Monorail Overload & BLT

[RweTHEREyet]

Just wondering everyone's oppinion on how BLT will effect the monorail service. Then got to thinking - lots of folks talk about Poly or GF eventually adding DVC rooms- at what point does the monorail system get so overloaded it is no longer a benefit?

It should be no different than when the rooms in the North Tower of the Contemporary were being rented out.

 

[BCV23]

Did you mean to type "Now to other parks? If you were going to a resort other than the Poly or GF (on the monorail) or VWL or FtW (boat), then I'd suggest walking to the MK bus station and just jumping on the bus there. It's an even shorter walk to the bus station than the MK entrance!! How convenient is that for resort hopping, LOL?

I'm positive the CR has bus service (shared) to AK & DHS. So the BLT will almost surely share those buses (and the boats to VWL & FtW).

Yep!

I don't think it will BLT will have much effect. As others said, the villas are just replacing the guests that would have been in the North wing.

We stay at the Polynesian and GF to avoid weekend points (and because we love them) and don't think the resort monorail is too crowded. I do wish they'd check ids at the TTC but . People staying at the GF sometimes have to stand on the way to the MK but since the ride is about 30 seconds.....

 

[lisareniff]

I do wish disney would put a bridge over the canal that is separating the MK and GF/Poly. This would really lessen the monorail crowding and reduce transportation costs. I realize they store the EWP in that canal but a little Disney imagineering could fix that in no time. (think drawbridge)

 

[DisDaydreamer]

Maybe they can go to a double-decker system like this in London

 

[Robo-Daddy 3000]

I'm positive the CR has bus service (shared) to AK & DHS. So the BLT will almost surely share those buses (and the boats to VWL & FtW).

Depending on where your room is at BLT, you willl likely need to give yourself more time to get to the CR bus stop if you are going to the water parks, DTD, AK, or DHS. ThinK about it. if your room is near the end of the C shape, you've got to walk to the center of the C to catch an elevator to take you to the 5th floor walkway,cross the walkway to the CR and then go down to the ground floor to get to the bus stop. Or will BLT have its own bus stops? Does anyone know?

 

[BCV23]

I wouldn't think it would be a separate bus stop. The walk isn't any further than it was for the North wing is it? And that wasn't far.

Why wouldn't you just take the elevator to the ground floor and walk over?

I'm hoping for more than one set of elevators. I would think they would have learned a lesson from BWV and even earlier, the old and slow CR elevators which seem so much better to me now.

 

[tjkraz]

I agree. If MK is your destination, then walking is going to get you there faster and less confined. If you walk to the monorail, then have to walk down the long monorail ramp at MK, you might as well just walk from your room at BLT.

Not to mention the resorts monorail runs in the opposite direction. If you get on the monorail at the CR and are headed to the Magic Kingdom, it will probably be a 10 minute journey (sans wait time) with stops at the TTC, Poly and Grand Floridian before reaching the MK monorail station.

The express monorail runs the opposite direction--passing thru the CR first on its way to the Magic Kingdom--but doesn't actually stop along the way.

 

[BCV23]

Not to mention the resorts monorail runs in the opposite direction. If you get on the monorail at the CR and are headed to the Magic Kingdom, it will probably be a 10 minute journey (sans wait time) with stops at the TTC, Poly and Grand Floridian before reaching the MK monorail station.

The express monorail runs the opposite direction--passing thru the CR first on its way to the Magic Kingdom--but doesn't actually stop along the way.

It's longer than 10 minutes as the resort monorail often sits at the TTC and sometimes at the CR as well. It usually zips right along through the Polynesian and GF stops but sometimes even then there's a pause if they're waiting "for traffic clearance."

It is much quicker to just walk to the MK.

 

[Muhlenberg]

It's a 20 minute ride. But 5 min. on the way back.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

When the North Garden Wing building was still open and after it was demolished there have been a few times at night during August and December that there was a long line at the Contemporary Monorail station when wanting to get to the TTC, Polynesian or Grand Floridian. So if the line was long then chances are we would have to wait for the next Monorail to arrive. I would assume part of that is because of people who went to the Contemporary to eat at the various restaurants so they are going back to the TTC, Polynesian, Grand Floridian, or the Magic Kingdom to get a bus from there. However during the mid afternoon it's never been that bad waiting for the Monorail. I also agree with everyone that when going from the Contemporary to the Magic Kingdom it's faster to use the walkway, because that would make more sense.

 

[keishashadow]

I agree, from the Contemporary, I'd just assume walk to MK and BLT is a little closer. So walking over to the monorail station, waiting in line, etc wouldn't be worth it to me. I'd probably only ride to get to the TTC to take the monorail to epcot.

If it gets too backed up, maybe they'll make it a FastPass attraction!!!

or allow resort guests FOTL access as they do @ DL

Depending on where your room is at BLT, you willl likely need to give yourself more time to get to the CR bus stop if you are going to the water parks, DTD, AK, or DHS. ThinK about it. if your room is near the end of the C shape, you've got to walk to the center of the C to catch an elevator to take you to the 5th floor walkway,cross the walkway to the CR and then go down to the ground floor to get to the bus stop. Or will BLT have its own bus stops? Does anyone know?

is there a reason u couldn't just exit BLT on ground floor & walk to the bus stop , surely the only way in won't be via the 5th floor walkway .

in that case, the bus stop is currently @ northern end of CR tower, not much of a walk imo; especially when u compare it to other properties (BW & even BC & WL)

final thought - it'd been swell if they had thought of a "special' entrance into the park (tomorrowland area) for BLT guests!!!

 

[dcfromva]

One of the things I most enjoy about staying at CR is being able to walk to the MK. On the other hand, when DS was really little we used to enjoy just riding on the monorail--especially when we arrived at WDW after the MK was closed. (We were even lucky enough to ride up front a few times!)
I was wondering what the max occupancy was at the North wing vrs the new DVC tower? The north wing only had 3 floors but it had a larger footprint (250 rooms?). With BLT being suites (281 units?), I would think the density of people per sq footage would be lower than the north wing...

 

[bonrea]

We say it is a good time to expand the Monorail system. With fuel prices going over the top and all.

Check out the survey

 

[ScottakaMickey]

For me until they enhance the Monorail loading area inside the Contemporary I see that as a place to avoid. That single narrow escalator up and the loading platform will be a tough experience for any family or traveler.

I would think it easier to walk to MK if you want to go there or walk to MK to then get on the Monorail to go to TTC. Yes, lots of walking, but with the hundreds of new DVC people from BLT it will be packed in the AM and PM periods and likely all day.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Depending on where your room is at BLT, you willl likely need to give yourself more time to get to the CR bus stop if you are going to the water parks, DTD, AK, or DHS. ThinK about it. if your room is near the end of the C shape, you've got to walk to the center of the C to catch an elevator to take you to the 5th floor walkway,cross the walkway to the CR and then go down to the ground floor to get to the bus stop. Or will BLT have its own bus stops? Does anyone know?

If I had to guess I would say Bay Lake Tower won't have it's own bus stop for two reasons. 1st Since it's located close to the current bus station to me it does not make sense to add another one. And finally my 2nd reason is since the Contemporary shares bus service with the Polynesian and sometimes the Grand Floridian, adding another bus stop would only make it a longer wait for the guests staying at those Resorts.

 

[tjkraz]

We say it is a good time to expand the Monorail system. With fuel prices going over the top and all.

Check out the survey

Expanding the monorail really isn't feasible. This post on a recent monorail discussion has a great bullet-point summary:

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27467855&postcount=20

It's way too expensive (recent Las Vegas monorail project cost over $600 million for 4 1/2 mile expansion.)

There are no redundancies unless you double or triple the cost by building duplicate tracks side-by-side. Without those duplicates, consider what would happen when a monorail breaks down--blocking the entire track--at park closing time with 20,000-30,000 people waiting to get back to their hotels.

Direct routes would not be feasible. At the very least they would have to create separate loops which all converge at the Transportation and Ticket Center (or a much larger replacement.) For example, DTD, OKW, POFQ, POR and SSR may all be on a "Downtown Disney monorail loop." Guests staying at those locations would board the train at their resort and then be transported to the TTC where they would have to switch trains to reach their theme park of choice. Now imagine 100,000 people converging on the TTC at 9am on a busy summer or holiday day. Care to stand in those lines waiting for the switch of trains?

Rider capacity is also an issue. I believe the current monorails hold about 90 people if you include standing room. And it takes a little over 2 minutes to load a train. Even if they could cut it to 90 seconds per train, that's only 45 trips per hour. 45x90 means they can only transport 4050 guests per hour. I don't think people are going to want to wait around for 4 hours to exit Epcot after Illuminations.

Buses may not be "magical" but they are scalable (with park closing times staggered, you increase capacity at any given location as necessary), buses are redundant (when a bus breaks down you dispatch a replacement) and buses offer direct point-to-point service. You really can't say any of the above about monorails. That is, unless you have several billion dollars to spend.

 

[Robo-Daddy 3000]

is there a reason u couldn't just exit BLT on ground floor & walk to the bus stop , surely the only way in won't be via the 5th floor walkway .

in that case, the bus stop is currently @ northern end of CR tower, not much of a walk imo; especially when u compare it to other properties (BW & even BC & WL)

final thought - it'd been swell if they had thought of a "special' entrance into the park (tomorrowland area) for BLT guests!!!

I was just wondering. I have no idea whay they have planned. I suppose you will be able exit BLT directly from the ground floor and walk to MK. I would imagine that they would have a large entrance at the front of BLT with a big enough porte cochere for large busses. ME would likely have to dropoff guests there. As far as getting to and from MK, hopefully, everyone will be extra careful crossing that one street between BLT and the MK with that darn traffic light signal.

 

[keishashadow]

I was just wondering. I have no idea whay they have planned. I suppose you will be able exit BLT directly from the ground floor and walk to MK. I would imagine that they would have a large entrance at the front of BLT with a big enough porte cochere for large busses. ME would likely have to dropoff guests there. As far as getting to and from MK, hopefully, everyone will be extra careful crossing that one street between BLT and the MK with that darn traffic light signal.

good point, they may have to police it during busy times of the day or even build a pedestrian bridge above the road.

 

[RweTHEREyet]

To me the walk from the BLT main entrance to MK is less than the walk from BCV to get into EPCOT. The main benefit of the monorail from BLT for me is to get to the other monorail resorts for dining and/or shopping.

 

[BCV23]

good point, they may have to police it during busy times of the day or even build a pedestrian bridge above the road.

Guests have been able to cross that street for access to the MK for quite a few years now. I don't know why there would need to be any changes now.

To me the walk from the BLT main entrance to MK is less than the walk from BCV to get into EPCOT. The main benefit of the monorail from BLT for me is to get to the other monorail resorts for dining and/or shopping.

I agree.