Monorail closures

[RealBlast3]

Will your resort room "mail" delivery include daily updates on that day's monorail schedule?

 

[Disneytam]

How much of a premium did you pay for a monorail resort? Every time I've looked, the Poly or Contemporary is pretty close to the price of YC/BC/BW. Just a curiosity point.

Staying CL at both, the GF is well over $350 a night more than our BWI stay. So to not have a monorail running for a monorail resort is a big deal.

 

[Bullseye]

Aside from the monorail, is there another way to get from Epcot to Magic Kingdom around 6pm on a Monday?

You could always exit the International Gateway and catch MK bus at BC.

 

[Robo]

You could always exit the International Gateway and catch MK bus at BC.

 

[zaccaglin]

With the system being 27 years old this year, running 365 days week, upwards of 20hrs a day i don't blame them in taking the time in what is pretty much the only "off season" at WDW to take the system down. The system runs non stop and has signs showing all around what that has done to it. The closures are primarily overnight on the less crowded days (not Friday-Saturday) and the system tends to be back up right as the park opens. Sure you won't be there for rope drop, but they are making an effort to get you to the park at a very reasonable time IMHO.

Also the express/resort beam over night closures resulting in those delayed opening and early shut downs have been happening with those same hours for well over a year now. Heck one night they shut down the express beam at 9pm on a non sold out MNSSHP party night. The daily shut down has also been happening on the resort beam every Wednesday for well over a year as well. Maybe this closure of Wednesday's and Thursday's will only include Express beam only as well.

Disney has also been good about having alternate transportation when one isn't available.

 

[OKW Lover]

Staying CL at both, the GF is well over $350 a night more than our BWI stay. So to not have a monorail running for a monorail resort is a big deal.

OK, but that is the GF which always commands a premium over the Poly/BW/etc.

 

[Micca]

Robo if you aren't a cartographer IRL, you missed your calling

 

[harmon54]

Slightly confused! I am not clear on the whole express rail, epcot rail etc. And it appears just saying Monorail 11:30am -6pm means the whole thing is shut down?

So if I want to go from Poly to MK Wed morning at 8am can I take the monorail? If I come back for a break I will need to take alternate transportation- but then if I want to head back to MK at 6pm I can take the monorail again? And then still take it from MK to Poly at midnight after EMH?

Thanks

 

[Disneytam]

OK, but that is the GF which always commands a premium over the Poly/BW/etc.

Actually we had planned on staying at the Poly at first (CL) but got an AP discount that was less at the GF than at the Poly. So at least in my case the GF was less expensive than the Poly.

 

[zaccaglin]

Slightly confused! I am not clear on the whole express rail, epcot rail etc. And it appears just saying Monorail 11:30am -6pm means the whole thing is shut down?

So if I want to go from Poly to MK Wed morning at 8am can I take the monorail? If I come back for a break I will need to take alternate transportation- but then if I want to head back to MK at 6pm I can take the monorail again? And then still take it from MK to Poly at midnight after EMH?

Thanks

Based on these same closures that have been happening for over a year, only express what shutting down in that 11:30-6pm time frame. Yes the "monorail shutdown" label for that time is vague, but we have yet to see it in front of us yet. I'm going to assume it's just the express beam based on the recent pattern. We shall see.

 

[Rosey_Rosetta]

I know it sucks that you can't take it in the morning, but for the most part, the times are still convenient. If you don't have to be at the park at rope drop, it's still okay. If you want to take them back at night, you're still good depending on the park closing time. I don't think it's that big of a deal. Especially because there are still boats that will take you.

 

[Disney before Sally]

I find it confusing. I thought there were two course paths, but closure list has more than two. I can't figure it out without a moving stick figure drawing using a sundial. And, then I need to picture myself and family, where we are, and then when and where we will travel on each day because it changes based on hour and day. And then, with travel notes, I'm sure we will walk to the wrong boarding area to find it closed because I made a mistake in calculations. Something this confusing should be plugged into a phone app, like my map app that tells me the best roads to take at any given hour I request.

 

[Disney before Sally]

Like this: http://www.ourlaughingplace.com/aspx/twiz.aspx#.VqT8T3pOKK0

 

[Robo]

Slightly confused! I am not clear on the whole express rail, epcot rail etc. And it appears just saying Monorail 11:30am -6pm means the whole thing is shut down?

So if I want to go from Poly to MK Wed morning at 8am can I take the monorail? If I come back for a break I will need to take alternate transportation- but then if I want to head back to MK at 6pm I can take the monorail again? And then still take it from MK to Poly at midnight after EMH?

Thanks

If the Poly monorail (Resort Monorail) is operating at X time, you can take it at X time.
It is never a sure thing that it will or won't be closed when you're ready.
Check the monorail station on the second floor of the Great Ceremonial House for any signage.
The Poly bus station (your alternate transportation to MK when the monorail is down) is shown at #5 on my map below.
If the Resort Monorail is down and you're headed to Epcot, if the Epcot Monorail is still running, you can walk to TTC and board the Epcot Monorail there.

 

[Robo]

-with travel notes, I'm sure we will walk to the wrong boarding area to find it closed because I made a mistake in calculations. Something this confusing should be plugged into a phone app, like my map app that tells me the best roads to take at any given hour I request.

Like this: http://www.ourlaughingplace.com/aspx/twiz.aspx#.VqT8T3pOKK0

Sorry to say that while that "laughingplace" site does offer some good info,
it is notorious for offering some very BAD info, too.

And, it does NOT change based on refurb closures.

 

[Robo]

I find it confusing. I thought there were two course paths, but closure list has more than two.

I'm unsure about what you mean by "course paths."

Are you tackling about Monorail loops?
If so:

There are actually THREE monorail routes (with multiple trains running on each route).

On each route, the trains will "loop" around and around on their own unique track.

1) "Epcot Monorail" TTC > Epcot > TTC > (loop runs clockwise)
2) "MK Express Monorail" TTC > MK > TTC > (loop runs counter-clockwise)
3) "Resort Monorail" TTC > Poly > Grand Floridian > MK > Contemp. > TTC > (loop runs clockwise)

As you can see, you can transfer from or to any monorail at the TTC (which is also the MK parking lot.)

When they are running, you may ride any and all of these, if you like.
They do not "let you out" INSIDE any theme-park,
so you don't need a park ticket.

"Por favor mantengase alejado de las puertas."

 

[Robo]

Robo if you aren't a cartographer IRL, you missed your calling

Thanks, Micca.
What a nice thing to say!

I'm a lot of things IRL, but "map-maker" is not on my resume'.

 

[Disney before Sally]

Sorry to say that while that "laughingplace" site does offer some good info,
it is notorious for offering some very BAD info, too.

And, it does NOT change based on refurb closures.

I did some hunting and could not find that it was updated based on rehab/closures, so I was going to test it before buying the app. Still trying to figure out the test, which is a great excercise for a person not experienced with this mode of transportation. In the past, I just tried to plan a liesure ride on monorail because one kid was interested. Way long ago, I drove, park, tram, ferry. Now I fly to Florida annually and stay at resorts that only had buses until recently. I hate the buses, but I'm not rich and appreciate the convenience at WDW even though buses really are overpacked for summer breaks when we have time to travel. I need to get this figured out so I'm not frustrated on vacation. An app would be nice, better yet this type of app on my Disney experience really should be encorporated especially since this monorail refurb has been going on for years.

I'm unsure about what you mean by "course paths."

Are you tackling about Monorail loops?
If so:

There are actually THREE monorail routes (with multiple trains running on each route).

On each route, the trains will "loop" around and around on their own unique track.

1) "Epcot Monorail" TTC > Epcot > TTC > (loop runs clockwise)
2) "MK Express Monorail" TTC > MK > TTC > (loop runs counter-clockwise)
3) "Resort Monorail" TTC > Poly > Grand Floridian > MK > Contemp. > TTC > (loop runs clockwise)

As you can see, you can transfer from or to any monorail at the TTC (which is also the MK parking lot.)

When they are running, you may ride any and all of these, if you like.
They do not "let you out" INSIDE any theme-park,
so you don't need a park ticket.

"Por favor mantengase alejado de las puertas."

Yes, this makes sense and was exactly what I needed to comprehend the closure list. Thank you.

 

[soniam]

Will your resort room "mail" delivery include daily updates on that day's monorail schedule?

Ours didn't necessarily in July 2014. There may have been a letter in the room, but I don't remember if there was a specific schedule listed. Also, there was no mention of the bus schedule. I asked in the lobby what the bus schedule was. They said it wouldn't start until 8am, when MK opened at 8am Basically, I didn't get any useful info from the hotel about the schedule of anything. I got all of my info from the boards I believe all of them were down at some point when we stayed. We even had an Epcot bus driver ask us why we were waiting for a bus to MK at Poly. We told him that the monorail was down; he swore it wasn't I wonder why he thought he needed to be driving a bus to Epcot and picking up at Poly then That's probably the most frustrating part of this stuff, that it's not only a big change to your plans, but then trying to find accurate info is such a chore.

 

[Disney before Sally]

Modified service from 1/13/16-3/20/16:

Epcot beam overnight closures
11:00pm Sundays-9:00am Mondays
11:00pm Mondays-9:00am Tuesdays
Express beam overnight closures
11:30pm Sundays-9:30am Mondays
11:30pm Mondays-9:30am Tuesdays
Resort beam overnight closures
12:00am-8:30am Mondays
12:00am-8:30am Tuesdays
Monorail shut down
11:30am-6:00pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays

I am traveling May 26-June 5, so this schedule might change for us. But, would really appreciate a peer review of this logic. Universal is planned for Sunday, Monday, Tuesday- so we will be relying on WDW transportation on Friday, Saturday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning at MK (9am-noon). Am I right to assume that only "Monorail shut down 11:30am-6pm on Wednesday and Thursday" is my only concern using this modified service schedule?