Monorails to no longer operate during Evening Extra Magic Hours

[mom2rtk]

But I doubt if we will ever really know for sure why it is being done.

I was just thinking the same thing.

 

[maiapapaya]

Now, there's a party I'd definitely buy tickets for!

And an added benefit to staying on the monorail loop. At the end of the party the train just rolls into your resort, the doors open and you can pour yourself out onto the platform.

 

[Cafeen]

Party pooper.

Blame nature , she knocked out my cable and internet for a few hours, otherwise that post would have come before the party . I suppose I could have disclaimed it, but that's getting passe (with the funky thing above the e)

 

[sandym718]

Paying customers - although doesn't that include everyone? - need transportation, not necessarily the monorail. Walt Disney World has already replaced the after-10 PM EPCOT monorail with buses to the MK-area resorts and the TTC. I don't read the Trip Report Board, but I haven't seen anything negative on the Transportation Board...and there've already been at least two EMH nights.

The plan at this point is to substitute buses for the monorail trains starting one hour after regular park closing time. I still don't trust the DVC Board rumor. If buses are working to/from Epcot, there's no reason to think they won't work at the Magic Kingdom except, frankly, guest responses.

And the TTC right? If the DVC board rumor is not true...then buses would also be needed at the TTC when Epcot is open more than 1 hour later than the MK. Otherwise GF, CR, and BLT (and possibly some Poly, though they can walk) guests would be stranded there. That, or they'd need to start the monorail resort busing from Epcot sooner, while Epcot is still open and the monorail is still running. That seems like it would be confusing so I'm guessing they'd need busing at the TTC.

 

[puntagordabob]

Well, they're closing the monorail an hour after Epcot (now) and MK (Monday) close to the general public and replacing that mode of transportation with buses.

That sound like a change.




Probably it's not the funds. Probably it's the guests complaining they MUST have the monorail and only the monorail will do. Disney conceded for so long, now the need to do more intensive work than routine maintenance.

Your "change" is a Cutback in service.... you can argue this point all you want...but when the smoke clears this is the raw reality.

As to your second point I disagree... Disney set up these expectations of the monorail operating by their actions during these past 39+ years.....

I also stand by my belief that the bean counters neglected appropriating the proper funds to TRULY maintain/upgrade both the system and the trains and THAT IS WHY WE ARE HERE....

As for mass transit monorails... here is the Tokyo monorail...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbLiP5NdVpw

*
You make some valid points!

Thank you... and also to the others who commented positively on my post.....

 

[TLSnell1981]

Your "change" is a Cutback in service.... you can argue this point all you want...but when the smoke clears this is the raw reality.

As to your second point I disagree... Disney set up these expectations of the monorail operating by their actions during these past 39+ years.....

I also stand by my belief that the bean counters neglected appropriating the proper funds to TRULY maintain/upgrade both the system and the trains and THAT IS WHY WE ARE HERE....
.....

Also, the original info leaked said, this cutback was PERMANENT.

 

[maiapapaya]

I think the truth is somewhere in the middle. There probably is a need to cut back on SOME operating hours to properly maintain the trains/rails. Someone commented a few days ago that they were at a recent MK EMH. They were told the monorail would run until 5:00 I believe and then be back online for 6:00. Realistically nothing is getting done on the trains on those routes on those nights. I *get* why it would make sense to cut this back (especially when many report that late there is only a handfull of people remaining in the park).

However, I also believe that the bean counters took this as an opportunity to take advantage of the situation. Why just cut back on the excessively long service on these nights? If we do this every night, for every line think of the savings ... once the guests get used to it we can probably carry on without a lot of grumbling, people will often bristle at change, but will eventually adapt.

 

[Sammie]

Will the general public be able to tell if extra monorail maintenance is acutally being done?

I can see Disney doing this for both reduced costs and extra maintenance plus service life extension. They aren't mutually exclusive. But I doubt if we will ever really know for sure why it is being done.

Actually you are pretty much spot on.

 

[kaytieeldr]

And the TTC right? If the DVC board rumor is not true...then buses would also be needed at the TTC when Epcot is open more than 1 hour later than the MK.

Right. I included the TTC in my post you quoted. Starting when the monorail stops running, Epcot has a bus route that goes to the Polynesian & the Grand Floridian, and a separate bus route that goes to the Contemporary & the TTC.

 

[puntagordabob]

Right. I included the TTC in my post you quoted. Starting when the monorail stops running, Epcot has a bus route that goes to the Polynesian & the Grand Floridian, and a separate bus route that goes to the Contemporary & the TTC.

The CR and the TTC.... why do I suspect that the lines will be not a lot of fun...

 

[kaytieeldr]

Your "change" is a Cutback in service.... you can argue this point all you want...but when the smoke clears this is the raw reality.

A cutback is when a service is no longer offered in any form. That's not the case here. Transportation will still be available all the hours (and beyond) the parks are open; it'll just be by bus some of those hours instead of by monorail.
Change, not cutback.

I also stand by my belief that the bean counters neglected appropriating the proper funds to TRULY maintain/upgrade both the system and the trains and THAT IS WHY WE ARE HERE....

Then you would have to believe an über-successful company like Walt Disney World has a single, lump-sum, general budget line item called "improvements and stuff". I've never seen an annual report, but I can tell you they don't.
While it's your opinion the accountants neglected to properly fund maintaining/upgrading the monorail system, it's my opinion that it's not the funding at all - it's there - but the guest outcry.

Look at this thread. Granted, some of the posts/pages have strayed varying degrees off-topic, but a number of posters are upset that there may be a night or four/five when they'll have to take a bus or boat, or walk, to their resort instead of being able to use the monorail. Now try to imagine the reaction if the system had to shut down for X weeks or months? Maybe the problem isn't the trains - maybe it's the tracks.

 

[kaytieeldr]

The CR and the TTC.... why do I suspect that the lines will be not a lot of fun...

As I said a few posts back - that route has been operating from Epcot since July 11 and I haven't seen any complaints about the service over on the Transportation Board - despite at least two EEMHs.

YMMV, but it seems to be working.

 

[puntagordabob]

A cutback is when a service is no longer offered in any form. That's not the case here. Transportation will still be available all the hours (and beyond) the parks are open; it'll just be by bus some of those hours instead of by monorail.
Change, not cutback.

Then you would have to believe an über-successful company like Walt Disney World has a single, lump-sum, general budget line item called "improvements and stuff". I've never seen an annual report, but I can tell you they don't.
While it's your opinion the accountants neglected to properly fund maintaining/upgrading the monorail system, it's my opinion that it's not the funding at all - it's there - but the guest outcry.
.

First paragraph: By your own definition it is a cutback..... MONORAIL Transportation is WHAT we are talking about... In June I could take a monorail after EMH back to the Contemporary.... after these changes are online I will NOT be able to take a monorail back to the Contemporary... CUTBACK.... Whether you say I can ride a bus or even Dumbo (that might be fun though a flying elephant!) back to to the Contemporary I STILL WILL NOT be riding a monorail...I will not be riding the monorail service in ANY FORM.

As for your second paragraph I disagree. Of COURSE there is an itemized budget for the monorail system... will you get to see it? Unlikely.... but I cannot imagine a company like Disney not having some allocation of expenditures for every major activity going on...and I would say the Monorail system and the trains themselves are a Major activity.

If you do not properly maintain your car it will start to break down more and more....deteriorate and all that.... I believe TDO has failed to properly maintain the system over the course of time (why they did or didnt do stuff is irrelavent)).... parts of monorails and chunks of track do not magically begin to drop to the ground when a system is in Tip Top Condition....

The changes they (TDO) are making stink the most because of HOW we got to this point......

 

[angelmav]

First paragraph: By your own definition it is a cutback..... MONORAIL Transportation is WHAT we are talking about... In June I could take a monorail after EMH back to the Contemporary.... after these changes are online I will NOT be able to take a monorail back to the Contemporary... CUTBACK.... Whether you say I can ride a bus or even Dumbo (that might be fun though a flying elephant!) back to to the Contemporary I STILL WILL NOT be riding a monorail...I will not be riding the monorail service in ANY FORM.

As for your second paragraph I disagree. Of COURSE there is an itemized budget for the monorail system... will you get to see it? Unlikely.... but I cannot imagine a company like Disney not having some allocation of expenditures for every major activity going on...and I would say the Monorail system and the trains themselves are a Major activity.

If you do not properly maintain your car it will start to break down more and more....deteriorate and all that.... I believe TDO has failed to properly maintain the system over the course of time (why they did or didnt do stuff is irrelavent)).... parts of monorails and chunks of track do not magically begin to drop to the ground when a system is in Tip Top Condition....

The changes they (TDO) are making stink the most because of HOW we got to this point......

Your arguing with someone who wont acknowledge that this is in anyway, shape and form any kind of reduction in service. This thread is really being kept alive by a couple of posters who wont let the idea that Disney is perhaps not engaged in an outright cash grab go and are outraged that anyone would call them on it. For my part, I am waiting to see what the first hand reports are on 1 aug when the MK change goes into effect.

 

[puntagordabob]

As I said a few posts back - that route has been operating from Epcot since July 11 and I haven't seen any complaints about the service over on the Transportation Board - despite at least two EEMHs.
.

Why did this image pop into mind when I read your post!

 

[kaytieeldr]

You're arguing with someone who wont acknowledge that this is in anyway, shape and form any kind of reduction in service.

A reduction in monorail hours isn't a reduction in service because the monorail has already been replaced by buses at Epcot after 10 PM, and will be replaced by buses at the Magic Kingdom one hour after its general public closing time starting August 1.
Guests staying at the monorail resorts won't be getting the form of transportation they want one to a few nights a week, depending on ultimate decisions, but they will be getting transportation.
I'm not claiming this is a positive move, but it's surely not negative. It's not as if WDW is leaving those guests stranded at Magic Kingdom, or demanding that CR/BLT guests walk and GF/Poly guests take the launch to WL and then the DtD bus, with the Poly guests walking 'home' when that bus stops at the GF.

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm not claiming this is a positive move, but it's surely not negative.

Is this common knowledge..... or conventional wisdom?

I sort of think each individual will have to make their own call on this...... completely dependent upon the deatails of their trip dates and touring style.

 

[phinz]

A reduction in monorail hours isn't a reduction in service

Yes it is. What part of "monorail resort" do people not get? The reason many of us stay at a monorail resort is because the bus system is dysfunctional at best.

 

[KSDisneyDad]

Yes it is. What part of "monorail resort" do people not get? The reason many of us stay at a monorail resort is because the bus system is dysfunctional at best.

So you do not visit AK or DHS when staying at a monorail resort?

FWIW - I completely agree that the bus system is dysfunctional. That's why we rent a car. I stay at the monorail resorts due to their location near the MK. I love walking around in the morning and seeing the monorails even if we aren't riding them ourselves that day. I also enjoy seeing and hearing the ferries and feeling the overall buzz of excitement of those coming to the monorail resorts to eat a CB or heading to the MK for yet another magical day.

I too don't like that the monorail service is being cut-back/reduced/shortened/changed (insert your word here) in the late evening hours. I sincerely hope that the rumor that the resort monorail loop will stay open until at least 11:00 pm nightly is true. I think that only makes sense given that Epcot is open until 9:00 pm nightly and the Epcot monorail loop is open until 10:00. Why would they keep open the Epcot loop longer than the MK loops?

For us, this change/cut-back/reduction will only affect us one night at the most during our stays at BLT. Although I don't like the change/cut-back, it won't ruin my trip either. YMMV

 

[brunette8706]

A reduction in monorail hours isn't a reduction in service because the monorail has already been replaced by buses at Epcot after 10 PM, and will be replaced by buses at the Magic Kingdom one hour after its general public closing time starting August 1.
Guests staying at the monorail resorts won't be getting the form of transportation they want one to a few nights a week, depending on ultimate decisions, but they will be getting transportation.
I'm not claiming this is a positive move, but it's surely not negative. It's not as if WDW is leaving those guests stranded at Magic Kingdom, or demanding that CR/BLT guests walk and GF/Poly guests take the launch to WL and then the DtD bus, with the Poly guests walking 'home' when that bus stops at the GF.

*
But it is a reduction in service. The monorail resorts are much higher price deluxe hotels than say the Wilderness Lodge/Animal Kingdom Lodge. Why? Because they are on the monorail system. The CM's when you book your resort stay tell you this. So by your logic, you're stating that it is not a reduction in service, I say it is a reduction in service because now those people that are staying on the monorail line will have to take a bus instead of the monorail which drops them a few feet from the resort lobby.