Estimates I've heard place the cost of new monorail construction at $1 million per linear foot. At $1 million per foot, 8 miles of single track would cost $42.2 billion. Assuming the 20% increase you mentioned, 8 miles of dualized track would cost $50.64 billion.
Maybe if it was being built by a front for the mafia, but here's some actual figures -
The most recent monorail completed in the US was the 3.9 mile line running along the Las Vegas strip which opened for business in 2004 (after quite a lengthy delay in opening). The bond issue to pay for this construction provided $650 million of funding for the city of Las Vegas; from this, many people erronously figure a new monorail costs approx. $150 million / mile complete. This, however, is a gross misrepresentation. The actual cost to the city for the complete design, construction, and installation from inception to carrying the first paying passenger was $342 million, or $87 million / mile. Though this is even quite high according to most light-rail/monorail engineers.
But first of all, why issue $650 million worth of bonds to pay for a $342 million project? What happened to the other $308 million? Here's how that breaks down -
$100 million pre-paid interest on the bonds during the construction period when no revenue was being generated;
$25 million for insurance premiums to cover county-required guarantees;
$75 million as a reserve to cover unforeseen events that are not covered by insurance;
and over $100 million "contingency fees" never fully explained (surprise, welcome to Vegas!).
Of the $342 million used for actual construction, the breakdown is as follows -
$141 to construct fixed facilities (supporting pylons, trackbed, stations, etc.);
$190 million for construction of vehicles and operating system;
$11 million utility allowance (connecting electricity, etc.).
It should be noted that the contract between Las Vegas and Bombadier/Granite was a non-competitive, fixed-price contract that did not require the contractors to account for material costs or labor hours. Las Vegas was to pay Bombadier/Granite a total $342 million regardless of whether it actually cost more or substantially less to build.
Strangely, in a competitive market, most light-rail construction engineers estimate that a monorail/light-rail system should cost only $50 million / mile to fully build (track, stations, vehicles, and utility connections). Ergo, upon review of three engineers that specialize in monorail/light-rail designs, they noted anything over $200 million for the 3.9 mile line in Las Vegas was buried in fees, interest payments, and insurance; none of which has much to do with the actual building of the monorail. By comparison, China has contracted with an Hawaiian co. to build a light-rail/monorail system for $25 - $30 million / mile complete, while Indianapolis has a proposed 1.5-mile light-rail system that will only cost approx. $30 million. Even if these systems actually cost twice their
budget, they will still be well below $87 million / mile.
So, what does this have to do with Disney? First of all, after printing out a geo-map of Walt Disney World and routing a fictitious circuit as described above, I discovered my proposed route is actually a little over 10 miles in length. If we don't include a swing out to AKL the overall length is just over 8 miles, but then we don't get the MAF from those rooms. Sorry about that.
Secondly, Disney would have many cost-savings compared to the Vegas line in that graft will probably be kept to more of a minimum, there will be no pre-paid interest that has to be accumulated, no land acquisition or right-of-way fees to be paid, and they own their own construction co. The most significant consideration that would increase the cost of construction is the building of support structures in a marsh setting.
Overall, even including new stations and vehicles, a 10-mile double-line loop should only cost about $500 or $600 million in today's dollars.
WillCAD - Disney would obviously not have to pay for this out of pocket all at the beginning, but rather expense it over the life of the project...in this case, about $150 million / year for four years. And considering it's return-on-value, might be a better investment than any number of E-ticket attractions!
Ted - ah, but have you ever dreamed? It was one man's vision, namely Walt Disney, that initiated this whole magic we call Disney World. True, he alone did not make
Disneyland and WDW come into fruition and no one person could make this happen by themself either, but it only takes one to light the match.
However, the most depressing aspect about this is that even if the whole project could be proved to be cost-effective, from what I understand there is a division at Disney that has veto power over any future project development and that they usually veto anything they did not think up themselves. Oh well, maybe the magic will return to Disney once again before it's too late...
-R
~~~COOL!~~~ 
I doubt even a CEO can make it happen. You need approval from the board and investors. I would love to sere it, but I doubt it would happen.
