Monorails to no longer operate during Evening Extra Magic Hours

[TDC Nala]

I don't know, I see this as only affecting (to the point where they will no longer book the hotels) the guests who went to monorail hotels because they would rather chew off their own foot than get on a Disney bus and who were inclined to do evening EMH or hard ticket parties in the first place. Everyone else will probably suck it up and ride the bus, or the ferry to TTC.

 

[notnothin]

Besides being highly annoying, all this is very interesting. Disney did away with EMH evening hours at AK, really messed with the characters at evening EMH at MK, and now the monorail thing. Is evening EMH on the way out?? Does anyone else know of anything else Disney has cut at evening EMH in any of the parks???

I truly do think we are headed in that direction.

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.

Agree. Rather than renew AP and make several trips next year, I have decided that September may be our last for a while.

Sadly, this may be the tipping point for me in a cascading series of cutbacks and disappointments at current WDW.

Slashing room costs and giving away meals for free may fill the resorts and parks for right now, but it can't provide the revenue needed to continue the Disney experience that we've learned to expect.

Sad but true. With all of the subtle enhancements/changes Disney have presented over the last few months, I have finally reached my breaking point.

 

[maxiesmom]

Just curious--But are any of you who have reached your breaking point with Disney going to let them know? Or are you content to let others take your spot? If you see what they are doing as wrong, are you going to let them know so they have a chance to fix it?

 

[TDC Nala]

Just curious--But are any of you who have reached your breaking point with Disney going to let them know? Or are you content to let others take your spot? If you see what they are doing as wrong, are you going to let them know so they have a chance to fix it?

If someone is going to take their spot, what is Disney's motivation to fix it?

I have to say I'm not bothered, I do attend evening EMH at MK but rarely stay at monorail resorts.

 

[nicoleakr]

So will EMH folks walk to and from BLT and CR and then Poly and GF get to ride a bus together?--the horrors of paying deluxe and sharing a bus. I can understand some things but that aggrevates the horns off a billy goat.

Well I guess Polys would take the boat and then GF guest could walk too.

They do have the small boats but what about people in wheelchairs the small boats do not have the ability to take them! I am not liking this for sure!

 

[chartle]

I don't know, I see this as only affecting (to the point where they will no longer book the hotels) the guests who went to monorail hotels because they would rather chew off their own foot than get on a Disney bus and who were inclined to do evening EMH or hard ticket parties in the first place. Everyone else will probably suck it up and ride the bus, or the ferry to TTC.

In similar fashion, so many people come up with round a bout, time consuming travel options with multiple stops just avoid the short internal bus to get back to Hoop De Do Revue.

 

[bicker]

Just curious--But are any of you who have reached your breaking point with Disney going to let them know?

I think it is a safe bet that such folks were proportionally represented in the random sampling of Disney resort guests that Disney has been doing for years. Their trend of dissatisfaction is almost surely fully accounted-for in Disney's strategy.

 

[TDC Nala]

They do have the small boats but what about people in wheelchairs the small boats do not have the ability to take them! I am not liking this for sure!

They'll have to take buses - buses have accommodations for wheelchairs. If they do not want to take buses, there isn't much they can do.

 

[bicker]

An interesting wrinkle in this situation:

we´ve been missing Disney since crazy.

This raises the question, "Has the value proposition offered by Disney (i.e., prices going up; costs being reduced) been affected by substantially higher demand streaming into WDW from markets that previously contributed much less demand to WDW in the past, i.e., Europe, South America, Asia.

It isn't like there was no such demand before and now there is some - rather, the issue is how much has demand from international marketplaces increased? If it is a significant amount, then by rights Disney should be a lesser value for Americans than it once was, because we are now competing with more customers for what Disney offers.

 

[Lou Holtz]

60 minutes past regular closing hours is exactly that. If there's no monorail for EMH, there certainly won't be a monorail for party nights.

Don't agree with that logic at all.

 

[doconeill]

They do have the small boats but what about people in wheelchairs the small boats do not have the ability to take them! I am not liking this for sure!

I'm pretty sure the launches can handle wheelchairs...the WL launch handled my DFiL's ECV...unless the others don't bother because they had the monorail as an option.

 

[Oglet]

I think it is a safe bet that such folks were proportionally represented in the random sampling of Disney resort guests that Disney has been doing for years. Their trend of dissatisfaction is almost surely fully accounted-for in Disney's strategy.

I am sure that Disney has a certain acceptable percentage of guest dissatisfaction v's savings that they factor into things like this.

It's going to take a massive amount of guest complaints, a massive drop in either monorail resort bookings or a steep decline in special ticket events sales for Disney to change anything.

Don't agree with that logic at all.

I posted this before, It's direct from Disney.

During Magic Kingdom Extra Magic Hours or Events, the Resort Monorail runs 1 hour after regular park hours. Return service from evening Extra Magic Hours in the parks will be supported by watercraft (where applicable) and bus transportation

Since the express monorail closes 1 hour after regular park hours and MVMCP and MNSSHP are events, I believe its pretty sound logic to come to that conclusion.

 

[doconeill]

Let me see if I can summarize:

- Although the wording is vague, this appears to not affect the Express monorail, since it apparently already operates according to that schedule

- I have no expectation of any change in operations during hard ticket parties of the Express monorail. If the Express monorail runs (and it should, since they are not resort-oriented events), it will still run.

- Unknown - will the Resort monorail shut down during hard-ticket parties? At first guess I think it will be handled much like EMH.

- Unknown - How will Monorail resort guests get back from Epcot when Epcot closes after MK? If direct buses don't start until after EC Monorail shuts down, are they stranded at TTC? (Poly and even GF guests can obviously walk...)

- Unknown - How will monorail resort guests or others get from resort-to-resort?

 

[Kona65]

I wish they would go back to paid E-Ticket nights. Where you had to purchase a seperate ticket and actually limit them. It was so much better than what they have now.

I agree with this. But the main purpose of offering the EMH tickets for resort guest only, was to get more people to book a Disney hotel room. With all of the additional rooms being built by Disney, they needed a way to book them. If they eliminate this perk, more than likely, people will start looking at other hotels to stay at.

 

[notnothin]

Just curious--But are any of you who have reached your breaking point with Disney going to let them know? Or are you content to let others take your spot? If you see what they are doing as wrong, are you going to let them know so they have a chance to fix it?

I can't speak for others, but we will not doubt let guest communications know why our plans have changed.

I think it is a safe bet that such folks were proportionally represented in the random sampling of Disney resort guests that Disney has been doing for years. Their trend of dissatisfaction is almost surely fully accounted-for in Disney's strategy.

I tend to agree with this assessment and I am nearly certain it has already been considered. There's no doubt that my small family is one of the cyclical 'in and out of love with Disney over the course of a decade' variables in the overall equation, but at least we will feel better about the choices we make with our vacation dollars. The ongoing decline of countless park-related goods, services, and perks we all have come to expect from Disney all while increasing the price point time and time again is simply unacceptable to us.

 

[baler31]

Let me see if I can summarize:

- Although the wording is vague, this appears to not affect the Express monorail, since it apparently already operates according to that schedule

- I have no expectation of any change in operations during hard ticket parties of the Express monorail. If the Express monorail runs (and it should, since they are not resort-oriented events), it will still run.

- Unknown - will the Resort monorail shut down during hard-ticket parties? At first guess I think it will be handled much like EMH.

- Unknown - How will Monorail resort guests get back from Epcot when Epcot closes after MK? If direct buses don't start until after EC Monorail shuts down, are they stranded at TTC? (Poly and even GF guests can obviously walk...)

- Unknown - How will monorail resort guests or others get from resort-to-resort?

During the last two years when we attended MNSSHP the express monorail was not running.

 

[irishtigger]

This is seriously the dumbest idea Disney has ever had if this is true. What sense does it make other than saving a few bucks. I stay on a monorail resort because of the convenience of it. This is a horrible way to save a few bucks. I completely do not agree with this idea and will make me think twice about paying the extra money to stay on a monorail resort going forward!

 

[Oglet]

As was mentioned many many posts ago, I like the idea of some sort of drawbridge that would link the path to nowhere up with the Grand Floridian.

They could even run a parking lot tram back and forward to the GF and Polynesian exclusive for resort guests at the end of the night.

 

[PrincessesX3]

What happens when there is lightning in the area? The ferries won't run, what would guest do then.

 

[lovethattink]

Quote without comment. This is official from an internal source:

"From time to time, we make adjustments to our operations to accommodate for planned transportation maintenance. With that in mind, operating hours for the Epcot Monorail system will be modified to operate one hour after regular park close beginning July 11, 2011 and the Magic Kingdom Monorail system will also operate one hour after regular park close beginning August 1, 2011. At that time, watercraft (where applicable) and additional buses will be available to transport guests to their destination.
Return service from evening Extra Magic Hours in the parks will be supported by watercraft (where applicable) and bus transportation. "

Does it look like the Ferry will continue to the TTC during EMH?