precision on these things that far out. And they may not have planned to use a crane this way until something occurred to make them proceed this way.

Also I don't get all the angst. Most people won't be highly effected by it if it all. The vast majority of resort people are in the park by 11 am while the monorail is running so won't notice it. And it comes back at 6:00 when people are leaving. During the downtime busses and extra resort launches will be working which lots use anyway.

So the resort guests really have the monorail when the need it most. Just adapt and enjoy the fact that you are on vacation.

I would disagree that Disney didn't know in October. Do you really believe Disney does anything on the "schedule of a construction company"? With all due respect, I think its the other way around.

My sister is getting married at Disney on March 13th, and there has been a lot of conversation with her (and other brides - go look at the livid bride posts on the DIS) about the construction that will be going on with the new DVC.

They knew. My sister was told about the "crane" months ago. What she wasn't told was that it would affect the Monrail and that it wouldn't be running at 5pm (The time of her wedding).

 

[jujube]

Why be livid? Disney would not have known in October. This will be on the schedule of the construction company and timing depends on how well construction is progressing. No way to have any precision on these things that far out. And they may not have planned to use a crane this way until something occurred to make them proceed this way.

Also I don't get all the angst. Most people won't be highly effected by it if it all. The vast majority of resort people are in the park by 11 am while the monorail is running so won't notice it. And it comes back at 6:00 when people are leaving. During the downtime busses and extra resort launches will be working which lots use anyway.

So the resort guests really have the monorail when the need it most. Just adapt and enjoy the fact that you are on vacation.

I'm willing to bet that when people ask if a monorail resort is worth it, at least 50% are wondering because they want to be able to get back to their rooms of their kids need naps. That would fall w/in the 11-6 pm monorail downtime.

You might get the angst if you were booked and staying there during the time the monorail service is disrupted. People are not getting their money's worth if they booked with the monorail in mind. As someone else posted, if you book a room with air conditioning and it only works part of the time and the resort offers you a box fan, that is not what you paid for.

 

[Aliceacc]

At the risk of speaking for other people:

I don't think the issue is the crane or the construction. Adults know that these sorts of things are inevitable: work needs to be done, things need to be updated to keep them safe.

I think the issue is the lack of notification.

Speaking for myself now: we've stayed at the Poly twice. I ADORE that resort for so many reasons: the atmophere, the relaxation, that waterfall on tired shoulders, the easy walk to the TTC-- and the monorail access.

I admit it: I hate taking the busses. One of the reasons we're switching to the Beach Club this time is the fact that we can walk to 2 of the 4 parks.

For me, no monorail service at lunchtime would be a deal breaker. We always go back to the resort for a mid-afternoon swim. For lots of families, it's a mid afternoon nap with the toddlers who are asleep in their strollers. The ability to walk that stroller onto a monorail, sit down, and walk that child back to your resort is a huge part of so many people pay all that extra money to be at a monorail resort.

Disney needs to cut monorail service for several hours a day-- no argument. They're doing their best to do it at a time of year and time of day when it effects fewer people-- no argument there either.

But people deserve to have advance notice so they can make intelligent, informed choices about how to spend their money. If it's a non-issue, fine. But if it IS an issue, then people should have known as soon as possible-- and from Disney, not from reading a message board.

 

[Sammie]

Obviously those that think Disney can give advance accurate information months ahead about a construction project obviously have not built a large house.

They have a general idea of when things are suppose to happen. But so many things can happen to delay that.

If they gave the guests advance warning and then it did not happen and they had changed their plans, they would be upset about that too.

Basically when you are open 24/7 year round and you constantly are building and improving, someone is always going to be affected.

The only way to completely avoid that at Disney is not go.

 

[jujube]

Obviously those that think Disney can give advance accurate information months ahead about a construction project obviously have not built a large house.

They have a general idea of when things are suppose to happen. But so many things can happen to delay that.

If they gave the guests advance warning and then it did not happen and they had changed their plans, they would be upset about that too.

Basically when you are open 24/7 year round and you constantly are building and improving, someone is always going to be affected.

The only way to completely avoid that at Disney is not go.

We've built big houses-3 of them. I know things happen to delay. I also know that this impacts me and my family not thousands of other people. If Disney had contacted people and had given them a heads up of even a few days, there would not have been as much upset. They did not give people notice and people on the DIS found out on the DIS or other Disney related websites. We are the minority. Most Disney visitors do not belong to sites like these. I would be beyond ticked off of I showed up and SURPRISE no monorail for much of the day. We're not the types to get annoyed easily but we would not consider this a small thing.

 

[hmmerr02]

So, I am slightly confused.....it seems like the "official" report is that it is for routine maintenance but it seems like we all know it is for the DVC construction at the Grand Floridian. So, is Disney even telling the truth in their report? I would take serious ethical issue with that. If was just routine maintenance I would imagine it could be done at nighttime and not interrupt any guest time or certainly scheduled at a non-peak time as many here have mentioned. Why is the official report not accurate about the reason?

And as a mom of two small kids there is no way I would pay rack rate and not have all services up and running. I would totally switch to an Epcot resort. I understand that they have work to do but they should let people switch without penalty without question. We pay for convenience and service at Disney.....clearly here it is not warranted.

 

[colinsdad]

So, I am slightly confused.....it seems like the "official" report is that it is for routine maintenance but it seems like we all know it is for the DVC construction at the Grand Floridian. So, is Disney even telling the truth in their report? I would take serious ethical issue with that. If was just routine maintenance I would imagine it could be done at nighttime and not interrupt any guest time or certainly scheduled at a non-peak time as many here have mentioned. Why is the official report not accurate about the reason?

And as a mom of two small kids there is no way I would pay rack rate and not have all services up and running. I would totally switch to an Epcot resort. I understand that they have work to do but they should let people switch without penalty without question. We pay for convenience and service at Disney.....clearly here it is not warranted.

If this were routine maintenance, why would they do it during PEAK and not VALUE season? The room rates are higher for a reason; its Spring Break.

Now if they were charging VALUE season rates, or lowered/changed the rates they are charging guests during this time for the inconvenience, I think people would be able to deal with this better. But I doubt they will.

 

[gottaluvPluto]

At the risk of speaking for other people:

I don't think the issue is the crane or the construction. Adults know that these sorts of things are inevitable: work needs to be done, things need to be updated to keep them safe.

I think the issue is the lack of notification.

Speaking for myself now: we've stayed at the Poly twice. I ADORE that resort for so many reasons: the atmophere, the relaxation, that waterfall on tired shoulders, the easy walk to the TTC-- and the monorail access.

I admit it: I hate taking the busses. One of the reasons we're switching to the Beach Club this time is the fact that we can walk to 2 of the 4 parks.

For me, no monorail service at lunchtime would be a deal breaker. We always go back to the resort for a mid-afternoon swim. For lots of families, it's a mid afternoon nap with the toddlers who are asleep in their strollers. The ability to walk that stroller onto a monorail, sit down, and walk that child back to your resort is a huge part of so many people pay all that extra money to be at a monorail resort.

Disney needs to cut monorail service for several hours a day-- no argument. They're doing their best to do it at a time of year and time of day when it effects fewer people-- no argument there either.

But people deserve to have advance notice so they can make intelligent, informed choices about how to spend their money. If it's a non-issue, fine. But if it IS an issue, then people should have known as soon as possible-- and from Disney, not from reading a message board.

It is actually Peak season (one of the most expensive times to go) not value season. They should have timed things to happen during the value season. I am paying a lot of money and now I am not getting everything I am paying for.

 

[nonzerosum]

I would be very curious to hear whether or not guests are even notified at check-in. Perhaps they are just left to figure it out on their own. A few years ago we stayed at the Poly during the main pool refurb...no letter, no notification at check-in. We found out when we walked past the pool and saw that it was a construction site. Nice touch!

This issue affects us as we are staying at the Grand late March for the sole reason of being 1 monorail stop from MK (young kids, naps, strollers, etc). At the very least they could be offering guests fastpasses or something. I have stayed in 5 star world class hotels in major European cities for less per night than I will be paying at the GF!!! We all know why Disney can charge what they do for the GF...it starts with mono and ends with rail. Let's be honest, it's a nice place, but the real reason they charge what they do is because suckers like me will pay for the convenience of the monorail. In a few years when my kids are older and more resilient, this kind of thing won't bug me so much, but for now it does. I wonder how many guests are losing it at check-in?

I see no excuse for why Disney is not attempting to notify upcoming guests of the affected resorts NOW. People don't like to be surprised on vacation. Obviously no one can control the vast array of potential surprises that can happen on vacation, but Disney know about this, and can simply call/email guests who are scheduled to stay within the next few weeks. Very unDisney. Very unHospitality service, for that matter.

 

[hmillerbarilla]

We're booked at BLT for Spring Break. (march 24-29) I know we're DVC and not paying rack rate at Poly or GF, but still.

I think it would be nice to get notified from Disney rather than the DISboards.

Points aren't cheap at BLT for break, and I have little kids! We love the monorail, and we use it during these "non peak" times.

Luckily, we have the option to walk to and from the MK which we will be doing for sure. I guess the night of our 'Ohana ADR we'll have to take a walk to the Mk, grab a boat to the Poly...

Wait! I used points for a monorail resort!

Hopefully everything will be fixed and done.

I really feel for those that booked and paid for Poly, GF, and CR). This is bad. I've taken my kids since they were babies, and the monorail resorts are just that. MONORAIL resorts. Folding a stroller while holding the bucket seat and diaper bag alone is impossible on a bus. When I could, I've chosen monorail when I had a tiny one. roll 'em on... roll 'em right off.

 

[joecatz]

I just don't understand this...we've done it many times with our kids.
Maybe we're a little more laid back and patient than others, but we never found it to be a big deal at all.

I think your missing the point. We pay a premium to stay at a monorail resort to avoid that inconvenience, however small or large you may find it to be. those folks who choose deluxe resorts can stay at AK, WL or YBC, for considerably less per night, even right now. In some instances, we choose the monoraqil resorts as well because we plan on spending most of our time that trip shuffling between MK and epcot.

If I planned the trip for those reasons, and you did as well, you'd see the problem pretty clearly.

 

[joecatz]

***waves white flag***

I am not trying to convince anyone not to be mad about this. I don't think they gave enough notice. I do think they should switch people without penalty. And if you are paying rack rate and booked one of these resorts solely based on the monorail, you have every right to be mad. I am just negating the generalizations made about the ability to transport small children around Disney. There are lots of first time planners on here that might get scared away just for that reason. I want them to know it can be done. For those that do require easier transportation, I do feel for you. I'm just saying that it's not a given that it's a necessity.

for what it's worth, my wife and I are going next week with the kids and staying at coronado springs. We plan on using the buses, or driving to the parks. We're not worried about lugging the kids, etc.. but we're doing this KNOWINGLY and BY CHOICE. (For the rcord, we chose CS because the rates were great, had never stayed there before, and didn't feel like shelling out $400/plus on a "short park hop trip" for a deluxe resort during peak season.

If I had booked say, Poly, and was then told the MR wasnt working, I would have tried to change my ressie, but guess what? moderates are all booked.

Thats all..