Monorail service to no longer operate during Evening Extra Magic Hours

[Figment632]

no it's not! I am FAR from any kool aid drinker. What I am is a CM who sees things on the inside. I see parts falling out of monorails starting fires, losing power unable to get up hills, the voltage bar falling off the beam on a major holiday, I could go on and on. This is a much needed decision to fix the monorails. We have been paying the price for the decisions made in the 90s for far too long and it needs to end. It's not about budget, it's about not having a major monorail outage on a nearly basis, not to mention on xmas day, july 3rd, and july 4th this year.

No you snort Pixie Dust if they are that bad how about buy a new fleet of monorails instead of 3 new DVC resorts.

 

[umichigan10]

No you snort Pixie Dust if they are that bad how about buy a new fleet of monorails instead of 3 new DVC resorts.

not to mention a new park in Shanghai

 

[Figment632]

not to mention a new park in Shanghai

Or what they are doing in DCA!! They have that but not enough for a new fleet of monorails I say there just cheap!

 

[umichigan10]

Or what they are doing in DCA!! They have that but not enough for a new fleet of monorails I say there just cheap!

I agree 100 percent. The only bright spot I can see is this won't happen due to the amount of complaints and confusion from those who weren't made aware of this change. Even then, it's not much of a hope.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

I agree 100 percent. The only bright spot I can see is this won't happen due to the amount of complaints and confusion from those who weren't made aware of this change. Even then, it's not much of a hope.

Unfortunately...i don't see guest satisfaction or customer feedback to be anything other than a minor nuisance these days when it comes to parks.

Ideally...they would have thousands of the upper end customers lodging complaints and cancelling/ cutting short/ or eliminating future trips to WDW and those hotels in particular...really landing a blow to the bottomline.

but that's not what will happen...they will ultimately go with it. Hop on the bus, ride the boat, and continue to pay $495 a night for a room at the poly or contemporary that was built in 1970.

I kid not...it would take alot more than this to force somekind of move.

But i do disagree when somebody says "They should build _______, instead of more DVC"

DVC pays for itself 100X over. so the choice in capital construction is not dvc or X. Building DVC does not stretch the budget to thin - so that's not why they never finished Animal Kingdom.
The real choice is Build "_____" instead of dividends. that's the choice, because rides cause more overhead and don't lead to profits, and they will not win that choice.

In the case of the monorails...it seems that if there were slightly less iconic - they would be rid of them already. they don't directly lead to profits - the vast majority of those on them already are ticketed and in most cases staying at WDW hotels, so no revenue...and the maintenance and staff costs aren't covered by any direct fees. And while a nice system, they most likely could get those that ride it to where they're going on another method without too much trouble.

Long story short (too late) is that the next time you walk into EPCOT, stop and appreciate the Monorail gliding around Spaceship Earth - i believe that that spot is the only reason they still have them. I think that the fact they've never built another one at another Disney property - even in europe and asia where trains are the norms - says something about what the monorail systems really are: a nuisance to the operation.

 

[zulemara]

No you snort Pixie Dust if they are that bad how about buy a new fleet of monorails instead of 3 new DVC resorts.

I am not saying they shouldn't just get a new fleet or that I agree with the areas that are getting expansion while we suffer. It comes down to different departments having different budgets and unfortunately transportation is the red headed step child.

I am not a pixie dust snorter or kool aid drinker and if you see my post history, you will see my VERY critical stance of management on several issues. However, I'm happy they are doing SOMETHING to address the problem. Are there other options? yes and in this case, I do believe they looked at the other options before arriving at this decision.

I support this decision because they need to be maintained. The decisions that were made in the late 90s, putting efficiency over all else, has resulted in the decline of the system and the first death in its history. Finally we are reversing course and making the hard decisions to keep the system running until, hopefully, they budget in new trains.

And if people say new trains are nothing more than a dream, then you only prove my point that this is the course of action they need to take.

edit: and as I've said before, they can piss off 10s of thousands of guests because rails are down at exit on a major holiday, or they can piss off the relatively small number of people who A) are staying at the monorail resorts at any given time B)actually go to late night EMH C) stay at EMH longer than 1 hour.

As for dinner reservations, if you're staying elsewhere on property, you have to transfer somewhere anyway, most of the time at MK, so you get a boat instead of a monorail. Big deal. Contrary to popular belief, the boats are quite efficient(at least when I'm driving) and they will most likely be putting at least 1 cruiser on the gold route which will increase capacity and accommodate strollers, ECVs, and wheelchairs.

 

[DCTooTall]

I don't really see a big problem with it. Yes, it increases the inconvenience factor for monorail resort guests during EMH. However, It does give them more time to perform maintenance on the system during the night.


Think about the Peak periods, when the parks (with EMH) are open until 2am. So you have Trains out until at least 3 before you can start bringing them in because of the switching procedures. Then you have trains going back online around 7 or 8am. You are talking only a 4-5hr window each night to bring trains into the roundhouse, work on them, and send them back out. You also can't start doing any serious beam work until the trains are offline and you can power down the beam.


If you've had an older car, you know that even if it's running fine, it will tend to need more preventative maintenance to keep things running smoothly.

And I don't think anybody will say that the Monorail system is in the best shape it's ever been.

So you end up with a couple hours extra several nights of the week to do your work. That gives you more time to dig yourself out of the hole they've gotten themselves into, and then more time to maintain the system to prevent another backslide into the current state.


Now obviously money is going to be a factor too. The extra time will allow them to get more maintenance work done with their current maintenance staffing levels. The earlier closure allows them to save some $$ on guest-side staff. Since work obviously needs to be done, the alternative would be increasing the staffing levels of overnight maintenance personnel in order to throw more people at the work..... but then you also run into the law of diminishing returns due to the available skillset, experience, and possibly even equiptment. (trucks to lift workers up to the beams to be worked on..... and don't I recall something about only 1 or 2 beams at the roundhouse having the drop-out beam to allow undercarriage work?)

 

[Figment632]

^^

Well why stay on the monorail circuit then? There is no defending this it's cheap bottom line. You Pixie heads realize that Disney can do wrong their S$&& stinks just like the rest of us.

 

[DCTooTall]

^^

Well why stay on the monorail circuit then? There is no defending this it's cheap bottom line. You Pixie heads realize that Disney can do wrong their S$&& stinks just like the rest of us.

Fair enough. I see the reason for shutting down the monorail a bit earlier.... But I also don't see the reason for charging such a high premium for the monorail resorts.

IMHO, the Monorail resorts are way overpriced as is for what you get.... so having the shut the system down before the end of EMH isn't going to change anything since overpriced w/ the rails running == overpriced when they shut down a little early.

And if that extra couple hours of downtime maybe help improve daytime reliability of the system, ultimately it would be a benefit for a much larger percentage of guests. (including monorail resort guests).



(Disclaimer: I tend to stay off-site when I visit because I believe Disney Resorts in general tend to be overpriced and I know I can get a better price for a larger room offsite without any real downside.... so anything dealing with EMH isn't really going to impact me anyways beyond making the EMH park more crowded that day.)

 

[DCTooTall]

^^

Well why stay on the monorail circuit then? There is no defending this it's cheap bottom line. You Pixie heads realize that Disney can do wrong their S$&& stinks just like the rest of us.

heh.... and trust me... I know Disney can do a LOT of wrong. I've gone on rants regarding the current state of EPCOT numerous times. (The most recent on the Test Track Update thread)

 

[Figment632]

I disagree the Grand Floridian I'd probaly the nicest hotel in FL and everything in WDW is over priced.

However I dnot find them to be that outrageous. I will most likely never stay offsite again and I will never stay Value again I've reached a point where I'd rather pay extra for a deluxe room.

I have nothing against value I think they are over priced for what you get however.

 

[DCTooTall]

I disagree the Grand Floridian I'd probaly the nicest hotel in FL and everything in WDW is over priced.

However I dnot find them to be that outrageous. I will most likely never stay offsite again and I will never stay Value again I've reached a point where I'd rather pay extra for a deluxe room.

I have nothing against value I think they are over priced for what you get however.

And we agree there. They are overpriced for what you get. But the perceived value is truly subjective for people... as is the value of the "on-site" perks.

Personally, I like renting a car while in Florida because I enjoy the freedom to go offsite, and that would be the same if I stayed onsite or off. For me, that is another $300 or so for my trip. Someone who stays onsite however and doesn't care about going offsite, the ME and Disney Transportation might be a big perk, and could save them money since they wouldn't need to rent a vehicle.

TBH... if pleasure Island's clubs were still open, I could see a reason for me to look at staying onsite since I could take a bus back after drinking. But since I need to go offsite for any real choice of evening entertainment, I'd have to worry about a cab or drive anyways.

Like all things, it's a decision process that involved weighing your options and making a personal decision. There is no right or wrong decision. For Disney, The decision is increasing Maintenance staff (which are much more expensive then your 'average' CM) to get more work done in the short timeframe they currently have..... or inconvenience a smaller percentage of guests at Monorail resorts during EMH.

For MK EMH days, at least those resorts still have the water launch option... and travel time wise, from EPCOT EMH it could potentially be a shorter trip since you wouldn't have to switch trains.

 

[Donut23]

I disagree the Grand Floridian I'd probaly the nicest hotel in FL and everything in WDW is over priced.

However I dnot find them to be that outrageous. I will most likely never stay offsite again and I will never stay Value again I've reached a point where I'd rather pay extra for a deluxe room.

I have nothing against value I think they are over priced for what you get however.

Ok, confused here. You can't POSSIBLY think a Disney hotel is the best in Florida.....bwahahahaha.

There are 34 5-star resorts on Miami Beach alone. You don't even have to go that far....Bonnet Creek is rated as 5 star. As hard as Disney has tried over the years, only Victoria and Alberts has ever garnered a 5 star rating. The hotel, never even got close.

Best hotel in Florida, now I've read it all!

You will never earn that 5th star, fellow castmember Bob, when your world is controlled by beancounters!

 

[Figment632]

Ok, confused here. You can't POSSIBLY think a Disney hotel is the best in Florida.....bwahahahaha.

There are 34 5-star resorts on Miami Beach alone. You don't even have to go that far....Bonnet Creek is rated as 5 star. As hard as Disney has tried over the years, only Victoria and Alberts has ever garnered a 5 star rating. The hotel, never even got close.

Best hotel in Florida, now I've read it all!
You will never earn that 5th star, fellow castmember Bob, when your world is controlled by beancounters!

You are right havesaid IMO because it is the best IMO. Also I've never been to Miami and never have any desire to go there.

 

[Oglet]

1 or 2 hours a night is not going to allow them all that much more time to maintain the fleet of trains.

The only justification for maintenance is if they are going to work on every single train every night. They can't and wont be doing this. You will still see trains parked at resorts and stations overnight, how do I know... its simple they have more trains than available space in shop.

So if your leaving trains out, why not run them? Even if they could get every train back into shop every night, it's still nowhere near enough time to do what is needed.

Simple solution if maintenance is the issue.

2 trains on Epcot, 3 on express and 3 on Resort, that leave 3 trains every day to be maintained all night long back in shop, the next night switch those trains out with another 3 trains, its not rocket science guys.

Now beam maintenance is another reason that is being thrown around, this still does not justify any of this. The Express line closes at the same time it always has, so maintenance can be done on it under the current structure. Epcot can be rotated and scheduled with early closes that come in the off peak season, the same can be done with the resort line during off peak seasons. Worst case scenario, you implement this new procedure now like a ride refurb, give start and completion dates, explain that it is for maintenance, get it taken care off and back to normal as soon as possible.

It's about money pure and simple.

 

[pilferk]

Anybody know (has it been published?) what they plan to do on "party nights". Specifically for MNSSHP and MVMCP? I know the article says they haven't decided yet. Any update?

TECHNICALLY, the parks close early those nights....