Monorails to no longer operate during Evening Extra Magic Hours

[momatater]

Ok, Just called both the GF concierge and guest services. Concierge assured me the monorail would be open until after the close of special events. She did put me on hold for quite a while and I'm sure she tried to get a correct answer for me.

Not completely satisfied, I called Guest Services and after being transferred to the woman who sent us the "generic" responses, she told me that she thinks it will shut down at the earlier time, not staying up and running for any special events or parties, BUT, she is trying to get an answer from her superiors to verify. She is supposed to call me when she gets that answer.

BTW, I did explain why I was so concerned as this effects my family so much during our stay. I told them I hoped Disney has thought this out and to expect a lot of complaints, because with shorter hours at ALL the parks (in the fall), it will definitely effect many!

I'll let you know when I recieve an answer. If not today, it won't be until at least Sunday (according to her) and I will try to get on here ASAP and let you all know, as I am having surgery tomorrow and not sure how I will be feeling. (that is, if no answer is given today)

 

[3prettyprincesses]

Ok, Just called both the GF concierge and guest services. Concierge assured me the monorail would be open until after the close of special events. She did put me on hold for quite a while and I'm sure she tried to get a correct answer for me.

Not completely satisfied, I called Guest Services and after being transferred to the woman who sent us the "generic" responses, she told me that she thinks it will shut down at the earlier time, not staying up and running for any special events or parties, BUT, she is trying to get an answer from her superiors to verify. She is supposed to call me when she gets that answer.

BTW, I did explain why I was so concerned as this effects my family so much during our stay. I told them I hoped Disney has thought this out and to expect a lot of complaints, because with shorter hours at ALL the parks (in the fall), it will definitely effect many!

I'll let you know when I recieve an answer. If not today, it won't be until at least Sunday (according to her) and I will try to get on here ASAP and let you all know, as I am having surgery tomorrow and not sure how I will be feeling. (that is, if no answer is given today)

Good work Nancy Drew! I'll be curious to hear what the answer will be. Good luck with your surgery tomorrow!

I've already sent off my email to Disney as well and so far all I've received is the generic "we recieved your email, thanks for writing..." response. I addressed the special event parties and the GF/Poly/CR hotel monorail perk. I also asked if they're closing the resort monorail as well.

 

[helpmejenny]

If this is temporary, for maintanence, that's fine. From what I've read, they are often having difficulty keeping them running. So they could use some attention to improve reliability.

If this is permanent, it doesn't really make sense to me. Monorail transportation is a huge benefit to paying the higher price for a Monorail resort. And EMH is so heavily promoted as an on-site benefit. So I would think that removing the ability to use the two perks together would not make the monorail resorts more attractive.

I would think that now they would be trying to offer fewer discounts and codes, and still get guests to book. For example, we have booked deluxe the last three times, but only because we have had a 40% off code. It would make sense to me if their goal was to try and get us to love those resorts so much that we would stay there at rack rate. Cutting perks of that resort is not going to encourage us to book again at a higher rate.

I agree. They better offer some MAJOR discounts for those rooms on the monorail loop. I would be furious if my coming up was at a monorail resort and it wasn't availiable for EMH.

 

[hookedonears]

I got my response back too.

First, here is what I wrote:

Hello,

I read today that monorail service from MK to the TTC will end during Extra Magic Hours, starting on August first. We have 2 resort vacations booked, one for August and one for September. Will the ferry service from the Magic Kingdom to the Ticket and Transportation Center still continue during evening EMH? If so, what will happen on days that are too windy or it is thunder storming and boat service typically stops? Will bus service to the TTC be provided? Thanks in advance for answering my questions.

Sincerely,




Here is the response:

Dear ,

Thank you for contacting us regarding the Walt Disney World® Resort.
Your continued enthusiasm and passion for the Disney brand is very
important to us. We value your feedback and are sorry to learn of your
disappointment with the recent decision to revise the operating hours of
the monorail system.

From time to time, we make adjustments to our operations to accommodate
for ongoing, planned transportation maintenance. Effective July 11,
2011, the Epcot® Monorail System began closing 1 hour after the regular
operating hours for Epcot®. Effective August 1, 2011, the Magic
Kingdom® Park Monorail System will be closing 1 hour after the regular
operating hours for the Magic Kingdom® Park. We recognize the value our
Guests place on transportation while staying on property at our Walt
Disney World Resort. Therefore, we will offer buses and watercraft
(where applicable) to transport Guests back to their resort when
attending our Evening Extra Magic Hours.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you and appreciate you
sharing your feedback with us.



Guest Services
Walt Disney World Resort

The problem I have with this is that there is no estimated completion date. Disney normally gives an estimated completion time of ex. Spring 2013. By not doing this, it tells me that these changes may be permanent.

 

[GadgetRick]

Having those to incidents happen very recently/close together, as has been implied - and again, I could be wrong but one was absolutely less than a week before this announcement and the other started a fire - after the system has been operating between nineteen and forty years, certainly could lead the responsible party to be proactive. Even if ALL that ends up meaning is shutting down the monorails for X hours every night and using buses instead, and not (the less likely scenario of) not using the downtime to do repair work. Look at the example earlier about carpooling using one's own car every single day.

:::sigh::: And has been pointed out numerous times, if it's so unsafe, how is not running it a couple of hours each night going to make any difference in the short term??? Being responsible would be to shut it down to inspect the WHOLE system, not just shut it down for a couple of extra hours per night.

 

[GadgetRick]

My family and I have never used Magical Express before because we either drove down from Toronto or flew down and rented a car. Now what would be great is when making the reservations no matter if we did it online or by calling that we aren't charged extra for the Magical Express fee, because we always don't accept it as an option and WDW can clearly see that once our reservations have been made.

That's a slippery slope. There are certainly things you use which are paid for (at least in part) by others who do not use it.

 

[tardin1964]

Disney should at least start running the friendship style boats on the Seven Seas Lagoon between GF, Poly and MK. This would help move more people and is a better option than the bus.

 

[Arnir]

Ok, Just called both the GF concierge and guest services. Concierge assured me the monorail would be open until after the close of special events. She did put me on hold for quite a while and I'm sure she tried to get a correct answer for me.

Not completely satisfied, I called Guest Services and after being transferred to the woman who sent us the "generic" responses, she told me that she thinks it will shut down at the earlier time, not staying up and running for any special events or parties, BUT, she is trying to get an answer from her superiors to verify. She is supposed to call me when she gets that answer.

BTW, I did explain why I was so concerned as this effects my family so much during our stay. I told them I hoped Disney has thought this out and to expect a lot of complaints, because with shorter hours at ALL the parks (in the fall), it will definitely effect many!

I'll let you know when I recieve an answer. If not today, it won't be until at least Sunday (according to her) and I will try to get on here ASAP and let you all know, as I am having surgery tomorrow and not sure how I will be feeling. (that is, if no answer is given today)

Thanks for taking the time to do this for us.

 

[Robo]

Disney should at least start running the friendship style boats on the Seven Seas Lagoon between GF, Poly and MK. This would help move more people and is a better option than the bus.

Where will they get them?
They are already in service to Ft.W and WL.

(Do they have more of them available at the Bay Lake facility?)

 

[kaytieeldr]

I agree. They better offer some MAJOR discounts for those rooms on the monorail loop. I would be furious if my coming up was at a monorail resort and it wasn't availiable for EMH.

For six hours of 'bus instead of monorail service'?

The Resorts monorail will be operating a minimum of thirteen hours per day, seven days a week. That's 151 hours.
The Epcot monorail will be operating at least fourteen hours every day, right? Okay, that's 158 hours.
That's 309 hours every week when the monorail will be up and running, and six when guests from four of the 26 properties will need to take a bus or boat, or walk a bit. That's 1.94% of the monorail time, and the monorail is far from the only feature of an MK-area resort. Plus, you'll still have transportation, just not the mode you want for one or two trips - because, bluntly, how many actual trips is any individual going to make during that three hour period (note: I included the hour after EMH ends)?

If you can convince WDW to give you a 1.94% discount even though theyre still providing transportation, more power to you. But I wouldn't hold out for anything major.

 

[kaytieeldr]

:::sigh::: And has been pointed out numerous times, if it's so unsafe, how is not running it a couple of hours each night going to make any difference in the short term??? Being responsible would be to shut it down to inspect the WHOLE system, not just shut it down for a couple of extra hours per night.

:::sigh::: It's going to give maintenance longer uninterrupted and predictable time every single night to work on the trains and, if needed, the infrastructure.

Look, this thread is less than a week old and it's already at 75 or so pages. This change is only, at this point, going to inconvenience a relatively few people one or two nights a week - instead of multiple thousands all day every day for x weeks or months. THAT thread would crash the boards!

 

[disney_bob]

:::sigh::: And has been pointed out numerous times, if it's so unsafe, how is not running it a couple of hours each night going to make any difference in the short term??? Being responsible would be to shut it down to inspect the WHOLE system, not just shut it down for a couple of extra hours per night.

So you don't see how there can be something between never running and running all the time?

Adding a few hours extra to repair/replace or maintain parts means nothing? I'm not sure you've ever been around something that needed maintenance.

 

[momatater]

Good work Nancy Drew! I'll be curious to hear what the answer will be. Good luck with your surgery tomorrow!

I've already sent off my email to Disney as well and so far all I've received is the generic "we recieved your email, thanks for writing..." response. I addressed the special event parties and the GF/Poly/CR hotel monorail perk. I also asked if they're closing the resort monorail as well.

Nancy Drew I hope you get more of an answer than others and I have, but I would expect the generic email .

Thank you for the well wishes. My recovery is one of the reasons we chose the GF, because we go to the MK and EP more than the other parks, I figured it would be very convenient if I got tired, I could leave my family and take a short trip on the MONORAIL back to the room to rest. Before someone says that it's only for a few hours at night, I will say that I also mean in the evenings, even during EMHs and MNSSHP.

Thanks for taking the time to do this for us.

No problem! I just hope I get a good, true answer!

 

[GadgetRick]

:::sigh::: It's going to give maintenance longer uninterrupted and predictable time every single night to work on the trains and, if needed, the infrastructure.

But, if you subscribe to the, "literally falling apart," concept, then a couple of extra hours of downtime isn't going to change that it's unsafe! They already have a predictable time every single night they can work on things. If it's truly that unsafe, then they need to be brought down TOTALLY so it can be fixed before someone gets hurt.

Add to that, in the past, whenever Disney needed to do maintenance like this, they made sure people knew well in advance and put a definite timeframe on how long the attraction would be unavailable. This has (from the start) been mentioned as a permanent change. That is hardly a maintenance fix...

 

[GadgetRick]

So you don't see how there can be something between never running and running all the time?

Adding a few hours extra to repair/replace or maintain parts means nothing? I'm not sure you've ever been around something that needed maintenance.

Well, you'd be wrong if you thought that about me.

But I can see a difference, however, if that was the intention from the start, they would have announced this (as has been their MO in the past). It was only after the uproar started that they claimed it was for this maintenance thing. Oh, and it's permanent.

They only use a fraction of the available cars on the tracks on any given day. So, if they needed maintenance, they have plenty of time to fix them and an extra couple of hours each night with the system being down isn't going to make a bit of difference.

What strikes me as odd is that people thing those of us who don't buy this maintenance BS from Disney can't understand why we don't consider it as an option all while never considering other reasons for them doing this....

 

[hookedonears]

So you don't see how there can be something between never running and running all the time?

Adding a few hours extra to repair/replace or maintain parts means nothing? I'm not sure you've ever been around something that needed maintenance.

The system has worked perfectly for 40 years. There's a whole lot more to this story than just maintenance. The manner in which it was announced is very questionable.

 

[GadgetRick]

The system has worked perfectly for 40 years. There's a whole lot more to this story than just maintenance. The manner in which it was announced is very questionable.

Thankyew....

 

[momatater]

The system has worked perfectly for 40 years. There's a whole lot more to this story than just maintenance. The manner in which it was announced is very questionable.

EXACTLY!!!

 

[Tink rules]

I think it's time that Disney order a few new extra monorails since they are down two from the accident (one really, they salvaged enough to get a train out of the two...)

It moves millions of people... I think they need a spare or two here and there...

 

[Cafeen]

They only use a fraction of the available cars on the tracks on any given day. So, if they needed maintenance, they have plenty of time to fix them and an extra couple of hours each night with the system being down isn't going to make a bit of difference.

Define the "fraction of the available cars".

They have 10 trains currently available (we all know about one of them, and Coral is being de-Tron-ified and repainted for the next month or so). What is the number on each beam that they're running daily to arrive at this "a fraction of"?

Typically, this expression is used to denote a minor fraction, so you're insisting that the greater majority of the trains are sitting idle for the entire day, every day. (Which would be rather difficult, since even the shed only holds about 4-5 trains at once from what I've read, which is why they park them overnight in the stations). Just curious as to your perception on how many trains they run, since you claim it only to be a small portion (which is what the expression "a fraction of" is a connotation of).

For the rest of the discussion, I'll leave everyone else to it.