Monorails to no longer operate during Evening Extra Magic Hours

[Condorman]

Well for our planned trip, 6 nights have MVMCP which lasts until midnight), 1 had EEMH (11 PM ending), 1 is open until 10 (but will likely be extended as it gets closer as it's the last Sat before Christmas weekend), which only leaves 1 night closing at 8.

I very much was planning on using the monorail to get around to late night dinners. Now I'll probably drop at least 2 of those ADRs and eat at one of the Swolphin resorts instead. No transportation to worry about then, plus I can get a discount using restaurant.com. No way am I taking a boat late at night in Dec. Brrr! It was cold enough during the day with the sun shining down. Plus boats & heels aren't a good match, IMO.

Disney already lost our hotel money to Dolphin ($150/night vs $340/night), and we're spending a day at IOA and a day at Discovery Cove, and now they're losing even more of our meal money.

Don't worry about it.

There are plenty of people willing to stay on-site and pick up where you took off. Also, Disney gets a cut from anyone who stays at the Swan/Dolphin and/or dines at their restaurants (Starwood leases this location from Disney). In addition, with Disney now owning Marvel, they also get a nice percentage from anyone who visits USO and IOA. So any way you slice it, Disney is getting your money. Nice try, though.

 

[Experiment_626]

I can't see this really being a maintenance issue. Isn't it the current policy that the monorails run for 90 minutes after the parks close (and after evening EMH on the nights when those are taking place)? I think that in practice, it varies, or has done so, based on how many guests they perceive needing to move. If not, it's going to make the crunch to the monorail in that first hour worse than it was -- which is bad enough as it is. And the larger savings -- of time or money -- only happens on those nights when the MK or Epcot have EMH. I can't see that offering all that much of a benefit in terms of monorail service.

Further, if it is the trains that need service, it would seem more useful to just take a train or two out of service all or part of the day and work on it then, and rotate the trains being serviced over time. I would imagine that most of the year, the demand on the system wouldn't require all the trains to be in operation all day long. For a service issue, it would make more sense if it is the monorail beams that need servicing.

After all, "All things serve the beam."

This will likely also serve to negatively impact sales in the theme park shops that operate after "closing" -- but just how much is an open question.

Scott

 

[asianway]

Don't worry about it.

There are plenty of people willing to stay on-site and pick up where you took off. Also, Disney gets a cut from anyone who stays at the Swan/Dolphin and/or dines at their restaurants (Starwood leases this location from Disney). In addition, with Disney now owning Marvel, they also get a nice percentage from anyone who visits USO and IOA. So any way you slice it, Disney is getting your money. Nice try, though.

Actually, Tishman Hotels leases the property from Disney - Starwood operates the hotels and licenses the Sheraton/Westin brands to Tishman.

 

[Aisling]

Someone posted a memo-type thing from "internal" Disney that it had something to do with maintenance. I'm sticking with that and hoping it won't last too long.

 

[DebbieB]

This affects EVERYONE, who participates in EMH, MNSSHP or MVMCP...not just monorail resort guests. The ENTIRE system will shut down...

How would this affect me if I stay at BWV? I'll get on the bus at MK, same as before or walk from Epcot. The entire system will shut down?

 

[NYDisneyKid]

This affects EVERYONE, who participates in EMH, MNSSHP or MVMCP...not just monorail resort guests. The ENTIRE system will shut down...

how does it affect guests who drive their cars to and from resorts and parks? it doesnt

 

[phinz]

I'm considering just dropping our Poly - CL/Theme Park View room and staying at the Hard Rock the entire week, since we'll already be staying there the first two nights. The whole reason for staying at the Poly was the convenience of the Monorail.

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

how does it affect guests who drive their cars to and from resorts and parks? it doesnt

Yes it does. You and a lot more people will be trying to get onboard the ferry to the TTC instead of the monorail. As if crowds weren't bad enough...

 

[Princesca]

:One argument that I never seem to buy even though 1000's of dissers here swear to it, is the "cutbacks" every where mentality. I truly don't see this in other vacation venues. Cruises, beach packages, Vegas, all seem to offer way more quality for the same dollar spent.

I think this is pretty accurate. Other vacation destinations are more limited in how much they can cut back/raise prices. People who go to Disney don't go there because it's an amusement park... most of us live closer to a Six Flags or somesuch than we do Disney. They go there because it's DISNEY... and there is no other WDW in the world but that one.

If you're pondering a beach vacation, your choices are endless and exhausting... you can choose from a litany of locations, and within that, a litany of resorts. Competition is much higher for a set pool of vacation dollars, because someone who likes a resort in Cozumel can just as easily pick a resort in Barbados.

But Disney is Disney. And people will endure a lot of cutbacks before they decide not to go there, because it's different from everywhere else.

 

[NYDisneyKid]

Yes it does. You and a lot more people will be trying to get onboard the ferry to the TTC instead of the monorail. As if crowds weren't bad enough...

???? what does the ferry have to do with me walking from a park to the parking lot?

 

[Princesca]

This whole transportation situation is boggling my mind, though. I haven't been to WDW since 1993, and have no memory of how we got around then. It seems like Disney transportation is a little confusing to start with, and now I'm completely .

My plan is to make my room rezzies, use TouringPlans.com to figure out what days we'll be where, try to get an idea of the park hours, and then ask for beaucoup advice about things like this.

 

[kaligal]

how does it affect guests who drive their cars to and from resorts and parks? it doesnt

The hell it doesn't.

The ferry system was slow enough. Now you have to add all the people who were taking the (much faster) monorail?!?!

Puhleeze.

It's going to turn into either waiting FOREVER for a ferry (or the God blessed bus) or just avoiding EMH nights at MK.

 

[Colleen27]

Yup, just inconvenience for me. When we'll be there in Dec, out of 8 nights, there is only 1 of them that the official park hours aren't closing at 7 (5 nights) or 8 (2 nights). With the shorter park hours we were planning on later dinners to maximize park time. Since 6 of those nights have EEMH or MVMCP, we were counting on the monorail being running so we could get back to our resort more easily. Sure, we could rent a car for the week and drive, but that would mean one of us has to skip drinks with dinner.

That's exactly it for us too. I have three signature dinners booked that I'm now second guessing... We're going at a time of year when the MK closes at 7 or 8 every night; one of those dinners is on an evening EMH night and the other two are on MVMCP nights. The monorail is convenient, pleasant, and climate controlled (which matters after dark in December). The weather is generally too cool to enjoy the boats that late, so now it'll be the same bus to another bus routine that keeps us from booking non-monorail resort dinners.

 

[Princesca]

Isn't this going to really hurt park hopper ticket sales too? I see a number of people saying one of the reasons why they buy PH tix is because they avoid parks with EMH until the rides close to non-resort guests, then they pop over. Or in the morning, they'll go for early EMH, then leave before the crowds hit and go to another park.

 

[Kona65]

This is the last straw. To heck with Disney, were going to spend our money somewhere else from now on. Just cancelled our Disney Christmas Vacation.

 

[sdzman]

To us the monorail is by far the biggest reason to choose a MK deluxe as is walking to EPCOT from any of the EPCOT deluxes. One extra EMH night at MK without that convenience would make up rethink spending the extra $$. What makes WDW so special is that they dont cut corners and "cheap out" for their guests. It's sad to see these changes just to save a few bucks.

 

[SaraJayne]

???? what does the ferry have to do with me walking from a park to the parking lot?

Because you can't WALK to the parking lot from MK. You either have to take the (slow) ferry or the monorail.

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

???? what does the ferry have to do with me walking from a park to the parking lot?

You can't walk from MK to the MK parking lot. You have to take the monorail or ferry to get to the TTC. By cutting the monorail service during EMH, this would force you (and anyone who would've taken the monorail) to take the ferry.

Of course, this doesn't apply to you if you don't stay at Disney resorts, since you wouldn't be using EMH anyway. But if you are there for EMH and parked your car at the TTC, it certainly will affect you when the ferry boat to the TTC is way more crowded and has longer lines.

 

[Kona65]

how does it affect guests who drive their cars to and from resorts and parks? it doesnt

You should probably rethink this statement.

 

[Princesca]

This is the last straw. To heck with Disney, were going to spend our money somewhere else from now on. Just cancelled our Disney Christmas Vacation.

Are you going to notify Disney as to why you did this? I think it's smart to vote with your feet... and your wallet... (wallet's feet?) but it's more effective if you formally voice your displeasure.