Monorail Rescue yesterday?

[Allison]

Agreed. Buses, subways, trams, elevators, etc. can and do break down anywhere, anytime. Heck, one can even get stuck in one's car due to a breakdown or a major traffic jam for hours at a time. If one has a problem with that situation, then don't use that mode of transportation. The transport systems at Disney World are just as prone to unexpected breakdowns as systems anyplace else. No system is 100% perfect.

Absolutely. I was stuck in my car for 4 hours on the interstate once behind a semi accident.

 

[JOE DELL]

Again, there is no room for a permanent mount along the side of the structure. Underneath is not going to happen - they have roads that go under the monorail that need minimum clearance requirements. And not to mention that the cost would be ridiculous. For as often as an evacuation happens, that cost would never be justified. They would be better off tearing it down than doing that.[/QU



Yea but one fire that kills everyone and they will wish they spent the $$. There's always a way.

 

[JOE DELL]

Absolutely. I was stuck in my car for 4 hours on the interstate once behind a semi accident.

You were trapped? Like involved in the accident??

 

[amylevan]

Disney is not the only location of a monorail and they all have similar evacuation issues. Interesting read: http://www.monorails.org/tmspages/KimEd3.html

And yes, it includes info on a fire on a disney monorail and the evacuation procedures should it happen again.

 

[Allison]

You were trapped? Like involved in the accident??

As I said, I was behind an accident. Nowhere to go.

 

[JOE DELL]

Well I guess that's it then, they have it all figured out. 40 years and still relying on FD.

 

[wdwrich]

Being broken down in a car for hours, even worse case on a highway with no exits/ways off is still very different. You can still get out of the car if you really needed to. If a medical emergency occurs you can get ambulances in with the breakdown lanes.

Being in a monorail where you have many people that aren't related crowded in (not sure if this was one of the times where many people were stuck standing in the middle), the AC probably stopped working, you can't even open windows so claustrophobia would be much worse etc is a big difference.

I liken this more to something like an elevator being broken down. Which most people would find absolutely ridiculous if it took 4 hours to get people out of too.

I grew up in NYC and there were subway breakdowns/incidents where folks where trapped for several hours with no way to get out, so it's not unique to WDW.

 

[JOE DELL]

As I said, I was behind an accident. Nowhere to go.

Yea but you could get out of your car and walk around, you weren't trapped baking in the sun crammed in a can with total strangers, huge difference.

 

[maxiesmom]

I'm glad so many posters seem to think they know better than a billion dollar company. Come on people. They really can't be as stupid as you think.

People stuck are people not spending money. For that reason alone I believe if there was a better way to evac the monorail Disney would have found it.

 

[kamik86]

I'm glad so many posters seem to think they know better than a billion dollar company. Come on people. They really can't be as stupid as you think.

People stuck are people not spending money. For that reason alone I believe if there was a better way to evac the monorail Disney would have found it.

Well unless the fix would be more expensive then the cost of having those people sitting idle and any compensation they have to give them each time it happened.

 

[bpadair32]

I think with the millions of dollars Disney makes, I think they could come up for a better plan when their monorails break down, this isn't the first time people have been stranded for hours.

Money does not fix every problem. There are laws of physics, problems of space, and issues of safety that all have to be considered. As many have pointed out, this is one of the things in life that you can't just say "fix it" and expect it to happen.

Very true, but leaving people stranded for hours is an absolute joke and totally unacceptable even more so of its a total system failure and the cars are full to capacity on a hot day with no AC.

Unfortunately, that is a risk of a monorail. Not just the one at Disney. Its also a risk in a subway or on other forms of transportation. Its a risk in an elevator. These are mechanical things and they break down from time to time. You can only load so many people on to a lift at a time safely. Additionally, if there was lightning in the area as others have suggested, the people were likely far safer in the monorail car until the lightning ended than they would have been on a lift.

 

[Allison]

Yea but you could get out of your car and walk around, you weren't trapped baking in the sun crammed in a can with total strangers, huge difference.

No, not really. You don't get out and walk around on the interstate during an ice storm.

 

[larryz]

They would be better off tearing it down than doing that.

Ding-ding-ding! We have another winner!

 

[kandb]

Absolutely. I was stuck in my car for 4 hours on the interstate once behind a semi accident.

At least you could get out of your car. Those monorails are usually stuffed with people, strangers. That's much different then getting stuck in your own car where you could get out and you don't have someone next to you breathing down your neck. What about all the people standing in the monorail, nowhere even to sit, and for 4 hours.

 

[kandb]

I'm glad so many posters seem to think they know better than a billion dollar company. Come on people. They really can't be as stupid as you think.

People stuck are people not spending money. For that reason alone I believe if there was a better way to evac the monorail Disney would have found it.

Oh, you don't think Disney takes into considerate the cost when they do everything? That is very nieve thinking.

 

[wdwrich]

At least you could get out of your car. Those monorails are usually stuffed with people, strangers. That's much different then getting stuck in your own car where you could get out and you don't have someone next to you breathing down your neck. What about all the people standing in the monorail, nowhere even to sit, and for 4 hours.

And what about the folks stuck in a NYC subway for hours when something happens there? Aren't the conditions (stuffed with people, cant get out) similar there?
The point is, this isn't something unique to Disney.

 

[kandb]

And what about the folks stuck in a NYC subway for hours when something happens there? Aren't the conditions (stuffed with people, cant get out) similar there?
The point is, this isn't something unique to Disney.

I don't know how common a 4 hour breakdown in the subway in NYC is. My husband works for the city and their rescue procedures are top notch. Yes, I know things that are mechanical breakdown and I am not saying the monorail should never break down. I just don't think 4 hours is acceptable.

 

[wdwrich]

I don't know how common a 4 hour breakdown in the subway in NYC is. My husband works for the city and their rescue procedures are top notch. Yes, I know things that are mechanical breakdown and I am not saying the monorail should never break down. I just don't think 4 hours is acceptable.

It's not common, but neither is a 4-hour incident on the WDW monorail. But it can/will happen, and both agencies/companies will handle it as best they can. To hold the Disney transportation system to some imaginary higher standard just doesn't make sense.

 

[lustergirl]

Absolutely. I was stuck in my car for 4 hours on the interstate once behind a semi accident.

I was stuck during a horrendous snowstorm here in Buffalo. We could not even more close enough to get to an exit.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

My husband read that article to me last night. He wanted me to know about it in case I am taking the monorail between MK and Epcot later this week. He suggested I avoid it.

I don't know what I'll be doing yet. I do have one day when I was going to take the monorail between those parks but part of me is thinking maybe I should just walk to the Contemporary and take a cab to Epcot instead. I'll have my vehicle but I won't be driving on my Epcot Food and Wine days.